Smiling Eyes

When Mei reappears my climbing hopes rise even higher. Though it was subtle I catch how her makeup had been touched up and I catch a refreshed hint of orange blossom as she approaches me. Most of all I notice her eyes. I cannot explain it. There was nothing different in her expression. Yet her eyes…were smiling! Whether she was amused at my struggles or genuinely happy to be going out for dinner with me I could not tell but there was twinkle there that hadn’t been there before.

I back out the door and hold it the outer screen door open for her. She steps out, locks the house then walks past me without a glance. I follow her out of her gate then walk along beside her down the quiet street.

Along the way I finally find my groove again. As she wasn’t saying much I am able to fill the silence with my free and easy chinwagging. I comment on the lovely night and some of the nicer front flower beds and the differences between back home and here. Nothing heavy, nothing serious, nothing about siblings, just a nice casual banter to keep the mood light. Mom used to say I could carry a conversation by myself all the way to its natural conclusion and back again without missing a beat. Mei strolls beside me, hands folded in front of her and occasionally futzing with her skirt like she with the apron, replying in mostly one word answers. I tried to get her talking about this or that but thus far she wasn’t biting. That was okay by me though. I’d been on plenty of dates with girls that took some time to open up. The night was still young and we had plenty of time. She was never rude or sarcastic and she didn’t seem at all bored by my chatter, in fact she was listening quite attentively.

It is only as we pass the beauty parlor that it strikes me that there was a good chance we might run into Cassidy at The Post. A worry stirs. Cas and I were not a thing in any way, we both knew that, and I hadn’t done anything with her that I had to apologize to anybody about, least of all someone I barely knew, yet the thought of bumping into her while I was out with Mei, particularly the way she’d spoken about her, had me…uneasy. Having past lovers mingle with present ones or future paramours was a recipe for awkwardness or far worse. My mind begins to grasp for options. In a larger town I might have found an escape plan but Halcyon had exactly one place to take a proper date and it was The Hitching Post. There was The Great Wall, but that was more a place to take a family or a group of hungry guys to strap on a feed bag. I weigh up the pros and cons and decide to take a swing.

“You know.” I say, switching topics seamlessly. “That Chinese food you had smelled really good.”

Mei gives me a side eye. After a couple of steps she says. “I suppose I could go home and have that instead.”

“No!” I laugh off the suggestion. “I was just saying.” Rubbing my belly. “Just reminded me of how hungry I was.”

“Mm hm.”

“Nah, pizza sounds awesome.” I say, doubling down and hoping for the best. “Hey, do you know the nice couple that run The Great Wall?”

She tilts her head. “Because I’m Asian and they’re Asian you just assume we know each other?”

For the first time since back at the house I am stammering again. “Well, I mean, I was just…”

“Yes.” She says, mercifully, before I made a complete ass of myself. “They’re my parents.”

“Hah! Right! Yeah. Cool.”

She straightens up and picks up her pace. Was I imagining it or were her eyes smiling again? I hurry to catch up.

On entering The Post I let out breath of relief as I see no sign of Cas’s bleach blond locks among the crowd. Toby Keith was pumping through the speakers mix with the din of voices and laughter. The place was busier than I’d ever seen it as it turned out that Thursday they had a combo special on pizza, wings and a pitcher of draft. I spot the last open table and go to point it out to Mei only to find her already making for it. Again I am rushing to keep up with her.

Walking behind her as I was I catch the looks she was getting from the other locals as she walked by. Expressions ranged from surprise to confusion at seeing her here. It seems that Mei was not a regular at the town watering hole. Though I had only been in town a couple of days I already had a few folks giving me a nod or a wave to acknowledge me and as the waitress I’d had my last two times here brushes by us she says to me. “Be with ya in a sec, D.”

“Thanks.”

The reactions around us rolled off of Mei like rain off of a duck’s back. She takes her seat, back to the wall, adjusts her skirt and settles in. Taking the chair across from her I lean and say in my loud ‘bar’ voice. “Didn’t realize it’d be so busy.” She says something but damned if I could hear her over the din. “Sorry, what?” She says it again, not even attempting to raise her voice to cut through the noise. I am forced to lean across the table and cock my ear her way.

She stares at me a moment then says a third time. “They have a jukebox.”

“Oh? Oh! Yeah.” I smile, staying leaned close to her. “You want a song or something?”

“No.” She says. “Not yet.”

“Well let me know if you do.” I say. “I got the first song. I don’t think they’d have orchestra stuff though.”

Internally I wince as I realize I had inadvertently referenced that moment on the bridge but, thankfully, Mei takes it in stride. “I would be surprised if they did.”

As I sit back again I was coming to realize that Mei was made of sterner stuff than I had given her credit for. Every time I thought I’d made some terrible faux pas or wounded her delicate feelings she had responded with unflappable grace. That first impression she made on me, looking so vulnerable and fragile as she silently wept, had colored my assumptions. I’d been tiptoeing around her like she was a figurine of of spun glass, something fragile that needed to be put upon a pedestal and kept under glass. It was a habit I needed to break. For all her beauty and eccentric mystery Mei was just a person in the end. And thank God for that.

With a breath I let out some tension I hadn’t even realized I’d been holding and let myself relax.

“You two need menus?” The waitress asks as she suddenly appears at my side.

“We’ll have the special.” Mei says, suddenly raising her voice to be heard. I give her a look as I realize she’d been playing with me earlier when she’d forced me to lean across the table. She glances my way for just a moment then continues. “A large double pepperoni with mushrooms with spicy peppers and your hot honey dip.”

“And an order of the honey-chili wings.” The waitress smirks. “Why’d I even bother asking? Same as your takeout order. So nice of you to come in for a change.” She hid it behind a veneer of country charm but the sarcasm was impossible to miss.

“I was invited.” Mei says, her dark eyes intensely holding the waitress’s like an alpha dog establishing dominance. “And yes, honey-chili would be fine.”

“Oh, um…” The waitress clears her throat and shifts in place under that dark gaze. The moment stretches on a few more seconds before she speaks again, her tone much more polite. “That’s nice. And the pitcher?”

“He’ll choose the beer.” After a few seconds Mey says. “Dusty?”

“Huh?” I shake my head, breaking my awestruck focus on the way Mei’s quiet yet powerful gaze had cowed our waitress. “Oh, Busch Light will be fine.”

“That is all.” Mei says, giving her a nod as if giving permission to leave.

“Special coming up!” The waitress gives me a WTF look then swiftly retreats toward the kitchen to put in the order.

“Easy tiger.” I tease. “She’s just doing her job.”

Mei says nothing but I got the sense she was quite pleased with herself.

The pitcher is brought and I return to my happy banter. I sip my pint just a bit quicker than Mei did hers, an old dating trick I’d learned so that I was never too far ahead or behind on getting a buzz. There was nothing worse than being too drunk or too sober when trying to impress a girl. Mei returns to her silent treatment. Polite and friendly, but silent as she studied me closely. No matter what was going on around us, her focus remained squarely on me and I got the sense, though I could not say how, that she was enjoying herself. The stare and silence would have been unnerving had I not enjoyed it so much. I liked the way she looked at me. Determined to make her smile I regale her with a funny story from back home. I get a twinkle for my effort but the giggle I was hoping for does not come. Changing tack I decide to engage her intellect by telling her some of the curious things I’d see on my travels. I was about to move onto the new topic I thought might entertain her when she lays the tips of her fingers of her left hand over the tips of mine on my right.

She takes a breath to speak and waits a beat for me to lean closer, which I do. She looks me in the eyes and her plump lips curl into the hint of a smile! It was small but it was real. Mei was smiling!

“Dusty.” She says. “Please. Stop talking.”

I sit confused, the request to shut up and the unexpected smile had me off balance. “I’m sorry. Did I say something wrong?”

“You’re talking a lot without saying anything at all.” She says. “You’ve just went on for twenty minutes straight without a break. It’s exhausting.” Leaning closer she whispers. “Slow down, Dusty.”

“Oh. Right. Ha!” I laugh. “I can be such a blabbermouth. My Mom always said I had a…” As her left brow rises I clamp my lips shut. “Right! Stop talking. I can do that.”