Read Online Murder After a Fashion by Grace Carroll - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Grace Carroll
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said with a flirtatious smile.
I was afraid she was going to pull up a chair and join us, but Jonathan didn’t invite her and neither did I, so she moved on across the room. I couldn’t help but think that every nurse in the place must be hot for him. I would be if I were a nurse. I wasn’t a nurse, but I was hot for him anyway.
We both had coffee because Jonathan had to be alert for the many hours to come as he treated domestic violence victims, and patients with drug overdoses, flu, chest pains, fevers and heart attacks.
“What’s up with your friend the gymnast?” he asked.
I shrugged. “I heard he had an accident at work involvingsome uneven bars, but I haven’t seen him in a while.” I could only hope that Jonathan was wondering if I was interested in Nick romantically. I wanted to be sure my favorite doctor knew I was free and still single.
He glanced at his watch. “Give me a call if you want someone to try your new recipes out on. I can’t exist on hospital food alone, you know.”
I felt awful that I hadn’t called Jonathan and kept in touch more often. He was really a great guy with a great job and an A-one beside manner. Jonathan gave me a big hug before I left the cafeteria, and said he’d be in touch.
I stood outside the main entrance of the hospital wondering what I should do next. It was too early to go home and too late to call anyone. When I checked my messages, I saw that Nick had called me. I phoned him, and we made a date to meet in Cow Hollow near his house.
He asked if I liked tea and I said, “Of course.”
“What kind? Green tea, black tea, oolong, herbal?”
“I don’t know,” I confessed.
“We’ll go for a tea tasting. They know me there. I often bring some friends from my country or not. Like you.”
I met him at the Hong Kong Tea Emporium, which sounded large and impressive but was a small cozy teahouse on Chestnut Street.
He greeted me European style with a kiss on each cheek. There is something so different about being with a suave European man. His accent, his manners made me feel like I was in a foreign movie. I almost forgot to ask about his aunt, like did he know where she was last night. I told myself to hold off and asked him how he’d been.
“Very well,” he said. “I have completely recovered frommy accident, and I am ready to plunge headfirst into the social life again.”
“That’s good news,” I said. Because I too was only too ready for some social life. Then I asked him to explain the different teas to me.
First he introduced me to the hostess, who wore a long silk Oriental gown. I felt underdressed in my denim jacket. I didn’t like the feeling.
“It is my pleasure to introduce you to Yum Yum, the tea hostess. I have learned from her everything I know about tea, so now I know more than many people. So very oftentimes I am the one who needs the explaining about your country, but not tonight.”
I sat back on the bar stool and watched Yum Yum pour hot water over tea leaves.
“You will see,” Nick said, “that tea tasting is not like wine tasting. No bitterness, no slurping and no spitting.”
I was glad to hear it.
“And also,” Nick continued, “the food that goes with the tea is much more strange than at a wine tasting.”
That had me a little worried. I like to think of myself as an adventurous eater, but I draw the line at certain things, like pigs’ feet. I didn’t need to worry. Our hostess started by immersing white and green tea leaves in boiling water.
“Three minutes is enough,” she said. “Anything longer and you will have bitterness.”
With the tea she served nori rolls. She kept pouring different teas starting with green. With oolong tea we nibbled on tea eggs. I was glad I hadn’t overeaten at the hospital cafeteria.
“What do you taste?” Nick asked me when we weredrinking the oolong tea. I swirled the tea around in my mouth, then I took a guess. “This one has hints of honey and gardenia,” I said.
I was afraid she was going to pull up a chair and join us, but Jonathan didn’t invite her and neither did I, so she moved on across the room. I couldn’t help but think that every nurse in the place must be hot for him. I would be if I were a nurse. I wasn’t a nurse, but I was hot for him anyway.
We both had coffee because Jonathan had to be alert for the many hours to come as he treated domestic violence victims, and patients with drug overdoses, flu, chest pains, fevers and heart attacks.
“What’s up with your friend the gymnast?” he asked.
I shrugged. “I heard he had an accident at work involvingsome uneven bars, but I haven’t seen him in a while.” I could only hope that Jonathan was wondering if I was interested in Nick romantically. I wanted to be sure my favorite doctor knew I was free and still single.
He glanced at his watch. “Give me a call if you want someone to try your new recipes out on. I can’t exist on hospital food alone, you know.”
I felt awful that I hadn’t called Jonathan and kept in touch more often. He was really a great guy with a great job and an A-one beside manner. Jonathan gave me a big hug before I left the cafeteria, and said he’d be in touch.
I stood outside the main entrance of the hospital wondering what I should do next. It was too early to go home and too late to call anyone. When I checked my messages, I saw that Nick had called me. I phoned him, and we made a date to meet in Cow Hollow near his house.
He asked if I liked tea and I said, “Of course.”
“What kind? Green tea, black tea, oolong, herbal?”
“I don’t know,” I confessed.
“We’ll go for a tea tasting. They know me there. I often bring some friends from my country or not. Like you.”
I met him at the Hong Kong Tea Emporium, which sounded large and impressive but was a small cozy teahouse on Chestnut Street.
He greeted me European style with a kiss on each cheek. There is something so different about being with a suave European man. His accent, his manners made me feel like I was in a foreign movie. I almost forgot to ask about his aunt, like did he know where she was last night. I told myself to hold off and asked him how he’d been.
“Very well,” he said. “I have completely recovered frommy accident, and I am ready to plunge headfirst into the social life again.”
“That’s good news,” I said. Because I too was only too ready for some social life. Then I asked him to explain the different teas to me.
First he introduced me to the hostess, who wore a long silk Oriental gown. I felt underdressed in my denim jacket. I didn’t like the feeling.
“It is my pleasure to introduce you to Yum Yum, the tea hostess. I have learned from her everything I know about tea, so now I know more than many people. So very oftentimes I am the one who needs the explaining about your country, but not tonight.”
I sat back on the bar stool and watched Yum Yum pour hot water over tea leaves.
“You will see,” Nick said, “that tea tasting is not like wine tasting. No bitterness, no slurping and no spitting.”
I was glad to hear it.
“And also,” Nick continued, “the food that goes with the tea is much more strange than at a wine tasting.”
That had me a little worried. I like to think of myself as an adventurous eater, but I draw the line at certain things, like pigs’ feet. I didn’t need to worry. Our hostess started by immersing white and green tea leaves in boiling water.
“Three minutes is enough,” she said. “Anything longer and you will have bitterness.”
With the tea she served nori rolls. She kept pouring different teas starting with green. With oolong tea we nibbled on tea eggs. I was glad I hadn’t overeaten at the hospital cafeteria.
“What do you taste?” Nick asked me when we weredrinking the oolong tea. I swirled the tea around in my mouth, then I took a guess. “This one has hints of honey and gardenia,” I said.
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