Sundays were Lazy Lucy Days which meant her feet were given a break from the heels, she could sleep in, didn't exercise at all, her face was au naturale, and she didn't have to meet anyone if she didn't want to.
Ring, ring, ring!
"Lucy," her mother said, marching into her room without any regards for privacy. "Your phone has been ringing forever! Answer it."
Ring, ring, ring!
Her hand slammed down hard on the bedside as she clumsily searched for her ringing phone. After finally grasping the damn phone, she quickly answered, "Hello?"
It's me. A deep, soothing voice flooded her ears, and her brain immediately connected it to handsome Ryan.
"What?" she asked grumpily, burying her head under the covers. She waved her mother away, and her mother could only shake her head at her daughter, wondering how she got such a lazy daughter.
Almost noon. I'm assuming you haven't eaten yet. I'm coming over to talk to you about the details of my request. I'm bringing all of your guilty pleasures and something for Mrs. Lee too."
The woman perked up, and then she whined a little bit as a realization hit her. She then said into the receiver in an accusatory tone, "It must be bad... So bad that you prepared food from El Dragon."
He laughed softly and then said something that she didn't quite hear as she was about to doze off to sleep once more.
"When are you coming over?" she asked sleepily, hitting the speaker button. After groaning a bit, she finally got up from her soft bed and padded over to the bathroom attached to her room. God, she looked so comfortable in her holey, baggy t-shirt and cloud covered jammies. Her hair was slightly crazy, but who wasn't kind of crazy on their day off?
I'm about to park up your driveway.
"No!" screamed Lucy, rushing over to phone. "I don't even have moisturizer on yet."
About to ring your doorbell...
The woman quickly grabbed her thick-rimmed circular glasses and pushed it up her nose bridge as the legs settled wobbly behind her ears. Lucy hung up without preamble, and rushed to the door as her feet padded lightly across the linoleum floor.
Dingdong, dingdong!
Her hand unlocked the door, and she twisted the knob open as she pulled the door towards her.
He stood there in a t-shirt with jeans and a cheeky smile, holding up the recycable El Dragon bag full of Chinese-Mexican fusion food. The salty, oily, spicy aroma tickled her nose and had her mouth salivating as the smell of mustard greens stirred fried with sweet barbecue pork hit her senses just right.
"Come on in," Lucy said, scratching her head with her pinky. "Make yourself at home. Let me get changed."
"Where is Mrs. Lee?" Ryan nodded and stepped over the threshold of her home, closing and locking the door behind him. Ryan took off his shoes at the door, and started walking around in his socks.
"She's gardening in the backyard."
Dark eyes trailed after Lucy's back until she disappeared down the hallway. The tall man walked into the neat living room and gently placed down the to-go orders on the coffee table, smiling a bit as he went into the kitchen and proceeded to make himself at home.
He checked the cupboard for three plates, a pair of chopsticks, two spoons and forks. And after grabbing the essentials tools needed for a meal, Ryan proceeded to set up lunch for himself and Lucy at the coffee table. After setting up the table, Ryan brought over three refrigerated water bottles, placing them before he began setting the water for three cups of floral tea. He finished preparing tea before Lucy came out.
"Mama," she called out to her mother outside. "Ryan's here. He brought lunch. Come say hi."
Lucy was no longer dressed in her sleepwear, trading them for a washed t-shirt and some jean shorts. Her wavy hair was now tamed in a loose bun and her glasses were perched on her nose bridge. Her eyes brightened up at the assortment of food and she gladly sat next to Ryan. She forced cash into his hands for lunch, threatening him with her eyes until he relented. Turning on her TV, she turned over to the handsome man and asked, "What do you wanna watch?"
"No preferences," he said, scooping all of her favorites into her plate. There was Chorizo Fried Rice, Pork carnitas pot stickers with a mango habanero dipping sauce, and there was the mustard greens with sweet barbecue park.
"Sabrina it is," she announced before thanking him as she took the plate from him and began digging in. As the creepy intro music of the series began, Lucy swallowed her food and then said, "So tell me what you want. If it was something simple, you would have texted me."
"You know you don't have to come with me," replied Ryan, watching as Sabrina and Harvey kissed on screen. "There's going to be a lot of old Chinese people there. They are probably going to assume you're my girlfriend or something if you go with me."
"Yeah, but who cares? It's not like I'll ever see them again afterwards," she said offhandedly. "And I might find myself a rich engineer with a great real estate portfolio."
She laughed heartily, winking at the dead-eyed man who was looking at her as though she had just stolen his dog. He shook his head while Lucy promised she was just joking.
Ryan shook his head and protested softly, "Don't."
"Tell me more about this wedding of yours," Lucy changed the subject.
"Wedding?" her mother cut in. Her wrinkly eyes became extremely bright and energetic upon seeing Ryan. "Hallo Ryan. Long time no see, yah?"
He smiled widely, and gave her his greetings. "Hello, Mrs. Lee. What have you been working on lately?"
Lucy merely shook her head, and returned her attention back to the TV.
"My chickens and garden," she answered quickly before taking a seat next to him. "Wedding?"
"It's my brother's wedding."
"Oh..." Mrs. Lee's eyes dashed over to her daughter, and her daughter shrugged.
Standing up straight, Lucy then proceeded to say, "Ma, Ryan has asked me to go to the wedding. Do you think I should?"
"Yes, yes, yes!" her mother said, and it seemed as if she had misunderstood something and quickly excused herself with her cup of tea as she went outside.
Lucy put her plate down on the table and turned to face him seriously. She fixed her glasses and then questioned, "Are you really sure you want me to go as your plus one? I mean it is your brother's wedding."
"What about your mom?" Ryan asked, looking outside to see Mrs. Lee waving her hand enthusiastically back at him.
Lucy shrugged her shoulders, and said to him dismissively, "She knows better. It's just hopeful dreaming for her."
In that moment of space and time, it wasn't known if Lucy had caught Ryan's broken, hurt expression. His dark, beautiful eyes were wide and slightly panicked, haunted by her words more than he should have been. After all, what were they to one and another? He flexed his jaw around, making sure he was a bit more composed before continuing on.
"Well, I couldn't think of anyone else who'd I want to bring to suffer with me," he said honestly, turning to her in all seriousness as well. He no longer looked completely hurt and broken, only slightly.
"Oh, stop. You're making me blush." Lucy lightly hit his arm and her eyes became as large as saucers as her eyes rotated from his biceps to his confused face then she shrugged once more. "Since my mother said yes, I will go with you."
They continued eating and semi-watched Sabrina as Lucy asked more questions.
How many siblings did he have? Ryan had answered two. An older brother and a younger sister.
What were they like? Lucy was an only child and she used to want siblings growing up.
Perfect, he'd answered.
And the questions about his family continued. She would be meeting all of the relatives - distant and close - at the ceremony. His brother, Henry, was getting married to a girl he'd met in Hong Kong. Her name was Angela Lei, and she was the middle daughter of a Singaporean family. And the wedding was going in Paris.
Lucy was listening silently until the last part registered in her mind. Flabbergasted, Lucy repeated the word like a broken recorder. "Paris?"
"Paris," he confirmed, taking her empty plate with his and he took the plates into the kitchen.
"Wow," gasped Lucy dreamily. "I'd like to get married in Paris under the Eiffel Tower. Isn't it romantic?"
The kitchen sink's water was running, and she heard a laugh. It wasn't a mean laugh, but it wasn't a nice once either. His laugh was sounding kind of hollow. Lucy pouted and then said, "Okay. I'm sold. I don't need to hear anything else. I'll be your protector. Guard. Bodyguard. Wing Woman."
"We will be in Paris for three weeks."
"Three weeks! Imagine that," Lucy proclaimed, imagining croissants and baguettes. "Lucy, you're the luckiest girl alive."
Lucy then peeked her head around the corner wall, and into the kitchen. Ryan was now drying the dishes. "Hey," she began.
"What?"
"I just want to let you know," she paused. There was a slight hesitation in her. "You're the best. I love you, you know!"
His hands paused for just a bit before he began resuming wiping as if he hadn't heard her at all.
Her laughter made his knees go weak.
ns 18.68.41.181da2
