Chapter 23: Second Trip to DC
Dan knew what he saw on that Saturday night. Mei and Jesse came out of the kitchen both looked like little kids who were just caught with stealing treats out of the candy jar. Dan was not stupid, apparently something was going on between them and that something is not good news for him.
Dan tried to talk to Mei about it but she always changed topic and he didn’t want to push her too hard. During the past two months he did everything he could to show her that he was really the one she should choose. Dan knew that he loved Mei, very much. What he wasn’t sure about was whether she loved him back. One failed marriage was bad enough that he couldn’t bear at the thought of Mei leaving him for another man. To him the proposal was a big gamble, and he was prepared to face the result even if it was a no.
He was more relieved than anything else when Mei said yes; it confirmed his hunch about their relationship was right all along. He saw tears of joy in Mei’s eyes when he put the ring on her finger, and promised himself that he would spend the rest of his life giving her the happiness she deserved.
Mei was more nervous this time around than her first trip to DC and it was not because of the fear of flying. The weather was nice, and the flight was pleasant with no turbulence at all. Jesse was sitting right next to her but somehow she felt like they have never been so further apart. Laying her hand gently on the armrest, she could almost felt the warmth and grip of his hand from their last scary takeoff.
“Is that an interesting book?” Mei tried to strike a conversation.
“Uh yeah I guess, just something to kill time with.” Jesse answered without moving his eyes from the kindle.
“Oh so what is it about, if you don’t mind…” Mei didn’t want to give up that easy.
“It is a fiction about government conspiracies.” He replied again using as few words as possible.
Mei felt a little offended and just couldn’t take the cold treatment anymore: “Mr. B, I, I just wanted to make sure that we are OK, you know… after what happened.” She never thought theses words could be so hard to spill out.
Jesse did not move for a few seconds, just as Mei started to wonder whether he heard her, he put down his kindle and turned to look at her straight in the eye: “Ms. Li, I’d like to hear what you think did happen?” There was no expression on his face, and the questions came out just like how he would ask her about work related business. She felt her heart being sliced open in slow motion.
“I…” Mei looked away and bit her lips to stop tears from falling; she did not want him to see her cry, “Are you doing this to hurt me or are you just too afraid to talk about it?” It was enough, she whispered out her honest thoughts without expecting an answer.
There was no response for a long time. Finally she heard Jesse say: “I am sorry. We are OK. And I have not gotten a chance to tell you Congratulations.” His voice sounded gentle but it only made Mei’s heart bleed more than before.
The presentation went really well, and Jesse was finally able to meet Mr. Andy Lopez, IRS’ IT acquisition director in person. He was a big guy, about 6 feet 5 and 300 pounds. He asked a lot of questions about their proposal, down to the nity-gritty, yet gave no really useful feedback to provide them with any clues whether they still have a shot at the contract. Except for right before they were about to leave, he came over to shake their hands and asked where they were staying for the night. Furthermore he then extended his hospitality by mentioning that there was a nice Irish pub close by their hotel and suggested they give it a try.
Mei didn’t give that a second thought until she saw Mr. Lopez showed up at the exact pub he recommended around 7 pm that night. He was all by himself at the bar sipping on a beer. Jesse didn’t seem surprised to see him and walked right over, bringing Mei along.
“Hello Andy, nice to see you again so soon.” Jesse was being really casual and that confused Mei even more. “May we sit down?”
“Good to see you.” Andy nodded slightly like he was expecting them and waved at the bar tender for 2 more beers. “Look, I can’t stay long…” he stopped and quickly glanced at Mei.
“She’s part of the team, as you already know.” Jesse made it clear that he would not exclude Mei from the conversation.
“OK.” Andy moved his eyes to the TV monitors hanging not far from the ceiling and took a big drink, “Please let Troy know that he has nothing to worry about.” Then he waved for the check and left without another word.
“What was that about?” It was obvious there are some backdoor deals going on which was pretty surprising to Mei.
“If I told you I don’t know would you believe me?” Jesse spun the beer bottle in his hands and a slim smile slowly rose up from the corner of his mouth, “Troy moved fast and seemed like whatever he did was pretty effective as well.” The end of that sentence drifted as if he was speaking out his own thoughts.
“Are you and Troy trying to bribe him?” Mei asked carefully in a low voice, she realized this was DC and the word bribe connected with government officials could mean a big deal if not jail sentences.
This time Jesse did not laugh, he turned and looked at Mei with curiosity: “Is that what you think we did? With Andy Lopez?”
“Look, I don’t know what’s going on…”Mei sensed Jesse was not joking at all, “and I am sorry if I offended you in anyway, but seriously by all means we should, we must win this contract CLEANLY.” She could not find a better word to describe what she wanted to relay.
Jesse looked at her again without any expression. Mei found that he always did that when he was debating some ideas in mind. Finally he asked again in a way not like he already knew the answer, “Do you really believe honesty and hard work are all you needed to be successful?”
“No, I believe also luck, or what you call blessings is a big factor.”Mei answered without any hesitation, “And that doesn’t mean if luck or God did not show up you just cheat to get your way. Do you know what attracts me most about this country? People’s simplicity, honesty and individualism… Most people I’ve dealt with here are decent and have good morals. They are not willing to compromise their values and honesty for short term gains like what we had to deal a lot with in other countries. And if you ask me, I’d hate to see the day when people no longer held their fundamental right and wrongs close to heart, that’s when in my opinion a society rolls downhill faster than anyone could catch.” She became pretty emotional towards the end, and finally took a break to catch her breath, “I mean isn’t that what your Christian believe is all about?”
