Driving Miss Yin

Chapter 2

DRIVING MISS YIN

Chapter Two

The following day at breakfast, my mother assaulted my delicate ears with her shrills. Apparently, she and Auntie Xedi had a talk about our date last night. I know I declared last night that I've found 'the one' but I'm not gonna give my mother that satisfaction. No, I think I want to keep it for myself for now. Besides, I want to know more about Xiao Qiao before I really consider that she's worth marrying. Why rush when we can just have fun, right?

My mother kept blabbering while I ate my breakfast in silence. When I finished that's when she finally got my attention.

"And oh, Mei Zuo, I told Xiao Qiao that you'll fetch her to work this morning." She said nonchalantly.
"What?!"
My mother ignored me and went on. "Her mother and I arranged it for you. From now on, you're going to fetch her to work and drive her home." She said, grinning this time, like it's the best news she ever told me.
"WHAT?!"

Let me explain the reaction I made. One, I had an early morning meeting. Two, I was going to ask her if we could have dinner again tonight, if possible. Three, I hate meddlesome mothers! Especially the silly ones.

"Mother, you can't just arrange my schedule. What if I have something important to do? Or what if I'm out of town?"

"Aiyoo!" She shook her head. "Then just fetch and drive her when you can."

I sighed before I left. Arguing with my mother is pointless.

So now, I have to fetch and drive Miss Yin. Great.

Yes! It's actually great! I get to see her in the morning and in the evening. Mei Zuo, be happy!

I am indeed happy. I just didn't like being manipulated by my mother. It's not like I can't ask her or any other girl out on a date on my own. For goodness sake, I'm the most outstanding member of F4 and right now I'm also the only available bachelor among us four. I'm not counting Lei. He has sworn off romantic love. I can get any girl I want. Even if she happens to be the woman my mother has chosen to be my ideal wife.

When I made my way to Xiao Qiao's house, it was only then that I realized that fetching her and driving her to work posed a traffic problem for me. My buddies and I lived in the same neighborhood and our houses are just closed by. Whereas Xiao Qiao lived on the other side of town. And the Shanghai Music Conservatory is also on the opposite end of my workplace. And Shanghai traffic on peak hours is a headache to us all.

This really is a dilemma to me. I called my secretary and informed her to postpone the meeting to ten o'clock. It's just a quarter past eight but I didn't want to be rushed into a meeting and in case there's traffic along the way I still have time to prepare. Not that I wasn't prepared. I'm always prepared and I've checked all the facts even down to the smallest detail. That's me. Meticulous Mei Zuo.

Since it was still early, there was no road traffic and I arrived at the Yin residence twenty minutes before nine. Thankfully, Xiao Qiao was prompt this time. She was outside the gate already. I got out of my car. We greeted each other. She looked nice today. Her work attire which was simple and classic looked elegant on her. I approved. I approved?!

My old man once told me that a gentleman does not make a lady open her own door. And I'm a gentleman. So I opened the passenger door. I earned a sweet smile from her. One point to me.

Once we've both settled inside the car, I started the engine and drove us to her work.

"You don't have to fetch and drive me." She spoke.
"It's no problem." I said.
"My mother can be silly sometimes. I didn't know about this." She muttered.
"My mother is always silly. And I too didn't know about this." I glanced at her and gave her a reassuring smile.
"I know how to drive so really I can drive for myself."
Is she trying to convince me to get out of this?

Last night, I couldn't tell if she liked me as well. She's too nice, too sweet that I can't tell if she's being sincere or just indifferent. Usually, girls just flocked to me and confessed their feelings. And I guess that's part of the reason she impressed me last night. She's a mystery to me.

"Let's just make our mothers happy for today. I have a feeling whatever we do, they'll always make plans to get us two together." I told her.
"I guess you have a point." She agreed with me.

We talked about her new job. She won't officially start reporting til next week but she wanted to get to know the people and familiarize herself with the organization. Again, I'm impressed. And I think I may have judged her prematurely. Clearly, she's not a rich brat without brains. I owe her an apology.

It was ten past nine when we arrived at the Shanghai Music Conservatory. I opened the door for her again and gave my word that I would fetch her by six in the evening.

Again, she gave me a sweet smile. Two points for me.

At the office, I arrived with plenty of time to spare. My morning meeting went well and I secured another exhibition for our company. It's still midday and already I'm having a great day.

By five in the afternoon, I was ready to go. It was a good idea to leave the office early because on my way back to the conservatory there was a moderate traffic. I didn't need to park because outside the lobby there was Xiao Qiao waiting for me. I wasn't late but she was just ready to leave I guess.

I did say I wanted to ask her for a dinner date and I did once we were inside my car.

"Are you hungry? Because I'm starving." I said.
"A little bit." She replied.
"Great. I know a place." I said driving us out of the conservatory and going back to the road.

I'm too old for our usual dating tricks and antics. Those are outdated anyway. I brought her to an Italian restaurant which Xi Men suggested for me. I know he's too busy being a family man these days but if ever you want to know where you can go to eat great food and with a good wine selection, Xi Men Yan is the man.

"By the way, you should meet my best friend Lei." I told her.
"Jing mentioned him to me one time." She said. "He's the one who's into music, right?"
I nodded. "I think you two would hit it off."
"Are you trying to set me up with your friend?" She asked.
I choked on my drink. "That's not what I meant."
She laughed a little. "I know. I'm just teasing you."
"Oh thank goodness." I sighed.
"Why are you so relieved?"
Indeed. Why am I so relieved?
"Ah well, because Lei is weird and boring. You'll get tired being with him."
"I thought you said we would hit it off?"
Busted.
"Oh right. I meant with music. You two would hit it off because you're both passionate about music. Personally, I think Lei will bore you to death." I explained.
"So you're saying we music lovers are boring?"
I did not say that. Where'd she get that conclusion?
"You're not boring. In fact, you're interesting." I said.
"You find me interesting?"
"Yes."
"Thank you." She raised her wine glass and took a sip.
"About Lei, I heard he went out on a date once and in the middle of the date he fell asleep." I shared just to get my point.
"Are you trying to make me think bad of your best friend?"
"Just giving you facts about him."
"I think I want to meet Lei. Jing has told me about him and he seems like a very interesting person."

Curse me, curse Lei, curse Jing.

© Franzz P. Follow on Instagram @onceinalifetimearc2018
Date written: January 6, 2019

Note: Here's the spin-off I promised. This won't be long though. About the title, I copied it after the 1990s movie Driving Miss Daisy starring Nicolas Cage and Shirley McLaine. I don't really know yet how this will turn out but I'm going with this working title. Besides, in Deal Chapter 30 we have Mei Zuo complaining that he's just a chauffeur. So that's the premise of this story.