In the back room, the group was seated in two opposing rows, created by stringing two rectangular tables together. Small, ceramic lanterns lined the middle of the tables with small candles in each. Although they were still waiting for two others, Charlie Wu, great-great grandson of the founder of the restaurant, had already put plates of fried wontons, plates of small eggrolls, and bowls of egg drop soup on the table. The conversations were already underway.
Tony had been disappointed early on. He had been hoping to spend more time with Elaine. She had politely refused to meet him in Chicago for a tour of Navy Pier. Now, she had hardly said anything to him at all. Of course, she hadn't said much to anybody else, either. He had been hoping they had started something special. Perhaps he had read too much into their talks. Or, maybe he was reading too much into her actions now.
"I told you to make sure you hit a ceiling joist." Stephen sounded a little annoyed.
"Hhhhhi thought I did," Box pleaded. The rest of the group was already laughing. Even Elaine cracked a smile.
"Anyway," Kirk continued with a smile, "Mr. Homesick here decides to spin himself a bed to hang from and pulled down at least four ceiling tiles. My landlord was less than thrilled."
Just then, Charlie Wu's petite wife opened the curtain to the back room and ushered in a yawning Tyler Bristol. "Thank you." He said through his yawn.
The group greeted him with a cheer. Stephen was the first to speak. "Have a seat, Tyler. Wake up, Ensign. The night is still young!" Kirk knew exactly why Tyler was so tired.
Tyler sat down with a thud. "For you it's early in the night. For me, it's four in the bloody morning!" The group laughed again as Tom patted him on the back.
"Here," Stephen said, shoving a plate of wontons in front of him. "Have a wonton. You'll feel better." Unknown to him, they were spiced wontons.
He took a bite, and within moments, his mouth was on fire. "Bloody hell!" He screamed as he frantically looked for something to drink. A couple of his so-called 'friends' pointed him to a pitcher on a small, round table near the kitchen door. He dashed over to it and drank liberally. Thankfully, it was water. "Dear god," he finally said.
"But," Kirk replied through laughter, "You ARE awake now."
Tyler shook his head, filled a glass with water, and headed back to his overturned chair. Although he was feigning surprise and offense, secretly, he was thrilled be part of the 'in crowd.' Now that the fire in his mouth was out, he was able to actually taste what he ate. "Actually," he admitted, "that was pretty good." He sat down and grabbed another wonton.
"Some people never learn." Doctor Rass commented as he shook his head.
T'Nia could hold her curiosity no longer. "Box," she started slowly, "may I ask why you're wearing a cowboy hat?"
Box stood up straighter and angled his hat with one of his legs. "Hhhhhi got it at a rodeo Steve and I went to Sunday afternoon." He created three digits with his leg, took the hat off, flipped it, then put it back on his head. "Hhhhhi learned that from one of the cowboys there."
The group chuckled. "It's you, Box...it's definately you." Tony said with a smile.
"My favorite part of the day was when one of the riders asked Box if he was one of the events." The group laughed again. Box just smiled and chimed.
"Sorry, sorry!" Tom yelled as he burst through the curtain. "I had no idea how busy the San Francisco Public Transporter Facility would be. I was stuck for over a half hour in Maui waiting for an open lane to get here." He sat down at the only other open seat at the table.
Bristol piped up, "You mean you were in Maui and you still came here?"
"I gotta admit," he said, grabbing a few eggrolls and putting them on his plate. "There were some fine Sheilas there. I had a hard time leaving. Their transporter center is right off the beach." He smiled broadly.
"I thought you were engaged." T'Nia stated.
"Hey, women are like fine works of art. Just because you have one at home doesn't mean you can't admire them anywhere else." He elbowed Tony who smiled and elbowed back.
"I have a whole new appreciation for you, Mister Kelly." Tony replied.
T'Nia rolled her eyes and attempted to change the subject before the 'man-fest' got any worse. "So, Doctor, how are you enjoying your first visit to Earth?"
Doctor Rass looked genuinely frazzled. "There's just so much. I mean, Terran culture is so diverse. I just don't know how I can fit it all in. I have this schedule I created with subtasks broken out by geographic location and approximate time to complete..." He pulled out a PADD from his jacket and turned it on with his thumb. "...but because there's no way to factor in time delay for other tourists, I'm already behind schedule by two major bullet points." He scrolled down his self-titled 'must see' list to show two items in red.
Stephen looked over at the PADD. "Good grief, Doctor. You have your entire day broken down into fifteen minute increments. You even have a time limit on your showers." He sat back, enjoying this opportunity to get to know everyone. "That's what I can anal."
The doctor scoffed at him. "It's what I call efficiency, Commander. I had estimated that I would hit eighty-six percent of the city's main attractions before our vacation was up." He put his PADD back under his jacket.
"Well, doctor," T'Nia started, "I for one applaud your organizational efforts." She nodded her approval.
Tony interjected. "You know you need to worry when a Vulcan applauds your vacation planning skills." The group laughed again. T'Nia merely raised an eyebrow and gave her patented 'Hmmph'.
Two waitresses brought out more pitchers of tea and water as well as some large bowls of rice, pork chop suey, Kung Pao Chicken, and steamed vegetables. The aromas were heavenly. Dorrin had to admit, although he had never had 'Chinese' before, this was must tastier than anything he had ever had on Bajor or Delta IV, which was where he received the majority of his medical training. He watched the others pile rice on their plate and follow it with one or more of the other dishes. Eagerly, he followed their example. Dorrin had been invited to Earth many times for medical conferences, but declined. From what little he had experienced of Earth so far, he wouldn't be declining any more any time soon.
With the dining experience fully underway, Kirk turned to the young helmsman. "So, Tyler... tell me about yourself. What have you been up to since you got back?"
Tyler considered his response for a moment. "Well, there's not much to tell, actually. I'm the oldest of four. Me Mum says I have an overactive imagination." He smiled with that one. "Oh! if you can, catch Sportworld 4 Friday afternoon. I've entered an amateur hyperbike tournament in Belgium. It starts at, like, eight in the morning there, so it would be on at, like, eleven at night on Thursday here." He nodded with a big smile, having something interesting to say.
The group was sincerely impressed. "Do you like to race hyperbikes?" Kirk asked. No wonder this kid was a natural at the helm... he was a speed freak.
"Yeah," Bristol replied. "I mean, I don't do it professionally or nothin'. Me Mum wishes I did, though." His expression turned serious recalling their conversation yesterday, when he broke the news of the tournament to his mother.
Tom piped up. "You alright, mate?"
"Oh, I'm fine." Tyler tried to cheer himself. "It's just that, well, Mum actually would prefer me racing bikes instead of being in a starship. There's less risk. Actually, Dad wants me to take over running the pub." He offered a weak smile.
"And what do YOU want?" Tony asked, holding a forkfull of rice.
