New Bonus Short Story!
Hey, Hungry Readers,
I couldn't resist writing a little short story with Jia and Ken. It's short, like one cookie long. And it may include a peek at some characters from Troubled By Love.
There are a few ways to read it. It's going to be posted below after the rest of my admin notes here.
If you prefer reading it on Ream, it has also been posted for subscribers there.
And if you want to download it to your ereader, I put it up on Bookfunnel too: https://dl.bookfunnel.com/wob72uq263
And as I said, it will be here in 3, 2, 1.
Lost in Transit
Jia: I’m here.
Ken: Me too. I’m over by the meatball truck.
Jia looked around. The sun shone brightly on the park, which made reading the phone screen a challenge. It was supposed to be a day off for Ken, but he’d had to drop something at the office before they could meet up for lunch. The restaurant Jia worked at was closed Mondays, so they had slept in. Well, until he’d gotten the call from the office.
The line of food trucks along the edge of the square all had likes of people in front of them. She peered over heads at each truck but saw no sign of meatballs or Ken. Indonesian Bull Lion - oh soup, that was cute, crab cake, boba, and grilled cheese. Oh, well Jia was for sure hungry now. The soup truck had a chilled soup that sounded awesome and maybe grilled cheese too, because was it ever really the wrong weather for grilled cheese?
But no meatball truck that she could see.
Jia: What color is the truck?
Ken: Meatball colored.
Jia gave her phone a questioning glance.
The line for the soup truck was getting long, so she stepped into it.
Jia: I’ll be at the soup truck. It’s blue.
Ken was not usually so cryptic via text. Well, unless they were talking regulations or family law.
Jia: Do you want any soup?
She texted a link to the menu.
Ken: Sure.
Jia shook her head at the phone.
The phone buzzed and she looked, but no new texts explaining what soup. Jia was used to working with customers, she was a hostess at a restaurant. But this was her day off.
She adored Ken but this exchange frustrated her. The July heat probably did not help. Jia ordered two servings of chilled bean soup and stepped to the side to wait for the order.
Jia kept scanning the other people waiting. This park was surrounded by tall, at least for DC, buildings that housed offices, so lots of folks who were on hybrid schedules needed lunch. Jia worked in a restaurant, but on off days had limited interest in cooking. She and Ken were planning to stroll through a museum but had figured lunch outside would be a nice contrast to the crisp museum air.
“Jia!”
Jia looked around, but it was the truck employee, holding up her order.
“Thanks, looking forward to this,” she said.
“We’ll be here all week,” the guy said. “Tell your friends.”
Jia smiled. “I will.”
Jia: I have soup. Where do you want to set up to eat?
Ken: Did you know it’s International Kissing Day?
Jia had not known that. She looked around and snagged a bench that three power-suited women got up from.
Jia: I found a bench.
Ken: Are you going to kiss me?
Jia had planned on it, but something about the question was weird.
“Hey, sorry I’m late, that all took longer than it should have.”
Jia looked up and there was Ken. “Hey, I got you soup.” She held out the soup.
Ken took it and slid next to her on the bench pressing his thigh against hers. He leaned over and kissed her cheek. “Thanks,” he said. “How did you know I wanted soup?”
“I texted you,” Jia said.
Ken patted his pockets. He stood back up and patted again. “I don’t have my phone. I must have left it at the office.”
He turned but Jia snagged his arm. “Hang on, someone’s been texting me. Let’s try this.”
Jia: Hey, where are you? I’ve been waiting.
Ken: By the meatball truck.
She showed Ken her screen.
“How do we even know they have my phone?” Ken asked. “Maybe they spoofed my number.”
Jia popped open the friend locator app. Ken’s pin was showing as being on the Mall.
Jia: Okay, I’m coming your way. See you soon!
Ken: [thumbs up emoji]
“I guess we’re going to find your phone.
Jia paused by the soup truck. Hey, it was really good. I work over at So Sakura normally I’m at work for lunch, but that was really good. Best of luck!”
“Aw, thanks, we also hit up some of the farmer’s markets if that works better for your schedule.”
“Do you sleep?” Jia asked. Her parents ran restaurants, and while food trucks had less staff, her best guess was that the answer was still not really. Being the owner was so much work.
“This is what I ask?” the other dude in the truck said. “I’m Mateo, this is Dan if he didn’t tell you. Also, Dan, do you need to go say goodbye to your lady?”
“Amy’s not my lady,” Dan said.
“But you knew who I meant?” Mateo asked.
Jia smiled. “Well, I’ll see you guys again, I’m sure. Thanks for the delicious soup.” She waved. Ken had managed to finish his soup while she was chatting with the soup guys. The trash cans on the square were bursting, so they held on as they walked towards the Mall.
Their post lunch plans had been to see a movie at the Air & Space Museum, so it was on their way, although the pin was a little further down the Mall, closer to the National Museum of the American Indian.
“Who could have your phone?” Jia asked. They held hands, though roving packs of tourists crowding the sidewalks as they got closer to the museums, sometimes called for maneuvering.
“It’s a good sign that they are texting you, I guess,” Ken said. “Otherwise, we’d have to go to the phone store.”
Jia bumped his hip with hers. “The phone store, you sound like my mom. I could literally order you a phone from my phone. But also, not an exciting day off, so I guess an adventure prompted by a seemingly benevolent phone thief is good.”
“Or, it’s someone who was trying to lure you away from me,” Ken said.
“Well,” Jia squeezed his hand, “if so, they are in for a surprise.”
Jia kept an eye on the pin, but it didn’t move.
They got to the museum. Jia tried to zoom in on the pin, but the pin wasn’t very helpful. “Do you think it’s inside?” she asked. The museum wasn’t as large as some of the others, but looking at the tall building, she really didn’t want to have to search the whole thing.
“Let’s walk around first,” Ken said. There were a few items placed outside the museum, along with a fountain and a low stone wall.
Jia spotted something in the bushes along the edge of the wall and moved closer.
One the edge of the wall sat a small pile of pebbles stacked in a pyramid formation. And next to it was a phone.
“Ken, is this it?” Jia pointed.
Ken picked up the phone and unlocked it. “It is. I wonder who left it here.”
Jia heard what sounded like tiny titters, not birds but maybe some other small creature in the bushes.
Ken held the screen out for her to see. There was a digital note. “Hope you enjoyed getting a little lost. -M”
“Who’s M do you think?” Ken asked.
Jia smiled. “Wait here a second.” Jia went inside and bought three pastries at the museum cafe. She handed one to Ken and stuck one on the wall, then took a bite of the third.
“Thanks for giving the phone back,” she said softly.
And then as they walked toward the Air and Space, Jia told Ken about the menehune.
The End
Author note: Jia and Ken originally appeared in the novella Of Kings and Queens. Our soup purveyor Dan, along with Mateo will appear in Troubled by Love.
Acknowledgements
Thanks as always for reading. I participated in a short story challenge where the theme was lost, and I tried to figure out what Ken and Jia might be up to. It can be fun to revisit characters from old and new, and technically in progress stories.
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And stay tuned, I may have more ideas for shorts and things.