佳人有約

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.
Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.





It was mid December. I drove to Philadelphia. I could tell I was really getting old. Even a one -hour drive made me shirk. How did I drive for fifteen hours from Phoenix to San Francisco ten years ago? This time of the year, the shopping season, was actually sad for me. All my relatives were in China, and I had no wife or kid for whom I could buy some new year presents.

But I was meeting someone that day. A student at Philadelphia, Julie was of my age. She read my blog and sent me a story that she wrote. It was a story about her having dinner at a man’ house, and this man wanted her to stay for the night, but was turned down by her. All of the dialogues and reactions were analyzed from a woman’s point of view, with humor and nuance. It was quite an interesting reading for me.

“This comrade proposed to make love.” She wrote.

I could sense her disdain, contempt, and amusement toward the man who was dying for some carnal pleasure.

She was a straight shooter. When we planned our meeting, I told her that I would find a hotel near her place.

“I am not going to the hotel. If you have one night stand in mind you can forget the whole thing now.” She said.

She was living in a house in a dense residential area. The cars were parked close to each other on both sides of the street. It was a living environment I immensely disliked. But it was very convenient for her since this area was very close to her school. She came out of the house about ten minutes after I called her, and we went to Chinatown, which was very close.

“You seem to be very shy.” She said, “and do not seem to be a guy that ever had one night stands with women.”

I was shy and a bit nervous. Only when I knew someone well would I let my guard down. She was wearing a gray jacket, jeans, and a pair of glasses. She smelled very good. It was the smell of some soap rather than the smell of perfume.

“You smell very good.” I said after a few minutes.

“It took you so long to say that?” She said.

I liked her. She was easy going, sincere and ingenuous.

I parked my car in a parking lot and we walked along the Rice Street. She picked a Chinese restaurant. She seemed to have been there before since she knew the place well. I asked her to order.

“I will eat what you eat.” I said.

She ordered two dishes, one of which was tasty, the other sweet and I disliked.

“I thought you would not come today, and I almost went to library.” She said.

“Of course I would come. I want to meet you.”

“So what do you think of me? Do I look the same as in the pictures?” She said, combing back the hairs falling on her forehead.

It was a small Chinese restaurant, and the waitresses were some middle-aged Chinese women. Julie spoke loudly, and I bet the walking-by waitresses and the people sitting close to us could hear what she said. Then they would know we were in a first date, not a couple or lovers eating out. I did not like that. But she was a nice and straightforward woman and I liked her.

The bill came and it was forty bucks. I took out my credit card, and to my horror, the waitress said their credit card machine was down and they only took cash.

“Do you have ATM close by?” I said.

“There was one in the grocery store next door.” The waitress said.

I asked Julie to wait for me and I went out to get cash. The ATM did not work. It was so exasperating. I returned to the restaurant and asked Julie to pay the bill for me.

“The ATM did not work. It is so embarrassing I almost went home.” I said.

When we drove out of the parking lot I was stricken by the same embarrassment. They did not take credit card for parking. So I had to ask Julie to pay it. It was such a big relief when I finally got some cash from an ATM in a gas station.

We went to see a movie. It was the Curious Case of Benjamin Button. It was based on a novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. But the story line was changed a lot. When the movie was over, and the lights were turned on, and the audience was standing up, I noticed she was crying. I was at a loss about how to console her.

We had dinner in a Vietnam restaurant. It was about 8 PM. The restaurant faced a quiet, dimly lighted street. I parked my car by the curb. The restaurant was small with a family-like milieu. There was some sports event on the TV behind the counter. We each ordered a plate of meal. Mine tasted very well. We talked about the movie. It turned out we both were movie fans. Over the dinner table I handed her the money for the lunch and the parking.

I gave her a ride home. As I stopped the car and we said goodbye to each other, something from her story came to my mind. That guy, after his request for her to stay for the night was turned down, sent her home, and demanded a kiss as she got out of the car. She had a way of describing the tension between the pathetic man and the resolutely unrelenting woman.

“Thanks for spending the day with me. Have a good night.” I said, determined not to have any physical contact with her. It would be thrilling to touch her, but I did not want to be seen as pathetic.

“Let’s have a hug.” She said.

She gave me a hug, got out of the car and got into the house. Her hug was like a consolation award.


“What is your plan for the New Year’s Eve?” I asked her when I saw her online. It was a few days before the New Year’s Eve.

“I have not decided.” Julie said.

“Would you like to come to my place? We can spend the time together. I hate to wait for the arrival of the New Year alone.” I said.

“I can not fall into sleep in a new place. You live in a one bed-room apartment?” She asked.

“Yes. You can stay in the bedroom. I’ll stay in the living room.”

“I might go to your place. But we will not have sex. Is that ok?” she said.

“Of course. I will not ask you to do anything you don’t want to do.”

“Then you really need to clean up your apartment. You told me your place was very messy.” She said.

I did a thorough cleaning of my apartment. When I sat in front of the toilet bowl and gave it a hand wash I was happy. It was actually a good thing to invite a woman over, because I would not have done all the cleaning work otherwise. Not even for the New Year. I went to Shop Rite and bought pork, beef, vegetables and eggs. I got hold of a bottle of Chardonnay from Rite Aid. I went to TJ Max, bought a set of new bed sheets, and a bundle of decoration flowers to put on my desk. The apartment looked much better.

On the last day of the year she sent me an email saying that she was not coming to my place and she was sorry. No reason was given and I did not want to ask. My expectation of having a good time with her gone, I suddenly felt very sad. So tonight is going to be a lonely night, just like many other nights.

On my way back home, I bought some Chinese food. This saved me the trouble of cooking. After dinner I logged on line. She was not on line. I checked my email, read the news, and went off line. I went out for a walk. It was very quiet in the apartment complex. The leafless trees stood calmly against the winter cold. There were only a few hours left before the New Year, but I did not feel expectation, happiness, or anxiety. I looked at the creek in front of my apartment. There was no water. But in the springtime, especially after raining, there was plenty of water in the creek. I went back to my apartment, opened the wine, and turned on the TV.

In January Julie had her winter break. I told her that I would like to visit her, and she agreed. So we fixed a Saturday when I would visit her.

“The driving was kind of long for me. I will stay in a hotel near you for a night. We can spend more time together.” I said.

“OK. We can have lunch and dinner together on Saturday. And we can watch a movie. Then you send me home and you go to your hotel. On Sunday we can have breakfast and lunch together. After lunch you can go home.” She said.

“So you are not coming to the hotel.” I said.

“No. I wish you understand. I had bad experience before and I was hurt a lot.” She said.

In the Friday night before our scheduled weekend meeting I had a few drinks. Sitting in my sofa, watching TV, drinking beer, I felt happy and relaxed. I thought about the trip to Philadelphia and I felt it was more than I could do. I logged online. She was there.

“Are you ready for tomorrow’s trip?” she asked.

“Can we cancel the meeting?” I said.

“Why?”

“I do not feel any excitement about the trip because I know exactly what you planned for me. We are just going to have lunch and dinner and watch movie. And I will have to spend a night in a cheap hotel.” I said.

“If I agree to have sex with you, then you will come.” She said.

“Yes, I will.” I said, “I am doing a lot of things for the relationship. I drive to your place to meet you. I pay for the lunches and dinners. You are not doing anything for the relationship.”

“I had bad experience before. I want things to go slowly.” She said, “We will get there slowly.”

“Let’s never get there.” I said, “You are a very selfish woman.”

“Ok. Let's stop this talk before we say something ugly to each other.” She said.

I never met her online again. She must have blocked my email address.

I called her and we talked over the phone a little while later.

“I feel sorry about the other night. I was drinking.” I said.

“It was all right. We are not good for each other. You were angry at me and I could not take that.” She said.

“I do think you are a very nice woman.” I said.

“Thanks.”

“So you will graduate soon?” I asked.

“In June.”

“Are you seeing any one?” I said.

“A guy wants to drive five hours to meet me. I am also talking with someone in Colorado.” She said.

“Good luck. If things don’t work out, you can still give me a call.” I said.

“I don't think I will ever call you. But thanks for being my backup.” She said.

所有跟帖： 

• 張三瘋？哈哈哈哈 -燭龍- ♂ (0 bytes) () 07/10/2009 postreply 03:45:32

• 李四狂。。。哈哈哈哈 -不明則問- ♂ (17 bytes) () 07/10/2009 postreply 08:56:43

• 王五問。。。嘿嘿嘿嘿 -chamberlain- ♂ (0 bytes) () 07/10/2009 postreply 09:05:57

• 五 = “無” -不明則問- ♂ (49 bytes) () 07/10/2009 postreply 10:28:36

• 心急了：） -chamberlain- ♂ (66 bytes) () 07/10/2009 postreply 10:46:34

• ；） -不明則問- ♂ (0 bytes) () 07/10/2009 postreply 10:50:08

• haha,chinese women:1st date, no sex; 2nd date, no sex.... -chamberlain- ♂ (40 bytes) () 07/10/2009 postreply 05:54:15

• 說得好！ -zhang3feng- ♂ (0 bytes) () 07/13/2009 postreply 15:44:34