Daniel caught the glance of disappointment from Emily's face. For a brief moment, he couldn't deny his own feeling of dismay when May didn't offer him a ride home. But when he turned to look at May, she gave him a knowing smirk that told him she also caught Emily's facial expression. That was when he knew there was more to follow regarding her statement about the public transportation.
May turned to Tessa and raised the baby's two tiny arms and cheered. "Yay! I get to ride on the Skytrain with Danny Gor Gor today!"
May finally turned to face Emily and Ethan. "My car got a flat this morning. I was sort of counting on a ride home from you guys!"
Emily's smile finally returned to her face. "How did you get here?"
"Taxi!" May told her matter-of-factly.
"If only you had called us. We could have given you a ride when we were at Daniel's place." Ethan said. "We didn't know his place was so close to yours until we got there this morning."
"Yeah, I know. I just saw the address from your binder." May turned to Daniel. "Your condo is across the street from mine."
Daniel tried not to be too transparent upon hearing this information; but his inner being was thrilled to have chosen this condominium over the other 4 options presented to him 3 months ago.
"Daniel could have driven as well!" Ethan added with a tone of regret. "Sorry to put you and Tessa out on a limbo like this!"
"Don't worry! It's not your fault!" May smiled. "We'll manage! Seriously, don't feel bad."
But Ethan and Emily weren’t convinced their Maid of Honor knew how to take the Skytrain.
"Do you even know how to take the Skytrain?" Emily asked bluntly. "Have you ever taken public transportation?"
"Daniel, do you know which station is closest to your Condo?" Ethan asked.
“I sure don’t know!” Emily stated without remorse.
May bubbled over with mocking laughter to ease her friends. "Believe it or not, I do know how to take the Skytrain! I have done it before!"
But when Emily and Ethan's faces didn't light up, May had to put on her acting face. "Don't worry! By hook or by crook, I will take your brother and your Best Man back to his home!"
Daniel noticed the flush on May’s face and he knew she was bluffing. He chose not to answer his brother’s question though he did know the closest station to his Condo. He purposely chose that particular location because of the convenience for his LA friends whenever they plan to visit him. However, thinking it would be easier for May and the baby, he suggested to take a taxi.
"Are you kidding?!" May retorted. "And miss out on all the fun riding the Skytrain? Tessa would never go for that!" Then she squeezed the baby's cheeks with zest. "Right, Tessa?"
And so just before lunch was over, May snuck out to ask Paul for the directions to the closest Skytrain station. Half an hour later, the two adults approached the Station with Tessa in the baby stroller. May's footsteps came to a halt when she stood under the overhead directional signs above her. She didn’t know which line to take.
"Umm - Danny?" She bit her pointer finger between her teeth. "You know when I said I have taken the Skytrain?"
Daniel was waiting for this moment of truth and gave her a knowing smirk. “Uh-huh?”
When May made an icky face and squint her right eye slightly, Daniel pretended to be shocked. “You are one of those who have never been on the Skytrain?”
"Of course I have!” May’s protest didn’t last long. “Well, once in high school.”
“High school?” Daniel was genuinely shocked by her revelation. “That’s like 15 to 20 years ago!”
“Yeah, I see things have changed a lot since." She admitted with embarrassment and her cheeks started to grow pinkish. Then as if it was the most natural thing, Daniel put his arms over her shoulders and led her to push the baby stroller through the entrance gate. "Come on! Follow me!"
Shocked by his confidence, May asked. “You actually know where to go?”
“Yes, I always do my homework ahead of time!”
Daniel’s statement brought on a nostalgia moment and they turned to look at each other. Feeling the moment, May naturally responded. “Just like in high school!”
As they made their way up to the Skytrain platform, Tessa was earning them a lot of smiles from some of the passersby. When Daniel noticed the concern May had over the gap between the train and the platform, he offered to push the stroller for her. They sat down across from two elderly Chinese women who went gaga over Tessa the moment they saw her. They caught Tessa's attention and the baby started smiling and kicking her feet excitedly. Because they were speaking Cantonese to the child, May decided to respond in the same dialect as well. "Tessa, say hello to Poh Poh!"
Daniel listened to their conversation and found out Tessa would be 11-month-old on Sunday. The two elderly women went on to say that the baby would grow up to be a beautiful girl because her parents were of Chinese and Caucasian heritage. When he noticed May just thanked them for their compliment, he just smiled and nodded when both elderly women smiled at him. It was obvious everyone thought they were a family unit the moment he walked out of the restaurant with May and the baby.
May leaned towards him and whispered. "I don't bother to explain anymore, I just let people assume Tessa is my daughter. Now, they think you are the father. I hope you don't mind."
"I don't mind!" He whispered back with a smile and gave her a grin. “Just out of curiosity, what do people say about Tessa’s father when you are out with a Chinese guy?”
Her only form of rebuttal was a nudge against his side with her elbow which caused a soft ruckus of laughter between them. Soon they both quiet down and listened as one of the elderly women tell May how pretty she was and that her husband was very good looking by using the term 'Liang Jia'.