Softly Awaken
Chapter Twenty Six
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Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.
- Prov. 4:23
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"Quite attractive, if I do say so myself." Jing Mei eyed the petite Art History teacher, Mrs. Carter had chosen for John's date. She was not his usual type, natural red-head with dark green eyes. Jing Mei professed to John that she was quite the catch. It was not a lie; she did think the woman quite attractive. Although admittedly she said it to annoy John, who was still unamused at the prospect of being set up on a blind date by his grandmother.
"Don't," John warned, pointing a finger at her, whilst taking a drink of the champagne in his hand. "She is as about exciting as my grandmother's underwear." He had gone into this evening with a horrible attitude. He admitted it. He was a horrible, terrible grandson. But nothing about this evening had been remotely fun. Karen had spent the evening educating him on the merits of evenings such as this - unlocking the secrets of history untold. She went on a ten minute lecture on how much she appreciated the funding his grandmother had put towards her own venture into the mysteries of American artists such as Nesby and Amos, people he had never heard of and he could have cared less about. "You have no idea how glad I was when I saw you walk through those doors." Jing Mei, last minute, was asked to trade shifts by Shanda, who needed the next day off. She willingly complied. It was quite the decision whether she should rescue John from the torment of the charity ball, but when she heard the agonized message on her answering machine she knew she couldn't miss it. "There, there, John," she cooed, patronizingly patting him on the well-starched cuff of his wrist. "You still have a whole evening with Ms. Bramble over there. You cannot stay over here forever pretending to be getting her a drink." John rolled his eyes and signaled the bartender for another glass of champagne, as he held Karen's red wine to his side. "Who drinks red wine at a charity ball?" "Now John, be nice." Jing Mei leaned against the bar and glanced over at Mrs. Carter, who seemed to have noticed her arrival and kept eyeing the two of them. "Don't look now," she leaned over and whispered into John's ear, "I think we've been made." John looked over to where he had left his 'date' and Gamma, to see them headed in their direction. "Hide me," he deadpanned. Jing Mei hit him on the arm and shook her head, putting on a gracious smile as Mrs. Carter arrived, Karen in tow. "Mrs. Carter, what a nice surprise seeing you here!" She watched John out of the corner of her eye, praying he would behave. "John has been telling me what a wonderful time he's been having this evening," she lied, trying not to burst out laughing at what John's grandmother would have thought of their previous conversation. "You must be Karen." Jing Mei offered her hand to John's date. She accepted stiffly, her ghost of a smile revealed her dismay at Jing Mei's presence. The woman was behaving quite childishly. She hadn't known John for more than an hour, and the territorial vibe she was putting out was laughable. Jing Mei forced herself to smile politely as she watched Mrs. Carter try to encourage John to take Karen onto the dance floor. "You're young," Mrs. Carter frowned. "You should be dancing. This is a ball." John smiled, set down the glass of wine, and held out his arm for Karen. Her long slender fingers wrapped around the crook of his elbow. "Shall we?" Jing Mei waved goodbye to the 'happy' couple and slid her flute onto the bar. "You do know how miserable he is, don't you?" The matriarch studied Jing Mei carefully, her stoic face revealing nothing of her thoughts. She questioned whether she had leave to say such a cavalier remark to Mrs. Carter. Jing Mei had always felt at ease with the prim and disciplined woman. Maybe she had misread her. "Of course I know that," said Mrs. Carter, her impassive expression finally revealing a glimmer of a wicked smile. Her posture was rigid and to onlookers she would seem as proper and respectable as always, but as Jing Mei sidled up along side her, she nudged her gently with her hip. "You're evil," Jing Mei chuckled, as she watched John make small talk with the enamored twenty-something. "Was there a reason you decided to put him through this? Or was this just a fun distraction?" As well as she thought she knew the woman, Mrs. Carter never ceased to surprise her. Just when she had thought she had her pegged, she went and did something as sneaky and mischievous as this little prank. "I will deny ever having done such a thing, if pressed, Jing Mei." She turned and looked Jing Mei squarely in the eye. "Sometimes John doesn't realize a good thing when he has it," Mrs. Carter said knowingly, sipping her champagne slowly. "Men are very slow when it comes to choosing the right woman. I remember when Mr. Carter was still playing the field, while I was waiting in the wings." "You, waited in the wings?" "Of course I did," Mrs. Carter said indignantly. "The Carters aren't renown for their track records with women. Only those who pick well, manage to survive this family." "Oh really?" Jing Mei found Mrs. Carter's perspective quite intriguing. She knew adjusting to another person's family was a difficult thing, but... "Why do you think my son is divorced?" Jing Mei gaped, not quite sure how to respond. "Jing Mei, my grandson has faired better than his father, in the sense that he hasn't ever married one of these two month flings or the like," Mrs. Carter scoffed, as she patted her forearm. "But I do have to say that I am not pleased at all with how he cannot see what is in front of his face." What do you mean?" Jing Mei felt her cheeks grow warm. "Don't play coy with me, young lady. You have a thing for my John." Oh god! How was she supposed to respond to something like that? She never expected to be put in such a position. "U-uh-no," Jing Mei chuckled nervously, glancing over at John as the music wound down. "We're just friends, Mrs. Carter." "Well with that kind of attitude, you're going to," Mrs. Carter waved to John and Karen who were walking over, "be sitting in the wings forever." Jing Mei watched as John's grandmother led Karen away, in the guise of introducing her to a few possible sponsors for her studies. Unable to look at John after her conversation with the ever insightful 'Gamma', she turned and ordered another champagne. "So you looked like you had fun out there," she breathed, trying to assemble her thoughts after the not-so-subtle kick that Mrs. Carter gave her - in the direction of her grandson, nevertheless. "You're one sadistic doctor," John sighed, ordering a champagne of his own. "She could make an insomniac fall asleep." "That's nice." Jing Mei tried to push Mrs. Carter's warning words to the back of her mind. She didn't know what the woman wanted her to do. John was just coming off a relationship and she did not want to be the 'rebound' girl. If she even stood a chance. "Then a waiter offered to take her off my hands..." "Hmmm, what?" Jing Mei caught the end of his words, but realized that she hadn't been paying attention at all. "Sorry," she smiled apologetically. "Where were you?" John knew something was up when he returned from the slow dance from hell. Jing Mei was conversing with Gamma the entire time, so he knew it had to do something with the old cantankerous woman. "Did Gamma say something to you?" he asked, scanning the crowd for his grandmother's location. She was hidden amidst the crowd. "No," Jing Mei smiled, shaking her head. "She was a completely nice." "Then I know something's wrong," he chuckled, trying to make a joke. "She was just trying to give me advice on my love life." Jing Mei waved her hand dismissively, trying to play it off as something absurd. "She was trying to be helpful." Jing Mei wanted to get off this subject as soon as possible. She wished she had never brought it up. "First me, now you? Man, she must be on some matchmaking kick." John furrowed his brow. He had never seen Gamma in this sort of mood before. It was quite baffling. "I'm sure she's just teasing you," he explained thoughtfully. "Oh yeah," she nodded, moving away from the bar and into the mingling crowd. Jing Mei hoped that she would shake off this awkward feeling she now had, here with John. "Shouldn't you get back to your date? I'm sure she's looking for you by now." Why are you pushing him away, when he clearly doesn't want to be around that Karen girl? Jing Mei closed her eyes and pushed the tiny protesting voice away. She couldn't give in to it. It was a fool's hope. And she wasn't a fool.