My Kind of Town
>> Queen's Medical Center Promises, promises
Dr. Laurie Tang hadn't gotten much rest, not with Sherlock Gomes in her bed, but you'd never know that she was sleep-deprived. Laurie practically floated into the ER, a smile on her face, a light in her eyes, a song in her voice. Which came as a surprise to her colleagues, who'd heard about the burglar who'd broken into her condo last night. It was a quiet morning in the ER and the chief topic of gossip was: so what's up with Dr. Tang.
Charge nurse Van Truong knew. When they were alone she said, "So how did it go with the detective?"
Laurie beamed. "Wonderful. I've never felt like this before."
It was obvious, and Van was happy for her favorite doc.
"And what about your date with No. 1?" Laurie said.
Van had signed up for an online dating service and in the first evening her listing was posted she received e-mail responses from 32 men, including one in Pakistan. Van now had dinner dates lined up for the next three weeks.
"Oh my gosh, unbelievable," Van said, shaking her head. "In his e-mail he said his body type was athletic -- but other than the six-pack crunch I think the only athletics he knows is on TV."
"And dinner?
"Saimin at Shiro's, which was fine, but he talked non-stop about a car he's fixing up."
"One down, 30 to go."
"Plus Pakistan. It has to get better than this, doesn't it?"
Laurie hoped so. Van deserved a good man.
>> State Capitol
Locking up Sen. Donovan Matsuda-Yee-Dela Cruz's office for probably the last time, Grace Ah Sun was filled with very mixed emotions. On the one hand, sad and confused because her boss and his mentor were in jail, careers over, the dream of the governorship now just a bad joke. On the other hand, elated in a tingly sort of way that the former president remembered her and wanted to have dinner. Such an honor. And, Grace had to admit, such a thrill. What was it about that man?
Grace wanted to tell someone the news, but the president asked her not to say anything. "Our little secret, OK?" And she quickly agreed.
But now she wondered if that meant her husband Sheets too? They'd been married 28 years and did not keep secrets -- private thoughts, of course, like any couple, but not secrets. How could she keep it a secret from him that she had a dinner date -- no, that's not right -- she was having dinner with the president? Well, she'd made a promise to the president, she'd just have to keep it.
But what about that vow she'd made to her husband?
Don Chapman is editor of MidWeek.
His serialized novel runs daily in the Star-Bulletin
with weekly summaries on Sunday.
He can be e-mailed at dchapman@midweek.com