Caterers and staff bustle around the foyer as they prepare for the small celebration we’re putting on for Lin tonight. She’s been resting since the surgery yesterday, but Louise says everything went perfectly. No complications at all. The party will be a nice break from interviewing almost everyone on the campus staff. Not a single one of them so far has given me any suspicious vitals when I press them about Dorothy. Most of them don’t even know who she is. The only ones who have heard of her are the few who have been here a long time and remember her from back when she was tight with Father, or the ones that heard from Louise about us running into her on our trip.
With the fancy tablecloths and formal place settings, the foyer of the Residence has been transformed into a high end dining experience. As usual, Mrs. Hastings did a fantastic job. A dozen round tables with fancy centerpieces are spread through the room. The caterers in their crisp black and white uniforms have a big spread of barbecue laid out in warmers along one side of the room. From what Yang Song told us, it's Lin’s favorite American food and she’s been looking forward to having some since she arrived in the country. The brisket and pulled pork don’t smell quite as good as the memories they’re triggering of what Gramps makes, but it’s just the food I’m smelling and not the smoker, so it’s not quite the whole experience.
All of the oldest three classes of sibs are invited, along with a bunch of the staff that lives on campus. Pretty much everyone I can count on not to cause an international incident. Over in the cafeteria I can feel the younger kids lining up for the same food. They seem excited for it.
I catch up with Marc for a few minutes while we wait for Lin and Yang Song to join the party. They’re still holed up in Lin’s room. Marc gives me way more detail than I wanted on everything that went on while we were gone, but it sounds like everything went well here in our absence. Thankfully, Louise has kept quiet about my suicide attempt. The last thing I need is Marc thinking he needs to take care of me.
Lin and Yang Song finally emerge, and Lin is already looking tremendously better. She’s all fancied up in a traditional dress that my index tells me is called a qipao with a matching headwrap and plenty of makeup. The pained look is still gone and her smile rivals Andrea’s. Louise escorts them to one of the tables and they take a seat. I take the seat next to Lin, Evan takes the seat next to mine, and Valerie and Andrea get the last seats at the table between him and Louise. Everyone else gets settled in at the other tables and the servers come around taking orders.
Between bites of brisket and mashed potatoes that she’s clearly enjoying, Lin tells us about the rest of the cities she’ll be visiting on her tour of America. I think she’ll have a little more time for sight-seeing than she had originally planned. There are only so many times you’ll need to hear that you’re cancer-free before you don’t need anyone else to check. She’s digging into dinner with gusto. It’s great to see that she’s got an appetite. Maybe she’ll look less emaciated if we ever meet again. It’s amazing what not looking like you’re dying can do for your appearance. She would probably be very pretty once she doesn’t look like she’s dying anymore.
As the evening goes on, I start to suspect that she's flirting with me. It’s a little hard to tell since she only speaks in English for some simple sentences and the rest comes from Yang Song, but her vitals are registering signs consistent with attraction when she talks to me—the dilated pupils, the elevated pulse, the almost imperceptible flush of her cheeks behind her make-up. I’m not sure what to make of it, but she’s pleasant company, and we have a surprising amount in common. And it feels nice to be liked.
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I ask her if she’s ever done any programming, not mentioning that my many eyes had seen her doing it. She gets excited and tells me all about how she fell in love with coding as a way to distract herself from the pain of chemo when she did her first round of it a few years ago. We end up geeking out together through the rest of the meal. Yang Song keeps giving me disapproving glances as she translates, especially when I make Lin laugh.
I wonder if I could rig up some translation software into the interface. Probably not, at least not without connecting the appliance up to some external system, that stuff takes some significant processing power. Too bad. Not that I think Lin really needs it, as far as I can tell she already understands everything we’re saying in English. She probably just needs a little practice speaking and we could communicate just fine.
Andrea excuses herself as they serve the desserts. I feel bad that she’s missing out on the rich chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream, but she’s back in a couple of minutes. She presents Lin with a pink glass statue of a winged serpentine dragon with a spear through its heart. I look closer and feel it out with my bots. The exterior is hard and glassy, but the density isn’t right: it’s not uniform throughout. The color isn’t quite uniform either. On closer inspection it’s a swirled marbling of red, white, and gray.
I don’t know whether to laugh or shudder. That’s the tumor inside there! She’s encased the malignant goo and created a piece of beautiful art from it.
I explain to Lin what it is and she gets a fierce look on her face as she pantomimes thrusting the spear into it. She smiles and speaks quickly in Chinese. Yang Song thanks Andrea effusively. At some more Chinese from Lin, Yang Song carries the statue from the room. I feel her heading towards Lin’s room with it.
As soon as she’s gone, Lin leans over and whispers in my ear in English. “I think you are cute.”
Yeah, she's definitely flirting with me.
“You look pretty good yourself,” I whisper back.
She gives me a peck on the cheek and laughs. I laugh with her. I sense Yang Song hurrying through the halls back to the dining area and I straighten up in my chair, Lin follows suit and we’re back to being perfectly proper by the time she enters the room. Yang Song takes her seat back and Lin gives me a conspiratorial look whenever her translator turns the other way to say something to Louise. We go back to making small talk. Lin is really funny, even with the translation barrier.
Hey Mom, I think I like this girl.
Eventually, the party winds down and Yang Song says goodnight. Lin reluctantly follows her back to their rooms, turning to look at me one more time just before she turns the corner and disappears out of sight.
As soon as they’re gone, Evan and Valerie burst out laughing.
“Look at you two!” Valerie says. “So cute!”
“It’s so nice not to be the only Butler son with a girlfriend anymore,” laughs Evan.
“I’m not sure how much long-term potential there is for you with the daughter of one of the most powerful men in the Chinese military,” Louise says, sliding over into Lin’s seat and elbowing me in the ribs. “But good for you Noah!”
I just shake my head. Cartoon hearts start floating up from my chest and pop like bubbles over my head. Andrea smirks at me from across the table.
“OK, we’re done here,” I declare. “I’ll see you all in the morning.”
They all laugh as I head back to the dorms.