Tom Keen sure was one sweet talking charmer. But even though it's kind of hard to believe, I am not completely stupid and I knew that he wasn't there to bother me. I knew that Mr Ressler would be less than happy if I allowed Tom to stay so I told him he had to leave. Unless he could show me he had the appropriate pass. He showed me the appropriate pass. I squinted down at it. "Where did you get this?"
He smiled. "From Liz, who else?"
"No you didn't. I have all the passes and I only gave her one."
Tom shrugged. "Okay, little miss FBI, busted." He put his hands up and winked at me. He started wandering around the room, picked up a glass of half drunk champagne and guzzled it.
"So," he smiled at me, "what do they call you?"
"Unlucky?"
He winked and pointed at me. "Smart. I like it."
"You know that Liz is with Mr Ressler, don't you?"
His smile faded. "Don and I go way back. But look, I'm not here to talk about him. You're Emily, right?"
"Lily."
"Lily," he nodded, pouring more champagne, "that's right, I knew it ended with an ily. So Lily, what're you doing when the show is over? You coming to the party?"
It was my turn to shrug. "Maybe."
He knew I had no idea about there being a party. I didn't want a party. I wanted some hot soup, a shower and my bed. Ideally I would have liked a complete blood transfusion and 24 hours sleep, but I'd settle for eight hours and showing up for work in anything but my 'lucky outfit'. I'd be there before anyone else, bright and breezy, with coffee and Danish for everyone and I'd wow Liz with my fake Chanel purse.
Tom put his hand inside hs suit jacket and handed me an envelope. "This is for you."
He walked over to the door. "See you there, Lily." One more super charming smile and he disappeared. I could see on the monitor that Liz and Don's interview was wrapping up, so I got Liz's stuff together and put on my coat. Liz had said in the car that she was tired and she had a big finance meeting with Mr Reddington in the morning. I picked up the envelope, which was sealed, and put it in my purse to give to Liz. But of course, I forgot, because she did indeed want to go home right away, even though I asked if she was going to the party. We dropped Ressler off at the office and the limo took us through the New York night down towards Chinatown, where I lived.
"Tell me about your family," Liz asked. She was staring out the window. "Oh look, Wu Fat's House, I used to go there when I was a kid. Buy dim sum and eat them standing outside."
I stared at her. "You're kidding, right?"
She turned to look at me. "No, why?"
"My mother owns Wu Fat. Her family have owned it since forever."
Liz smiled her big dazzling smile. "No wonder I like you," she said, "you're Minnie's daughter."
This was getting weird. "You know my mom?"
"Well," she said, "not really, but I knew her from the restaurant. That's all."
"You should come in, we should go in and have some soup and dim sum," I said, suddenly excited and wide awake, "for old time's sake?"
"I'd love to Lily," she replied with a sadness in her voice, "but I am so tired I can hardly keep my eyes open."
I tapped the glass between us and the driver to indicate he should pull over.
"Okay, well I'm going to have some soup and go home," I said opening the door, "I'll see you tomorrow."
"Sleep well Lily," she waved at me, "and be on time!"
The limo pulled away as I stared into the window of Wu Fat's. It was still busy but I wasn't hungry. I couldn't see my mom, so I just decided to go to my apartment, which was right across the street. The lights were on, Alex was probably watching TV. The door of the restaurant opened and a couple of happy people spilled out onto the sidewalk. The heat and the smell from inside almost made me want to go in but I turned to cross the street. Just as I put my key in the door, there was a hard yank on my shoulder. Someone was trying to snatch my fake Marc Jacobs. "It's a fake!" I yelled, "let go!"
But the guy had a knife and he pointed it at me. "Just give me the purse. Don't be stupid."
My cellphone was in my pocket but my wallet was in the purse. Everything was in there. I screamed as loud as a I could and waved at the restaurant, where one of the waiters, that dozy slow Colin, was staring out the window, staring but not seeing anything as usual. In slo-mo, the guy took off down the street with me after him. He didn't get far. When he reached the corner, a car came round it and the passenger door opened, knocking him down. I raced up. It was Liz.
She jumped out of the car. "Are you okay?" Did he hurt you?"
Liz snatched my purse from the thief and handed it to me. "You go home," she said, "he's out cold."
"Thank God you were here," I said, breathless, " thank you."
She took an envelope out of her pocket. It was the one Tom Keen had given me. "You left this in the car."
Just as I got back to the door of my apartment, my mother came running out of Wu Fat's House waving a meat cleaver. "You leave my daughter alone," she screeched, "you leave her alone or I cut your thing off with this!"
Liz waved from the car as they pulled away into the night.
