Her Unexpected Affair (The Robinsons) (18 page)

“I understand it when meetings determine whether fresh food is delivered or medicines arrive on time. Surely those events are a higher priority on a global scale.”

“Yes, they are. But my business, while small, is still important. Without my clients, craftsmen have fewer jobs to pay for the fresh food you ship to feed their families. Without my employees, yours would suffer. It’s how the entire world comes together in the scheme of things.”

Shan all but growled his frustration into the phone. “Fine. But don’t do this to me again. I’ll try to reschedule dinner for tomorrow night. And remember we’re going away this weekend.”

“I remember,” she said, withholding the impatience from her tone. “Now, unless I want to spend the entire night here smelling paint fumes, I need to get to work.”

Shan sighed, as if releasing his anger to the universe. When he spoke, his tone was much calmer. Nicer. “I’ll call you if I get the dinner rescheduled. Do you need me to come by and escort you home? Whatever the hour, Meilin, I want to see you safely to your door.”

With a smirk, she noticed he didn’t offer to help with the painting. “Thanks, Shan, but I’ve got it. Going home late is pretty much routine and I feel perfectly safe when I do.”

“Then please call me when you get home. For my peace of mind.”

“Fine. Now, really, I’ve got to get moving on this paint job.”

The huge sigh of relief she expelled a minute later released much of the tension, but not all. Shan was not happy. Well, that made two of them. So much for his talk of respecting her desire to continue working and running her own business. She grabbed her go-bag and headed for the bathroom to change.

* * * *

Things didn’t improve when her cousin Arnie called and begged for her help.

“Meilin, my favorite cousin,” he started.

“Get to the point, Arnie. I have four gallons of paint that need applying tonight.” Dressed to paint, in jeans and an old T-shirt with a bandana covering her hair, she hardly looked elegant standing in the middle of her client’s tarp draped living room.

“I need you this weekend at the school.”

Meilin groaned. “You mean the immersion school at Stanford?”

“Yes. You know I’m teaching this summer’s Mandarin session. You also know how critical the first week is for really dropping the students into the experience. I have to be gone Friday night through late Sunday. My father is having surgery on Friday and Mother needs me there first thing Saturday to bring him home. Monday she has a health aide coming in to assist, but the aide can’t start before then. That leaves me. I have to fly to Seattle and won’t make it back until very, very late Sunday night. I’ll be there Monday morning, but I need you for the weekend. I don’t trust Jack to teach them properly.”

“With good cause.” She sighed and looked up at the ceiling that had already been painted to look like a twilight sky. Arnie only called on Jack when there was absolutely no one else in the Bay Area who could fill in for a few hours. Meilin had to agree. She’d rather call her mother to teach than Jack. She’d filled in for Arnie before and worked with tutoring elementary kids from time to time. But Mother didn’t like teaching adults and Meilin found it challenging. Teaching wasn’t the problem. As Shan had said earlier, timing sucked.

Of course, Jack was no solution at all. Not with his tendency to cause mischief by teaching students the wrong phrases. Exhibit A, Drew week before last.

That Friday out with her friends seemed so far away as to be a barely remembered dream, but it had only been a matter of days since Jack had gotten a taste of teasing Drew. And wasn’t Drew a student in the program? She could only imagine what damage Jack could do to his friend all in the name of fun. Learning Mandarin was difficult enough for adults well-versed in English.

“I assume the lesson plan is ready? I don’t have to do any prep?” Because the thought of Drew in the class made her heart leap, she’d probably spend more time thinking about him than worrying about the other students. Could she really do this knowing he’d be there, watching her with those gorgeous blue eyes? Then again, seeing him in a class situation could very well drive home the fact how very young he was for her. Maybe this was just the chance she needed to make her brain understand Drew was a temporary infatuation.

“Not a bit. I’ll go over it again and add as much detail as I can. All you have to do is follow it, correct pronunciations, answer questions, the usual. There are only five students and they’re having the usual first week issues, although they’re pretty smart and definitely enthusiastic.”

“Yes, it helps when they want to be there. I’ll have to explain it to Shan, of course, and he’s already frustrated I had to cancel on him tonight. One more cancelation will be the icing on the cake.”

“I’ll make it up to both of you.”

“No, you have a true emergency. What’s going on with your father?”

Five minutes later, she had the details and Arnie’s promise to e-mail her directions and the lesson plan. All she had to do was call Shan and cancel their weekend plans too. After their previous conversation, she’d changed her mind about looking forward to going away over the weekend. Relieved to have an excuse, she still didn’t relish the thought of the discussion to come.

By Saturday morning, Meilin was ready to step outside her life and play substitute teacher for a weekend. Shan’s icy displeasure had been hard to face. However, she’d finished the last job on time and on budget. Her client was over the moon and planning a party next week to show it off to her friends. Meilin and her plus one were invited. Shan’s secretary had it on his calendar, and he was somewhat mollified. Once he saw what she’d accomplished, how she put her love of beauty into every job, she hoped he’d be so impressed he’d forgive her the transgressions of this week and weekend. The very thought she was seeking his forgiveness bugged her.

The day was already heating up when she parked her car and gathered her briefcase with Arnie’s notes. Now all she had to do was find the classroom and face Drew in the most intimate setting yet. No loud music or swaying bodies to make conversation difficult. No fiancés, parents, neighbors, friends, or siblings there to run interference. Just Drew and four other students and lots of conversation in Chinese. Easy peasy.

In low sandals, a soft cotton skirt, and loose T-shirt, she wasn’t fashionable, but she was comfortable. She’d only brushed on a light coat of mascara to emphasize her fine eyelashes, and a dash of lip gloss to protect from the sun and heat. Sunglasses shaded her eyes as she found the building and entered the cool hall.

The smell of floor wax, books, and their unique dust filled her head, reminding her of her years at school. The nostalgia took her by surprise as she found herself wishing she were back in school, eager to rush into the future and prove herself a savvy, independent woman who didn’t need a man to complete her world. She’d proved herself a hundred times over. What was wrong with her life that she’d agreed to marry anyone at all? Shan in particular? Maybe she was being fanciful for the first time in her life. Maybe he was being too practical and logical with his captain of the boat analogy. Maybe she was over reacting to something that would probably work out sensibly.

Her sandals slapped on the polished floors and she heard murmurs of conversation coming from the classrooms. The number was easy to find. The door was unlocked and she let herself into an empty room.

A few small tables were pushed together to make one larger table with a handful of chairs around it. The board at the front of the room was a white board, and Arnie had already outlined the lesson for the day in colorful markers. One less chore for her to take care of. At least he made it easy for his substitutes to step in.

She set her overnight bag in a corner and began emptying her briefcase of the printouts she’d prepared. A few minutes later the door opened and Drew stepped in.

Time stopped.

No, she hadn’t imagined this man’s good looks and presence. Beside his father last weekend, he’d stood out in a good way. Now he filled the classroom with a charisma that stole her breath. Didn’t hurt that he wore cargo shorts and a tight T-shirt reminding her of his rock solid abs.

Drew’s gaze locked on hers and he pulled in a deep breath. “Meilin.”

The way he said her name was like a caress of his hand down her spine.

“Hi, Drew.” She cleared her throat and forced herself to stand straight. “I’m subbing this weekend.”

Clearly trying his best, he said in Mandarin, “
Wo
hen
gaoxìng
jiàndào
ni
.”
I am pleased to see you here
. Not bad. He was learning.

Speaking slowly, she replied, “
Wo
hen gaoxìng cheng wei nide
laoshi
.
”
The pleasure is mine to be your teacher
.

He nodded and stepped farther into the room. Outside, footsteps of many people filled the halls. Once more he seemed to gather his words, but knowing he was just beginning, she knew he didn’t have many. “May we speak later?” With his hand, he gestured between the two of them, indicating a wish to speak privately.

“
Shìde
.” She said the word in Mandarin and emphasized it with a nod.

“
Xièxie
.” Well, he knew that pretty well. She flashed a shy smile at him to indicate praise, and he huffed a small sigh as the door behind him opened.

The students ranged in age from late teens to late twenties, with Drew in the middle. She had each student say their name and age.

With a week under their belts, the class fell into the pattern set up by Arnie. Grammar and vocabulary in the morning. Then lunch where they sat together and practiced their words for the food and what they’d learned that morning. It also gave her time to learn a little about the students. They were just as curious about her and her qualifications to teach. They seemed satisfied when she told them about growing up bilingual and then the two years she’d spent with relatives in China not far from Beijing.

The afternoon was spent learning the characters to go with the words. Almost an art class, which she enjoyed, although Drew wasn’t the best student when it came to drawing the symbols.

Dinner was the same as lunch, their group sitting together, only she let them speak in English. There had to be some break to help connect the two languages in their minds. Drew sat as close as he could without being obvious, and told the story of trying out a phrase or two at the nightclub. It kept the other students laughing until they told their own tales of silly mistranslations, not only in Chinese, but other languages as well. Each student was an accomplished traveler and as always, there was room for funny mishaps while in another country.

Drew in particular was very well traveled. He had stories from Italy, France, India, and Turkey. Even a run-in with a flock of Scottish sheep in the Highlands. He had a healthy sense of self-deprecation, which she found refreshing. And yet, he was easily the chosen leader of the group. A result of an unconscious, natural affinity for leadership.

“Are you staying over tonight?” Drew asked her quietly as they cleared their trays.

“I am. I’m here to help the students in this class with studying.”

“Can we slip away during the movie tonight? I’d love to spend some time just talking. I could also stand to stretch my legs a bit. All this sitting is tough.”

She weighed the pros and cons in her mind, then slowly nodded. It wasn’t the right thing to do, movie night was meant to bring the entire school together, despite their different language focuses. But she, too, wanted to talk more, learn more about this fascinating man.

* * * *

Drew could barely breathe after Meilin agreed to walk with him. As much as he wanted to escape the suffocating air of the dorm, he wanted much more to talk alone with her. Something that hadn’t yet happened since meeting her. This time it would be just the two of them. No loud music, no hovering cousins or fiancé, no sisters, parents, or classmates. Just the two of them under the summer night sky, breathing in the scent of trees and flowers that perfumed the air.

As the movie started in the common room, they quietly made their exit and headed for the paths of the vast campus.

“I’ve always loved this place,” Meilin said, breaking their silence.

“Did you go to school here?”

“No, but I have friends, and yes, cousins, who did. I went to college in the City.”

“Tell me more about how you came to teach Chinese.”

“Although I grew up speaking it at home, after college, as you know, I spent time in China. That’s where I really refined the language and spent time combing markets for decorating ideas. I gained a good sense of history and the different styles of the dynasties. The time there served me well in business. Some of my clients long for the old country, whatever that means to them personally, and my skill with both language and design impressed them to no end. People without an ounce of taste can now pretend to be knowledgeable of their past and make it more illustrious than it truly is.”

“Ah, even the Chinese have pretenders?” Drew chuckled. “Much like the courtesans who rose in society by attracting devilishly clever patrons who furnished them with the means to at least look as if they were close to the higher ranks of society.”

“Exactly. For example, my family, along with Jack’s and Shan’s, came to the American shores as common laborers and servants during the gold rush and railroad years. They got lucky, found a few nuggets, made wise investments in property and professions, and turned it all into their own mini-dynasties here in San Francisco. Outsiders are under the impression we all came from the Imperial Court, or the class of noblemen.”

“Not so different from the Lynfords and Robinsons who made some lucky investments in trade and built their name on imports not only from China, but India and Spain.”

“Are your interests not solid in China?”

Drew glanced down at her pacing beside him. Like him, she had her hands folded behind her back. A sorry attempt to keep from touching, but it was all he had at the moment. “They’re solid, but doing business in China, almost any country, is like standing on shifting sand. Some years we’re solid, others we’re looking to gain stronger ground as what we stood on has begun to crumble.”