Chinese Takeout Ch. 05

Chinese Takeout Chapter 05 – Listening for the Weather

by Chloe Tzang

© 2016 Chloe Tzang. All rights reserved. This story or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author except for the use of brief quotations in a review.

Okay, here's the fifth "chapter" of Chinese Takeout (and in a real novel, this would be about 8 x 2,500/3,000 word chapters...). There's still no outright sex in this chapter, but there is continued foreplay between Round Out and Jay-Lin. This is all a continued and lengthy lead-in and teaser for the main event which will be a chapter or three (okay, or more...) in coming with, of course, trials and tribulations for our heroine along the way. And, as always, "Chinese Takeout" is 100% dedicated to the real Round Out, with my thanks and gratitude for the ongoing help with this ... and with a disclaimer that any mistakes, biker and biker-culture related or not, are mine and mine alone.

Now if you're going on to read this and you haven't already read Chapters 1, 2, 3 and 4, then I really do recommend you go back and read those in order, starting from Chapter 1. It'll all make a lot more sense that way. And thank you all again so much for reading this...Chloe

Chinese Takeout - Chapter 05 – Listening for the Weather

So, I'm listening for the weather,
To predict the coming day.
Leave all thought of expectation
To the weatherman.
No it doesn't really matter
What it is he has to say,
'Cause tomorrow's keep on blowing in
From somewhere.

Listening to the Weather, Bic Runga

* * *

"We're off to bed honey." Dad was yawning as he spoke. "Going to be a long weekend. Come on Cat."

"I'll get breakfast for you both, what time are you getting up?" I thought I better remind them. Parents; they're old, sometime they forget things. Usually not the things you want them to forget.

"Got to start the rounds at nine," Mom said, "We'll leave around eight, breakfast at seven thirty. Are you sure Jay-Lin, it's early for you?"

"Mom! You guys work so hard, it's the least I can do." Not mentioning any ulterior motives of course. I absolutely wanted to make sure there was a clear run for Keith. My parents wouldn't miss a Harley roaring into our driveway. No way I wanted them to be late leaving.

"You're a good daughter, honey." Mom gave me a hug. "Now you enjoy yourself Saturday with your young man."

"Mom!" God, I so HAD to stop blushing.

My Dad laughed. "Bed Cat. You too Jay-Lin, no staying up late."

"Okay, I'm just gonna check the weather forecast for tomorrow, then I'm off." I was yawning while I spoke. God, I really was SO tired. That workout at Quebec's, and then with Keith. I yawned again.

Flicking channels, I found the Weather. It wasn't a channel I'd ever really looked for before; I'd never had any interest in listening for the weather. Cars and Shopping Malls were, like, air-conditioned or heated and they had a roof. Not like a Harley. Anyhow, it looked like it was going to be a perfect spring day tomorrow, warm and sunny. I could go to bed with my expectations for the coming day intact. Not that it really mattered, I was going to spend the day with Keith regardless. But I really was looking forward to riding on the back of his Harley. I was smiling as I closed my eyes. Sleep came instantly.

* * *

My alarm woke me. It was that soft early morning pearly grey where you can just distinguish the outline of furniture and shapes. Saturday morning six thirty. No-one should have to get up so early. There weren't even any birds singing outside, that's how early it was. I wondered if Ginny was awake. Unlike me, she was definitely an early morning person. Jesus! I hadn't called her last night. I better call her this morning. But later. Definitely later.

"You awake Jay-Lin?" My Mom's voice was a whisper, her soft tap on my bedroom door wouldn't have woken me if I'd been asleep.

"Yeah," I said, "you go get ready Mom. I'm getting up. Breakfast'll be ready soon."

"Thanks honey." Mom sounded so happy that I had to smile.

"No problem Mom." I swung myself out of bed. That hurt. I groaned. I ached. Everywhere. That workout at Quebec's had been a killer. I didn't feel so athletic this morning. A hot shower helped but I still hurt. Picking clothes was easy this morning. My cutest panties because I hoped and anticipated that Keith was going to see me in them, not that I had anything to match those lacey little Kiki de Montparnasse panties Keith had bought for me which were now in my laundry basket, but at least they were bikini panties and black. Matching bra. God, I was so going to have to go shopping for some sexy lingerie that Keith would like. Not something that'd been on my shopping list ever before. Jeans for riding on the back of Keith's Harley. A top. Tie my hair back. I'd brush it out and redo it later. Done.

Downstairs and into the kitchen. My parents both liked large breakfasts. They said it helped them stay on their feet when it got busy at the hospital. It usually did. Throw a packet of bacon under the grill, six pieces of toast in the toaster, grind some fresh beans and throw them into the coffee machine. Maple syrup, butter and marmalade on the table. Get a smoothie ready. Two oranges, a whole lime, skin included, a handful of carrot sticks, rinse half a rice bowl of dried goji berries and tip in. Wash two large kale leaves and chop up, squirt in some of Mom's manuka honey as sweetener. Cut a thick chunk of raw ginger off and peel before tossing on top. Add water, put on the blender ready to go.

Out with the egg poacher, fill it with water, break four eggs in; put it to one side. Get some fruit out of the fridge. An orange, an apple, some grapes, wash them. Slice and dice. Grab a couple of banana's and slice them, cut a slice of the pineapple on the counter, slice it up and add to the mix. Stir in lime juice. Out on the table with the cereal and soy milk and zero percent fat yogurt. Hearing Dad coming down the stairs, I hit the blender. Thirty seconds and done. Pour into three large glasses, place two on the table and drink one myself as I turned on the element for the poached eggs, then started flipping bacon. Master chef, that was me. Not. But okay, I wasn't bad, even if I say so myself.

"God, that smells great." Dad was sniffing appreciatively as he walked in and sat down.

"Smoothie first, then cereal and fruit." I rapped his hand as he reached for the toast.

"Bossy as your Mom." But he picked up the smoothie and drank it, then added fruit salad, yogurt and soy milk to the bowl of cereal. He was half way through when Mom wandered in.

"Aiiyaaahhh, you've been busy Jay-Lin." Mom looked raised an eyebrow but she sat down fast enough.

"Smoothie, then cereal and fruit first." I rapped her hand as she reached for the toast.

"Bossy as your Dad." But she laughed and drank her smoothie.

"Bacon and eggs coming Dad." He'd almost finished his cereal and fruit. I used the tongs to retrieve half a dozen bacon strips, flipped two poached eggs onto his plate. Left him to sort out his own toast. Mom's turn next.

Dad looked up, grinning as I set his coffee mug down in front of him, Mom's in front of her. The rest I was going to pour into a couple of thermos flasks for them. "You're going to make some man a great wife one day, Jay-Lin."

"John!" Mom tapped Dad's hand admonishingly.

"Daaaad!" I thought of Keith. My insides did that little shivery thing, my breath caught for just a second. I was blushing. Mom looked at me, saw; smiled that all too knowing smile. God, Mom. Stop it, now!"

"So what're you up to today? Out with this Keith boy? Going anywhere special?" Dad changed the subject. Sort of. Mom was still smiling, only now she looked amused. Mom!

Only, that wasn't a subject I was keen to expand on but I wasn't going to lie about it. I never lied. Maybe I fudged a bit, but I never lied. Not to anyone, least of all my Mom and Dad. I wasn't starting now, either. "Just meeting up with him later Dad, not really sure what we're doing." Well, I wasn't sure, but I sure had hopes. I just wished Mom'd stop smiling at me like that. That smile was just way too disconcerting.

"Just make sure Sally knows when you're going round," Mom chipped in. "And give Riordan a hug from me." Riordan was my eight month old nephew. It still felt strange to be an Aunt.

"I will Mom. Keith'll drop me off." I had to smile. Mom doted on her first grandson. So did Dad. Well, so did I. He was a total little cutie.

I was busy at the counter. "Here, I packed you some BLT sandwiches and fruit, and there's a thermos flask each of coffee for the car, okay." I really wanted to make sure they left on time. No holdups. What if they were late and Keith was early?

I must've looked too eager or something. Mom looked at me, one eyebrow raised. Again. God, I wished she'd stop doing that. After a moment she shook her head and laughed. She glanced at Dad but he was just sitting there eating, oblivious. Mom was always way too perceptive. I wondered what she'd been like when she was my age? Scary thought. I'd have to ask my Pawpaw sometime. Fortunately for my state of mind, Mom and Dad didn't dawdle. They hardly ever did. At eight on the dot, they were out that door.

"Enjoy your day Jay-Lin." Mom gave me a little hug and a kiss. She didn't usually do that. "And don't do anything I wouldn't do."

My Dad laughed. "And if you do, don't get caught."

God, I was blushing. Again. I was. Dad didn't notice, he'd been joking. I hoped. He was already in the garage. Mom noticed though, she gave me that quizzical little look again, the one that said she knew what I was thinking, or at least she was guessing. I just hoped she was guessing wrong. Or at least wrong enough.

A huge sigh of relief escaped me as the garage door closed behind them. Now I was going to go grab that huge mug of coffee for myself and make those calls. Sally first, she'd be fast. Faster than Ginny anyhow.

* * *

Coffee in hand, I didn't gave myself time to think. I picked up my iPhone, pressed Sally.

She answered after three rings. That was fast. "Hi Jay, I was expecting you to call, just not this early. Brody said Dad wanted you to stay the night. When're you coming over?"

"Hi zǐ-zǐ, yeah, is late this afternoon okay?"

"That's cool mei-mei, Brody's gonna cook dinner so be prepared. Now tell me all about this guy with the motorcycle."

"Ahh, Sally..."

"The guy with the Harley? Talk!" She sounded excited. "So what gives? Brody's looking after Riordan, so tell your zǐ-zǐ, I wanna know everything. So you met him last weekend? He took you for a ride on his Harley?"

"I, ahh, I'm officially, like, his girlfriend now, we went out to dinner last night; he's just so ..." I sighed, lost in visions of Keith for a second.

"He's already your boyfriend huh, jeez, that was fast work, Jay. When do we get to meet him? What does he look like? How old is he? Is he a gweilo? Did you tell Mom and Dad? Did they freak?" That was my zǐ-zǐ, my big sis, she was always full of questions, never stopped talking when she had the chance. And yeah, well, she was still sensitive about Mom and Dad's reaction to Brody way back when. It hadn't been good. That might help me with getting her on side about Keith. But Jesus, Sally, where to start.

"No, I didn't tell Mom and Dad anything about him, except his name, and ... aahh, about meeting him?" Okay, this was a big deal. I had to get Sally onside. I just had too!

"Yeah? Yeah?" Sally was excited alright.

"Sally, just let me talk, okay, you're making me nervous."

"Okay, okay, go ahead, I promise to shutup." She laughed. She wouldn't though. She never did.

"Would it be okay if maybe he comes round to dinner tonight? I want you and Brody to meet him before I tell Mom and Dad about him. Would that be okay? I gotta ask him but I wanted to check with you first, make sure it was okay." I wanted her help too, but I'd lead in to that.

"Of course it's okay Jay. I think I'll cook after all, he might not survive Brody's cooking. You ask him, then call me or text me, okay. I REALLY wanna meet the guy that's melted the Ice Princess."

"Huh? Who did you hear that one from?" I hated that nickname. I really did. That Chua bitch had come up with it. It'd stuck. Even my friends used it now. I hated it, I absolutely did. I had no idea Sally had heard it.

"Ginny, of course."

"Of course, Ginny, who else. I'm so gonna kill her." I should've known. Sally knew all my friends. And Ginny talked. She never stopped. Her and Sally both. I was soooo going to have a long long talk with Ginny about lots of things.

Sally laughed. "Hey, Jay, it's not far wrong, I mean, when've you ever had a boyfriend. You're worse than I was before I met Brody. You date a guy once and that's it. ... and don't get upset with me ... it's true Jay, stop squealing ... that's why I wanna meet this guy. He's gotta be someone special."

"Oh yeah, he is, he's, like, really special." I forgot all about being mad with Ginny and annoyed with Sally. "But Sally, there's a couple of things I wanted to tell you about him before you meet him..."

"Hang on Jay ... aaaaiiiyaahhh! Okay Brody ... I'm coming ... sorry Jay, Riordan just puked on Brody's head 'n he's freaking, I gotta run... text me, okay ... see you both tonight ... Love you mei-mei ...Bye." She hung up.

Well, shit. I didn't want Keith to turn up on them cold without briefing Sally first. But okay, I'd call later and lay the groundwork. Might as well call Ginny. Sounded like Sally was going to be busy for a while.

* * *

Ginny's phone rang and rang, then went to voicemail. What? Ginny always answered. Always. I looked at my phone. Huh? My phone rang back as I checked it was okay. Relieved, I answered.

"Hi Ginny."

"Sorry Jay-Lin, I was busy with Jiffy." She giggled. I heard a slap in the background. God, Ginny! I was so not asking where she was. "So who was that guy Olaf? Everyone was talking about him. I thought that other guy with the Harley was scary. That guy Olaf, that teacher almost called the cops. They got Ms. Schwartzkopf out instead, she gave me the third degree. I covered for you Jay-Lin, but what the heck's going on. Who was that guy?"

Oh shit! "Uh, Ginny, what'd you tell Ms. Schwartzkopf?"

"That Olaf was a guy you knew and he was giving you a ride to the gym. I mean, you had your gym bag and that was all I could think of. She was gonna call your parents and check but I managed to bullshit her that it was okay. She might wanna talk to you on Monday though."

I had to giggle. "Ginny, you didn't bullshit her, it's the truth. I started at this gym and Olaf's giving me a ride there every day after school, he trains there too. He's a friend of Keith's."

"Oh shit." Ginny's voice went all hushed. She sounded like she was going to cry. "Uh, Jay-Lin, about that, about Thursday, I'm real sorry about that, I am, I was way outa line. You're my friend Jay-Lin, you're my best friend, always. I'm sorry, I was really scared for you Jay, I guess I just lost it a bit, he just looked so scary 'n I was so worried about you..."

"Hey Ginny, Keith's a wonderful guy, he just looks a little, you know, if you don't know him he might look a bit, ..."

"Scary." She was so emphatic.

I had to giggle. "Well, yeah, maybe, but you met Olaf. Olaf is REALLY scary."

"God yeah."

"Anyhow, Keith IS my boyfriend, okay, so just, you know, relax Ginny. I'm sorry 'bout what I said too, okay. Maybe next weekend you can meet him or something, maybe we can go eat dim-sum with him Sunday and you'll see, he's totally a nice guy. Once you meet him, you'll like him, I'm sure. Anyhow, I'm going out with him today, I'll ask him, okay?"

"Uhh, you are? I mean, yeah, that'd be fine. You doing anything tomorrow?"

"Staying at Sally's tonight, how 'bout I call you in the morning. Maybe go shopping tomorrow afternoon?"

"Yeah, that sounds great, call me, okay."

"Okay, but hey, I better get ready Ginny, Keith's gonna be here soon, he's taking me for a ride."

"On that motorcycle?"

"Harley, Ginny. He rides a Harley and he's got, like, a totally cool loft down off of Courtenay Drive. It's just the most amazing place."

"You've already been to his place?" Ginny sucked in her breath.

I just about sighed with happiness, ignoring her, remembering last night. Remembering paradise. For just a moment I forgot everything except those memories. Just for a moment. "Oh, yeah, I went there last night with him and he took me out to dinner. It was the most amazing restaurant, Ginny, this French chef guy Keith knows, he was just ... the food was just heaven." I giggled. "And so was Keith." I wasn't telling her more than that though. Not about his loft, she wouldn't believe me if I did and besides, I'd have to ask Keith before I said anything more to my friends about him. And I wasn't saying a word about what we did. No way. Ginny might like talking about what she did with her boyfriends but I didn't. Not that I'd ever had a boyfriend to talk about, but still. Keith and me, that was for us. No-one else.

"Do your Mom and Dad know about him?"

"No, not yet, I mean they know I'm seeing this guy Keith but I didn't tell them anything about him. Not yet. So don't go saying anything, okay Ginny? I need to work out how I'm gonna position this, and, you know, you've seen him, it's not gonna be, like, easy. Not with my Mom and Dad."

"I'll say." She said that so fervently I had to giggle.

"Yeah, well, I'm gonna ask Sally for some help, you know what it was like for her, I'm not going through that."

"Yeah, good idea." Ginny did know, she'd held my hand, commiserating with me and supporting me through two years of screaming fights between Sally and my parents, crying jags and parental storms until Sally finally got her way and won permission to officially date Brody. As opposed to unofficially, which she went ahead and did anyway.

"Hey Ginny, I really gotta run, Keith'll be here any minute. Talk tomorrow, okay, I'll call in the morning, we can go shopping and then grab a coffee and have a long talk, okay?"

"You better Jay, b.f.f., okay? And hey, I'm so sorry, really, I am."

"Yeah Ginny, b.f.f." When I disconnected, honestly, I had tears in my eyes. Ginny was my best friend. She really was. It was so good to have her back. I was so going to have to have a long talk with her tomorrow. And shopping. Definitely we were going shopping. I could use Ginny's advice on lingerie. I wasn't letting Keith spend more money on my clothes. I had an allowance for that. And I wanted to surprise him.

* * *

Tidying up the kitchen took all of ten minutes. I didn't have anything else to do. My jacket was hanging by the door. My hair was brushed out and tied back. Makeup applied. I was as ready as I could be. My phone sang its little Faye Wong song. An incoming text. Yaaaaay, it was from Keith. Checking everything was okay. He was on his way. I texted the all clear back. Spent the next ten minutes hovering by the front windows, busy hyperventilating.

I heard him before I saw him. That unmistakable Harley growl growing louder, muted thunder as he pulled into the driveway. I was torn, torn between running out and into his arms or waiting until he knocked on the door, then dragging him inside, throwing him to the floor and throwing myself on him. Like I could throw him anywhere. But it's the thought that counts. Running out and throwing myself at him won. I was out the front door as he swung himself off his Harley.