Chapter 7 A Vegan Ally
A Vegan Ally
Julia
Julia was starting to believe it had all been a really bonkers dream.
She hadn’t heard from her parents or her grandmother in over a week. Maybe she’d gotten it all wrong. Maybe her grandmother
hadn’t told her she was dying. Maybe she hadn’t told Julia her impossible last wish of seeing her fall in love. Maybe Julia
hadn’t agreed to being set up and asking Tae Kim to be her dating coach.
Except Julia knew it all had happened and she was now stuck in the worst scenario ever. She’d have to succeed at the one thing
she was well and truly bad at—dating—to make the person who meant the most to her happy. Failure was not an option.
So she wouldn’t go down without a fight. Julia never shied away from asking for help when she needed it. And though she had
to admit asking Tae to be her dating coach was a bruise to her ego, if he could help in any way, then she was going to do
whatever it took.
Julia thought back to the boy she’d grown up with.
He was always by her side, willing to let her read her books aloud to him or be dressed up in silly costumes by her.
He was just . . . there. When had she stopped keeping in touch with Tae?
They’d texted and emailed a few times when she was in college.
So it was likely when she started Starlight, when she put everything on the line and buried her nose in nothing but work.
She had sacrificed a lot in those four years.
She just didn’t realize old friendships—Tae—was one of those things.
And how could she not remember that he was at her launch party?
She was very curious about this much-buzzed-about gray suit, that was for sure.
Julia started to wonder what else she’d unknowingly given up while single-mindedly working toward success. But that would
do her no good. She was right where she wanted to be professionally, on the cusp of something huge. If she could make it work.
She had to make it work.
And now she was forced to try and make her personal life finally catch up.
It was another incredibly busy day for her. After the Oprah news leaked, the interest in Starlight had spiked with traffic
both online and in their stores. The magazine hadn’t even hit newsstands yet, and Julia had been on the phone most all of
Monday and this morning.
So why had she agreed to coffee with Tae?
“My dying wish . . .” She couldn’t get her grandmother’s words out of her head. She needed to see if they could get a follow-up appointment sooner
than the one her grandmother had been offered.
Speaking of appointments . . .
“Annette?” she called out through the open door.
“Yeah?” Annette called back.
Julia walked out to stand in the doorway between her office and Annette’s desk. “Could you move my calendar around and save
me thirty minutes at two o’clock this afternoon? Oh, and can you have Security make a guest pass for Tae Kim?”
“Oooh, Tae Kim is coming? I needed some excitement today. He is a perfect serotonin boost.”
“Remind me how you know my childhood neighbor?” Julia squinted her eyes in suspicion.
“I’m on speed dial with your parents and grandmother.”
“Yes, my dad made me aware of this. And?” Julia motioned for Annette to keep going. What did this have to do with Tae Kim?
“Your entire family talks about Tae all the time. Especially your grandmother. ‘Tae will fix this. Tae will take care of that.
Tae is coming home from Chicago to take care of his dad. Tae is driving me to the swap meet.’ ”
Tae took her grandmother to the swap meet? That used to be the thing Julia and she did together when she was younger. When
she had more time.
“Plus, I remember him from your launch party in that—” Annette let out a sigh “—gray suit.”
“Annette . . .” Julia tried to put an edge of warning in her tone.
“Anywho, if it’s Tae, you’re gonna need more than thirty minutes. You’ll need an hour for the coffee date and then another
half hour to come back down from the high of spending time with him,” she said, clicking around on her computer. “I’m on it,
boss. Your schedule is my bitch.”
“Annette, I’m sure thirty minutes will be enough.”
“Not even close,” Annette said, not looking up from her screen, biting her lower lip. She was determined.
Julia shook her head, went into her office, and got back to work.
“Is it a good time for a break?”
Julia looked up and smiled. Tae was standing in her office doorway . . . leaning.
She swallowed . . . hard.
Julia always thought of Tae as the lanky preteen boy following her around the neighborhood. When had he gotten so tall? And
so . . . hot?
He was in a fitted black T-shirt and well-worn jeans, leaving little to the imagination.
“Why are you here so early?” she asked, pulling herself away from staring.
“Um, I thought we said two o’clock?” Tae looked down at his phone with furrowed brow and then back up at Julia.
“Yeah, but . . .” Julia hadn’t even picked her head up from work all day. She hadn’t had lunch. Usually, Annette brought her . . .
“Annette?”
“Yes, Ms. Song. You called?” Julia had never seen Annette react so quickly. And Ms. Song? Who was she kidding? Annette tried to stand next to Tae . . . in the doorway . . . at the same time. It was a tight fit,
much to Annette’s clear pleasure.
Julia and Annette locked eyes. This was it. A stare-down.
Step out of the doorway, Julia’s gaze requested.
I don’t want to step into your office when you’re busy, Annette’s glare responded.
Why didn’t you tell me when it was noon, like you usually do? Julia’s squint asked.
Oh, did I forget your lunch? So sorry, Annette’s very-not-sorry smize said back.
“Tae, you’ll have to excuse Ms. Song. She’s quite surly when she’s hangry. She completely missed lunch today. Do make sure
to feed her while you’re out,” Annette said, patting Tae’s arm a few too many times.
“Oh, sure, of course. Jules, if you have time—”
“She does. I made sure to clear her entire afternoon when she told me she wanted to spend time with you.”
Tae smiled at Annette, and Julia swore Annette fluttered her eyelashes back at Tae.
For a married woman with six kids, she still knew how to lay it on thick, apparently.
“Well, then. C’mon, Jules. Let’s go get you fed.”
Tae led the way to a small café a couple blocks from Julia’s office.
After two years of being in this neighborhood, she’d rarely ventured out and had Annette order lunch in most of the time.
It was gorgeous outside, warm but not hot, cloudless skies a bright and clear blue. Southern California at its finest.
They walked into the small but tastefully decorated café. Reclaimed wood on the walls with plants hanging and polished concrete
floors gave it the LA cool vibe. And the smells coming from the open concept kitchen made Julia immediately want to come here all the time. That was,
if they had something the notoriously picky Julia actually wanted to eat on the menu.
“Have you been here before?” Tae asked.
“No, I’ve never seen this place.”
“It’s vegan. But not LA-vegan,” he added.
“LA-vegan?”
“You know, the food isn’t trying to be an imitation of anything else. The chef just makes the menu based on what’s in season
and what each ingredient is at its core.”
“That’s intense. It’s also the kind of nonsense a dedicated vegan would say.” Julia slammed her hand to her mouth. “Sorry.
Ugh, I’m trying to be less straightforward in the things I say. I’ve been told it hurts people. Please don’t cry.”
Tae laughed. “Oh, well, you can say whatever you want around me. I’m not that fragile. Plus, I’m not offended since I’m not
vegan.”
Julia’s mouth twisted. “You’re not vegan but you brought us to a vegan restaurant?” In Julia’s mind, the vegan ally was the
worst kind of nonvegan.
“Well, you’re still a vegetarian, right?”
“Wait, how did you know that?” Julia asked.
“I remember when you made the switch. I think you were seventeen? You made the PowerPoint presentation to show your parents
why this was an important choice for you,” Tae reminded her.
“I can’t believe you remember that,” Julia said.
Tae shrugged. “I remember everything.”
Julia tried to ignore the way those words made her feel. How did they make her feel? What was with the racing heartbeat, the boulder lodged in her throat, the flutter in her belly . . .
“Anyways, I wanted to make sure you’d have something to eat that wasn’t just a side garden salad, like at most restaurants,”
Tae said.
Julia looked up at Tae in shock. Damn, but that was the most considerate thing anyone had ever said or done. “That’s truer
in Orange County. In LA, you can usually find a few good options on every menu, even at hamburger places. Like In-N-Out? They
have the best grilled cheese.” Julia’s mouth watered at the thought. And her stomach decided now was the perfect time to chime
in. The growl was loud and angry. Julia grabbed her stomach, mortified.
“Well, trust me that the food here is good, no matter what you order.”
They walked up to the counter, and Julia looked over the menu on the wall. She ordered the vegan risotto and Tae the farmer’s
eggplant sandwich. They took their number and found a table. Since it was later in the afternoon, they were one of the few
occupied tables in the restaurant. Julia found that she could breathe freely since there wasn’t a line or a crowd. She didn’t
like being around large groups of people or busy places. If she wasn’t out with her besties, she’d usually be alone. And it
always felt like people looked and wondered and made judgments. She was too sensitive about it, she knew. Still, it made her
anxious, especially eating out alone.
But today, she was with Tae.
“So what brings you up to LA today?” Julia asked.
“I had to pick up some parts to fix Mrs. Sun’s kimchi refrigerator. She has an older model, and this place in K-town is the
only shop where I could find this part.”
“You couldn’t find it online?”