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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 |
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