Chapter 46
Their final five days in the rehearsal room had been grueling. The actors worked their asses off learning the English lyrics
that Derek had rewritten. Th ? o had begrudgingly helped so he didn’t make a mess of them.
“Thank you, everyone,” said Derek as he officially ended rehearsal for the day. “Make sure to rest and drink some tea with
honey to soothe your throats.”
His weary cast nodded as they gathered their things and headed out.
“Th ? o!” Derek called out as she followed the cast out of the room. After a grueling five days, tech rehearsal started tomorrow.
She stopped but didn’t turn around until Katie Mai nudged her.
“Want to grab a drink and go over notes for tomorrow?” he asked with an embarrassing amount of hope.
“I’ll email you my notes tonight,” Th ? o replied flatly, but there was still sadness in her eyes.
He nodded and stuck his hands in his pockets. Every day after rehearsal, he’d asked Th ? o if she wanted to go over notes and received the same response.
Th ? o and the rest of the cast had barely spoken to him outside of rehearsal. They still maintained an expected level of professionalism, which he should be grateful for. Except he didn’t want to spend another evening alone in his apartment remembering the disappointment on Zoe’s face before she walked out after their argument.
He turned to Heather to seek her company.
“Sorry. I have to meet with the crew,” she apologized. “Things will get better, I’m sure.”
He shrugged. Th ? o was as stubborn as all the other Viet women in his life. He didn’t expect her to come around anytime soon, but that wouldn’t
stop him from trying.
Derek toed off his sneakers and dropped his backpack on the floor then slammed his apartment door shut. His keys clanged loudly
as he tossed them onto the coffee table. He overshot and the keys slid onto the carpet with a jingle.
“Whatever,” he muttered. He’d pick them up tomorrow before he left for tech.
The space had felt like home only when Zoe stayed the night. Now it felt more like a hotel room: a place for him to shower
and sleep before walking back to Prestige. He’d lost everything and everyone else, but at least he was still the show’s director.
Like the past four nights, he ripped open a frozen dinner and stabbed the plastic film before microwaving it. How the food
tasted didn’t matter as long as it filled his belly so he could do the same thing again tomorrow. He reached into the fridge
to grab a beer, pushing aside Zoe’s squeeze bottle of sweetened condensed milk.
All he needed to do was make it to opening night. Then he’d return to New York, where the distance would make it easier to
forget about Zoe.
No, he wasn’t letting her ghost him as easily as she had after college. He needed The Brocaded Slipper to succeed so she’d understand what he was sacrificing. He vowed to send her every rave review. Not to gloat but to demonstrate that compromising didn’t dilute their people’s story.
His phone rang as he settled down on the couch with his dinner.
“Mom,” he answered in surprise. She didn’t normally call on Thursdays. “Is everything okay?”
“I can’t call my son to see if he’s still alive?” Her face filled his entire phone screen.
Shit. He’d missed several weeks of Sunday calls. Yet another way he’d let someone close to him down.
“Sorry. T ? m Cám has been taking up all my time.” And Zoe, he added.
“I’m not important enough for you?”
Why were mothers so good at mom guilt? Did they get some kind of handbook?
“M ? ,” he said in exasperation. “You know that’s not true.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“Are you eating a Lean Cuisine?” She tsked and shook her head. “You are in Washington, DC, and eating bad frozen food.”
“I’m too tired to fight, M?.”
“You look too skinny. Something is wrong.” It wasn’t a question but an observation.
“I’m fine,” he protested.
“Why are you sad?” The corners of her eyes crinkled in worry.
Had those wrinkles on her forehead always been there? He suddenly wished his mom was sitting next to him. Or that she was
in the kitchen cooking a pot of bún riêu, his favorite spicy crab noodle soup.
“I’m not—” He sighed. After five days of not talking to Zoe, barely talking to Th ? o, and spending his evenings all alone, the dam burst. “It’s been a bad week.”
Derek propped his phone on top of the couch cushions. He filled her in on everything that had happened since they last spoke. Well, not quite. He told her about Zoe but left all the sexy parts out. His cheeks grew hot as he told her about Greg and how his mentor had turned out to be a bully.
“I refuse to give up,” he finished. Derek was relieved to talk to someone about the pressure he’d been under since arriving
at Prestige Rep.
Surprisingly, his mother was silent the entire time and listened intently to him.
“I’m proud of you, Sang.” She only used his Vietnamese name when she was angry with him, but she was smiling tonight.
Derek blinked in disbelief. “You are?”
“And it took you long enough to get together with Zoe!”
“Wait, you knew?” Derek didn’t know if he could take any more surprises from his mother.
“I saw the way you two looked at each other when she visited. She’s a smart and brave girl.”
“She is. I fu—messed things up with her.” He rubbed his temples. “She won’t return my texts or calls.”
“Do you love her?”
“Yes, I love her,” Derek replied without hesitation. The feelings he had for Zoe now were real love, unlike his infatuation
from their college days. His heart had ached for her these past five days. Food no longer had flavor and sleep was elusive
without Zoe in his life.
“Then make things right, because I need grandchildren before I die,” she teased, but he could tell she was serious about grandkids.
Her phone shook as she set it down on her coffee table.
“Don’t talk like that. You’re still young. Wait, did you paint the walls blue?” Now it was his turn to peer into the screen.
His childhood home was no longer drab and beige.
“I did. And bought a new couch.” She stood up and stepped to the side to show off a blue damask sectional.
“Now it’s my turn to ask if you’re okay.”
“I got it on sale. Don’t worry.” She came back into frame and waved at the wall. “I painted it myself because I quit my job!”
“You what?!” Derek exclaimed.
“Technically I retired and I saved up so much vacation time that they are paying me to redecorate my house.”
His mother’s face lit up as she belly laughed. He barely recognized her. Never in his life had he seen her so happy.
“Your turn. Tell me what happened.”
“I found out my boss has been stealing from the school for the past ten years. He tried to bully me into fixing the books
and lying for him. He threatened to report me to immigration.” She rolled her eyes.
“But you got your U.S. citizenship when I was in middle school.” Derek had drilled his mother until she knew all the test
questions and answers perfectly. She’d passed on her first try.
“He’s not very smart. I told him that if he paid out my twenty-four weeks of saved vacation time and a bonus, I’d retire.
Then he can do whatever he wants.”
“Mom! You could get in trouble as an accessory.”
“No way. I cashed the check right away. Then I mailed the school’s snooty board of directors an anonymous tip plus the flash
drive with all the evidence.” She smirked.
Derek’s mouth dropped.
“So now I’m free of my bully boss.”
“How did you know he’d agree?” asked Derek.
“I didn’t. But I’m too old to put up with his threats and the disgusting way he looks at me.” She shivered. “You’re old enough
to know that now.”
“Mom! Did he ever—” Anger welled up in his chest. He’d jump in his rental car right now and drive the eight hours home.
“No. I would kick him in the balls before I let him touch me,” she spat.
Derek barked with laughter and his shoulders dropped in relief.
“This means you’ll come down for opening night?” he asked hopefully.
“You already got me a plane ticket. You know I hate wasting money.”
“I’ll email you the details.” He’d buy the ticket as soon as they hung up. “I miss you, M ? .”
“Sang, I know I taught you not to make trouble, but making trouble is fun.” A giggle escaped her lips. “Now, I need to buy
some new clothes before I come see your big show.”
She looked happier and lighter than she’d ever been. His mother had found the courage to stand up to her boss and demand what she wanted.
“I’m proud of you, too,” he said. “And I love you, M ? .”
“I love you, Sang. Make sure you eat something better than a frozen dinner.”
Before he could react to what she’d said, his mother hung up. Derek sat with his mouth open in shock. Not only had his mother
said she was proud of him but she’d actually told him that she loved him. He’d always known that she loved him, but to hear
those words aloud smashed the self-pity he’d wallowed in all week.
He couldn’t let his mother down when she flew in for opening night. Before he and Zoe came up with the musical, his mother
had told him her version of The Brocaded Slipper . He wanted a production worthy of her bedtime story. Derek wanted his mother to hear her native tongue and see herself on
that stage when Katie Mai sang.
He’d actually missed the Viet they’d removed in the show. He was more comfortable with English, but the songs had lost their magic without the melodic tones of Vietnamese.
Tomorrow he’d walk into Greg’s office and tell Greg that he was putting the Vietnamese back into the show. His mentor would
have no choice but to accept it because it would be bad PR to fire a Vietnamese American director and take Derek’s place.
Then he’d march downstairs to the costume shop to apologize and tell Zoe he loved her. He should’ve kept her in the loop about
everything instead of worrying that he’d look weak for being unable to protect her. It was too late to change the past but
it was time to make things right.
Everything would either work out as planned or blow up in his face, but at least he would try to do the right thing.