“I have a feeling Victor’s paying her a lot more than that,” I reply with a laugh. “And she’s got twins at college in Boston. So she wants to stay close.”
Lucy goes quiet, but only for a few seconds. “How is Rhode Island? Because I have a feeling, I wouldn’t mind moving the studio out there. And as for paying Yolanda the same as Victor, did you hear what I said earlier about the devil’s dick? Because…”
I sigh. “Okay, goodbye, Lucy.”
“Mmm, smoky Dick! Taste good!”
I’m still laughing as I head to Victor’s office after receiving my unexpected gift. Obviously, I’m no longer expecting him to actually be there. But I figure I can leave a thank you note if I can find a post-it note on his desk or something else to write it on.
However, I stopped short just outside the door when I hear a voice coming from his office.
It belongs to a woman. I peep around the doorframe. A very attractive woman. She’s sitting next to Victor on the office’s leather couch. Like, super close.
She’s got her hand on his knee, and she’s saying, “Oh Victor, we’re such a great match.”
VICTOR
“Oh Victor, we’re such a great match.”
These are words Victor has been longing to hear. But unfortunately, they’re coming out of the wrong mouth.
The woman sitting next to him on the couch in his office isn’t his perfect match. And he curses the fact that he still hasn't put back on his wedding ring for fear of spooking Dawn. Perhaps if he were wearing it, he wouldn't have to deal with this unwanted situation.
Despite his lack of response, Seung-hyun moves closer to him on the couch, reaching out a hand to squeeze his knee. “I would like to take our relationship to another level. If you like, we could meet more than twice a week. Or how about in the evening, maybe over dinner?”
Victor is about to sign that he doesn't want their relationship to be at any level but the exact one he hired her for when he notices a shadow at the door.
He narrows his eyes. He never stations guards outside of his office. So it has to be someone else. Someone who hasn’t bothered to announce their presence.
He stands up without warning and walks swiftly over to the door.
Lucky for him, Dawn’s reaction times have never been good, so he catches her just as she’s turning to beat a hasty retreat.
He catches her by the wrist to keep her from going. Then signs with one hand, “Is there something I can help you with, Dawn?”
She shifts guiltily and quickly takes her arm back. “I…um…was just…um…coming to see if you had any Post-its.”
He regards her for a cold beat before raising his hands to asks, “Then why didn't you come in and ask for sticky notes?”
“I didn't want to interrupt…” her eyes stray back to Seung-hyun, who has started gathering her materials. “Whatever you got going on in there.”
“She is about to leave,” Victor lets her know. “Come, I'll get those sticky notes for you.”
Inside his study, Seung-hyun stands quickly and says to Dawn, “Hi, I am Seung-hyun.”
“Hi, I'm Dawn.”
Victor watches them eye each other up and down without offering any further introduction. He’s never in his life seen Dawn treat another woman so coldly.
After an awkward moment, Seung-hyun smiles brightly at Victor. “Please, give my offer some thought. I look forward to seeing you again next Tuesday.”
Her smile considerably dims when she regards Dawn again, obviously sizing her up. But then she departs, leaving them alone.
“Who was that?” Dawn asks as soon as she’s gone, signing most likely because she doesn’t want Seung-hyun to hear the question.
“No one,” Victor answers.
Dawn's expression darkens. “You mean like Ayane was no one?”
He jolts. He hasn’t thought of Ayane in fifteen years. It takes him a moment to recall the connection.
“No, not like Ayane. The woman who just left was a tutor.”
Dawn narrows her eyes, and all of her signs are laced with suspicion. “What could someone who looks like that possibly be tutoring you in?”
He looks to the side before admitting, “Korean. It was difficult to find a teacher who also understands ASL.”
Dawn’s eyes dramatically un-narrow, going wide.
“You're learning Korean?” she asks out loud.
“Yes, you said you wanted to learn it for the baby. So I decided to learn it too.”
She shakes her head at him. “But why would you want to do that?”
He answers the same as her fifteen years ago when he asked why she would want to learn CSL. “Why? Why not?”
But Dawn just stares at him, her expression demanding an honest answer.
“I think it's a good idea to bring her up in a multilingual household,” Victor explains, giving away as little of his future plans as possible to keep from scaring her.
“I mean, obviously, me too,” Dawn answers. “But how does the world’s flirtiest tutor fit into this?”