Chapter 19 The Friday Table
The Friday Table
The salt-and-pepper squid arrived first.
As always.
Grace had called ahead, as always, and the waiter brought it without asking, as always, and set it in the center of the table with the dipping sauce angled toward Alexis. The staff of Yat Sing understood the structure of the Friday table better than most people understood their own families.
Constance sat with her tea in both hands.
Grace reviewed the menu despite having no intention of changing the order.
Alexis was telling Tessa and Lung that a client had described herself as “low-maintenance but emotionally expressive,” which Alexis considered a war crime.
Tessa looked at Lung and smiled. Lung made a small joke and Tessa laughed softly. Alexis laughed, too.
Lung had become friends with all the women.
The table was almost normal.
But Natalie’s seat was empty.
No one mentioned it.
No one had mentioned it any of the previous Fridays either, except indirectly. Even though Natalie was “the quiet one”, they all recognized the difference between silence and absence. They all carefully avoided the topics that were Natalie’s domain, hoping to forget.
The table continued.
Grace poured tea into Natalie’s cup by accident, then stopped.
For one second, everyone saw it.
Then Grace picked up the cup, moved it aside, and poured it into her own.
Alexis looked down.
Tessa’s mouth tightened.
Constance watched the steam rise from the wrong cup and said nothing.
The waiter brought the fish.
Grace gave instructions. The waiter obeyed.
That, too, was normal.
The restaurant was loud so nobody paid attention when the door to the restaurant opened.
Yat Sing’s door opened constantly. Families came in, delivery drivers went out, men looking for tables they had not reserved came in and were turned away.
Alexis looked up first.
They all saw her staring.
Grace turned.
Tessa looked over.
Constance turned.
Finally, Lung leaned over and looked.
Constance whispered, “Is that… is that… Danny Yeung?”
Grace whispered back, “It is him.”
Alexis said quietly, “That’s so weird that he’s here.”
Danny stood inside the doorway.
Danny scanned the room as if looking for someone.
“Who’s he looking for?” Grace asked.
His eyes came to rest on Alexis.
“He’s looking at me,” she whispered.
Then, Danny’s eyes looked at each one of them at the table.
“He’s looking at us,” Tessa said bewildered.
Danny started to walk towards the table.
“He’s coming over,” whispered Constance. “Why’s he coming over?”
Nobody volunteered an answer.
Danny walked up and stood at the end of their table.
He looked at them all.
Alexis recovered first, because someone had to. “Well. This is new.”
Tessa said, “You’re Danny Yeung.”
Danny chuckled. “Yes.”
Then: “And I know who you all are, too.”
Danny smiled a movie star smile.
“Let me guess,” he said.
He paused, pretending to think.
“You,” he said, “must be Lung because you are a guy.”
Lung’s eyes bugged out. “Uh, yeah.”
Danny pondered again.
“And you must be Alexis,” he said to Alexis. “Because you are loud and funny.”
Alexis’ mouth opened then closed without saying anything.
Danny chucked.
“Oh, you must be Grace. The lawyer.”
“Um, yes,” Grace replied carefully.
“And then Tessa. And Constance,” he concluded.
“You are all just as I imagined you.”
He slipped into Natalie’s empty seat.
Grace moved over, giving him room.
They all stared at him.
The waiter appeared. “Tea?”
“Please,” Danny said.
The waiter poured and Danny watched.
Alexis, Grace, Constance, Tessa and Lung looked at each other.
Danny looked at the squid, then at the five faces around the table.
The restaurant kept moving around them. Chopsticks, plates, voices, the fish tank bubbling near the front with doomed lobsters unaware that a major emotional event had interrupted dinner service.
Danny took a breath.
“I came because of Natalie,” he said.
They just stared.
Finally, Constance asked, “You know Natalie?”
Grace’s face changed. “Is she all right?”
“No,” Danny said.
The word fell hard.
Danny looked at Grace first, perhaps because she seemed the most level-headed.
“She’s not in danger,” he said quickly. “She’s safe. But she’s not okay.”
Constance’s fingers tightened around her teacup.
Alexis said softly, “What happened?”
Danny looked at the empty plate in front of him. “A lot.”
Tessa’s voice was cool. “Aaron Lam happened.”
Danny nodded once.
No flinch.
“Yes,” he said. “Aaron Lam happened. Hollywood happened. Fame happened. Natalie lost her way.”
No one spoke.
Danny began to speak about everything that transpired. He spoke about his and Natalie’s first date. He spoke that he liked her from the very first. He spoke about how she got involved with Aaron Lam and, although it was hard, he came to understand why.
A tear rolled down Danny’s cheek.
Grace’s hand rose involuntarily to her lips. “Oh, my God,” she whispered. “Danny Yeung loves Natalie.”
Tears started rolling down Grace’s cheeks.
Constance gasped and started crying, too.
Alexis, not usually one for deep emotions, let out a yelp and started to sob.
Tessa’s eyes watered and she started to sniffle. She would never admit it but she worried about Natalie, too.
Lung, being a man, didn’t cry but he was misty-eyed.
Danny spoke about what happened in Los Angeles.
How Natalie had all the money in the world at CityWalk but felt totally alone.
How Natalie tried to congratulate Skye Madison on her performance and all the horrible things that Skye Madison had said to her in return.
How Natalie returned to Hong Kong the next day.
All the women were crying.
Tears rolled openly down all of their cheeks and Danny’s, too.
Alexis was bawling. Constance was sniffing and constantly wiping her nose with the palm of her hand. Grace was full-on crying and Tessa’s eyes were red and raw.
Danny kept talking.
“Oh, poor Natalie!” wailed Grace.
“She was so lonely and we didn’t know!” sobbed another.
“It’s so sad! She had no one!” said a third.
“I’m not saying she behaved well,” he said. “She didn’t. She hurt me. I think she hurt all of you too. She misses you. She said horrible things to you and thinks that you will never forgive her.”
Danny then said, “I love her.”
The women all wailed at that, sobbing, crying, sniffling, comforting each other.
“She loves me, too…”
He paused, choking back tears.
“... but she needs all of you.”
He looked at all of them.
“You are her friends. She needs you. She needs each and every one of you. She misses being with you. At this table.”
“We miss her, too!” they said.
“And she loves you.”
“We love Natalie, too!”
Danny pressed both hands flat on the table and he lifted himself up.
The women all scrambled indelicately up out of the booth after him.
Alexis, Grace, Constance and Tessa were all crying and hugging each other.
“We want Natalie!” they said. “Where is she?”
The restaurant was quiet. Every person in the restaurant was watching.
“Where is Natalie?” they asked tearfully.
Danny exhaled.
“Stay here,” he ordered.
Danny left them there. They watched him go, crying.
Danny exited the restaurant.
The four women held each other and watched the door.
After about fifteen seconds, the door opened and Natalie shuffled into the restaurant.
She stood just inside the entrance, one hand on the strap of her bag, shoulders slightly hunched.
She wore a plain dark dress and flat shoes. Her hair was loose. No designer clothing. No insolent gleam in her eye. She was the same old Natalie. Her face was bare except for tears already running down both cheeks.
She was staring at her shoes, crying.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
Her voice broke on the second word.
“I’m so sorry.”
Then, she paused for a moment or two.
“Can you guys ever forgive me?”
She looked up a little with only the slightest hope.
To her surprise, Grace, Alexis, Constance and Tessa rushed and surrounded her, kissing and hugging her, saying they were sorry, too, and that they missed her.
They were all crying and laughing, then crying some more and laughing some more.
They went together back to the booth.
They sat down with Natalie in the middle. Grace sat beside her. Alexis squeezed in closer than necessary. Constance returned to her place, wiping her cheeks. Tessa sat down, holding Natalie’s hand across the table. Lung was there, too.
A waiter appeared with a box of tissues.
He handed it to Grace. Grace passed it to Natalie. Natalie took one, then another, then gave the box to Alexis, who needed it more than she wanted to admit.
Around them, the usual business of Yat Sing resumed. Chopsticks moved. Tea poured. Someone laughed in the back. The lobster tank bubbled on, indifferent.
For a moment, all six of them simply sat.
Constance.
Grace.
Natalie.
Alexis.
Tessa.
Lung.
The Friday table resumed.
The food was cold.
No one cared.
Grace reached for the teapot and filled Natalie’s cup.
Natalie wrapped both hands around it.
They talked, laughed, hugged and cried until long after midnight.
In celebration.
Because Natalie was lost but was now home again.
THE STORY CONTINUES …