“You’re a funny one. No wonder you get along with my son, with all his funny ideas.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment, Auntie Elle.”
? ? ?
The sunken garden behind the music pavilion had been transformed into an al fresco ballroom. Hundreds of candles in antique crystal orbs sparkled in the eucalyptus trees surrounding the garden, while old-fashioned klieg lights cast a silver-screen glow onto the dance floor.
Astrid leaned on the stone balustrade overlooking the garden, wishing her husband could have been here to dance with her under the moonlight. The phone inside her minaudière gave a quick buzz, and she smiled, thinking Michael must have just read her mind and pinged her. She got out her phone eagerly and found a text message:
Hope you’re enjoying the wedding. Guess what? Had to come to San Jose on business. If you’re staying in CA for a few days, let’s meet up. Maybe San Francisco? I can send my plane to pick you up. There’s an Italian place in Sausalito I know you’d love.
CHARLES WU
+852 6775 9999
The guests began gathering on the terrace to watch the newlyweds have their first dance, but before the music started up, Colin suddenly began clinking loudly on his champagne glass to get everybody’s attention.
“Hello everyone, I’m Nicky’s best man, Colin. Don’t worry, I’m not going to bore anyone with a long-winded toast. I just felt that on this most special of occasions, the happy couple needed a little surprise.”
Nick shot Colin a look that said, What the hell are you doing?
Grinning from ear to ear, Colin continued, “A few months ago, my wife and I ran into a friend of Rachel’s at the Churchill Club.” He looked over at Peik Lin, who raised her champagne glass conspiratorially. “It turns out that all through college, Rachel would play a certain song over and over until it drove Peik Lin up the wall. And guess what? I just happen to know it was one of Nick’s favorite songs too. So Nick and Rachel thought they would be dancing to some romantic waltz by the San Francisco Symphony right now, but they’re not. Ladies and gentlemen, please help me welcome Mr. and Mrs. Young to the dance floor for the very first time, accompanied by one of the world’s greatest singers.”
With those words, a band of musicians entered the small stage at the edge of the garden, followed by a petite woman with a shock of platinum blond hair. The crowd began to scream in excitement, while many of the older folks looked utterly baffled by all the excitement.
Nick and Rachel stared first at Colin and then at Peik Lin, their mouths agape.
“I can’t believe it! Did you know anything about this?” Rachel exclaimed.
“No! Sneaky bastards!” Nick said as he led Rachel onto the dance floor. The first chords of a familiar hit song began to fill the air, and the crowd roared in approval.
Philip and Eleanor Young stood on the steps leading down to the garden, watching as their son twirled his bride around with debonair ease. Philip glanced over at his wife. “Your son is happy at last. It wouldn’t hurt for you to smile a little too.”
“I’m smiling, lah, I’m smiling. I’ve been smiling till my face hurts at all those annoyingly friendly relatives of Rachel’s. Why do all these ABCs talk to you as if they think you are their best friend? It’s so presumptuous. I was all prepared for them to hate me.”
“Why would they hate you? You ended up doing a very good deed for Rachel.”
Eleanor began to say something, but then changed her mind.
“Just say it, darling, you know you want to. You’ve been wanting to tell me something all night,” Philip egged her on.
“I’m not so sure Rachel will think I did such a good deed once she really gets to know her new family.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Mr. Wong e-mailed me a new report late last night. I need to show it to you. Frankly, I think I might have made a mistake getting mixed up with the Baos in the first place.” Eleanor sighed.
“Well, it’s a little too late, darling. We’re related to them now.”
Eleanor gave her husband a look of abject horror. It was the first time this had occurred to her.
? ? ?
Nick and Rachel swayed together to the rhythm of the song, feeling almost delirious with happiness. “Can you believe we really pulled this off?” Nick asked.
“Not really. I’m waiting for the next helicopter to land.”
“No more helicopters, and no more surprises ever, I promise,” Nick said as he twirled her around. “From now on we’re just going to be a boring married couple.”
“Oh, please! When I decided to walk down the aisle with you, Nicholas Young, I knew I’d be signing up for a lifetime of surprises. I wouldn’t want it any other way. But you have to at least give me a clue where we’re going on our honeymoon this summer.”
“Well, I had all these grand plans that involved the midnight sun and a few fjords, but then your father just asked if we would visit him in Shanghai as soon as summer break starts. He’s eager for you to meet your brother, and he swears he’ll hook us up at the most romantic spots in all of China. So what do you think of that?”
“I think it’s the best idea I’ve ever heard,” Rachel said, her eyes lighting up with excitement.
Nick pulled her into an embrace. “I love you, Mrs. Young.”
“And I love you. But who says I’m going to take your name?”
Nick frowned like a hurt child, and then broke out into a grin. “You don’t have to take my name, hon. You can be Rachel Rodham Chu for all I care.”
“You know what I realized today? Rachel Chu was the name my mother gave me, but it turned out not to be my name. And even though my father’s last name is Bao, that really wasn’t his name either. The only name that’s truly all mine is Rachel Young, and that’s a choice I’m making.”
Nick gave Rachel a long tender kiss as the wedding guests broke out into applause. Then he waved for everybody to join them on the dance floor, and as Cyndi Lauper continued her song, the newlyweds began to sing along:
If you’re lost, you can look and you will find me,
time after time.
* * *
* Kopi is Singlish slang for coffee. “Kopi license” refers to any sort of license or certificate that was obtained not by true merit but by paying a small bribe to an official—enough for him or her to buy a coffee with. Though the term is used to insult doctors, lawyers, or some other qualified individual, it is most often used while swearing at bad drivers, who surely must have bribed the examiner in order to pass their driving test. (Believe it or not, Asians can sometimes be bad drivers too.)
PART TWO
If you want to know what God thinks of money, just look at the people he gave it to.
—DOROTHY PARKER
1
KO-TUNG CONSULTING GROUP
SOCIAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT
Prepared for Mrs. Bernard Tai by Corinna Ko-Tung