Library
Home / Arsenic and Adobo / Chapter Thirty

Chapter Thirty

Chapter Thirty

Jae was still the first person to arrive.

At seven o’clock on the dot, the doorbell rang and there he was on my doorstep bearing a gorgeous bouquet of lilacs. “Hey, Lila! Thanks again for inviting me. I didn’t even think to ask if it would be awkward of me to come since my brother . . . you know . . .”

“Don’t worry about it. You did say that he can’t tell you who to be friends with, right? Though, if you could throw a good word about me his way, I wouldn’t complain.” I buried my face in the purple petals perfuming the room with their sweet scent. “Anyway, how did you know lilacs were my favorite?”

He grinned. “I got lucky. Purple is my favorite color and ‘lilac’ is pretty close to ‘Lila,’ so they reminded me of you.” He sniffed the air. “Man, it smells good in here. Where’s the rest of your family? I should probably say hi, right?”

“My aunt and grandmother are still cooking, so I’ll introduce you when they’re done. Take off your shoes and have a seat in the living room while I find a vase for these.”

Longganisa waddled in from the kitchen and made herself comfortable at Jae’s feet. “Oh sorry, I forgot to tell you I had a dog. You’re not allergic or anything, are you?”

Jae reached down to scratch Nisa’s head, and she responded by flopping on her back for a good belly rub, which he obliged. “Don’t worry about it. I’ve always wanted a dog, but my mom never let me have one. What’s his name?”

“Her name is Nisa, short for Longganisa.”

“Like the sausage?”

At my nod, he said, “That is adorable! I think I’ll have to call her by her full name because it’s too cute.” Jae rubbed her belly and addressed her in a baby voice. “Isn’t that right, Longganisa?”

Be still my heart.

While they played together, I continued my search for a vase. The doorbell rang as I climbed on a chair to grab one out of the top cabinet in the kitchen. I called out, “Jae, sorry, but could you get that for me?”

I heard the door open and an exchange of male voices, then silence after the door closed.

Curious, I headed into the living room with the vase in one hand and the flowers in another. Amir and Jae sat across the room from each other, each sizing up the other in silence. Strange. Amir could charm a wall and Jae was so friendly. I was sure they’d be chatting away.

Amir spotted me and jumped up for a quick hug, made rather awkward since I was still holding the vase and flowers.

“Hey, Amir, you made it! Where’s Adeena?” I asked.

“She said she’d be riding over with her new friend. She didn’t tell you?”

I looked at my phone notifying me I had seven unread messages. “Oh, she probably did, but I missed her texts. I put my phone on silent earlier and forgot to turn the sound back on.”

Jae, still stroking Nisa, who was perched on his lap, joined in our conversation. “Ah, that explains why you never answered if your family preferred coffee or tea. I figured those were safe beverages to bring, but when you didn’t respond, I decided to get the flowers.”

“Oh, that reminds me, can you arrange these for me?” I asked Jae, handing him the flowers and vase. “I need to put Nisa in my room since Amir’s allergic to dogs.”

Amir eyed the bouquet, then Jae. “You got Lila her favorite flowers.”

Jae met his gaze. “Seems that way.”

The silence that stretched out after that statement seemed to last five hours, but was probably only five seconds. I cleared my throat, excusing myself to put Nisa in my room and wash my hands. When I returned, the men were still silent, so I did my best to resume the conversation.

“Sorry about not answering your text, Jae. I love beverages of all kinds. I’m usually a coffee person, but I can appreciate a nice cup of tea. It depends on what I’m pairing the drink with.”

“Which reminds me . . .” Amir went over to the bag he’d left on the couch. “Mom just got back from visiting her sister in Turkey. She brought back that apple tea you love, as well as the Arabic coffee you tried last time you visited.”

“Ooh, with the cardamom?”

He nodded. “She knows you like to grind the beans yourself, so it’s just the roasted coffee with a packet of cardamom pods and instructions. She said she also likes to toss in a pinch of saffron or rosewater for special occasions.”

I read over the instructions, which included a note on the variations Amir mentioned and insisted Arabic coffee be served with dates or a sweet treat. “Very decadent. I love it! I’ll have to come over sometime and thank her personally.”

He smiled. “You know you’re always welcome in our home.”

Jae had moved away and was examining the pictures on our walls, but noticeably stiffened up when Amir said that. I decided to lighten the mood.

I forced a laugh. “Well, I’m not always welcome, if you’ll recall. Your dad has feelings about me ‘corrupting’ your poor, unsuspecting sister.”

Jae wandered back toward us. “Really? You corrupted Adeena? I always figured it was the other way around.”

“You know my sister?” Amir turned his attention to Jae.

“Yeah, the cafe is in the same plaza as my dental office, so I stop by pretty often.”

“Oh, so is that how you met Lila, too? Eating at Auntie Rosie’s restaurant?”

Jae’s cheeks flushed. “No, I, uh, haven’t had time.”

Sensing Jae’s embarrassment, Amir pushed harder. “Why not? Auntie Rosie makes some of the best food in town and it’s right by your office. You have time for a hipster cafe but not to support a family restaurant? Your brother visits all the time.”

I glared at him. “Amir, it is none of your business where this man does and does not eat. Leave him alone.”

Perhaps spurred on by my defense, Jae put his hand on my arm. “Lila, it’s OK. I’m sure you wondered, too, but were too polite to ask.” He sighed. “My mom stops by the office and drops off lunch for me every day. Then I usually go over to my parents’ for dinner after work.”

He glanced at Amir, who, to his credit, wasn’t laughing, though he clearly wanted to. “I’ve asked her to stop making extra work for herself, but then she gets mad at me.”

My aunt entered the room at that moment. “Of course she does. She’s doing that because she loves you and you don’t appreciate all the effort that goes into it.” She held out her hand. “Dr. Park, right? I’ve heard a lot about you from Jonathan.”

Jae shook her hand. “I’m Jae. And I’ve heard a lot about you, too. I’ve been wanting to come over to thank you for that delicious tray of noodles you dropped off when I first arrived but, well . . .”

She smiled at him. “Try not to get too frustrated with your mother. She’s just showing her love the way she knows how. It doesn’t matter that you’re an adult and can take care of yourself. In her eyes, you’ll always be the bunso, the baby of the family.”

He groaned. “Trust me, I know. They never let me forget I’m the maknae.”

The doorbell rang again, and Tita Rosie went to go answer it.

“Does your family really call you maknae?”

“No, we don’t speak a ton of Korean at home. But my mom makes sure we use all the correct honorifics and things like that with our elders.”

“Oh, that’s similar to me. I understand Tagalog but don’t speak it much.”

“Of course you don’t. Your generation has no respect for tradition. No interest in learning about your heritage.” My grandmother hobbled into the room at that moment with a tray of drinks in her hand. “Lila, our guests have been here how long and you haven’t given them any refreshments?”

I bit back a retort. It was bad manners on my part to have Amir and Jae over without offering them anything, but I didn’t have to agree with her.

Before I could get their drink requests, Jae asked, “Wait, is your name pronounced LY-la or LEE-la? Because I’ve been saying LY-la, but your grandmother just called you . . .”

I smiled at him. “Yeah, I know. Technically, it’s ‘LEE-la,’ but only my family pronounces it that way. In school, the teachers would always pronounce it the other way and I got tired of correcting them. I just started introducing myself that way since it was easier.”

Lola Flor shook her head. “How could you let other people tell you how to pronounce your own name? It’s not even difficult.”

OK, now my grandmother was sounding like Adeena. Also, I did not appreciate her being right about two things in a row.

Luckily, my aunt came back in the room at that moment with the Calendar Crew, plus Adeena, Elena, Bernadette, and Kevin. “Seems like everyone’s here. Marcus can’t make it, so remind me to set aside a plate for him. Should we get started?”

Comments

0 Comments
Best Newest

Contents
Settings
  • T
  • T
  • T
  • T
Font

Welcome to FullEpub

Create or log into your account to access terrific novels and protect your data

Don’t Have an account?
Click above to create an account.

lf you continue, you are agreeing to the
Terms Of Use and Privacy Policy.