The Shy Man and the Fortune Cookie

The Shy Man and the Fortune Cookie

He was in his late twenties, not bad-looking, but lonely and awkward. Love had failed him after several attempts at dating women.

His right eye had a nervous twitch.

Recently he had moved into a small apartment on the second floor above a mattress store.

It was a chilly evening as he walked down to the street to find a place to eat.

He discovered a small Chinese restaurant not far from his apartment. He entered, looked around, and took a booth in the back corner so he could be alone.

A cute waitress came to his table, smiled an unusually big smile, and said, “Welcome to the house of delights.”

Shyly he smiled back, his eye twitching and his mind racing, wondering why she had said that. He remembered the name on the outside said, Wong’s Chinese Garden.

She looked to be in her twenties, beautiful cheek dimples, slender, and most attractive. Her hair was long and black, with a streak of bright red flowing down the middle of her back.

She asked him what he would like to drink. He told her he would like hot black tea.

“How hot what would you like it?’ she teased, then turned to go for the tea.

He wondered, what did she mean by "hot" then realized that she was indeed flirting with him.

When she returned, she smiled again and poured his tea. “I have not seen you here before, are you new to the neighborhood?”

“Yes, I just moved into an apartment near here.”

“I rent an apartment upstairs above the restaurant,” she said, and then smiled again. This time, she stared at him for a long few seconds, then asked for his order.

“What do you recommend?”

She asked him to stand up so she could better guess what he might like.

 He was puzzled, eye twitching he did as he was told.

She took a couple of steps back, gave him the once-over from head to toe, asked him to turn around, and then asked him to sit down again. He did.

“I have the perfect meal for you. One that you will remember.”

Eye twitching, his head spinning. He knew people thought of him as a nerd, but is this what she thought too, or was she just being sweet to him, and if so, why?

He sipped his tea as he waited for his meal.

First, she brought him Hot and Sour Soup, and Honey Walnut Dumplings.

Next was a platter of fried Chinese green beans with dipping sauce,

followed by Crisp Orange Beef Delight with brown rice and a Spring Roll.

“I sized you up and this is what I would give you to eat if you were my man,” she said, smiling and sashayed back to the kitchen.

“What does she mean by “my man,” he thought to himself, his face blushed bright red. Is this my lucky day? No woman has ever treated me like this. I wonder what my fortune cookie reading will say?

It seemed a long time before she returned. His eye twitching, he started thinking, “I might not see her again. Perhaps she has vanished! Perhaps this is all a dream.”

Suddenly, she appeared and apologized for having been gone so long. “I had to run upstairs to feed my cat, she gets very lonely for me when I am gone so I took time to pet my little kitty.”

“Oh, that is okay, I was just a little concerned that something had happened to you.”

“That is so very-very sweet of you,” she said and bent over and gave him a kiss on his cheek, bringing her body very close to him.

He started sweating profusely. “This cannot be happening to me!” his mind about to explode.

She backed away and said she had one more thing to bring to complete his meal.

She brought a platter with a large Fortune Cookie surrounded by yellow and orange Nasturtium flowers floating in a bowl of water. It was beautiful. The cookie looked homemade.

“I hope your dinner was lovely and it has brought you great joy,” she said, then turned and walked briskly away. No smile as before.

He was dumbfounded! He did not want her to leave. Would he ever see her again? Was this just a show that she had put on for him? Thoughts abounded, stretching his mind.

Finally, he settled down, his eye calmed to a slow flutter, He was eager to read the Fortune. His hands shaking, he carefully broke open the cookie.

Inside was a handwritten note that said, “For your final delight, come upstairs to Apartment 13, tonight at 11:55 and push the doorbell twice.

He was shocked at the message. Nervously he walked back in the chilly autumn air to his apartment wondering why she wanted him to come at almost midnight. Was there some magic in the midnight hour?

His mind was ablaze with excitement, yet fear gripped him. Was she truly interested in him, or was this just a new fantasy that he was playing in his mind? Was she setting him up to take advantage of his awkwardness?

He had had disappointments before when he thought that he was falling in love, only to find that it had vanished. Were these occasions in the past just wishful thinking.

The questions in his mind were getting to him.

He went to the bathroom and combed his hair again, brushed his teeth for a second time, and decided to change his underwear.

He watched the clock on the wall slowly, tick, tick, tick, tick until it was 11:45, and finally time to go.

He put on his coat, took a deep breath, checked his hair again, and headed out to the street.

He climbed the old wooden stairway until he came to Apartment # 13.

Sweat running down his neck; he wondered if this was truly going to be his lucky night, or if she was going to rob him, or possibly even do worse. His trembling finger pushed the doorbell twice and he waited.