"Chu Hua, I'm sure you remember Mr. Nigma," Li Mei said, bringing Chu Hua into the kitchen.

"Yes, I remember. It's a pleasure to see you again, Mr. Nigma," she said, extending a hand to shake.

He took her hand halfheartedly, and said, "Please. Call me Edward, or Eddie."

"Eddie. What can we do for you today?" Chu asked, taking a seat opposite him.

He remembered the first time he had sat at this table. It was the day after Dee had helped him escape from the museum. She had appeared at the door with her friend, Manchu, before being whisked off to have an injury taken care of. The woman, who now placed a plate of potstickers on the table, and a fresh pot of tea, had smacked him on the back of the head, calling him an idiot for ignoring her injury. He had not known she had one, or he would have seen that it was taken care of.

"I came to talk to Xiaohu, if I may?"

"Show Chu Hua what you brought," demanded Li Mei, nudging him.

"Oh." He took a large bouquet of flowers off the chair next to him, showing them to Chu Hua.

"They're very nice. Her favorite, you know," commented Chu.

"Yes, I know." Edward's voice held no emotion. It was just flat and toneless.

"She told us what happened."

He winced.

"Oh, please believe me, Eddie, that I do not hold you responsible. Did you really mean for what happened to happen?" Chu asked.

Eddie's eyes went wide. "No!" he insisted, emotion coming back into his voice. "I didn't want her to even know those two had been around! And then Pam went and told her about the night she seduced me with her pheromones."

"Pheromones?" Li Mei asked, taking a seat next to Chu Hua.

"Yes. Pamela Isley has a unique body chemistry that allows her to secrete toxins. She's also learned how to emit pheromones. Very powerful ones that can entrance a person into doing her will. A sort of hypnosis, if you will. She can choose to allow that person to remember or not to remember whatever event she has put them through."

"I see," both women said, giving each other slight nods.

"But what about all the other women? Xiaohu mentioned that she had been told you had been with far more women than you have mentioned."

"She was misinformed. I have been with a grand total of..." He paused, suddenly wondering why he was telling these women this, when it was Dee he wanted to talk to. "If I may just talk with Dee, please?" he asked, forgoing her Triad name.

"Let us hear your story first, Edward. If she refuses to listen to you, she will at least listen to us. Whether she wants to or not," Li Mei said curtly.

The tantrum Xiaohu had been throwing since she arrived was wearing on her nerves. She had been fine before this man, better with him. Now she was a complete wreck without him. It was obvious to everyone that Xiaohu had found her ground in him. What Li Mei wanted more than anything was to wrap Xiaohu up very tightly in a sheet, and hand her back over to the gaunt man sitting across the table. Li Mei could see that Edward was at a loss without her. However, she knew better than to interfere in that manner, knowing that her actions could very well get this man hurt.

He could see the sense in this, but he would leave out details. Only Dee would ever know the specifics of what had happened to him. "Very well. I have been with a grand total of seven women."

"Including Xiaohu?" Chu asked.

"Including her. The first was a high school conquest." He gave a sheepish grin and shrug, before adding, "I was young, and..." He cleared his throat, sitting up straighter. "Three of them were women who worked for me. Then there was my last girlfriend. The fifth was Pam."

"Did you want to sleep with all of them?"

"That's difficult to say. At the time, I had wanted to sleep with the women who worked for me. Or so I thought. With each one, I thought it would be different, that I would find I really loved them. It was just lust. I tried to convince myself that I was at least getting some sort of pleasure from it. But I got nothing, and always found myself feeling worse afterward." He gave a shrug. "I suppose I continued, thinking it would get better.

"They learned that they could use sex to get things from me. So they would force it on me when they wanted something. It was sex or violent threats. Though both usually went hand in hand with some." He blushed, feeling completely exposed by his own words. This was why Edward never answered Dr. Matthiessen's questions about his sex life. It was too embarrassing. "The girlfriend... Well, it was just that point in the relationship. Pam... I never wanted to sleep with her. No man who actually knows her, and knows what she can do wants to. Except Harvey Dent. You probably know him as Two Face."

"The scarred man. Yes. He often comes to the curios here looking for Yin/Yang items. Strange man." Li Mei pushed the plate of potstickers at him. "Eat. You look hungry."

Tossing table manners aside, he took a few of the potstickers in his hand, shoving them into his mouth. He barely chewed and swallowed the first before he was pushing more into his mouth. Li Mei and Chu Hua looked at him in surprise. Noticing the eyes on him, he quickly finished what was in his mouth, wiping his sauce-covered hand on the provided napkin. He practically scalded himself as he washed the food down with the cup of tea in front of him.

"I'm sorry..." He cleared his throat and folded his hands in front of him. "As I was saying, I never wanted to sleep with her. She made me. If I could have resisted, I would have."

"Edward, when was the last time you ate?" Li Mei said, having now had time to look him over. He had nicked himself in several places while shaving, and his skin looked tender, as if it had been scrubbed many times.

"I... I'm not certain," he stammered. "I haven't been hungry lately."

Another glance passed between the two women. Just at that moment, Manchu came clattering in. When he saw Eddie sitting at the table, a wide grin spread across his face. Startled, Eddie jumped out of his chair, knocking it backward and tipping it onto the floor. The potstickers suddenly felt like a one-ton weight in his belly.

"I... This was a mistake. I have to go. Thank... Thank you for your time," Eddie said, rushed. Turning, he headed out the door that led into the courtyard, the same way he had come in the first time with Dee. He took two long strides out the door, and ran smack into someone else.

{Excuse me,} said the woman who was wrapped, head to foot, in silk robes.

"I'm very sorry," he said, holding the woman to steady her. Instead of letting her go, he held onto her tighter. "Dee?"

She looked up at him, tipping back the hood. Her hair was wet, and he could smell the usual scents of cherry, lime, and peach wafting from her warm skin. It made him want to shout with joy and hug her. But she looked at him coldly, as if he were a stranger violating her personal space.

"Dee, I need to talk to you," he said urgently. He tried to say "Ooo-ee-sha-sha-coo-coo-yeah," but the phrase wouldn't come out.

There was no response from her. Knocking his hands from her arms, she pushed past and into the kitchen. Edward was about to follow, when he remembered that Manchu was in there. He was so certain that the man had come to remove his "eggroll and dumplings" that he decided against following her. Chu Hua and Li Mei went to the door, watching him retreat through the alley exit. They turned as one to Manchu and Dee.

{What was that all about?} Li Mei demanded.

{What was what about?} Dee asked flippantly.

{Not you. Manchu! Why did he run like that when he saw you?}

Manchu shrugged innocently. {I do not know! I don't understand white men. My sister could have become involved with a normal Chinese man. But she had to have this crazy white man!}

{Eddie isn't crazy!} shouted Dee, overly defensive. Her shout was ignored.

{Manchu, you are lying to me,} Li Mei said, picking up a wooden spoon and shaking it violently at him. {Tell me what you are hiding, or I will beat it out of you!}

{Careful!} he said, jumping back as the much smaller woman took a swing at him.

{Li Mei, take it easy,} Chu Hua said, relieving the woman of the spoon. She walked over to Manchu. {He's been through enough the last couple of hours, getting her up, and then down to the bath. Don't forget, he was injured in helping you today.}

As she spoke, she gave Li Mei a wink, putting her arm around her boyfriend.

{Yes, he has been through a lot,} she agreed, grudgingly.

{Excuse me? But what was he doing here?} Dee asked.

{It is like he said. He wanted to talk to you,} Li Mei sniffed. She was of the same mind as Chu Hua. It was Dee who was in the wrong, and needed to be the one to apologize. {He also brought you flowers.}

Dee looked at the bouquet Li Mei held up, and gave a stubborn nod. {Well, he obviously didn't want to talk too badly. Especially since he took off the way he did. And at the sight of Ping.} Dee cast a glance over her friend and snorted derisively. {Though that is completely understandable.}

{Hey!} he shouted.

{If you'll excuse me, I am going to my room for a nap. Tangram's warming himself in what little sun there is right now. He'll come in when he's ready.} Giving a bow to the three, she swept out of the room.

That was completely unexpected. Dee didn't think he had the guts to show up here in Chinatown. Yet here he was. That's why Li Mei had come to collect Chu Hua. At the moment, she was too tired to think about it. She didn't bother to dry her hair any further. Instead, she put on a clean pair of pajamas and crawled into her bed, nestling down in the blankets.
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