Tae’s coughing fit was a combination of mortification and trying not to laugh at the timing. So that answered that.
“Thank you, Tae. I’ll pay you next week after my social security check comes in.”
“No worries, Mr. Choi. Whenever works for you,” he said. He bowed his goodbye and stepped outside. “Sorry about that, Rachel.”
“Honestly, Tae. Julia says it all the time, but you really are the goddamn salt of the earth.”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever. So you wanted to grill me about Julia, clearly. Okay, have at it.”
“Well, I hear there’s now a postcoital date on the books. So what are you thinking of doing?” Rachel asked. Jesus, she didn’t mince words. But with Julia came an overbearing family and even more overbearing friends. Tae was actually charmed by it. He came with stuff too.
“Something simple. Maybe dinner?” he said.
“Dinner like with a lawyer from Fullerton or with Dr. Joshua Park?”
Just the name alone sent a spike of rage through Tae’s spine. If Tae ever met the good doctor face-to-face again, he’d make sure the guy would need a plastic surgeon shortly after.
“Not like those dates because I’m not an asshole.”
“Touché.”
“I wanted to cook for her. But I’m not sure it’s the most romantic thing to have her come back over to my parents’ house.”
“Why don’t you cook for her at her place?”
So that’s how he found himself here, knee-deep in an elaborate scheme to surprise Julia with a simple homemade meal in her condo. Getting past security without being on an approved guest list was the challenge for Sonia. Getting Tae the code to Julia’s door was the challenge for Rachel. Getting Julia to leave the office by six was the challenge for Annette. Making sure Julia didn’t freak out about it all when she came home was, he guessed, the challenge for Tae.
This easy date was turning into something very not easy.
Julia’s condo was immaculate. He could have guessed she was a neat freak, what with her mentioning she had a home organization coach on payroll. But really, there was not a single thing out of place.
Tae put the groceries down on her huge marble waterfall kitchen island and walked over to the floor-to-ceiling windows that overlooked the ocean. Julia had done this. She had made something on her own into a huge success, and this was hers. Tae couldn’t help but smile. He was so fucking proud of her.
Neither of them came from money, but of all the people in their community she’d made herself the biggest success. It was damn impressive... and sexy as hell.
She was on top of the world.
And he was in a basement.
That didn’t seem to bother Julia, he reminded himself. She seemed more than happy to spend time with him, and, well, if last Friday was any indicator, she was very satisfied. But he wanted to give her more than just stolen moments in his childhood race car bed.
Tae’s phone vibrated in his pocket.
“Hello?”
“May I speak to Tae Kim, please? This is Maggie Newsome from the Sharp Hospital billing department returning your call.”
“Oh yes, hello. Thanks for getting back to me.”
“Mr. Kim, unfortunately I don’t have good news. You asked me to look into any additional coverage I could find for your father to help pay for medical bills. But he’s already maxed on the Medicare claim. And he isn’t technically your dependent, so you wouldn’t be able to bring him under your coverage from your job.”
So that was that. The only reason Tae had been so hesitant about quitting outright was for the insurance. If it wasn’t going to cover his dad, what good was it? And how was he going to come up with the rest of the money for the bills?
No job, no pay.Dr. Joshua Park had probably never begged for a handout in his life.
“Understood. Thanks for looking into it for me, Ms. Newsome. Before you go, would you mind telling me what the current balance owed is?”
“With your last payment, it brings it down to forty-one thousand nine hundred dollars. Since the bill has been past due now for thirty days, you’ll likely incur a late fee soon. If you’re able to pay it off within seven days, I’ll make sure they don’t penalize you.”
