*Chinese Restaurant*
They sat at a small circular table. The restaurant was small. The waitress was small. The menus were small. The utensils… small. Besides a small older couple who sat in a booth, the Venturi-McDonald family were the only customers in the restaurant. There were sporadic people who came in to order pick-up food, but New Imperial Chinese Restaurant was not busy.
"Isn't this great?" George replied with a huge smile. He held up his tiny menu trying to decipher the words. He squinted then pushed the menu back, but he couldn't read the words. He got out a pair of reading glasses to choose what he wanted to eat.
Nora did not bother to look at the menu yet. Headaches occurred frequently after family car rides. Marti had been singing, L-O-V-E by Nat King Cole, too loudly and too many times. Even though she had been strapped in the back of the car, in between Derek and Casey, Nora swore that the car had an echo. Edwin and Lizzie were poking fun of each other the entire time. They were not being loud just incessant. What pleased Nora the most was that Derek and Casey had been quiet the entire time. There was no bickering, no hitting, no faces, no De-rek's; there wasn't any interaction at all. At the moment, Nora was thankful, but it also bothered her that there was no fighting between them.
The small waitress waited for them to be seated and then quickly walked over to the family with a bright smile and 7 glasses of water and a teakettle. She was a young Chinese girl, but when she spoke there was no Chinese accent, "Would you like anything else to drink beside the complimentary tea and water?"
They all still had their coats on, and weren't thinking yet, but the waitress was prompt and eager for business.
"Uhm, this looks fine actually" George replied watching his family taking off their jackets, and he did likewise. She smiled and left them.
"I wanted a coke," Edwin huffed out.
"Tough. You get water because it is free," George smiled, "Happy Valentine's day."
"Look at these cute little cups!" Marti said grabbing the little teacup, "They don't have handles!"
"I can see that, honey," Nora smiled a little annoyed.
"Can you pour me some tea, Casey?" Marti smiled and handed her cup to Casey.
"Would you like sugar, miss?" Casey pretended to be very fancy.
"Ah, yes, Just one packet please," Marti played along.
Casey started fixing Marti's tea. She gave it a little swirl with the spoon that was on the table and gave it back to Marti. "Be careful, it's hot."
"Okay Casey," Marti took the cup and then put it down in front of her. She started blowing on it.
"So, what should we order?" George continued to look at the menu.
As George posed the question the waitress came back with 2 bowls of dry noodles and 2 bowls of duck sauce. She placed one between Nora and George and the other bowl in front of Marti. Marti smiled, and the waitress smiled back. The waitress was pretty with her hair pulled in a tight bun and her black hair matched the black slacks she wore but contrasted with her white button up shirt. She didn't have a pad to write things down, but she had an apron and a nametag that read, Ting-ting.
"May I make a suggestion?" Ting-ting smiled and picked up the tea nearest Casey and started filling everyone's teacup. As she passed by Derek, he checked out her ass.
"You can make a suggestion, Ting, as long as I can get General Tso's chicken," Derek smirked as he flirted with Ting-ting.
"Good choice, sweet and a little spicy," She winked at Derek and continued, "Now we should have some salty vegetable dish, Beef and Vegetables in a brown sauce is a good choice."
"That sounds good," Edwin smiled at the waitress.
"I WANT Noodles!" Marti yelled and furrowed her eyebrows.
"Okay, we can do that. Do you want thick or thing noodles?" The waitress smiled at Marti.
"Thin, worm-like noodles," Marti smiled devilishly.
"Well, we have noodles like that called Mi Fun. So how about Pork Mi Fun?"
"Sounds fun!" Marti enthused.
"We need some kind of rice so how about vegetable fried rice?" Casey wanted to put her two cents in before Ting-ting had to guess what she wanted.
"That sounds like a plan," Ting-ting smiled at Casey's take-charge attitude. "I bet you want something spicy, sir." Ting was looking at George.
Nora answered, "Yeah, we could go for something spicy."
"Triple Harvest is a spicy dish with scallops, beef and shrimp."
"More like Triple Delicious; yes we'll have that," George's mouth watered.
"Great. I'll put the order in the back. I'll bring out plates so you can all share the food. I forget to ask, does anyone want soup to start?"
Lizzie spoke up, "Can I have egg drop soup?"
"I would like some hot and sour soup," George smiled with his mouth still watering.
"May I have some wonton soup?" Derek charmed the waitress.
"Sure thing, the soups will be out soon, and I'll put in the order," Ting-ting smiled at Derek and left.
"What a hottie," Derek breathed to Edwin who was sitting on his left.
"De-rek," Casey blurted.
"Kids," Nora was not taking their fighting today, but she was also relieved they had spoken to each other.
Casey resumed her silence, and Derek just smirked. Casey started thinking again. His actions spoke to her. He regarded her and the incidents as nothing still so she would too. Their behaviors were going to stay the same; Resume the bickering as if nothing had happened. The waitress came out quickly with the soups and a smile. She gave Lizzie, George and then Derek their soups. She lingered by Derek for longer than necessary. Derek smirked and leaned back to check out Ting-Ting's ass again. Casey rolled her eyes at Derek's vulgarity, but then something George said caught her attention.
"Did I ever tell you that one of my first date's with Nora was with Chinese food?" George put on a dopey smile towards Nora.
"Was with… Don't you mean one of my first date's with Nora was at a Chinese restaurant?" Casey laughed a little and smiled at George. She picked up her teacup and took a gulp because it had cooled.
"Oh Gosh. Nope he means was with Chinese food… the date was really" Nora rolled her eyes.
"The best date ever, I know," George kept the biggest smile on his face, "So we went to this really fancy restaurant, but for some reason my reservations fell through, and there was a line at the door. They told us ten minutes, but when ten turned to twenty…"
"Thirty…" Nora interrupted.
"Right, Thirty, I told Nora I was sorry, and that I still wanted to take her out someplace," George continued.
"No, You said, 'Well, I'm starving, Let's get take out,'" Nora corrected.
"That's a Venturi for you. Good job Pops," Derek snickered and sipped his tea.
"Hey, Nora, we still had a romantic time. Yeah, we got take out, but I had a blanket in the car. We made a picnic under the stars. Remember?"
"Of course I remember, silly," Nora leaned over and gave George a peck, "I also remember you spilling food down the front of your white dress shirt."
"I remember you telling me that you thought your date was a slob," Casey interjected teasing George also hiding her blush with the mention of stars.
"Hey, I can be clean," George put on a sour face and then took a spoonful of soup to prove it. He sneezed and the soup split onto his lap.
"Ow! It's really hot!" George stood up and tried to wipe off the soup with his napkin. The whole family was laughing, but Casey's inner-thoughts were distracted with revelations. Derek was only her brother. She looked at him laughing with the rest of the family. Her guilt eased with the laughter around the table, and she was still looking at Derek. Siblings. That is how it has to be. In a passing glance, Derek saw her looking at him. She saw the smile wiped from his face, and he began gulping down his soup. The guilt flooded into her again.
"Derek, you know you can breath when you eat," Lizzie eyed him while she was politely sipping her soup.
Nora laughed, "Yeah this isn't a race."
"Could we have a food race?" Marti smiled at the thought, "Well, since the food isn't here. How about a tea-drinking race?"
George and Nora looked at each other and nodded.
"Okay, but I am going to be the referee. Nora you can be the tea- pourer," George put on a serious face.
Nora also got serious, "What does the tea-pourer have to do?"
"In the beginning, make sure the all the cups have the same amount of liquid," George semi-whispered to Nora trying to be funny.
"Right, Please pass in your empty teacups, and the teapot," Nora took her job very seriously. When Casey didn't pass her cup in, Nora looked across the table at her daughter, "Case, you playing?"
"If it's alright with you, I'd rather not," Casey looked away from Derek and at her mother with a quirky smile.
"Yeah, Casey is just afraid of being drunken under the table," Derek laughed, his eyes seeping with competition.
"I would rather not be a pig, Derek," Casey tried not to look at Derek.
"I am not the one with the up-turned nose, Princess," Derek retorted quietly.
"But you should be happy I am not playing because I can drink faster than you any day, Venturi," Casey seethed, "I'll prove it. Count me in." Casey handed her teacup down the line until it reached Nora.
"I personally think I am going to win," Lizzie interrupted the fight trying to lighten the mood, "I have won more trophies than anyone in this family."
Derek turned from Casey to Lizzie, "Is that so? But have you ever chugged a," Derek turned to see George's face starting to get angry, "A two liter bottle of root beer?"
"Puh-lease, Even I have done that," Casey raised her eyebrow in recognition.
"Yeah, Derek, Come on, even I have done that too, but I know that I am not going to win…" Edwin withered under Derek's glare. Nora started passing the cups to her left so everyone got their cup back.
"Okay, I have made sure that each have the same amount of liquid. Do not spill any of the tea while we are passing the cups back or you're disqualified. We need to make this fair with all the trash talking going on here," Nora eyed each of the kids smiling. Ting-ting came out with a giant tray of plates and spoons, and she put it on a table adjacent the Venturi-McDonald table.
"Ting, Just the person we needed to see. You can help referee. We are having a tea-drinking contest," George informed Ting.
"Well, how about I will be the waitress and get more tea for this competition," Ting said as she grabbed the empty teapot, "Then I will get the plates with your food on it. Please tell me who wins." She winked at Derek as she left.
Casey saw the flicker in Derek's eye from the attention he received from Ting-ting.
"Everyone, pick up your cup in your left hand. Put it to the tip of your mouth please, but do not touch it to your lips yet," George informed the participants. "On your mark, get set. Go!"
Everyone took one sip of the tea, spewed it out all over the table. Marti was the only one who chugged the entire teacup. "I won! I won!"
"That was the nastiest tea? What happened, it didn't taste like that before!" Edwin shouted alarmed. The elderly couple in the restaurant turned towards their table and scowled.
"My tea tasted like brine!" Casey was wiping her mouth with her napkin.
"Brine? Mine tasted like salt water. Really potent salt water," Lizzie said grabbing her glass of water and taking a swig.
Derek licked his napkin, "Me too."
"Mine was delicious…" Marti whispered and sneaked a smile. She quickly hid something under the table and put on an innocent face.
"Hm… I wonder where the salt went SMarti…" Nora accused Marti.
"Did someone put salt in all the cups while we were passing them to their owners?" George also accused Marti, but chuckled.
"No…" Marti whistled and looked around the room avoiding everyone's glare.
Ting-ting came out with another huge tray. Although everything else in the restaurant was small, the food was mountainous. Each plate was stacked high with the chicken or vegetables or beef or noodles. For the time being nobody quarreled about the competition. Ting-ting passed out the plates and then set all the food on the table. She put dishing spoons in each platter to make a sort of buffet in the center. She grabbed the empty soup bowls and smiled at the salivating family, "So who won the competition?"
Lizzie who was the most coherent of the group replied, "Marti, but she cheated."
Ting-ting laughed, "Well enjoy your food… I'll be back soon to see if you need anything else."
It was a free for all. Everyone grabbed something and plopped it on their plate. The rest of dinner was normal. The conversation, the fellowship, but the food was exceptional. At least every 5 minutes the conversation would be interrupted by a, "Oh wow, you got to try this," or "Man, this is good." No one noticed the check and fortune cookies that were placed next to George.
"I am stuffed," George leaned back and then let out a loud burp.
"You're stuffed? I think my button just popped off my pants," Edwin also leaned back and burped.
"Can you guys please be a little… polite in public?" Casey grimaced as she gestured to the elderly couple in the booth.
"Lighten, UP" Derek belched out as he folded his hands behind his head and leaned back in his chair.
"Der-ek!"
"Casey is right; we should at least try to" Nora tried to hold it in, but she let out a loud burp.
"Gross mom," Casey rolled her eyes.
"Good one mom," Lizzie smiled toward Nora.
"Can I have my fortune now Daddy?" Marti gestured toward the check and the cookies.
"Yeah, here let me pass them out" George chucked everyone a fortune cookie.
"I want to go first!" Marti confirmed as she busted open the cookie and read, "'Something you lost will soon turn up'… I lost my animal, Quack-Attack. That means I will find it soon! Yay!"
"Okay I am next. Is that alright Smarti?"
"Yes, Smerek."
Derek cracked open the cookie, popped it into his mouth and mumbled, "'When you speak honestly and openly, others will truly listen to you'."
"What did you say?" Edwin snickered.
"Read yours, Edweirdo."
"Ok…'Love is like wildflowers; it is found in the most unlikely of places.'" Edwin blushed a little bit but recovered, "Haha, yeah. Dad, it's your turn."
"'The greatest danger could be your stupidity'… HEY! That is so not true," George acted disgusted as he ate his cookie.
"Sorry honey. That is true at times. Let me read mine, 'You are talented in many ways. Oh that is so true," Nora looked at her family who were hiding back laughter, "It is true, or no allowance."
"My turn, I got a good one, 'The one you love is closer than you think'" Lizzie sighed looking at Casey, "I wonder what that means."
"It means my turn, 'Don't ask, Don't say. Everything lies in silence.'"
"Kind of ominous, Casey," Nora said while she finished her cookie. She didn't see that Casey was brewing in a stew of self-pity and denial.
As Derek got up and talked to Ting-ting, George paid for the meal while the rest of the family went to the car. George and Derek came into the car and Derek declared, "Don't worry folks. I got her number."
*Back at the Venturi-McDonald House*
"We are hitting the sack. Eating lots of food equals tired parents," Nora grabbed George's hand as he started to close his eyes and dragged him down the steps.
"Yeah… sleep. Oh and Happy Valentine's Day family," George muffled.
None of the kids were paying attention to their parents. Casey went up the stairs to her room, she felt just as stuffed.
"Uhh…" Casey sighed and lay down on her bed as she let out a button on her pants.
"Bloated much?" Derek stood in the doorway.
"Der-ek!" Casey quickly buttoned her pants and sat up scowling at Derek. Derek turned around to leave. "Derek wait." She saw the words sting him, "I can't remain in silence."
"What are you talking about? The Cookie?" Derek still didn't turn to her, but he shut the door, turned around and smirked.
"You know what I am talking about. Don't act stupid."
"Sorry about the feel," Derek whispered slowly losing his smile.
"It was an accident. I know that, but why did you have to…" Casey started and stopped. "Why did we kiss?"
"I don't know." Derek said slowly and thoughtful.
"It wasn't just a kiss either. It was kisses. Kissing. Making out," Casey looked at him cowering at the door.
"Yeah, What of it?" Derek tensed with each word.
"What of it? Are you kidding me? This is taking a lot of effort for me not to explode right here, right now," Casey was almost yelling at him. She had stood up and was walking to him.
"Exploding Casey… that would sweet, but why did you have to sneak out in the first place?" Derek turned around getting angry.
"Me? You're blaming me?!"
"I'm blaming you. You never do anything out of your little Casey world. I thought you were being different. I don't know," Derek anger edged off as he explained.
"Different?" Casey was still angry and bewildered. She resisted the urge not to punch Derek.
"Yeah, you would never sneak out, but it turns out that you were doing keener things anyway," Derek angrily accused Casey.
"That has nothing to do with kissing," Casey got closer to him. Her lips were puckered in anger and her nose looked like it smelled something bad.
"I don't have to deal with this," Derek took one look at her and turned around heading for the door. She wasn't letting him get off that easy. She launched herself at him tackling him to the ground. He was quick to react; he maneuvered around her tackle and pinned her to the ground.
He moved close to her face mumbling through anger, "Open and honest. Honestly, you came down off your alien planet and starting acting like a human being. Openly, I was sick of feeling like I was beneath you. A lesser being. Is that true enough for you?"
"I…"
"You don't have to speak. You are so attractive it kills me, but you are so ugly it keeps me alive," Derek jerked his body off of her and left the room. Casey lay on the floor for a second stunned, but just for a second. She popped up quickly and stormed from her room. She went into Derek's room to find him at his desk on his computer.
"I have nothing to say to you. Leave," Derek didn't look at her.
"No."
"There you go again. Thinking you are a princess. Thinking I'm beneath you. But watching the stars with you, sneaking around. That wasn't Princess Casey. You were almost normal," Derek looked at her with disgust, "But I'm never right about anything, Am I Casey?"
"Is that how I seem?" Casey replied broken.
"That's who you are. I don't feel sorry for telling you."
"I don't feel sorry we kissed," Casey blurted quickly and ashamed.
"Me either," Derek responded confidently followed with apprehension.
She left his room and stormed to hers. As soon as her door slammed shut, her tears, shame and guilt covered her face.