Popcorn Machine

Friday came and the Simplesmente team took the afternoon off to prepare for the building purchase party. David had offered to organised the catering for the party but Mia did not allow it as she wanted to use her own caterer who knew her particular tastes. Her caterers rearranged the front of the office to allow for one long table for a wide selection of Asian food, one for the bartenders to serve drinks, and another for Mia's popcorn machine. The popcorn machine was one that you would find at a funfair but smaller. If it was any smaller, Mia would probably carry it everywhere with her.

Mia and her staff stood in various groups chatting excitedly about their week, what they had planned for the weekend, and plans for the new flagship store. She had invited David and Dean to the party. She also asked Kai-Lin to come so that he could be acquainted with them. All the guests advised that they would attend after work. So, Mia relaxed with her staff as they waited for their guests to arrive. Most of the conversations occurred in Mandarin.

Mia was in a small group with Benny, "So, have you decided what you want to do after you graduated?" Benny grinned cheekily at Mia. "I think if possible, I would like to stay on at Simplesmente if you would have me." She patted him on the shoulder, "That's exactly what I want to hear!" Then, they clinked their glasses together in celebration and laughed.

"Mia, is that really your popcorn machine?" Benny asked. Kiki, one of the product designers nearby answered for her, "Mia brings the machine every time we have a party. She can't live without it!" The staff around Mia cackled. She turned her head to one side and squeezed her champagne flute to her chest, "Yes, I love popcorn too much."

One of the staff heard the entrance door chime ring and left to let the guest in. She came back with Kai-Lin by her side. "Kai-Lin!" Mia cried as she moved towards her interior designer friend. Kai-Lin was a handsome man in his mid-thirties who often carried an indifferent expression. But she learned that the person underneath was more playful than meets the eye.

Mia took Kai-Lin's arm and walked with him around the room to meet her staff members. They, in return, greeted him respectfully as most of them were younger. They ended in front of the drinks table, where he ordered a red wine that she recommended. As they had not seen each other for a while in person, they had a lot to talk about. They were in deep conversation and did not notice the new arrivals coming towards them. A large bouquet of colourful blossoms came towards her and peering from behind was Dean's frowning face. He did not seem happy to see Kai-Lin. David was beside him holding a wine gift bag and a bouquet of pink roses. At least David was smiling.

"Hello!" Mia greeted the duo enthusiastically. She turned towards David as he handed his gifts over to her, "Congratulations, Mia." She beamed, "You shouldn't have but thank you, David." Then she turned to Dean, who pushed his bouquet towards her, "Congratulations, Mia." She took his flowers with both hands, "Thank you very much. These are very beautiful." She smelled the blossoms and then noticed someone else behind them. Dean detected her glance and explained, "Ah, this is Bryan, who will be your project manager for the Fujin Jie building." He motioned for Bryan to come closer to her.

"Hello, Mia? I am Bryan. Nice to meet you." Bryan was much shorter than David and Dean, but he had a friendly face. "Hello, Bryan. Nice to meet you," she grinned and held out her hand to shake his. Looking back and forth between Mia and Bryan with satisfaction, Dean offered, "Bryan will now be your main contact, but should anything needs to be escalated, you can call me."

Mia's smile became smaller after hearing this. Both Dean and David detected her reaction. But before Dean could reply, David said, "Mia, you know you can pick up the phone to call me whenever you have any questions." Dean thought that it would be silly if he said, "Me too". So, he remained silent.

"Yes. Of course. Thank you, David." Looking at him and then to Dean, Mia explained, "I'm just so used to speaking to you and Dean that I probably will need to remind myself that Bryan will take care of things from now on." Although a little melancholy, Mia offered Bryan a bright smile to welcome his involvement.

"Oh, and this is Kai-Lin Wang," Mia offered. "Kai-Lin, this is Dean Whitfield, David Tsai, and Bryan..."

"Bryan Gao."

Kai-Lin shook hands with them and excitedly said, "Dean Whitfield. I am a huge fan of your work. It's a real pleasure to meet you finally." Dean replied, "Thank you. It's a pleasure to meet you too. I have heard so much about you too from Mia."

Mia raised her eyebrows at Dean, but he did not meet her eyes. He continued to stare at Kai-Lin, "Mia said that you have some designs for the Fujin Jie building. Well, I hope that we can work together on it." At this point, Dean glanced at Mia. She could not read his expression, but he seemed to be reminding her that she had promised to speak to Kai-Lin about his involvement.

Mia rested her hand on Dean's arm, "Sorry, Dean. I haven't discussed this with you or Kai-Lin properly yet but yes...I would like to see if I could have you both involved..." He smiled sheepishly, "It's alright, we can discuss that..." Kai-Lin interrupted, "Of course. We would welcome your involvement. That would be wonderful. Have you seen any of my work?" Annoyed, Dean slowly turned away from Mia to face him. He replied coldly, "I believe you did all of Mia's current stores?"

Mia's clenched her jaw. She pulled Dean by the arm and then David's, "Come. Let's not talk about work. What would you like to drink?" She dragged them to the drinks table, leaving Kai-Lin behind. Bryan hesitated for a moment and followed them. After leaving them at the drinks table, she went back to Kai-Lin. Before she reached him, she saw that Benny was in conversation with him along with a few of her staff. So, she detoured to make sure that her popcorn machine was pumping out a new batch of fresh popcorn for everyone. She filled a few boxes and glanced around to locate her guests. She could see Dean, David, and Bryan awkwardly standing near the drinks table. Realising that they did not know anyone, she hurried towards them.

Handing over the boxes of popcorn that were in her arms, she began, "Here you go. Can I introduce you to everyone?" Dean looked down at the popcorn, a little confused. David had the same expression. But Bryan happily dug into the salty popcorn. Mia explained, "Oh, I love popcorn, so I think everyone loves it. If you don't, you can leave them on the table here."

Dean looked up at Mia, "It's not that. I'm just a little hungry. Is there anything else before I snack on these? Sorry." Mia's face flushed red, "Oh my gosh, so sorry Dean. Yes of course. Come this way."

As Mia passed her staff, she introduced Dean, David, and Bryan, on their way to the food table. She observed with amusement their effect on her almost all-female staff. Their giggles and nervous laughs did not go unnoticed. The gentlemen seemed to be basking in the attention as well, laughing and exchanging grins with her team. Feeling that her guests were well taken care of, she returned to her popcorn machine. Dean's eyes followed her with interest as she crossed the room. At this time, David said quietly to him and Bryan, "I'll need to leave in an hour to get to the Taiwan Bar Association's charity event this evening... Did you want to leave with me?"

Dean nodded as he stuffed some fried vermicelli into his mouth. Bryan also agreed, "I will need to get home as it's my wedding anniversary. I'm taking my wife out for dinner after this."

David reacted, "Oh congratulations. Sorry to drag you here with us on such an important day."

Bryan waved his hand. "Oh, it's ok. I wanted to meet Ms. Chou as I couldn't earlier this week."

Dean wiping his mouth with a napkin said, "Hmm. Congratulations. How long have you been married?"

"10 years."

"Oh wow!" Both Dean and David exclaimed. "Did you marry young?" Dean asked.

"When I was 28."

"I'm 28..." Dean thought as he consumed another mouthful of noodles.

"Ouch!" Their heads turned towards the commotion. Dean saw that Mia was holding her hand in front of the popcorn machine and hurried over, "Are you alright?" Looking up at him with frightened eyes, she said, "Yes. I..." He lightly took her hand where a red rash began to form, "Did you burn yourself?" Still holding her hand, he pulled her with him towards the drinks table.

Dean proceeded to dunk her injured hand into a large steel bucket filled with beverages, ice, and water. He held her hand like that for a moment as Mia watched him. He looked like he was mentally counting, staring off at the wall in front of them. Finally, he turned back to her and smiled, "Don't fiddle with the popcorn machine. I am sure it gets hot." Then, he let go of her hand that was still in the bucket. She took her hand out and wiped it dry with the cloth napkin that he gave her. "Thank you, Dean. I...I usually don't have any trouble with my popcorn machine..."

"You keep that here in the office?" Dean was surprised that the machine was hers. Mia replied in a small voice, "No, I brought it from home..." He thought that was even stranger and he chuckled with his wide eyes fixed on her. "It's small enough to fit in the back of a car. I do it all the time..." she protested.

Dean chuckled again, "You keep that at home... and you brought it from home yourself?"

Mia opened her mouth to reply but was interrupted by David, "Mia, are you ok?"

"Yes, I'm fine."

David nodded, "Good. Good. Dean, do you mind if I borrow Mia for a minute?" Dean frowned but nodded and walked away towards the food table.

Once Dean was out of eavesdrop, David guided Mia to a corner of the room and smiled apologetically, "You should have let me help you with the party. It would really have been a pleasure." Mia laughed lightly, "Thank you for offering but really you didn't need to."

"Well, then I would love to take you out for lunch one day as I am looking forward to building a long-term relationship with you..."

"Relationship?" Mia blushed, a little surprised.

"Ah. I mean long-term client relationship with you," David waved his hand in front of himself to dispel Mia's misunderstanding. "You are planning more stores in the future, are you not?"

"Yes, yes, of course!" Mia replied, embarrassed but relieved.

David chuckled and took a sip of his wine, "Don't get me wrong. I do want to get to know you more as you are a good friend of Beverley. And I don't really know any of her close friends, to be honest." He gave his warm eye-smile, "Well to be honest, I feel like I don't know Beverley that well at all..." Mia cocked her head to one side, "Oh? I thought you knew Beverley for a long time?"

"Yes, yes, I do know Beverley for a long time... But..." David hesitated but whispered, "I feel like I don't know what her type is..." Mia raised her eyebrows, "Oh?"

David cleared his throat, "I know that she is dating... But she doesn't seem to think much of me to date me." He let out a nervous laugh.

"Oh!" Surprised, Mia finally realised that David was asking for her advice about Beverley. He looked at her intently, "What does Beverley look for in a man, do you know, Mia?"

Mia was thoughtful, "You know I really don't know..." She has met many of the men that Beverley has dated. All of them were good-looking, toned, and wealthy. How can she put it, could it be that Beverley is shallow?! She shook her head and lied, "I really don't know, David. Beverley and I don't really talk about these things..."

"Really?" David narrowed his eyes at Mia. "Really," she quickly insisted. Then, feeling a little guilty, she offered, "Well, you know she loves classical music. Perhaps you could take her to a concert?"

David's eyes brightened, "Why didn't I think of that?! You're so right, Mia. I should take her to a concert." He moved to put his wine glass down at a nearby table. Then, realising that he had left Mia behind, he turned back to her and said, "Mia, I have to go... I need to get to an event which Beverley is attending as well..."

Mia chuckled. David was such an easy person to read. "Oh, of course. It was really nice for you to drop by." By this time, Dean had made his way to them. Grateful for his presence, David placed a hand on his shoulder, "Dean, I am leaving but were you going to stay a bit longer?"

Dean shrugged, "I have nothing else planned this evening...So I can stay a little longer..." He had planned a quiet evening at home to review documents and designs after the party. He caught Mia giving him a warm smile.

After David and Bryan left, Mia guided Dean to where Benny and Kai-Lin were. By the time, they arrived, Benny had walked away to get a drink. Dean and Kai-Lin stood alone together as Mia was called away for supplies. From where Mia was she could see that they were in a tense argument. It looked like Kai-Lin needed rescuing as his face was twisted with tension. Dean's was not looking great either. His face was flushed and his eyebrows were knotted together. She could hear her name mentioned a few times.

Oh, dear...

Mia decided this time to pull Kai-Lin away. Dean's face was even darker than before as she did this. "Kai-Lin, are you ok? You seemed like you were in a heated argument with Dean?" she asked. He forced a smile, "Oh, it's fine. Design and architecture are very personal, I guess. Of course, you're bound to meet people who don't see eye to eye with you."

Mia hoped that Dean had not insulted Kai-Lin. "So, if I asked you to work with him on my building, will you be ok?" He replied, "I'm ok, but you need to make it clear to him that I am the lead interior designer. It's important especially if we have two conflicting ideas."

"Oh, is it that bad..." Mia thought to herself. She would have to have a word with Dean later. Kai-Lin looked intently at her worried face, "Mia, I will leave you to discuss things with Dean Whitfield. The sooner you speak to him, the better, I think." Without taking the dessert plate from Mia, he proceeded to hug her. Over Kai-Lin's shoulder, she could see Dean as he turned and stared at her being hugged. He had a stern face with a touch of surprise before he swiftly turned away.

Kai-Lin released Mia and sighed, "Don't worry Mia. Everything will be alright." He continued while lightly squeezing her arm, "We can discuss it further when we catch up for dinner this Sunday." Her mood brightened instantly, "Oh yes at the oden[1] place I love so much? Yes, I almost forgot. Yes. Could I treat you this time?" He chuckled and patted her arm, "It's fine! I can't let you pay." She gave him a melancholy smile, "You always say that. Please let me pay this time?" He took Mia's arm as he walked towards the front door, "How about this, you choose the bar that we go to afterward?" She clasped her hands together and turned towards Kai-Lin, "Deal!"

Mia stood at her office front door as she waved goodbye to Kai-Lin. Her smile dropped as she turned back towards the party. She was not looking forward to speaking with Dean.

Footnotes

[1] Oden (おでん, 御田) is a type of nabemono (Japanese one-pot dishes), consisting of several ingredients such as boiled eggs, daikon, konjac, and processed fishcakes stewed in a light, soy-flavored dashi broth.