With the abrupt departure of the dragon lady from my life, I entered a sexual desert. Mrs. Nguyen was an older woman but she undeniably had some talent. I was always bothered by her "businesslike" approach, however. I wanted to get involved with a Vietnamese woman but develop something deeper than a business arrangement. I wanted a relationship at all levels. That was what I wanted. Intellectual fulfillment as well as getting into the woman's pants. Yes, Mrs. Nguyen had hooked me on Vietnamese women and I wanted more. Hanna came to my rescue with a phone call one day:
"Paul. I have friend same age you. I want you meet my friend. You come Sunday and have dim-sum with Ted, Mei-Ling and me?"
I have never been a fan of blind dates as I always ended up with my "good buddy's" girlfriend's ugly cousin. I had met so many women with a "nice personality" this way that I was toying with the idea of turning down Hanna's invitation. Still, Hanna was good hearted and I wanted to meet Ted after Hanna told me so much about him. I thought I needed to assure him that he was on the right track with Hanna.
Hanna said to meet on Sunday at 10:00 am. Well, even if the blind date didn't work out, the food would be good. As Mrs. Nguyen figured out, my personality consists of lust for oriental women and oriental food.
Hanna picked the biggest, most popular Chinese restaurant in the city. Hanna and Ted had arrived already and my blind date had their back to me. I picked my way towards their table between the chaos of dim-sum carts, steam carts and toddlers exploring the floor. Hanna, as usual, spoke first:
"You find us easy? Please meet Ted. Is he like I tell you? I want you meet my friend Mei-Ling? You like her?"
"Hanna," I said, "you really are something. I haven't even been introduced to Mei-Ling and you are asking me questions about her already. Let me do it. I'm Paul."
Suddenly, I realized that I hadn't really looked at my blind date. She turned to me and extended a soft, gentle hand. She certainly wasn't Hanna's ugly cousin. In fact she was the prettiest oriental woman I had seen outside movies. Her hair was styled and her clothes were fashionable. She was younger than Hanna and more graceful in her movements.
"Hi Paul. I'm Melinda Tran. Like Hanna, I westernized my given name. Most Canadians find Melinda a lot easier to say than Mei-Ling. Sit down and let's order. There's been some great-looking stuff go by on the carts."
I was so taken aback by Melinda's appearance and her smooth, almost accentless, English that I must have been standing there like an idiot. I couldn't focus on anything to say. I think I said something when I sat down but it got lost as Hanna started her rapid-fire monologue. I must admit that it wasn't as graphic as what she had been telling me for her story.
Hanna was very much in love with Ted, I could tell. Hanna told us story after story about Ted's virtues, his good taste in all things and how they planned to move in together. Ted must have loved Hanna very much as well. He had infinite patience with Hanna's long stories, held her hand when she told something sad and gently corrected her English when it became too fractured. I really didn't get to learn much more about Ted than what Hanna had told me. From all appearances, he was as kind, loving and confident as she had pictured him.
I also didn't get to learn much about Melinda at the meal other than she was a seafood junkie. Hanna's stories were so long and involved that it was difficult to direct any attention to the lovely woman beside me. Once Melinda did comment that I used chopsticks very expertly. I managed to tell her that I had learned how at the University, which had a number of students from Hong Kong. Melinda managed to say that she had been to University in Saigon before Hanna started another story. The food was great but I was frustrated that I couldn't get to know the first blind date that I was ever interested in.
Ted and I split the bill and we got up to leave. I then started to look at Melinda again and noticed she was about 5'-4", taller than Hanna but shorter than an average white woman. I will never know for sure why Hanna dominated the dinner table conversation. Hanna could be a compulsive talker as I well knew. On the other hand, perhaps Hanna's plan was to talk up Ted and generate for Melinda as much interest in white men as I had in oriental women. Plan or compulsion, Hanna must have realized that she hadn't given us a chance to talk because she turned to us and said:
"Paul. You please to take Mei-ling home? Ted and I go shop now."
I said I didn't mind at all if Melinda didn't mind my old car. Melinda smiled and said she hoped the car could make it to the other side of the city. On the way to Melinda's place, she opened up a lot. Melinda explained that she had a Chinese given name and a Vietnamese surname because her father was Vietnamese and her mother was Chinese. Melinda felt that because of her mixed parentage, she had not been accepted by either the Vietnamese or the Chinese.
Her father worked for the government, which was why she had had to leave Vietnam. Her father had used his influence to get Melinda a scholarship to the University. She had studied English language and literature, hence her flawless English. Although she said she had trouble meeting men, Melinda had a boyfriend in University and they had planned to get married. He was Chinese but his family disapproved of Melinda and broke up their affair. I thought to myself, "I don't think his parents ever got to meet you or they would have changed their minds".
When we got to Melinda's place, I said: "Hanna's a great person but she really doesn't play cupid very well. Can we try and get together again on our own? I belong to an art film club society they are showing a Fassbinder next Saturday. From what you've told me, I think that might be something you would like"
"Yes, that sounds great. And dinner will be my treat this time. We'll go to a Vietnamese restaurant before the show. It's a lot quieter than the Chinese restaurant we were in today so we can talk more. Plus, you'll get to see the Vietnamese half of me. I'll call you Friday and we'll make arrangements."
That week, I just couldn't think about anything else but Melinda. At university, I had never had much to do with the female students from Hong Kong. They were outnumbered three to one by the Chinese male students and were in great demand. I hung a bit with the guys as I was interested in oriental art and culture to further my writing career. It was an effort to be friends with Chinese students. They were insufferable nerds as they were usually studying something like engineering or physics. They really had no great interest in art or literature as Melinda did. So really, I had never met a person from the Far East like Melinda. Mrs. Nguyen didn't count as she was neither intellectual nor an interesting person. I wondered if any passion lurked beneath Melinda's cultured exterior. I was sure this evening would be interesting, even if we didn't connect.
