Vietnamese Take-Out

"You knock off Laci Peterson and her unborn baby?"

"Not funny. No."

"Gina gonna come over and call me your suckee fuckee girl again?"

Sometimes to throw off another person's anger, it's important to take a breath, take a break, and disrupt the flow of that anger. Peter took such a break, staring down at the floor, avoiding Trinh's gaze and the fury that was building in her. When he was ready to confess, he'd just do it. "Trinh, many years ago I was married."

"Oh, that all. I thought it was something important."

"I was only 20 years old. It was a bad idea, a mistake." Peter looked over at Trinh and saw storm clouds in her face. "We were only together four months. It was annulled."

"So you knock up some girl then ditch her?"

"Okay, you found the pictures. You weren't supposed to. How's about I get a chance to tell my side, then get as mad as you want?"

Trinh was waving a long Hinkel knife at Peter now. "Maybe she shoulda done the Loreena Bobbitt on you before you moved out West. Or does she even know where you are?"

Peter raised his voice and waved his arms. "Great, I've already cut my own heart out trying to get over this mistake, now you're going to shove another knife in me ten years later. Go ahead."

Trinh put the knife down, now crying. Every time she saw this guy, there was always so much drama. Or was it that just cared so much for him that she desperately wanted things to work out. But he had a kid! This was worse than him giving her crabs. No, cancel that, crabs would be worse than a kid. Oh shit, shit, shit!

"Loretta was a bit older. The child you saw was because some other guy's condom broke. He split. I don't know what I was thinking, maybe 'Here's a ready-made family.' It was kind of cute playing with the little boy at first, but soon after we were married, Loretta told me 'Peter, little Howie will always come first in my life, and you should always remember that.'

"Little Howie?"

"Loretta spoiled that kid rotten. I thought he'd bond to me, but Loretta was always handing him Barney dolls and toys, and when she wasn't loading him up with junk like that, there were endless shopping sprees at 'Gap for Kids.'"

"But four months."

"I was bankrupt in two months! We had $12,000 in debt and I was still in college. When I told Loretta that the spending had to stop, she stopped having sex with me. She said, 'I'll put out when you put your money where your mouth is.'"

"Holy cow!" Trinh was slowly beginning to feel sorry for Peter. "What did you do? Like, what happened?"

"I came home one day, and little Howie was sitting in a miniature, motorized red Ferrari in our apartment. When I asked how much it was, Loretta said it was $3,500, and that she insisted I get money for a house down payment so little Howie could have a proper driveway to ride his Ferrari up and down. She was nuts."

"Do you owe her alimony or anything?"

"No, she came from money, Daddy's spoiled little rich girl, but it was no problem for her to bankrupt me. I walked away with ruined credit, and little Howie got the red Ferrari."

Trinh's tears had stopped, drying now in streaks on her face. "But why didn't you say so sooner?" She wiped her eyes. "That wasn't honest of you."

Peter looked down. She had talked him into a corner from which he couldn't escape, a humiliating mistake that he had hidden in his closet. Trinh had waved a knife at him, berated him for being a human being with a past, for making an error in judgment that he had regretted for 10 years. Peter's shoulders sagged under the weight.

"Ten years ago, I realized there'd be a different path for me. I'm not the same person now. My family had a union card already reserved for me as an electrician in a family full of electricians. Loretta was the final dead-end I needed to walk into before I could make my escape. Haven't you ever made a mistake?

"No." Trinh smiled. It was a lie because she'd wasted her time on guys who led her into dead-ends just like Peter's. She thought better of her answer. "Yes. But yours was a bigger mistake than any of mine."

Peter sat down at the kitchen table, hands folded. He was looking into his hands, studying them, maybe reading the lines of his own palm for a clue to his destiny with Trinh, a wonderful girl, someone who might just walk out of his place, walk out of his life forever. He didn't say a thing.

If there was one thing that attracted Trinh to Peter, it was his confidence. But here was a new twist. He was sensitive enough to admit his mistakes. She had forced him to own up to his failed marriage 10 years earlier, like she had picked at a scab on a wound that never healed. And he didn't say a word about how she had sneaked into his things to discover his secret, never tried to blame Trinh for being a snoop. He didn't demand that Trinh forgive him or even that she accept him for his flaws. He just sat there, agonizing in the truth that his poor judgment 10 years ago had invaded the present to hurt him once again. Trinh suddenly felt bad that she had confronted Peter so directly. She also felt even more attracted to him seeing his vulnerable side, like seeing a gem for the first time with many radiant, complicated facets.

"Well, if we're gonna have company, we better get this meal going." Trinh said.

"Company? What company?"

"Michael and Glenn. I'd really like to eat before they get here. I especially don't want Glenn to get near the pots. You don't have a little bunny, do you?"

Peter looked back up at Trinh. She had let him out of a corner, one that he had painted himself into so many years ago. He didn't offer any apology to Trinh for concealing his past, and she didn't ask him to make one to her. True love means never having to say you're sorry.

It had been two hours since they enjoyed Trinh's goi cuon, so they both had healthy appetites, a good sign after their argument. Trinh spent no time preparing the com ga nuong xa ot, steaming the rice as she prepared the spicy lemon grass chicken. Peter opened a bottle of wine, a celebratory gesture now that their lives seemed to be running on the same track again. When they sat down to dinner, Peter proposed the toast.

"To a wonderful meal prepared by a wonderful girl."

Trinh looked at Peter, her eyes welling up slightly. She always felt so emotional around him, and the dramas that always unfolded around him. Would he ever see her as his one and only?

Peter loved the meal. When he had finished everything Trinh had set out, he asked her "Can you make more?" Trinh covered her mouth and laughed. "We don't want you to just sit there with a big belly all night."

"Oh, that's right. We're going to get some exercise by, um, moving over here to the, um, couch to watch a movie."

"Yeah," Trinh said, "the couch potato exercise routine. Can I work the remote to build up my arm muscles?"

After piling the dishes in the sink, Peter started washing them. Trinh joined him at the sink, lifting the dish towel to dry. "You don't have to do that, Trinh." "So, do I get a tip?" she smiled and dried the wok. "You really want a tip from me tonight, I can tell," Peter answered.

"Well, if you really liked my cooking..."

"I suppose you want a big tip..."

"Yes."

"You really want to get your hands on a big tip?"

Trinh suddenly realized that Peter might have been talking about something else. "I suppose if I got my hands on a big tip, I'd be happy."

Peter now seemed to be in a hurry to finish the dishes, and in his haste, he splashed Trinh with some soapy water.

"Hey, you're getting me wet over here."

"If you want to get that big tip, you shouldn't complain about getting wet."

"Oh, my, God," Trinh said, emphasizing each word, "I can't believe you say this." She shook her head, looking away from Peter in embarrassment. Peter put on a completely innocent, puzzled face. When he turned his attention back to the dishes, he grinned wickedly. Trinh thought Peter had a lot of character in him to talk to her that way. He was funny and sexy at the same time.

When the last fork landed in the drying rack, Peter announced, "I'm going to microwave some popcorn, put on my movie clothes, and be right back...don't go away." He bounded up the stairs. Trinh heard Peter rummaging around in his room, then heard him vaulting back down the staircase, now wearing some gray sweatpants and a torn sweatshirt that read "Brooklyn." He jumped over the back of the couch and landed with his legs straight out, then lowered them onto the coffee table.

"Oh, almost forgot..." Peter jumped up again, went to the fireplace and struck a match to light the papers that would act as kindling and begin a roaring blaze. He turned off the lights in the living room, leaving only the lamp on next to the couch.

Trinh came from the kitchen with two glasses of wine and a bowl full of popcorn. On her way over, she turned off the lights in the kitchen, which adjoined the almost-darkened living room. She sat about two feet from Peter on the couch, cross-legged with her white socks feet showing. "Oh goody," she said. "Lights, camera, ACTION!" Peter called out. He started the movie and turned out the lamp. The room was dark except for the glow beginning to spread from the catching fire.

Peter and Trinh munched popcorn and sipped their wine, commenting occasionally at the movie. During the seduction scene in the elevator, Peter and Trinh watched in absolute silence. Then, Peter and Trinh reached for the popcorn at the same time. "Don't hog," Trinh warned.

"I'm not one for counting, but you've eaten ten times as much as me."

"I'm sure. Ten times? Oh yeah, well, you snooze, you lose."

"Let me help you." Peter threw a popcorn at Trinh's mouth.

"Hey," Trinh protested, picking up the popped kernel and throwing it back at Peter's mouth.

Peter escalated the conflict by picking up a small handful of popcorn and throwing it at Trinh.

Now, Trinh was never one to back down from a fight, so the popcorn war was on. She picked up a handful and threw it at Peter, who now opened his mouth to receive some, but she also took a handful, yanked Peter's sweatshirt away from his chest, and threw the corn down his shirt. "Let me help you with that," Trinh added, rubbing her hand against Peter's chest where the popcorn rested.

Peter grabbed Trinh's wrist. "No," she called out, but it was too late. Peter pushed Trinh over and onto her back on the couch. "This isn't the movie, Peter," Trinh wanted to protest more, but her legs were splayed out with Peter between them. He could have done anything to her at that point. In fact, Trinh felt a growing presence in Peter's sweatpants, the material being so thin. More than his rapidly growing Italian sausage, Trinh felt a heat developing where both their crotches were pressed against each other.

"Lemme up!" Trinh commanded, and with such force that Peter immediately got up. Her hair was a mess and she had bits of popcorn on her face and in her clothes. "I want to do something more quiet."

"Like what?"

"Okay, how about a card game? You got cards here, don't you?"

Trinh thought a break from the couch where things were getting out of control too fast would be a good idea. Peter was getting turned on by the heat building in the room both from the fireplace and the aphrodisiac action of the Vietnamese spices in their food.

"Let's go to my room. We can use my bed as a card table."

Rather than resist the suggestion, a dangerous place for a modest Vietnamese girl and a turned-on Italian guy, Trinh went along. Peter's room was tidy for a single guy. He had a queen sized bed, a lot bigger than the little bed she'd been sleeping on her whole life. They both sat cross-legged on Peter's bed, Peter shuffling the cards.

"What shall it be?" Peter asked, still the gentleman.

"Let's play poker."

Trinh knew the basic rules of poker, but she was much better at playing traditional Vietnamese card games. She'd fake it.

Peter and Trinh played a few hands, Trinh winning almost every one. "You have beginner's luck, that's for sure," Peter said. Trinh laughed. "Yeah, let's rush to Vegas and win a pile." Peter had another idea though. "Well, maybe you should start wagering and see if your luck holds out."

Wager? Trinh didn't want to start playing Peter for money. When her relatives did that at home, she always excused herself as they played into the night, often gambling away paychecks they hadn't even seen. "Well, I bet I'd win, but I didn't bring my pennies with me."

"We could play for something else?"

"Yeah, what?"

"Clothes."

"I'd have to have a buzz going before I'd agree to that."

Without having to be asked twice, Peter jumped off the bed and ran out of the room. Trinh knew what he was up to. She got off the bed and went to Peter's closet, putting on a vest, a sports jacket, a hat, and a pair of Peter's shoes which made her shuffle along the floor. Peter returned with wine glasses and a bottle of port. "This will do it...holy smokes, what happened to you!"

Trinh laughed loudly. "Well, I need a little insurance, so here I am."

Peter laughed at Trinh, though he also felt excited because Trinh had readied herself to play strip poker with him. He couldn't conceal his excitement, his sweatshirt just not coming down far enough to hide the growing tent in his sweatpants.

"So you lose a hand, you lose an article of clothing. We'll play with what you have on, Trinh, because I don't think your beginner's luck is gonna hold out."

"We'll see."

Peter poured the port, and they both downed it quickly. Trinh was in a hurry to get that buzz, and Peter was happy to pour for her. She swallowed her second glass almost as fast as the first. "I'm definitely feeling it now." Peter refilled her.

Trinh lost the first hand, her two pair falling to Peter's three-of-a-kind. But in the second hand, Peter lost. He took off his sweatshirt, revealing a sexy black muscle shirt. At the next hand, Trinh decided to be a little forward. "I want to up the stakes," she said. "I'm wagering three pieces of clothing." Peter stared into her eyes and Trinh returned his look, wondering if Peter could see that she was bluffing. "I'll call." Trinh had junk cards just as Peter suspected.

Trinh stripped off the sports jacket, vest, and hat, tossing her head to show off her beautiful mane of deep chestnut hair. Actually, she was back to wearing just her own clothes at this point. In the next hand, Peter lost to Trinh's ace high. "What's gonna go this time?" Trinh teased Peter. He looked down at his sweatpants strings which he pulled, undoing the knot. Trinh licked her lips, and Peter noticed her anticipation. "Don't you wish, I'm taking off a sock."

"No, no, no, socks count as one item. They both come off." Trinh pulled on Peter's sock, yanking it off his foot. "Oh, so if you get to collect what I've lost, then I get to collect what you lose."

Peter didn't have to wait long. Trinh had a lousy pair of eights the next hand, losing handily to Peter's two pair. And he didn't wait at all on collecting, pulling Trinh's socks off right after showing her his winning hand. Now, both were barefoot, with Peter in a muscle shirt and Trinh fully clothed. She got a little arrogant being head.

With the cards dealt, Trinh suddenly wagered two items of clothing. "And I'll play these cards, thanks." Peter pulled one from the deck. "Okay, let's see Ms. Big Shot." Trinh showed two pair. "You lose sucker..." But Peter interrupted, "read 'em and weep, a full house." Trinh shrieked.

Peter eyed Trinh. "What should go?" he wondered aloud. "No, no, no, you can't pull off my pants and panties." "Hey, I'm a gentleman, but you've lost the hand." Peter leaned over to Trinh, hooking his fingers under her t-shirt and pulling it over her head. Trinh rearranged her hair. "Now what?"

As if to answer, Peter stared down at Trinh's pants. "Those." He reached over and unbuttoned her fly, then unzipped her. Trinh leaned back and Peter was amazed at how easily the tight pants slid off her. But it was the white thong under the pants that now riveted Peter's focus. Trinh knelt on the bed, now only in her white bra and thong, while Peter was still, well, dressed.

Both knew that the next hand could have interesting consequences. What would happen when one of them had completely lost the game? Would there be another hand for the loser to win back his or her clothes? Would the ultimate loser have to do something to please the winner to get back the clothes?

Trinh dealt the cards and said a little prayer before looking at her cards. Peter wore his poker face, but suddenly announced that his wager was two articles of clothing. Well, that would mean, that would make Trinh nude if she lost! But if she didn't call the bet, she'd lose anyhow.

"Okay, mister, I'll see that bet. What do you want?" Peter asked for two cards, and Trinh pulled two. This was the deciding moment of the game, as every poker or card game had such a moment. Both laid down their cards at the same time. Trinh had three deuces, and Peter had kings and tens. Trinh had won!

Trinh pumped her fist in the air. "Who's sorry now?" she teased. "I guess you could say I'm ready for Vegas." Peter started to pull off his t-shirt. "Not so fast, buddy, I get to collect." Peter thought it very exciting that Trinh insisted on undressing him. Pulling the t-shirt was easy, exposing Peter's broad shoulders and sexy chest. But what to do about that tent pushing up his sweatpants? Trinh smiled. Here comes her tip. She grabbed his sweatpants at his hips and began to yank them down. When Peter's sweats cleared the tent, Trinh was rewarded with a very well-outlined, semi-erect cock pushing sideways in his bikini brief. What a mouthful that would be, oops, did that thought just cross her mind? She slid his sweats completely off.

Trinh felt that both of them sitting in their underwear was a good place to end the game. It was a draw, after all. "Hey Peter, let's just say I won and do something else."

"Scared to finish?" he said.

"Well, I am wearing one more article of clothing, so, actually, I've won."

"Just end like that?"

"Hey, your computer is on. You got any fun game on there we could do?" Trinh walked over to the computer, now giving Peter a rear view her spectacular ass with its thong barely protecting her modesty. "Let's see."

Trinh liked the idea that she was controlling the action, at least for now. She knew that he was already turned on from their popcorn foreplay on the couch, but after the strip poker with her, she was sure he would soon become less of a gentleman with her, hopefully much less of a gentleman.

Trinh wiggled the mouse and the monitor came to life. "You just take over, don't you?" Peter asked.

"Oh, look at this, a web cam. This how you pick up girls?"

"More for conference calls."

Trinh double-clicked on the Logitech Image Studio program she had opened earlier, causing the web cam light to come on. Peter saw that she had opened up the web cam recording studio. Trinh had a plan to that would just about drive him crazy with desire.

"Hey, come off your bed, lazy. Let's do this fun thing and record ourselves."

"What's that?"

"When I was younger, my girlfriend would stand behind me, really close, and put their arm out where my arms would be, and I'd put my arms behind me. Then they'd pretend to talk with their hands while I'd make up silly stuff to say." Trinh pulled the desk chair away and knelt on the floor in front of the computer monitor. Peter got off the bed, his semi-erect cock plainly outlined. It was so easy to read a guy's mind, Trinh thought, but best not to stare too long at the desired result.

Peter knelt down behind Trinh, reaching under her arms. Trinh put her arms behind her, locking her arms around Peter's triceps. "You're Italian, you should be good at talking with your hands," Trinh said. "I'm going to make up a story of how I locked my car keys inside my running car, okay?"