If you had told Huan just twenty-four hours ago that he would be spending New Year's morning at a twenty-four hour diner with his ex-girlfriend, he probably would have thought you were several crayons short of a full box.
After talking with Lynne on the rooftop, he wandered back inside Edgar's apartment and went to get himself a drink in preparation of toasting the new year. As he wove himself through the throng of people that seemed to have grown exponentially since he went outside, he had accidentally bumped into Veronica right as he approached the refreshments. She had come to the party because a sorority sister of hers was friends with Edgar's fiancee. Small world.
They found themselves slipping back into the easy rapport that they shared. The conversation flowed so naturally that when those around them started counting down the final seconds of the year, they only registered it when it got to the final ten seconds. Huan's eyes quickly scanned the crowd for Lynne as their voices joined the countdown. Once they got to one, his mind could only focus on the lips that had crashed against his in a fiery kiss. Enveloped by her spicy familiar scent and the taste of champagne on her lips, he wrapped his arms around the body that he used to think was made for him and deepened the kiss. After what felt like minutes, but was probably seconds, they pulled apart and stared at each other. His body was vibrating with a familiar yearning that was enhanced due to the liquor in his system. "Happy New Year," someone shouted around them and broke their bubble of concentration. They went about congratulating those around them.
Huan separated himself from Veronica, who he had to admit looked stunning in her silver sequined dress and red high heeled pumps that did wonders for her toned legs and ass. He searched for Lynne to get a hug for the new year and was perplexed when he couldn't find her. Edgar's penthouse was large, but there were only so many places she could be. After heading back outside to the rooftop where he last saw her and asking a group of people passing around a joint if they had seen her who shook their heads collectively no, perplexity morphed into minor panic. Where is she?
Eventually, he registered that his phone was vibrating in his back pocket. Pulling it out, he scanned through the numerous "Happy New Year" messages from friends and family. As he went to clear the messages from his home screen, a new message from Lynne popped up.
L: It kills me to admit this, but you were right. Couldn't make it to midnight after all. The party drained me. Please don't hate me, but I am driving home. Don't worry about me. Enjoy yourself at the party. I'll talk to you later. Happy New Year!
Before he could reply and ask why she hadn't told him in person before she left, he felt someone tapping on his shoulder. Turning around, he was immediately wrapped up in a near back-breaking hug from Edgar. "HAPPY NEW YEAR, HUAN!!"
Huan reciprocated the hug with a good-natured slap on the back. "Happy New Year to you too, Eddie!"
"Where's Triple L?" Eddie asked as he looked around Huan.
"She left. Maxed out on the social interaction plus she's been tired a lot lately. You know how she is. Overworking like the rest of us," he told him with a shrug.
"Bummer. I would've thought we had at least until 1am before she turned into a pumpkin. I'm glad she came out though."
"Yeah," Huan said, but the small half-smile on his face didn't quite reach his eyes.
"Come on old friend. The rooftop is emptying out and Hailey has been swept away by the coven of her friends for photos and girl talk. I've got a couple of primo cigars my brother brought me back from his trip to Nicaragua. We need to catch up. Grab that bottle of William Larue Weller Bourbon I have hidden behind the bar and a few glasses. I'll meet you out there."
"Breaking out the fancy shit for me. I feel so classy."
"Shut it before I change my mind."
When the two friends escaped to the relatively quiet rooftop, they sat down in two padded loungers off in the corner opposite of the bench that Huan and Lynne had sat on earlier. This area was partially hidden by a copse of potted trees and plants. The two men caught each other up on their lives since they last spoke with each other. Smoke hung in thick whisps between them as they slowly smoked their way through the box of cigars, laughed, and reminisced. Time ticked by as the two lamented that they missed their third compatriot, Luis Arroyo, who was visiting with family in Texas for the holidays. They would have to figure out a way to align their schedules to catch up completely in the next few weeks.
"Well, it might be a little tough for me to do in January, but February would be better. I'll be out of the state for Attending position interviews."
"Anywhere promising?"
"St. Francis and Preston Hills Hospital in Pennsylvania, Holy Trinity Health in Jersey, and Winton-Akers in California with Dr. Mitchell for trauma. But that is a hail mary of a long-shot."
"Holy shit!" Edgar's jaw dropped open, causing a bit of the liquor to sputter out of his mouth. "Dr. Mitchell. Dr. Everett Mitchell. THE Dr. Everett Mitchell! He basically rewrote the handbook on 21st century trauma surgery. That man is a fucking GOD! Even a lowly pediatrician like myself knows this is huge! How in the world did you swing an interview with him?"
"I guess I'm just that good," Huan answered with a smug shit-eating grin on his face as he took a long drag on his cigar.
"Bullshit. Who did you have to blow to get an interview with him?"
"If that is what is going on in pediatrics, I'm glad I picked my specialty. Unlike some people, I get by on merit alone."
"You are truly fucking blessed, dude. I'm happy for you. All that hard work and no life is finally paying off for you."
"I gotta do what I can to catch up to you," he remarked with a chuckle. "But honestly, thanks, man. Means a lot."
"I think it is safe to say that you are going to blaze past me and pretty much everyone else from our graduating class when all is said and done. You have more talent than anyone I know. I don't know anyone who deserves this opportunity better. And WHEN you ace the interview, like I know you will, and get the job working underneath the most sought after trauma surgeon in the known world, it will give me an excuse to visit the other side of the country." Raising his half-full glass in Huan's direction in a toast. "To the future, world-renowned trauma surgeon, Dr. Huan Zhang of Jersey, New York City, and California. Don't forget us little people when you're jet-setting across the world."
With a lax grin on his face, Huan clinked his own glass against Edgar's. California would be nice. It was hard to believe that after all of these years, the hard work, sleepless nights, studying, internships, and applications, it might be an actual reality. "One can dream."
XXX
When the two friends were finished and decided to go back inside, only about one-third of the party goers were still there. Glancing down at his watch, Huan was amazed to see that it was three in the morning. "I guess time sure flies," he said to Edgar with a hint of a chuckle.
"There you are!" Hailey squealed as she rounded on her fiancee before throwing her arms around his neck. "I looked all over for you and couldn't find you ANYwhere," she said with a pout. "You are freezing."
"Well, that happens when you sit outside in a NYC winter for almost three hours. But the bourbon kept us warm on the inside, so we didn't really notice."
"Honestly, babe. You need to take better care of yourself." She chastised him as she rubbed her hands up and down his arms in an attempt to warm him up.
Catching her off-guard he swooped her up in his arms and placed a slightly sloppy kiss on her cheek, "why should I when you take excellent care of me? I never have to worry because I know you are," he replied sweetly, giving her an eskimo kiss.
"Oh-kay. Before you two get any sweeter I'll have to hook myself up to an insulin drip, I think I'm gonna head out of here."
Gently placing Hailey on the floor in front of him, Edgar cocked his head at him. "Are you sure? Our level of sweetness increases exponentially as the sun goes up. You should stick around for that. I mean we could probably scrounge up some insulin from somewhere near. I think there's a twenty-four hour pharmacy around the corner."
"Naw, I think I'm good, man. You two enjoy yourselves. We'll hang-out again sometime soon. It was lovely meeting you, Hailey," he said, taking her hand and kissing the top of it again.
"Alright, enough of that." Edgar told him jokingly as he swatted Huan's hand away.
With a giggle she responded, "it was nice finally meeting you, Huan. Where's your designated driver friend?" She asked, looking around the room for signs of Lynne.
"She left a while ago."
"That's not very friend-like," she said with a bit of a pout.
"It's alright. I can take a cab. No biggie."
"I hope she gave you cab fare. I wouldn't leave a friend in the middle of a party with no ride. That's kinda selfish."
Huan felt a little prickly at her words. Before he got the chance to defend Lynne, Edgar pulled Hailey backwards against his chest. Nuzzling his face in the crook of her shoulder, he whispered a quiet, "drop it" into her ear.
"See you, Huan. Tell Lynne I'm sad she didn't say goodbye and I thoroughly expect her to make it up to us."
Grateful for the understanding of his friend, he gave an appreciative nod, "will do." Turning, he headed to the closet next to the front door where his jacket was stored and put it on. Grabbing his phone out of his pocket he scrolled through the most recent barrage of messages and emails before he pulled up his cab calling app. While it was still loading, a hand tapped him on the shoulder. Thinking someone was trying to get to their jacket, since he had parked in front of the open closet door, he turned to apologize.
Veronica was standing there with a hopeful look on her face. "I see you're leaving. Are you free or planning on heading home soon? If not, you wanna go get breakfast?"
After he got a ride, he had contemplated calling Lynne to make sure she made it home alright, but thought that if she were truly drained she probably wanted to get straight to bed. With the way her hormones were throwing her out of whack lately, he didn't want to open the door to be berated over the phone for ruining her beauty sleep. And with the nice buzz he had going on, he couldn't promise that he wouldn't say something to set her off. He would check in with her later, once she had a proper rest. Closing the app and pocketing his phone he smiled at Veronica, "I could eat."
Three hours, two cups of coffee, and two plates of pancakes, eggs, and bacon later, he found himself enraptured in conversation with his ex-girlfriend. They had caught each other up on what they had been doing professionally for the past few months. She let him know about the few international trips she had taken for both business and pleasure. As Huan let her do most of the talking, he kept himself from mentioning what he had going on with Lynne. When she had finished telling him about a deal she closed at work, he let out a breathy chuckle, then brought his most recent cup of coffee to his lips.
"What's so funny?" She asked him, tapping her nails against the table.
"Nothing. Just, I never could have imagined we'd see each other again so soon, let alone be sharing a," he checked his watch, "two hour long breakfast together."
Adjusting a lock of her shoulder-length hair behind her ear, she smiled at him, "you can never stop fate when it puts you on a particular path, you know?"
Interesting choice of words. "I get yah. It's kind of like string theory or more so the butterfly effect.' You never know what a mosquito landing on your knee instead of a window can do for you in the long run. Squishing it instead of merely shooing it out the window can make the difference between the rest of your day going positively or negatively."
"Or lead you to make the biggest mistake in your life," she said, almost a whisper as she took a long sip of her coffee.
Huan let her statement hang in the air as he polished off the remainder of his breakfast. Casting occasional glances in Veronica's direction he noticed she seemed to be mulling something over. She was doing her usual minimal lip nibble and a crease had furrowed itself into her brow. "Penny for your thoughts?"
"I'd like to try again," she blurted out.
Ok. Definitely not what I thought she was going to say. "I mean, it was nice catching up with you, Veronica, but I have a lot-"
"I miss you Huan. I- I was stupid when I thought I was looking for something else when you had been so good to me. I just didn't know what it was until it was gone."
"Ronnie," he started with the nickname he had lovingly called her at one time, back before she broke his heart.
She held up a hand and gave him a pleading look to stop him. "Don't say anything more. Just think about it. We don't have to rush back into things." She threaded her fingers through his on top of the table and squeezed them gently. "I know you have no good reason to believe me, but I still feel for you. And I hope that somewhere deep down in that precious heart of yours there are still feelings for me."
Huan stared at her, completely frazzled and unable to come up with anything to say. Well, this complicates things a bit. When he finally was able to string more than two thoughts together, he squeezed her fingers back and gave her a small smile. "I will always cherish what we had, Ronnie. But I don't know if I am at a place where that can be an option right now."
Pulling her hand out of his grip, hurt evident on her face for the briefest of moments, she put her jacket back on and rose from her seat. Reaching into her wallet, she pulled out enough money to cover their breakfast and leave a sizable tip for the waitress. "I'm not asking for an answer right this second, Huan. Think it over. Give it a few days. But when you're ready, I'll be waiting for your call. This was fun, but I need to catch a taxi back to my friend's apartment before she worries about me." She bent over and pecked him on the cheek.
"Hold on; I'll wait with you," he told her as he grabbed his jacket and followed her out of the diner. Once he saw her safely into a cab after a seven minute wait, Huan ambled down the streets to the nearest subway station. His mind was awash with all that had happened in the past few hours. Life had thrown him into quite a quagmire.
A/N: Hey there lovelies! I know it was a long road to get here, but moving forward we are in for a bumpy ride. See you next chapter! :)
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