Page 16 of Silver Fox's Intern Dilemma

SOPHIA

When I learned Maylin wouldn't be at family dinner tonight, I honestly breathed a sigh of relief. I didn't need her pressuring me into talking about my "hot boss" and goading me into revealing details. I was able to be as tight-lipped as an air lock on a submarine when it came to keeping other people's secrets for them—no one should ever share someone else's secrets. But when it came to my personal life, especially with my sister, who was my closest friend, I had a tendency to over share.

I carried my traditional pork and cabbage jiaozi, dumplings that were full of delicious savory meat and vegetables. I knew Mom was making her sweet and sour chicken, and the boys loved the jiaozi. I just wanted the dinner to be peaceable with no lectures. Dad loved when Mom cooked his favorites, so I figured bringing one with me could only improve his mood. After the last few weeks, I needed more points on my scoreboard.

"Oh, Soph, come in," Mom said, gesturing at me.

I walked in through the back door, having parked around back on purpose so I didn’t have to enter through the living room and face Dad alone right off the bat. He'd sent me a few textmessages this week indicating he'd like to discuss my internship, and I wanted to avoid that discussion for as long as possible.

"I brought jiaozi. I hope it's as good as yours." Smiling, I hoisted the casserole dish into the air and nodded at her, and she cocked her head.

"Oh, that's so good of you—Wait." Her eyes narrowed at me. "You didn't buy them from that shop on Third Street, did you?" She reached for a hand towel and wiped her hands as I opened my arms for a hug after setting the dish on the counter.

"What? And waste all that training you gave me in this kitchen? Never!" I grinned at her as I backed away, and she let her hands slide down my arms until our hands were clasped together.

"It's a sweet gesture," she said. "Thank you."

"Of course… Need help setting the table?" I asked before turning to look, but I immediately noticed the table was set, minus one setting where Maylin always sat.

"No, the boys did it already, and in fact, we're ready to eat now." Mom turned over her shoulder and called, "Food is ready,Àirén!"

I smiled at the way my parents were still so in love, calling each other lover rather than by their name. Then I made my way to the table, parking my purse on the counter and picking up my dish. I removed the lid and placed it under the dish as I sat it on the table. Steam rose from the dumplings and made my mouth water, and soon, my dish was joined by Mom's chicken, a plate of egg rolls Andrew had brought, and the smiling faces of my family who sat and started serving themselves food.

I put a dumpling and an egg roll on my plate, and Thomas dished me a helping of the chicken. Everything looked and smelled so good, we all dug in and started eating without much conversation. My stomach grumbled for more until I had severalbites down, and I knew I would want to eat more. I didn't know what had come over me, but I was ravenously hungry.

"So, Baba, Mama.” Thomas smiled and sighed happily. Mom and Dad continued eating but paid more attention to him as he continued. "Remember that I told you I'd met someone?" Thomas had been dating a woman from his practice for a few months now, maybe more than six. I'd lost track. He had never brought her home to meet our parents, though he did live more than a ninety-minute drive north of the city, and he worked farther north than that. If she lived north of the practice, it could have been a three-hour drive for her just to come.

"Yes, I remember," Mom said, pausing slightly. She raised her eyebrows and put her fork down on her plate. Dad merely grunted and kept feeding himself. He was so no-nonsense and never got excited about anything unless it was something that personally affected him or interested him.

"Well, her name is Elaine Hooper.” He had such a dumb grin on his face it wasn't hard to figure out what he was about to say. I found myself joining in his happiness as he blurted out, "I'm going to marry her. I asked her if she would be my wife and help me build my practice, and she said yes."

Dad's head shot up, and he picked up his napkin and wiped his face, and when he lowered his hand, he had a big smile that reached his eyes. The gray in his beard had been doused in sweet and sour sauce, giving it a red tint, but he didn't seem to care.

"Thomas, that's so good." Dad stood and reached out his hand in a very formal show of happiness, too formal. I wondered how he ever survived his family with no hugs or kisses on the cheek. Thomas shook his hand and then turned to Mom, who stood and flung her arms around him.

"Oh, my little Tommy has grown up!Àirén, our boy is all grown up!" Mom's statement made my brother blush, and sheheld him by the cheeks and her eyes misted over. "When can we meet her? Did you pick a date yet?"

I settled into my seat, listening, and I put more food on my plate to satisfy my growing urge to binge on dumplings and engorge my stomach. I was happy. The focus of this dinner would be on Thomas and his announcement, which meant I could relax and not stress about whether my father brought up the internship. I didn't figure he'd ruin the mood of the evening by bringing up something he knew was a sour topic.

I listened to Thomas tell us all about how amazing Elaine was. She came from a mixed-culture family too, though her mother was French and her father American. The mixture of French and Chinese customs would be hard to pull off for the wedding, especially since my father would be a stickler about ensuring his traditional values were observed and who knew what Elaine's family was like. Most notably, there would be the topic of Elaine's dress, which would likely be white and not the preferred red Dad would expect.

It was humorous hearing how Thomas had to backpedal trying to assuage Dad's insistence at every turn, though I did feel sorry for him. Lately, it had been me who was under the gun and all that micromanaging had turned on my brother for now. But hearing how Elaine and Thomas met, how they wanted to honor all three cultures, and how in spite of the differences, they both wanted to have a family and teach their children all the beautiful things about both cultures made me happy.

I was ready to volunteer to help clean the table when a lull in the conversation had Dad turn his attention on me.

"I have some good news myself," he said, and though his face wasn't the broad smile it had been when Thomas told us he was engaged, I could see Dad was happy. I remained at the table to hear whatever it was that made him feel happy, and he looked straight at me. "The internship with Dr. Manning at JohnsHopkins is solidified. He will offer you the full five-year surgical residency. You can start September first, which will give us time to get you moved and situated in Baltimore."

Dad looked at Mom, whose smile was filled with apprehension. She seemed to understand I wasn't going to take this easily, but she still looked hopeful that I'd agree to it. I knew how much she wanted to keep peace between me and Dad, and while she would always side with him and probably agreed his way was best, she still understood my heart.

"Mama has found four different apartments that are within our price range. We'll set up the lease and utilities, and everything is paid for except your food budget. You won't have to worry about a thing. We just have to decide which apartment." Dad dabbed his beard and rested his napkin on his thigh under the table and waited as if I were going to thank him.

My throat felt like I got a bit of food stuck in it, so I picked up my glass of water and had a big gulp, but the lump never moved from where it was lodged in my throat. Dad had gone behind my back to line things up for me and it frustrated me. I wasn't a child anymore. At twenty-eight, I should be respected as an adult. I lived on my own, and sure, they paid my rent, but I could've paid for it myself. I'd have to cut my cable and internet, go with one of those low-cost prepaid phones, ditch the car in favor of public transport, and probably shop at a discount store instead of my normal grocery, but I could do it.

"Baba, that's so sweet of you," I started, but I just couldn’t do it. I had a really great thing going at Twin Peaks. I knew Manning would never give me the one-on-one training Jack was giving me, and that was outside of the fact that there was something brewing with Jack. I needed to be here, to keep my roots, to stay close to family, and to figure out what the heck was even going on in my love life. I was addicted to Dr. Thornton.

"So Mother will help you pack your things. It's not even the first of August, so you have a full month to get things ready." He nodded as if I were just going to sit here and accept his words as directives. I should have just kept talking when I told him it was sweet, but while I did think it was sweet that he was trying, I had no intention of letting him push me around.

"Baba, I like Twin Peaks." I nervously wiped my mouth, now no longer hungry at all. Then I draped the napkin over my plate and placed my silverware on top of it.

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