|
|
| |
Chapter 7
Monday was a blur.
It passed so quickly..On Tuesday morning Jenny gets ready for class
but today she wears something a little more special for her private
lesson later.. She slips on her light pink silk shirt and her blue
slacks. She pulls her hair back into a tight braid and slips on
her favorite blue flats. Her classes go smoothly and she finds herself
checking the clock every fifteen minutes. When the three o’clock
bell rings she slips out quietly and climbs in her VW Beetle. Jenny
pulls out her map of LA and looks for the quickest route to Beverly
Hills. It takes her exacly 1hour in the crazy afternoon traffic
and of course she is stuck behind a scenic movie star tour bus for
at least 10 minutes! She pulls up to the driveway and rolls down
her window. The iron gates give her an indication of the size of
the actor’s home. She pushes the button and a voice on the
speaker tells her she can come on up to the house. The huge gates
open and the wooded driveway is about ½ mile long. She turns
the corner and for the first time is able to see the house. It is
a English Tutor style mansion with a large entrance fit for a queen.
She parks her car, checks her face and hair in the mirror..gets
out and walks up to the large majestic doors. Before she even gets
to knock on the large brass knocker the door opens and a small cheery
looking Asian woman welcomes her.
Mrs. Xuliang
Welcome. Please come
in.
Jenny looks around.
A large iron bannistered staircase is in the center of the foyer.
She looks down and finds a small collection of shoes near the door.
She carefully slips off her blue flats and prays that her stocking
toes did not tear during the day.
Mrs. Xuliang (nodds and smiles)
Thank you for observing
our customs. We usually do not require guests to remove their footware
but you are welcome to.
Jenny (Mandarin)
I am used to it.
Mrs. Xuliang (shocked. She replies in Mandarin)
Mr. Yi said you could
speak Chinese but he did not tell us how fluently. Mr. Li will be
very impressed. Please wait in the study and I will tell him you
are here.
She opens the first door on the
left and Jenny walks into a beautiful library. She sits down on
a leather queen anne style chair and looks around the room. There
are three walls full from top to bottom with books. Some of the
books appeared to be very old and worn. From a distance she could
see several classics..Shakespeare, Robert Louis Stevenson..even
some poetry by Robert Burns. He had several rows of books on Chinese
medicine and meditation. She looks over at his desk. It has an old
photograph of an older Chinese woman on it and a beautful burgundy
leather stationary set. Behind his desk is a computer, printer and
scanner. On the wall there several photographs with Mr. Li with
some of his movie star friends..Jackie Chan, Mel Gibson… they
were all there. Jenny feels intimidated and blushes.
Mrs. Xuliang
Mr. Li asks that you join him and Mr. Yi in the
game room.
Jenny (stands up)
Alright.
Jenny follows Mrs. Xuliang down a long hallway
out the rear sliding french doors..past the pool and garden to a
large brick building.. She walks in and half of the room is a gymnasium
with mats and wushu weapons adorning the walls. To the right, there
is a ping pong table, some arcade video games and in front of her
is a large black leather sofa. Two black leather chairs are in front
of one of the biggest screen TV’s she had ever seen..The chairs
are moving around and as Jenny and Mrs. Xuliang move closer Jenny
can hear two men clicking away on something.. She looks at what
is playing on the screen and sees that these two people are playing
some video game together. Jenny looks over at Mrs. Xuliang in disbelieve
and she smiles and shruggs her shoulders. Mrs. Xuliang walks up
to the person in the chair on the right side..bends over and says
something to the man. He stops playing. Puts down the controls and
whirls his chair around.. It is Jet. He is wearing a pair of white
shorts, socks and a gray sweatshirt with Chinese writing on it.
He has a bright sparkling smile in his face.. When he looks at Jenny’s
face his expression turns serious..
Jet Li (Stumbles on his words)
You are Miss. Logue?
He stand up and
bows. He is about 5’6.
Jenny (Mandarin)
Yes.. I am.
She returns his greeting.
Jet Li (Mandarin)
I am very sorry if
I looked shocked but your face is very familiar. Have we met before?
Jenny
No Sir. I don’t
believe so. I would have remembered.
Jenny is nervous
but she glances at his face while he pushes the other chair to get
the person’s attention. He does look familiar but she had seen
LW4 so she brushes the strange déjà vu feeling off..
The other black chair turns around
and it’s Steve Yi! Jenny is so relieved to see a familiar face
and smiles. Steve jumps out of the chair and shakes Jenny’s
hand.
Steve
Thanks so much for
coming. Did you have any problem finding the house?
Jenny
No. It was quite easy really.
She looks over
at Jet and he is staring at her..
Jenny (smiles)
Is something wrong?
Jet
No.. nothing. Please Mrs. Xuliang. Take Miss Logue
to the study and serve some tea please..I will join you in a minute.
Jenny (puzzled)
Ok.
Mrs. Xuliang walks Jenny back
into the house to the study.
Jenny
Is there something wrong with Mr. Li?. He looked
like he was dissatisfied or something.
Mrs. Xuliang
Oh no.. He’s fine. Actually I have never seen
him look like that before.
BACK AT THE GAME
ROOM
Jet (Mandarin)
It is her..I knew it! The first time I saw her in
the Chinahouse restaurant..I knew it. This is amazing!
Steve (laughs)
She did look a little pale though
when she first saw you. Hmm…Do you think you will be able to
concentrate on your lesson?
Jet
I hope so. She looks
exactly like she is in my dreams. I can’t believe this. We
have to find out how we are connected. I have had this dream since
I was a child growing up in Beijing.. this is very strange.. I had
better go and put some better clothes on.. Are you going to sit
in with us during the lesson?
Steve
No. I think I am going
to swim a couple of laps. I will catch up to you later at dinner
ok?
Jet
Ok.. Wish me luck!
Jet runs upstairs
and throws on some sweats pants. He brushes his teeth and checks
his self in the mirror. For a moment he thinks back to when he was
a young man in Beijing training so hard to please his mother. Every
night he would have dreams about this mysterious blonde woman with
a Scottish accent. Only twice has he ever discussed the dreams..
Once with his mother and then with Steve. He had to tell him everything
once he saw her sitting in the restraunt. He wanted to walk up and
introduce himself but he was so overcome with shock…he couldn’t
do it. Now she was in his house! What would he tell her? He decides
that he is going to play it cool and not tell her anything.. If
there is some connection then only fate would show them the way..
Jet (Mandarin)
Sorry about the wait..
Thank you for being so patient. Next time you come over I will be
prepared for our lessons.
Jenny (Mandarin)
It’s alright.
I was looking at some of your books.. You have a wonderful selection…even
some from the Ming Dynasty. I’m very impressed.
Jet (shocked)
I see you know your Chinese literature.
Most of these books I picked up in Hong Kong before I came to America.
If you would like to borrow any..you can..
Jenny (smiles)
Well thanks. I don’t have very much time right
now for reading but when I do I may borrow one.
Jet climbs up on a small stepping
stool..
Jet
There is one here
that I think you will enjoy..
Jenny watches him as he searches
for the book.. That déjà vu feeling from earlier creeps
back into her mind. I know I have met this guy before..he seems
different though.
Jet
Here it is.. I found
it.
He gets down and
passes a small leather bound journal…an antique. He passes
the book to Jenny..
It was written
in 1815 by Chinese man who travels from China to Europe. Do you
enjoy historical pieces?
Jenny
Yes.. this looks marvelous! You don’t mind
me taking it home?
Jet
Of course not..
Well I guess we should
get down to business right?
Jenny (Blushes)
Yes.. English classes.. I guess we
can sit over there at your desk if you would like?
Jet
Yes.. that’s fine..
Jenny
I think today we
will go over what you already know and that will tell me where I
need to start. Ok?
Jet
Sounds great.. I am
a very slow learner though.. English is very difficult for me to
learn for some reason (sneaky grin)
Jenny (smiles)
He begins to rattle off short sentences.. She is
watching the way his mouth moves. He fidgets with his hands and
rocks his feet back and forth under the table and it is driving
her crazy already..His hair is short and stylish. He is very attractive.
His smile melts her. He catches her staring at him and he smiles..
she blushes.
Jenny
Ahem… You are doing great. I see where you
need some help.. I have some workbooks that I would like you to
start with.. They may seem a little childish but it’s actually
a great way to begin. You want to learn how to read and write English
of course..because of the scripts.
Jet
Yes.. I will need
to learn everything. I only have four months. Do you think I will
be ready?
Jenny
Yes..of course. You
have made wonderful progress already. I have one suggestion for
you though.. I know that you are a well known actor and it is hard
for you to get out and about without being recognized but I need
for you to expose yourself to English speaking communites. There
are certain things you just can’t learn in a house full of
Mandarin speaking people. You have to force yourself to speak English.
Would you go out with me?
Jet (coughs)
Pardon?
Jenny (laughs)
I’m sorry…What I am asking
is ..if you will come out with me to visit some great places to
hear English being spoken?
Jet (blushing)
Oh.. Ok. Where did
you want to go?
Jenny
Hmm.. I am not sure. How about Vegas? That place
is a great place to meet people and talk. You won’t be recognized
there..it’s huge and it is away from the Chinese community.
We could dress you up like a tourist and have a great time. Well?
Jet
Sounds like fun. I think I would like it. I will
have to talk to Steve and see what my schedule looks like. He runs
my life.. you know (laughs)
Jenny
I am sure he won’t
mind. I am sorry but I need to get going. It’s going to be
a long trip home and I have an early morning. I will be back on
Thursday. Here’s some workbooks that I would like you to start
with. I will be over as soon as my class is over.
Jet
Alright..sounds good. I will talk
to Steve about going to Las Vegas and I will have time tonight to
have a look at these workbooks. Thanks for coming to my house to
teach. I hope you don’t think I am some eccentric thespian..
(smiles)
Jenny
Of course..not. I did see Lethal
Weapon 4 though and you played a pretty scary character in that
movie.
Jet (beaming)
You watched LW4??
Wonderful! That was my first time playing a villain. It was nice
to play the villain for once.. Anyway.. You had better get going.
If you like I can ask Steve to send a car to pick you up at your
house so that you don’t have to worry about driving?
Jenny
That’s very kind.
Thanks. I’ll be fine though.
Jet gets up and shows Jenny to
the front door. She slips on her shoes.
Jet
Well.. Goodnight Miss Logue
Jenny
You can call me Jen
or Jenny..if you don’t mind me calling you Jet?
Jet
Fine then.. Goodnight Jenny
Jenny
Goodnight. See you
on Thursday!
Mrs. Xuliang comes
to the door and stands beside Jet and waves goodbye.
Jen gets in her
VW Beetle, turns on her light and waves goodbye to both of them.
As she is leaving the driveway the gate opens and Jenny breathes
a sigh of relief. The first meeting was a success and even better
because he is so sweet!
Next Chapter
Written by Isabel Hodge
|
|
|
