Caia Hendersn's life is a mess. She's lost her father, her fiance, and she still has to be at work Monday morning. Things take a turn for the dangerous when Caia finds herself the victim of a random mugging the night of the funeral. Little does she...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"Ah, damn it!" Adam Wu, who was not a fan of tiny bathrooms, was once again spending a Sunday night crammed inside one to change. "Why?" he asked aloud. "Why did I think this would work this time? It has worked out well for me zero percent of the time."He complained, but Adam knew exactly why he had chosen to cram his lanky frame into the coat closet of a washroom. It beat smelling like Kung Pao chicken the rest of the night.
With a final hop and grunt, he managed to pull the tracksuit bottoms up and not knock anything off the wall. Adam exited the stall and began washing his face. He stared at his reflection in the mirror, red from the pre-workout changing had been. "Chinese people are too damn small." he said.
As if on cue, the door to the washroom flew open and a diminutive grey haired woman stepped inside, "Nonsense." she laughed, "You are too long." Their eyes met in the mirror, Adam widened his in mock horror, "Mrs. Li! I could have been naked in here!" The older woman was unmoved, "Ai, I have three sons and a husband. What's new for me to see?"
Mrs. Li and her family owned the restaurant Adam had been working at for the past two years, the Wushu Wok, for decades. At one point in time, all three sons had played a part in managing the business, but all had moved on to their own careers once they'd married and had children.
"Hand me that uniform." Mrs. Li demanded, her hands held out expectantly. Adam moved the pile of clothing further from her reach. "Mrs. Li, I cannot allow you to keep washing my uniforms for me. I'm a grown man." She rolled her eyes and huffed, "Just give it to me. I'm about to start the wash." She lunged for the clothes, but Adam held them high above their heads.
He smiled smugly, "Well, well. It looks like I have you beat this time." Adam's victory was short lived as Mrs. Li just as smugly smiled and popped him in the stomach with a quick jab. The blow wasn't hard, but just enough to catch him off guard and cause him to drop the clothing into her waiting arms.
"Ai, when will you learn?" she asked, quite pleased with her success, "No matter how tall the tree, you cannot block out the mountain." With that, Mrs. Li exited the room, her satisfied smile intact, leaving Adam shaking his head in wonder.
The interior of the restaurant was similar to many he'd seen before. Dark stained wood offset the traditional Chinese red and gold all throughout the main dining area. Only one customer remained, quietly enjoying his bowl of noodles while a drama flickered across the television screen.
"You heading out?" a voice asked from behind as they weaved their arm around Adam's. He looked down into the questioning face of An Li, Mrs. Yi's oldest grandchild. An was small, but fiery with dark brown eyes and glossy black hair. She was stunning, beyond any beauty standard that people may subscribe to and she distinctly had her eyes set on Adam ever since moving into the city for college earlier in the year. It wasn't that he didn't have interest in An; he was alive with eyes after all. It was more about his respect for Mrs. Li that held him back. Like most Chinese grandparents, she had bigger dreams for her granddaughter than to see her paired off with someone as uncertain as Adam.
Though, he thought as they reached the exit, we look great together. Mrs. Li eyed them suspiciously from behind the counter. "Ai, don't make such a spectacle of yourselves in public!" Adam and An surveyed the empty seats all around. "Nai Nai, what public do you mean?" An asked with a false tone of concern in her voice, "Have you finally gone senile?"
Adam could not suppress the small laugh that escaped his lips. No one other than An would be able to escape a smack from Mrs. Li for daring to make a joke at her expense. The old woman narrowed her eyes and let loose a signature huff before tossing a tan pay envelope at him.
"You should stay a little longer." An said, sliding her arm from his, "I get off soon." The sharp look from Mrs. Li, no matter how brief the flash of it was, did not go unnoticed by Adam. He knew she meant no offense, so instead he smiled and simply said, "It's Sunday night. Fight night."
There was a slight look of relief on Mrs. Li's face, but a look of serious concern on An's. "When are you going to give that up?" Ah, there it is, he thought, the other reason she's not for me. Like most women interested in Adam, An hated that he participated in Mixed Martial Arts. She folded her arms over her chest and pouted, "I'm always so worried about you."
He chuckled and patted her shoulder, "I'll be fine." he said reassuringly, "I'm always fine." An opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by Mrs. Li shoving Adam's motorcycle helmet in between them. "Just don't come back with your face all busted up. You'll scare off all my customers." He took the helmet and placed his hand on the door.
"What this face, Mrs. Li?" Adam said while cupping his own chin, "Never. This face is the money maker." He exited just in time to dodge the incoming order pad the cackling Mrs. Li launched his way.
Author's Note
Dear reader, thank you so much for giving my story a chance! If you had a good time, please consider voting for this chapter. I look forward to growing as a writer on this platform and alongside each of you!
