Chapter 1 | Old Habits
The door dinged exactly three times, pausing for half a second before dinging again, exactly three consecutive dings. Chase always gave himself away with his lack of patience.
“coming, coming, coming—hold your horses.” Growling at the early hour, Haewon reached for the iron door, balancing her towel-hair concoction with her free hand.
Flipping over the latch like a giant safe lock, she pulled the medal handle immediately below the iron lock revealing a scrawny man with an I-should’ve-guessed expression.
“Am I really paying you that much?” she asked, eyeing his striped suit and silk tie. New, she concluded narrowing her eyes. Chase, her assistant, lived in two things: a tiny Manhatten studio and suits that could feed three 3rd world villages a year. His shoulder length hair was slicked back, probably held together by some expensive non-organic product that smelled of cats and tree bark, and he wore an expression that spoke of displeasure at Haewon’s state of dress. Picking invisible lent off his shoulder, he gave her a patronizing shrug, “with all that I do for you, I deserve it don’t you think? Speaking of my great devotion, here,” he said, stepping inside and extending something in his hand in her direction.
Haewon had just given up stuffing her hair back in the towel when she craned her neck around to see what her assistant offered. Immediately she smiled. “You are too good to me,” she squirmed, taking the coffee he offered.
“Well,” he began, fluttering his eyelashes at her knowingly, “there is a new Burberry trench I’ve been eyeing—-,” he supplied eagerly.
Haewon batted him away dismissively, “Not you—the coffee” she answered, knifing the hopeful gleam in his eyes in the gut. Chase never missed an opportunity to wrangle designer bonuses out of her.
“hmmmp” he pretended to pout, “see if Mr. starbucks will schedule your appointments then.”
Haewon set her coffee down, grinning at him. He gave up sooner than she expected. Good.
“Chase, you know you mean the worrrrrlld to me” she drawled out sarcastically. Turning from him she walked away towards her bedroom, “but I need to get dressed, be a doll and check my appointments for me today would you?”
“no appreciation whatsoever!” he huffed, clicking his blackberry. Immediately, wind chimes resounded somewhere from his left.
“who is it?” Haewon called from her bedroom. He could hear her pulling open drawers.
He picked up her blackberry and scanned the screen for the caller, “it’s your mother.”
Haewon poked her half blow dried head out the side of the bedroom door, “what? My mother?”
“should I pick up?” Chase asked, knowing exactly what would happen after this question. He could see it in his head. She would just contemplate it, not pick it up and then feel guilty and call back immediately.
“um…” she answered, returning to her room. Chase could see her hobbling around, trying to pull tight black boots over her leggings from where he stood.
“what should I do?” he pressed, craning his neck towards her.
“hold on,.I’m thinking..” She called over the chimes, knocking over something in her room that ensued in a large crash against the marble tiles. Chase cringed. Those tiles cost a fortune.
“well, it’s about to stop ringing” he continued, a bit of annoyance entering his voice. He didn’t know why she insisted on thinking about answering it when in the end she would just end up talking to her mother anyways.
It stopped ringing.
“hey, I don’t pay you to be short tempered with me.” Haewon chided, suddenly appearing out of nowhere. She was finally dressed, donning a fitted blazser he didn’t recognize over a white silk dress and leggings.
Chase shrugged at her, “and I can’t help you if you don’t help yourself, come on Haewon, you do this every time, it’s like you have double personalities or something; out there among men twice your age you’re like an iron fist but with this little asian woman half your height, you can’t speak a word for yourself.”
She did a little intake of breath, bending down to look for her keys, “well everything in my life besides that one small point is under control, with my mother, you never know what she’ll want next. Last time she called, she wanted me to set her up on a date with my client from the Herzan Online Deal and the time before that she asked me if I’d rip a corner of a marble tile in my bedroom so she can take a sample to be reproduced for her 2nd bathroom floor! I mean does she know how awkward it would be to ask my client to go on a date with my mother? And does she know how much it cost to commission those tiles?”
Chase shrugged again, an annoying habit of his, “so what, the woman’s a little off her rocker sometimes but she’s completely harmless.”
Haewon turned to look at him, “harmful, no, mentally and physically draining? That’s another thing.”
“so maybe she just wants to say hi,” he replied, not sure why he was defending the woman who once offered to give him her family discount for a gym membership because she thought he needed a little bulking up. Was she crazy? Bulk and Dolce just don’t go together.
“or maybe she has some crazy hair brained thing she wants me to assist her with.” Haewon countered, finally spying her keys in between two cushions.
He shrugged. Again. “well she lives across the globe so even if that was her motive it’s not like she can force you to do it.”
“Seoul or New York you know she’ll bug me until I answer her.”
“well you have been gone for 6 years” He reminded gently, arching his brows as if to make some sort of point.
“are you implying I should be regretting all of this?” she asked, flapping her arms around to make a point.
“you know that’s not what I’m saying” he drawled out, resigned to sipping his coffee, but you haven’t visited once and I know what you’re about to say, that you see her once a year but don’t forget that its always her coming to see you, not the other way around. You haven’t even thought about stepping foot in Seoul since you’ve been here.”
“ok ok,” Haewon exclaimed in defeat, “whatever, throw me my phone, I’ll call her back.”
Chase handed her the phone and waited for her to get going with it.
“I’m calling her…” She said as if warning him to stop her before she goes through with it.
He nodded, “I see that.” Haewon glared at him. Now? He chooses this moment to excersize patience?
“really doing it…” she tried again.
“ok”
Haewon glared at him, “you know I’m starting to think you’re bipolar—Oh hi umma”
Chase watched as Haewon’s face changed from surprise, to intent, to apprehensive, to shocked, to hesitant, to furrowed brows, to stuttering in refusal, to guilt, then finally to resignation.
“alright,” Haewon muttered into the phone, her voice heavy with defeat, “I’ll see you then”
After that she hung up and slumped down onto her love seat. Luckily Haewon favored stiff seats or she would’ve been swallowed whole by the couch with the way she was sliding.
Chase immediately scooted over for details, “did I hear wrong or is the Lee Haewon finally returning to the motherland?”
Haewon didn’t utter a word, she looked as if she was just as shocked at the exchange and how she came out of it with a trip home.
“what did she say? Guilt you with the never-returning-thing? Some sudden cancer??? Mijung’s unexpected pregnancy????dish!!!”
Haewon shook her head, eyes focused on some far away point, “she just…asked for a favor…nicely”
Chase gasped, “oh no, not that! that nice thing gets you every time!”
“yes but this is the first time she’s asked me for a plain favor…”
“What does she want exactly?” Chase inquired seriously this time, his interest piqued.
Haewon looked up, the shock of her conversation with her mother finally showing some signs of ebbing, “she wants me to negotiate a meeting and possible contract with NG Enterprise to carry her boutique line.”
“so?” he shrugged, “just do it. That’s your specialty, compared to what you’ve been doing here, that should be a piece of cake.”
“you don’t understand, it’s not that simple. I’ve never seen her line in person, I have no idea what she’s been working on and NG isn’t just a mall department store, they only carry international lines, she’s aiming for the biggest fish there is; she wants me to get her small line into the Nieman Marcus of Korea, scratch that, the father and grandfather of Nieman’s”
“well, you could just…” He started suggestively, going into waters he knew she’d avoid if it killed her.
“no.” she answered immediately, “I’m not going to do that, she won’t approve of it anyways, you know that.”
He sighed, “it was worth a try. What a waste though, with that face, you wouldn’t even have to negotiate, just promise them to model your mother’s line and you know they’d snatch it up on the spot. You haven’t appeared in an ad for a year”
She shook her head, making to stand, “you know that’s not an option, the reason I’m here is because that’s not an option”
“which is ridiculous by the way” he added, following her out the door, “you can’t hide the fact that you’re so beau—“
She halted, spinning around to meet his eyes, “ok let’s drop this, I have two weeks to prepare, can you move my appointments around?”
He nodded, knowing not to push that topic.
