Mrs. Lin's Help

It was way past midnight when Sun Mei and Yu Zan left the party. Although they offered to help clean up, Mr. Wu insisted that he and Veronica could handle everything by themselves. After giving Sun Mei some money to pay for a taxi, he told her he'd see her at home and then grabbed some trash bags and got down to business.

"Guess what!" Yu Zan told Sun Mei as they rode in the elevator along with Santa.

"I don't have to guess. You are going to tell me."

"Okay, know-it-all. I got Parker's number!"

"You did?"

"Why do you sound so surprised?"

"Well, you weren't on your best game tonight."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You seemed kind of nervous. Like… Like you were too invested."

Yu Zan huffed. "I'm never too invested. He's just a guy!" she said unconvincingly.

'Okay… If you say so."

When Sun Mei got home, she could not bring herself to go to bed. She felt so guilty about unknowingly ruining Mr. Wu's night that she sat down in a chair in the hall and waited for him to return. She wouldn't be able to fall asleep if she did not apologize.

About an hour later, just as she had started to nod off, she heard the key turn in the lock and jolted herself awake.

Mr. Wu, who walked in looking completely exhausted, was startled to see her.

"Sun Mei! What are you doing up so late? I thought you'd be in bed. I was trying to be quiet..."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Wu," she blurted out before he could say anything else.

"Sorry for what?" Mr. Wu looked really confused.

"For asking you that question about Mrs. Lin and ruining your night. I did not know that it was off limits."

Mr. Wu sighed and sat down on the chair next to Sun Mei's. "It is not off limits.I just did not want to say anything in front of my colleagues."

"Oh…"

Sun Mei did not ask anything. She just waited for Mr. Wu to tell her whatever he was comfortable sharing with her.

"Mrs. Lin was my family lawyer. She helped me get custody of Lily when Jenny and I split up."

"Jenny wanted custody?" Sun Mei asked in shock.

"Surprising, isn't it? Well, I don't really think she had thought it through. She just likes to win at everything and she wanted to hurt me for filing for a divorce. No matter her motives, though, I wasn't going to take any chances with Lily's future. I immediately looked for the best family lawyer in the city."

"And that was Mrs. Lin?"

"Yes. I know, I know… She's terrible. However, all the qualities that make her an awful employer and person in general, also make her a really good lawyer."

Sun Mei smiled. "So you kind of owe her now?"

"Technically, I don't owe her anything. I paid her more than enough for her work. However, she keeps asking me for smaller and bigger favors every now and then."

"Like she asked you to find an illustrator for her?"

"Exactly." Mr. Wu grinned. "Actually, I think the night I gave you my card and stole you from her, I sort of took a stand. She has asked me for nothing ever since and has actually been downright hostile."

Sun Mei started laughing.

"Best decision of my life!" Mr. Wu yelled happily.