TWO

Even outside her uniform, Tiffany looked simply amazing. It wasn’t fair; I had to carefully do my makeup every morning and strategically pick out my outfit, but it just seemed that Tiffany looked good in everything. If that’s not proof that justice is dead, I don’t know what is.

“Hey you,” Tiffany happily greeted me as she emerged from the employee’s entrance, “Let’s get going on our date.”

“It—” I started, but seeing Tiffany’s joyful reaction, I stopped myself, knowing that it was futile, “ah, whatever, sure it’s a date,” I conceded, sighing as Tiffany grabbed my hand.

“Did you eat yet? I know a good barbeque place,” she said as we stepped into the street.

“Sure, let’s go there,” I replied. Tiffany’s hand was really warm and soft. As Tiffany lead us to the restaurant, I couldn’t really think about much else except for that; given how shy I was, holding hands with someone I met the day before wasn’t something I did too often. This must be the result of her foreign upbringing.

After we sat down and ordered, I took a sip of water. “We should take this time to get to know each other,” Tiffany said, casually resting her head on her right hand and gazing at me warmly, “Let’s play a game; I ask you a question, and then you ask me one, and so on.”

I acquiesced to her proposition, prompting her to start. “What are your three sizes?” I almost choked on my water upon hearing that. After confirming that the question was a joke from hearing Tiffany giggle, I calmed myself down. “You’re cute; my real question is: what are you majoring in?”

I cleared my throat, making sure my throat was clear of water before replying, “I’m double majoring in Chemical Engineering and Computer Science with a minor in Psychology,” I told her.

Tiffany’s reaction wasn’t the kind that I was used to; normally, people’s reactions fell along the lines of widening of eyes or asking if I was sane, but Tiffany simply responded with a warm knowing smile, as if she was expecting that answer, or that she was proud of me. “Wow, so my date’s pretty much a genius, huh?” she calmly noted, taking a sip of water herself.

At this point, I didn’t even bother disputing Tiffany calling me her ‘date’. I would be lying if I said it didn’t bother me a little, but I shrugged it off as a facet of Tiffany’s personality. “Well, anyone could do what I’m doing, so I don’t really think I’m a genius,” I said. My response was also something that I had gotten used to saying, but it didn’t make it any less true; it didn’t take a genius to work hard.

“Is that so?”

Yet another unexpected answer. Something was definitely unique about this woman; our conversation thus far, that strange familiar feeling I got upon first meeting her, her cheerful demeanor …

“Here is your order.”

My eyes refocused as the waitress started transferring plates of raw meat from a tray onto the table. “Oh, thank you,” I said, eyeing the food carefully.

“Thank you,” Tiffany said as well, helping the waitress with the dishes. After everything was set, the waitress bowed before heading off with the tray. “Your turn,” Tiffany said as she began piling meat onto the grill.

“Um … ok,” I said, contemplating while helping Tiffany cut the meat into smaller pieces, “Which state are you from?”

My inquiry seemed to catch Tiffany by surprise, as her hand froze midair. Something glazed over her face as she heard the question: shock? Fear? Anxiety?

Whatever it was, it quickly vanished and Tiffany took upon her cheerful demeanor once again, “I’m from the same one you’re from: California,” she told me. The way she worded that caught my attention; although it was true that CalTech was, well, in California, I was actually born in California.

“Sorry, was that a bad question?” I asked nervously.

“No, it’s just been a long time since I’ve talked about when I lived in America,” she admitted. “My turn then ... hm, what do you think about gays and lesbians?”

That question caused me to laugh a bit. Was this Tiffany teasing me again? However, after observing Tiffany’s expectant expression, I came to the conclusion that she actually wanted to know my answer; knowing that coming to my own conclusions could lead to misunderstandings, I simply answered honestly, “Well, I think that people should love whomever they like, and it doesn’t matter if a man loves another man or if a woman loves another woman.”

She nodded contently, flipping the meat on the grill. I helped her as I thought of my next question. “What did you mean when you said, ‘don’t tempt me’ earlier?” I inquired, keeping my gaze strictly on the sizzling food.

Tiffany’s eyebrow rose to that, her facial expression changing to what could only be described as amusement. “It meant what it sounds like: your pouting face was so cute that I almost leaned over and stole your lips right there,” she stated calmly, continuing to flip the rest of the meat.

I laughed again, this time much more awkwardly and nervously. “Oh,” I replied dumbly. At that moment, I couldn’t even think properly; it was just a mixture of incomplete, incoherent fragments of ideas and thoughts. Was I visibly blushing? I hope not. Wait a second, Tiffany’s a woman, why … ?

“Here,” Tiffany said, holding up a lettuce wrapped in beef. I obediently opened my mouth, allowing Tiffany to feed me. “Have you ever been in a relationship?”

I felt myself sharply intake a breath in response to that; quickly repressing the memory, I proceeded to answer after swallowing the wrap, “No, I … um, didn’t think I could be in one,” I told her. I didn’t feel ready to reveal exactly what it was that I meant by that.

Luckily, Tiffany seemed to catch on and nodded. As Tiffany reached to feed herself a wrap, I couldn’t help but notice a satisfied smile form on her face. “How about you? Have you been in a relationship before?” I countered.

Tiffany pondered it for a bit, biting her strikingly red lower lip slightly, answering after a few seconds of thought, “One, starting in middle school and ending in high school,” she carefully answered.

Oh. Really? The way she worded it made it sound like they broke up, but it seemed surprising to me that someone like Tiffany wasn’t in a relationship. “Why do you look so surprised?” Tiffany inquired. I looked up to see Tiffany peering at me curiously.

“Uh … well,” I continued, deciding to answer honestly, “I figured that you would’ve already had a boyfriend,” I admitted.

Tiffany smiled gently at that. “Relationships are hard for me, I think,” she said, noticeably choosing her words carefully. I felt guilty, hitting on so many topics that seemed hard for Tiffany; she seemed to notice it though and lighted the mood, saying, “In case you wanted to ask me to be your girlfriend, just know that I would say ‘yes’.”

I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. I sat there dumbly, completely speechless at Tiffany’s bold words. Tiffany giggled, showing off her eye smile again while preparing another wrap. “Ok, my turn,” Tiffany said as I regained my senses.

“Wait,” I interjected, “You already asked a question.”

Tiffany looked at me, confused. “No, I didn’t,” she said slowly, racking her memory.

“Yeah, you asked why I looked so surprised,” I claimed victoriously, grinning.

Upon realizing this, Tiffany broke out into laughter. “Yah, that doesn’t count,” she asserted.

I shrugged. “It’s not my fault you didn’t realize you asked a question,” I told her.

The meal proceeded normally after that, or as normal as it could be with Tiffany. Tiffany dragged me along to a nearby mall afterwards, and by the time we were done, having only tried on some outfits, Tiffany insisted I stay at her apartment for a sleepover. I was hesitant at first, but then Tiffany used a secret weapon I didn’t know she had: aegyo.

And with that, we reached Tiffany’s apartment at around 10:30 at night.

“Oh this is so exciting, I haven’t had a friend over in so long,” she said excitedly, pulling me in.

Her apartment was much more impressive than what I expected out of a bartender. This lead me to hypothesize that Tiffany was perhaps being supported by her family in America to live in Korea, but I never got to asking her about that. Despite having been told about how bad I was at reading other people, I knew better than to pry into her history after asking that question about her birthplace.

“Oh, so I’m your friend now?” I speculated, taking off my shoes in the foyer.

“Oh, sorry. I haven’t had a date over in so long,” she corrected herself. Her back was turned towards me, but I could tell she was smiling playfully.

I sighed, following Tiffany further into her apartment. “At the very least, don’t go around saying that to other people,” I told her.

“Finee,” she conceded, sitting down on her white-leather couch, “Come, sit here,” she said, patting the space next to her.

“Why?” I inquired, obediently following her directive regardless.

“Let’s watch a movie,” she said, grabbing the remote and turning the TV on, “What do you want to watch?”

I sat down on the couch, watching as Tiffany browsed to the ‘movies’ section of her TV. “Should I turn off the lights?” I offered, getting ready to get back up.

“I can do it; do you want anything to drink?” she inquired, setting the remote down on the table in front of the couch and getting up.

“I’ll be fine,” I told her, getting out my phone and checking for messages as Tiffany whisked off. There wasn’t a message from my parents, meaning they probably were still away doing their government job.