Starring:
Summary: Bekah and Lee's first date is cursed by bad luck.
Hard Out There For a Pimp
Uptown, NYC - Tabla Restaurant
Lee meets Bekah at the restaurant - her schedule at the hospital is such that picking her up would be fruitless. He
dressed up, in the sort of discount-store way that teachers and other professionals on a tight budget do - a decent
sports coat, a tie, pulled down a bit, casual. He rises as Bekah comes in, and a cart being pushed by a busboy has a
kebab stick pointing out, and it catches the side of his dress pants and there's a loud riiiiiiip, leaving Lee with
a significant hole in the side of his pants. He wears boxers, by the by. This makes the tasteful bouquet of flowers
he has brought not the first impression Bekah gets of the evening.
Bekah makes her way in pulling a peacoat tight around her against the chill outside. She's dressed in the
traditional little black dress, this one a halter style top under the coat, with heels. It's the sort of look that
could come from Target or fifth avenue. Her hair is worn down in loose curls around her shoulders. She's rather
breathless as she comes in. "Sorry! I hope I'm not late. I worked the day today, and you don't want to know what I
had on me when I had to change." She stops short as she sees the kabob damage. And then she's biting her bottom lip,
trying not to laugh. "Well, there's one question down." She murmurs to herself.
Lee is stunned for a moment, which means that he says, "Ah, come on!" to the back of the busboy as he enters the
kitchen. As Bekah nears, he says, momentarily at a loss for how to proceed in the conversation: "I…ah…yeah…no.
You're…you're not late. I brought…these." He offers her the flowers. They're very nice.
Bekah makes a point of ignoring the rip in the pants, now that she's quite noticed it, to take the flowers with a
smile. "Thank you." She lifts the flowers to take a sniff. "These are beautiful." She states, holding back a sneeze
as she moves them away from her nose. "How are you tonight?" Other than showing off his boxers to the whole
restaurant…
Lee says, "Breezy. I feel a bit breezy. Frankly. When you come right down to it." He's picking up steam, it seems,
and returns her smile with one of his own. "Yourself?" He seats himself opposite her. "School is…not as bad as
it's been, actually. I had a student nearly shot in the Chinatown thing, and I think - cliches aside, it's actually
scared him straight." The waiter, and then the manager, apologizes for the 'incident' and assures the couple that
the meal will be free. How nice!
Bekah nods her head as she takes a seat, settling her coat in the back. "We've had a rash of shootings lately. Kept
us busy." Her eyes are starting to water as she muffles another sneeze in her hand. Unfortunately, it's the one
that's holding the flowers, which just makes the whole thing worse as pettles fall away.
Lee says, "It's terrible. It was hard on him, he was the one Asian kid in class, and most of the gangs are along
racial lines, so he was pretty tormented until he became a spotter for this group of drug dealers and they gave him
protection." Menus are brought, Lee looks at his for the moment, not quite noticing Bekah's difficulty.
"The whole gang culture is awful. It just breeds…" Achoo! Bekah stops in the middle to sneeze again then looks
down at the flowers. She pushes them onto the table, trying to scoot them away from her a bit. "It creates lots of
divisions and violence." She finishes as she takes a look down at her menu, trying to look nonchalant about the
sneezing and watery eyes.
Lee says, "Yeah. He's not showing up in colors anymore, and he's actually /showing up/ for class, so maybe things
will turn around for him. How've things been at the hospital? Do you like the ER, or are you looking to get into
another department?" he asks curiously, looking up and finally noticing her face. "Uh…Bekah, your nose is kind
of…" Well, it's bright red. Super bright red.
Bekah shakes her head. "Lilies. I'm allergic to lilies." And there must be a few in the boquet. She reaches for her
purse to dig out a little container of pills. She chooses one and fumbles for her water glass to take it. "I like
the ER. Such a, sniffle, adrenaline rush. No day is ever, sniffle, the same."
Lee says, "Oh gosh. Sorry. Okay. Here, let me get rid of them for you." He fusses with the bouquet, then, torn pants
and all, heads off to the bathroom to dispose of the lilies. When he returns, he has…liquid down the front of his
pants. "The sink kind of…never mind." he says. The waiter comes and takes their orders. Nothing can go wrong
there, can it? "It's got to be high pressure, though, what do you do to blow off steam? With me, at least, the worst
that can happen is a parent can call and yell at me for making little Johnny read too much."
Bekah is taking another sip of water by the time Lee returns, and starting to look better. Her allergy medicine must
be starting to kick in. Or maybe it's just the lilies going away. "The sink. This is not a good luck night, is it?"
She asks before she turns to place her order, and then answer Lee's question. "I run or swim. Exercise helps me blow
off a lot of steam. And I drink too much caffiene and make lots of snarky comments. Oh God. Parents. Aren't they
just always fun to deal with?"
Lee says, "It's a catch-22. If they're not interested, the kids suffer. If they're psycho about the wrong things,
the kids suffer. And either way, I suffer. I imagine you get the same kinds of things. 'My little baby can't be
pregnant.' 'He's positive for /what/?'"
Bekah nods her head with a groan. "Oh, yes. Parents of teens are the worst as they'll never believe what their kids
have gotten into. Or the parents who fight over the kid's treatment, or fight with us about it. As if I don't want
the best for their kids." She reaches for her water again, wiping at her eyes in an attempt to look inconspicuous
about it.
Lee diplomatically does not notice, just as she has diplomatically agreed not to notice his pants difficulties. The
wine is brought. The food is ordered. "The neighborhood that I teach in is pretty depressed, so mostly I get nothing
or very strange complaints from parents, but occasionally there are some that are concerned."
Bekah nods her head. "I'm sure you have some interesting stories from working with those parents. It's so far
removed from my high school experience. I guess I have my own share of stories that are only funny afterwards from
working at the hospital."
Lee grins. "Probably. Where did you grow up?" he asks with interest. The food comes. It is delicious. Everything is
going so well.
And everything can only go well for so long, but at least for long enough for Bekah to answer the question. "I grew
up in Boston. Or more precisely one of the suburbs. I went to boarding school for high school though." She says as
she takes a bit of her food. "Ooh, this is good."
Lee says, "I grew up here in the city. East Village. My parents had a little shop there, family apartment above…it
was nice in a way, though it's actually a little /less/ scary now than it was back in the day." He too seems pleased
with the food.
Bekah nods her head as she listens. "I bet the city was a really interesting place to grow up. Sounds like you ended
up close to your sister, at least." Or at least she brought him into the ER. "My parents were both really busy with
their careers. I grew up with nannies, summer camps, and finally boarding school. Got a really good education out of
it at least." She notes with a smile before she reaches out for her water glass. In the process she manages to knock
into the candle on the table with her elbow, sending the flame in Lee's direction.
Lee says, "My sister and I are twins. It's not really possible to be closer to someone, even if she does drive me
crazy. I…" His tie must have been made of some kind of awful artificial substance because it bursts into flame
almost instantly. He instinctively splashes the nearest available liquid on it to put it out. The wine. Fortunately
wine is not alcoholic enough to be flammable. Unfortunately, it makes him look like he's been shot with a grape
jelly water balloon. "Aaaagh!" he says.
Bekah blushes a bright red, almost as red as her nose was earlier. "Oh! I'm so sorry!" She grabs her napkin to reach
across the table and dab at the bright liquid that will no doubt leave a wonderful stain. "I'm so sorry!" She
repeats. "I hope it didn't burn you!" And if it did, likely it's not as painful as before she reached towards him.
Lee says, "No, it's okay, I think." uncertainly. "Just…startled is all. Ugh! Thanks…" Cleaned up, he still looks
a bit terrible. The waiter comes and helps clear away the mess. So much for the bouquet! It is now scorched and has
wine spilled all over it. "…I…ah. Maybe we /shouldn't/ get dessert tonight."
Bekah leans across the table. "Maybe I should take a look." She says before it just makes her blush brighter. "Um, I
mean, as a doctor." She rubs her neck sheepishly and then nods. "Maybe not. I think that we may be having the most
unlucky first date of my life."
Lee's eyebrows raise, in both surprise and - well - a bit of alarm, at the prospect. "I certainly can't think of
anything else that could…" He clamps his mouth shut. "I didn't start to say that." he says, as if to the heavens.
"It didn't happen."
Bekah looks around, peeking under the tablecloth. "I feel like maybe we need to knock on wood, or throw salt over
our shoulder or something silly and superstitious right now. Anything to make me feel like less of a horrible clutz,
really."
Lee says, "Right. Same here. I normally am extremely suave. Debonair, sometimes. You can ask anyone. I'm sure it's
the same for you." Yes! Give him an out, please!
Bekah takes it with a quick nod. Almost too quick really. "I'm sure you are. Usually I'm a picture of grace. Grace
and class even if I've made the effort to get dressed up."
Lee says, "You do look terrific." Except for the nose. He tries not to stare. "I'd expect nothing less." Thus
reassured, he says, "Er…maybe you /should/ take a look. As a doctor. We could share a cab."
Bekah smiles over to Lee at that first statement and nods. "I think that would be a good idea. You might be burned."
She points out. "And sharing a cab is the only wise thing to do in the city, isn't it?"
Lee says, "Wise! That's exactly the word I was thinking of." The management is eager to get them a cab before their
table falls through the floor and into a toxic waste dump. While waiting at the door for the cab, with some time to
relax with each other, the absurdity of it starts to mount up on Lee and he starts to laugh. "Well, I can't say I'll
soon forget tonight, that's for sure." he says. He draws the stares of a couple of patrons coming in. "You should
see the other guy." he says to them. They hurry on.
Bekah breaks out laughing as well as she reaches down for a moment to check her shoes. "Just had to check. It seems
like the night to be breaking heels, next." She notes with a shake of her head. "I wonder what stories our waiter is
going be telling."
Lee says, "I don't know, I just hope that busboy ends up pantsless on /his/ next date." A pause. "That curse does
not seem as mean out loud as it did in my head." The cab arrives. Lee piles in.
Bekah breaks out laughing as she gets into the cab, all grace now that she's out of the restaurant. "No, it sounded
rather more like something he'd enjoy than a curse. Keep trying." She jokes lightly.
Lee says, "I hope he has to re-take junior high civics. Now there's a curse…so where should we go? I'm in the
Village…I have pants there. That all right with you?"
Bekah grins. "Redoing any part of Jr. High would be a curse." She notes with a laugh before she nods. "Getting pants
sounds like an admirable goal. I live in the Village as well, actually."
Lee says, "Oh yeah? Well, then you know what I mean. It's not the same as it used to be. That's good and bad, of
course…" He gives the address to the cabdriver, who wordlessly nods and pulls into traffic. And, a few minutes
later, ends up going entirely the wrong way.
Bekah nods her head. "Well, sort of. I've only lived there three, going on four now, years." She takes a look out
the window and blinks. "But, um, I think I've lived in the area long enough to know we're going the wrong direction.
Lee looks out the window. "What? Hey…hey! The turnoff is back that way!" The cabdriver replies in a language that
barely sounds like a language at all. "What did he say? Hey, I…it's in the Village. The /East/ Village. In….in
Manhattan! No, no…there's no bridge, don't…don't go over a bridge…! Did he say bridge?"
Bekah shakes her head. "On the island!" She tries, speaking slowly. "The Village. Not over a bridge." She's
repeating what Lee said, yep. But she's doing it slowly and clearly. Unfortunately, that might not be enough.
The cab stops. "Wait here. I get map." says the cabdriver, which, if you think about it, is exactly the wrong thing
for someone who drives a cab in this country to learn as his first words of English. At least he doesn't charge them
for the ride, which deposits them someplace with a lot of Korean signs in the windows. "I…" Lee says. "I'm at a
loss." He's grinning, though. Now it's an /adventure./
Bekah takes a look around and sighs. "You know, this will probably be one of the few times in my life that I will
really wish I spoke Korean." Despite the sigh, she doesn't seem put out. If anything, there's a smile hiding behind
it as she glances around. "I bet we could find some good Kimchi around here though. Or maybe a cab driver who speaks
more English than knowing the word map."
Lee says, "True…true…thanks to an unforgivably nerdy upbringing the only foreign languages I know how to speak
are Elvish and Klingon." He makes a face and shudders, then offers to take her arm gallantly, as they move through
the neon-lit and incomprehensible street. A drunken businessman staggers up to them on one corner and tries to give
Lee some money. "What the…" Lee says. The businessman replies in Korean, then, seeing incomprehension, breaks into
broken English, leering at Bekah: "They say man in purple shirt here will sell you American girls!" Lee's shirt /is/
stained purple with wine. And scorched. "What??" demands Lee. "That's…no! No, god! I…" Another voice from
behind: "You moving in on my corner?!" It's a Korean man in a purple shirt with gold buttons, white suspenders, and
a maroon hat with a giant feather, looking very displeased at Lee and Bekah.
Bekah laughs brightly at that first statement. "While I enjoy some of the nerdy shows, I wouldn't understand a word
of either language." She notes before she just raises her eyebrows to Lee. "Adding pimp to school teacher? It'd be
one way to supplement your salary." And then the real one comes over and she grabs Lee's arm, tugging him away.
"Nope. We're just walking through the neighborhood. Have a good night!" And hopefully getting far, far away from the
corner.
The Korean man moves to intercept them. "You can't just come around here and then think you walk away from me?" Lee
says, "Look at me! Do I look like I'm trying to hassle you? Some asshole in a restaurant tore my pants, the flowers
I got for my date made her allergic, I've been set on fire, had water and wine sprayed on me like some kind of
bizarre religious ritual, I was dumped by a cabbie who spoke no language I've ever heard, miles from home, we can't
find a cab, we don't speak the language and some tourist just tried to /buy/ my date!" There's a long and ominous
pause, but then finally the huge hole in Lee's pants seems to do the job at convincing him that this sad sack
couldn't possibly be moving in on him.
The pimp smiles. He has diamonds in his teeth. "It's /hard/ out here for a pimp." he says, sympathetically, to Lee.
"I get you a cab."
"And nothing else?" Lee insists.
"Nothing else."
"That's it?" Lee says.
"That's it man." says the pimp. Before long there's a cab in front of them. Lee eyes it with trepidation. But why
not. One more try.
Bekah gives the pimp a quick wave before she's quick to get into the cab. Hopefully this driver will be as polite as
the pimp. "I think you need to write all that down. Then if you ever think, man this date sucks, you'll be able to
look back and say. No, really, it's not as bad as the one I had with Bekah. At least I didn't get set on fire."
Lee says, "It's not over yet. It's a good thing there's a doctor along. Although when it's all over, /you/ might
need a psychiatrist." This cab delivers them to the Jones apartment without further delay. It's even reasonably
priced, and Lee's wallet is actually in his pocket.
Bekah breaks out laughing. "Well, I'm sure I can find one at work. Though a tub of ice cream tends to be as good as
a psychiatrist for this type of thing." She notes before she nods. "And not just a doctor, a good doctor." And a
modest one too, though that was said with a very light hearted tone.
Lee agrees, "The best I've seen all day. Want a bit of wine?" He changes pants, and shirt, and emerges for his
'inspection'. And although the skin of his chest is a bit reddened, there's no serious burn.
GAME: Bekah has rolled FULL HEALING and got a result of GREAT.
Bekah grins over to Lee as he comes back out. "And probably the only one you've seen all day. She ditches her coat
across the back of a chair and moves closer to get a look at the red skin on his chest. She rests her fingers
lightly over the burn, in the guise of checking it out, but when she pulls them away, the skin is getting back to
it's natural color, any pain fading. "The tie must have taken the worst of it. You're not really even burned." Not
anymore, at least.
Lee says, "That actually felt good." He keeps his voice low and gives a bit of a charming smile to keep her standing
near him. "I was going to take you dancing but I'm not sure the stars are right for it tonight."
Bekah gives a smile back with a look down to her fingers. "Well, I must just have a magical touch." She notes before
she laughs. "As much as I would enjoy dancing with you, I have a feeling that it would end in broken bones tonight."
Lee says, keeping up the charm, "We'll have to save it for another time then. Promise?"
Bekah nods her head with a quick grin. "I promise. We'll have to remember to do all the silly good luck things
first. But really, any other date has to be luckier than this one, right?"
Lee says, "Exactly right. Thanks for not running off when you saw my pants were half-torn off." He does go for a
kiss at the door, putting a hand around the back of her waist as he leads her along.
Bekah accepts the hand around her waist and returns the kiss with a smile over. "And thank you for not running when
I started sneezing. Or accidently set you on fire. I think that one counts more than the torn pants."
Lee's kiss has an unexpected, gentle quality to it. He says, "The nice thing is, I'm pretty confident we both know
neither of us was at our best. I'll call you, Bekah. After everything, I still had fun."
Bekah smiles over, a real genuine one. "I'll look forward to your call." She says honestly. "And hey, we didn't get
beaten up by the pimp. It'll be a story we'll have to tell forever. In spite of it all, I enjoyed getting to know
you a bit more."
Lee says, "Me too." He bids her goodnight - and whatever curse touched them that night moved on to someone else
after. She even had a nice drive home.