Chapter 15: Hair Stylist
Mei hasn’t seen Lin-Lin since the cupcake incident. She had been busy and this was the first time she was able to use the gym. Lin-Lin was on her favorite treadmill sweating away with headphones turned up so loud that Mei could hear it from two machines away.
She stepped onto the one next to Lin-Lin and waved real quickly.
“Hi Mei! I am so glad to see you! I thought you quit working out!” Lin-Lin took her earpiece off and turned down the speed to 4.0 so she could talk, “How have you been? I heard you are moving up to the top floor?”
Mei was going to tell Lin-Lin about her move and realized there was no need. “Yes, I am starting with the new project next Monday.” She started warming up with a slow walk up hills.
“Congratulations! This is a pretty high profile project; everyone’s been talking about it.” Lin-Lin was still trying to catch her breath.
“Thanks!” Mei paused for a second, “Hey I’ve been meaning to tell you that I did tell my boss about the cupcake that you left on his desk.”
“Uh? Oh that cupcake,” Lin-Lin laughed, “that’s history now. He thanked me through an email and told me his fiancé makes cupcakes exactly like that.” Lin-Lin didn’t seem like she’s bothered or hurt by it at all, and that made Mei felt a lot better.
“Go figure. I should have known he’s taken. I mean look at him… Well, it is his loss; I am sure one day he will regret it.” Lin-Lin turned up her speed and started running again.
Somehow Lin-Lin’s words stuck with Mei: so Elaina liked to make him cupcakes. She could picture Elaina standing in a perfect kitchen wearing a perfectly cute apron making perfectly looking cupcakes, just like someone on food network or the Martha Stewart show. She sped up the machine and started running as fast as she could, hoping to leave the thought far behind.
“Woo, easy Mei.” Lin-Lin looked over and noticed Mei was not doing her regular cardio routine, “you could hurt yourself if you’re not careful.”
Mei continued for another 10 minutes and finally slowed down. The running did help; she decided instead of spending her time day dreaming about something that’s completely ridiculous, she should really try harder with Dan. He’s cute, responsible, and reliable. She enjoys his company and couldn’t think of anything about him that she dislikes. She thought she should invite him over for dinner.
Jesse was on his way back from DC, about 30000 feet above ground, inside an UA 585 aircraft. He spent the whole weekend with Elaina and her family. The Tax Bill vote was coming up next week, but everyone in Washington was talking about after actions like it has already been passed. With the Democratic majority in both the House and Senate, it seemed like a no-brainer that changing the tax code would be the route to take to save the nation from recession.
He attended a dinner party on Saturday night at the Steals. They have a huge house in Mclean, only 15 min. drive to downtown DC. It was supposed to be a family event, but Jesse noticed a few guests there who were absolutely not related to the Steals. One of them, he found out later, was Andy Lopez, the Assistant Director of IT Acquisition in IRS.
Andy was a tall, skinny guy in his 50s with dark hair, narrow black eyes and a full goatee. When James introduced Jesse to him as his future son-in-law, Andy seemed to have heard about him and shook his hand with some force. He asked about Jesse’s current job and mentioned there definitely will be RFIs and RFPs coming out as soon as the bill’s passed.
Most of the conversation during dinner was casual, not work related. For the handful of times IRS or contracts were mentioned, a name, Michael Medley was also brought up with it. James filled Jesse in that Michael was the director of IT Acquisition, Andy’s boss. He was invited but couldn’t make it to dinner that night.
Jesse had been in contracting long enough to know that Andy and Michael was the key to increase one’s chance at any contracts. A great relationship with them meant access to hidden requirements that’s not mentioned in the RFIs and RFPs, and if you are lucky, the RFPs could be worded in a way that it becomes a perfect fit for one’s company before a proposal is even written.
Obviously James was eager to get his company a contract to replace all current IRS network routers and switches to push them to the enterprise and cloud computing world. Jesse on the other hand, wouldn’t mind keeping his eyes and ears open for any information that could benefit his D&W employer.
The dinner party ended on a good note, of course nothing was signed or promised, but Jesse knew this is just part of the process, sometimes building a network of people could take years, but the end result is always worth the time and money invested.
Comfortably sitting back on seat 10C right next to the window, and with his eyes closed, Jesse flipped a piece of card back and forth in between his fingers. It was a name card that James had handed to him after all guests have left that day. On the card it read
Betty Joyce, Hair stylist, Beautiful Life Salon, 1723 Norman St. Raleigh, NC.
Betty, as James pointed out, was supposed to be Michael Medley’s mistress for over 15 years and she lived in Raleigh. Now Jesse had no idea how James obtained this information, all he knew was James told him competition for this piece of pie would be fierce, and Michael was a hardhead when it comes to socializing, or attending dinner parties held by people like him. James didn’t tell Jesse what to do with the card; he just handed out the information. Jesse trusted that James would not give him something that’s not solid; he just didn’t know whether actions should derive from the information, if any, especially when he’s siding with God now.
The thought of siding with God brought Mei into his mind. She really surprised him at Karaoke. It was the first time he saw her singing and laughing like a little kid, she was truly free on stage, free from worries, free from stress, and most importantly, free from herself. The more they worked together, the more Jesse felt that Mei had put up an invisible wall around herself, forbidding anyone from going in. And truly that night on the roof top, he saw the wall disappearing, and Mei was real, unprotected, and within his reach.
Looking down from the window at the beautiful Raleigh, as the airplane took descend, Jesse felt like he’s coming home. He doesn’t know how long he will be living here since Elaina had begun wedding dress shopping. She wanted the wedding to take place in the spring. During the past two days she kept trying to persuade Jesse to move back to D.C. She said it has more opportunities for his career, and of course she missed him too much.
He missed her too, and he missed DC. But wherever the thought of moving back came to mind, he just knew that he’s not ready. There is something here in Raleigh that’s holding him back, and he wanted to, he needed to find out what that something is.
