There were additional friends who flitted in and out throughout the evening to eat and chat, and there was a general buzz of contentment heard around the house. By the end of the evening, the girls had fed close to 40 people, their current record.
"Thank you for coming, and for letting Lyddie stay the weekend" Lizzy thanked Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner as they made to leave. "She is a huge help, and I think she is enjoying spending time with Gigi."
"The food was fantastic. I'm not sure how you get it all done every year, or how you manage to make it different every year!" Madelyn said. "Thank you for the left overs, and for having us. Tell Lyddie to come home after work tomorrow." James said as he closed the front door.
Lizzy looked around the parlor, at her assembled friends. Smiling slightly, she thought "Friends. These are my friends."
Gigi and Lyddie were sitting together under a fuzzy blanket, watching Chunhyang and whispering and sighing at the romance and angst.
Char and Richard were enjoying a glass of wine and speaking animatedly to one another, the air punctuctuated with the sounds of Richard's deep laugh. Charlotte briefly looked at Lizzy and smiled a smile that would melt hearts. It may just have melted Rich's as he paused to look about.
Jane and Charles were in a corner with their heads together, speaking softly. If Lizzy were a betting woman, she'd bet Jane had just lost her heart for the first time.
Caroline had chosen to leave part way through the evening when Richard spilled red wine on her dress, and told her "don't worry, it actually enhances your look." She stormed out taking Charles' keys and his car. How had this group of strangers become friends so quickly? Shaking her head, Lizzy headed to the dining room to begin cleaning up.
"Do you mind if I help?" Will asked following Lizzy into the dining room.
"There isn't much to do, but gather and wash dishes, and put up leftovers. I'd love the company." Lizzy smiled.
Will offered a smile in return and began to gather dishes. "The food was amazing, and I can't believe you three did this all." "Well, Lyddie helped too!" Lizzy laughed. "Yes, you four. There was so much food, and all of it good. Gigi will be talking about this for weeks."
Manuevering around Lizzy, Will deposited an armload of empty dishes near the sink and picked up a sponge to start washing. "I have enjoyed spending time with you, but I'm not sure that we've had a chance to actually talk to each other yet. There always seems to be something exciting happening!" Will turned toward Lizzy.
"No, we haven't. But I rather like how we've spent our last two get-togethers. The beauty of meeting in groups like this is that the awkwardness of first dates sort of melts away, and you are left with a pretty accurate impression of people in general." Lizzy said. "I like to watch how people will respond to our rather boisterous sports outings or to our friendship or the food we make for our friends and loved ones. I mean, we don't eat like this all the time, but we do eat a lot of Asian food." Lizzy laughed.
Will responded "Hockey was great, there is nothing worse than attending a game with someone who isn't interested in it or interested in learning about it …" Will paused "… like Caroline." They both laughed.
Suddenly getting serious, "listen, I really wanted to apologize for Caroline. I know she isn't my sister, and I didn't bring her here, but she was out of line. Actually, she is always out of line." Will nervously pulled at his shirt.
"Please don't apologize for her. Jane and I meet people like her all the time. Borderline racist snobs who are only interested in hearing themselves speak. Also, don't take this the wrong way, but she is totally hot for you, and I think a bit peeved that you were here, that you were all here to see us." Lizzy responded.
"Did we make a good impression?" Will asked. Lizzy laughed "You all passed, except Caroline. We need to talk to Charles. I cannot have her over here again, I might beat her up and how would that look on my professional bio?" Lizzy giggled "Dr. Lizzy Bennet, anesthesiologist and amateur pugilist." They both laughed..
Will said "I love sports, though I am usually a bit more subdued than you…" Lizzy smirked. "… and Gigi and I love Asian food, but I confess it is usually Indian or Chinese take out!" Will continued "Meeting you has been great for Gigi. She is usually so shy, but all she has done is talk about 'Dr. Lizzy' or 'Dr. Lizzy's sisters' or 'Dr. Lizzy's friend Lyddie.' She's a great kid, but pretty isolated. She and I don't have many friends, in fact, I think our entire circle was here in your dining room, minus Louisa and her husband and their new baby." Will smiled and moved to drying dishes while Lizzy took over washing.
"Jane and I have always been isolated. We had our sisters and Char, but that was pretty much it. We were the odd ducks, the only kids of Asian descent at our small school, and that was a bit difficult. Then, our parents were academics who didn't really get into sports or school activities like other parents. So we didn't really mingle, we were pretty different." Lizzy looked out the window.
"When Jane and I were young, my mom fed us Korean food for breakfast lunch and dinner about 5 days a week. My mom even packed our school lunches with rice and soup! It was just easier because you can make a big pot of rice and big pot of soup and just supplement it with some small dishes and eat that for like a week." Lizzy fondly remembered. "Sometimes, I will do that when I really miss my folks. I will make a giant pot of rice and some beef soup or kimchi soup and just eat that all week. Or is I am not feeling well, I will make a couple of those 10 cent ramen noodle packets and swirl in some beaten egg - a poor man's egg drop soup. My mom used to make that for me when I was sick. It makes me feel close to my mom to eat food she used to make for us." Lizzy looked into the understanding eyes of Will as he said, "I know exactly what you mean. I do something similar, though not with food. When I really miss my dad, I will put on his robe and sit in his favorite chair and read his favorite books."
Lizzy nodded. "Our dad was away a lot for his research and sometimes he'd take a short term teaching position at other Universities. He always came home on weekends if he was able. When he was home we ate hamburgers or roasted chicken or pot roast. But that was not the norm." Lizzy giggled, "in fact, I don't believe that I ever ate spaghetti until I made it to the high school, and I think I had only eaten at McDonald's once by then as well. We were thoroughly Korean at home." Will smiled at Lizzy's reminiscence.
"So, anyway, our house smelled like a Korean house. Very garlicky, very oniony, very salty and earthy and burnt." Lizzy sighed. "Did you think the food smelled today?" Startled, Will responded "No. It smelled so inviting." Lizzy smiled at Will "Most people react like Caroline, nose in the air, complaining about the smell or the names."
"When Jane and I got older, and experienced American food more often, we would avoid bringing any of our acquaintances home." Lizzy moved to put an armful of filled plastic containers into the refrigerator.
"We had been burned so many times. When we'd make a friend and invite them over, they usually ended up going back to school and telling people our house smelled like garbage. Charlotte might have been our only friend who never did that. Even some of my parents' friends said things like that." Lizzy looked away. "It is pretty hard to be different from the crowd. It is even harder to be outcast. I think one reason I was always glad to have skipped ahead in school is because I got to leave behind the kids that called me 'garbage house' or made fun of our mom. I had Jane and Char and we three were a force when some kid was picking." Lizzy glanced back at Will. "But now we sort of embrace it-the differences. Oh, and when Jane or I are really hungry for authentic weird Korean food like the little stir-fried fish or some insanely spicy dish that normal people would run away from, we ask Char if she minds garbage house for the night, and we dig in." Lizzy peaked around the corner at those still chatting in the parlor. "It is one of the reasons we invited you all tonight. We wanted to share a meal with you, but we really wanted to share this meal with you. All of us. We've decided that anyone that turns their nose up at kimchi isn't going to be invited back." Lizzy laughed a bright open laugh as she looked at Will.
Will said "I'm pretty sure you will have to hog-tie Rich to drag him from here, even though he has to be back in DC tomorrow night. He has a weakness for smart, beautiful women and good food." Will winked. "And my sister may just want to move into your house, if only for the ice cream mochi and those Ramune soda drinks!"
Will moved to sit at the counter and said "I know I already said this, but we . . . I have really enjoyed myself. It has been fun getting to meet your sister and Char, getting to learn a bit about your mother's culture. I'm really glad to have met you. I find it startlingly easy to talk to you, Lizzy and if you hadn't guessed, I don't find it easy to talk to anyone at all."
Lizzy moved to the counter, sliced a duteop – a Korean rice cake dusted with soybean powder and filled with a peanut paste – and handed half to Will. "Sometimes just listening is better." They sat at the counter and contentedly ate their duteop, and listened to the sounds of their friends and family – the sounds of contentedness.
