Free Second Chance by Ong Xiong Page B

in her lap. Oh, how she wished she should have shut up earlier. Too
late now . With her gaze matching his, she solemnly replied, “Sorry, Lefty.
My humming talent is strictly reserved for private performances—only.” She
slightly jerked her head in the same cocky manner as he did.
    Jae looked around
them. There were some joggers making their way around the pavement, a middle
aged couple occupied the bench several yards from them, and some teenagers
gathered under a tree. There were others in the park but not within earshot,
especially for humming. “Consider this a ‘private performance.’”
    Sue scowled. “I
don’t think so.” She shook her head. “You see, this particular talent of mine
is like ah—a phantom—only appearing when I’m not aware that I am, um, humming.”
    Jae threw his
head back, his shoulders trembling with laughter.
    “Stop laughing at
me!”
    “Girl, you are
daft!” he said between bursts of laughter.
    “How many people
uses daft these days?”
    “Well, let’s
see…” Jae decided to amuse her as he began to count. “There’s Sister Jamie.” He
held one finger. “There’s Father Matthew.” He held up two fingers. “There’s…”
He silently counted. Jae held up his other hand, spraying all five fingers. He
held seven fingers in front of her. “And there’s me,” he said, adding another
finger to his display.
    Sue pointed her
index finger at him and said, “You don’t count.” Sue waved her hand to indicate
she was dismissing his numbers. “So there are seven people, not including
yourself—”
    “No, that’s only
the people I personally know,” he corrected. He propped an elbow on the back of
the bench as he drew up a leg, crossing it on the bench and turning his body to
face her. “How many British speakers do you know?” he asked, pointing his own
index finger at her as he said “you.”
    “All right, all
right, you made your point.” She threw her hands up in surrender. She replaced
her hands in her lap and took a deep sigh. “Boy, you’re making me daft .”
    “Am I to infer
that you are annoyed with me?” Jae asked, somewhat taken aback. He was used to
girls flirting with him and using any ploy they could to capture his attention,
but this girl, she was annoyed with him.
    “You infer correctly milord,” Sue replied in her best British impersonation.
    Jae’s brows
narrowed. “Are you mocking me?” he asked, regarding her with curiosity now.
    “No, no, of
course not Mr. Darcy. Please do continue your inquiries into my
accomplishments,” Sue said, still using her British accent.
    “Mr. Darcy?”
    “My apologies
milord. You see, I have no other surname in which to call you upon at such
occasion as this and I, therefore, simply regarded you as Mr. Darcy.”
    “And may I ask my
dear Elizabeth Bennett, as to why you simply regarded me as Mister ? I
thought I reminded you of a duke,” he said mockingly. “In which case, I do
believe, you should address me as Your Grace. Why you find me so…” Jae
pretended to be in great thought.
    “Silly?” Sue
interjected. She threw her head back laughing. Tears of joy welled in her eyes
and she wiped them with the back of her hand. “Gosh, I haven’t laughed like
that since I arrived in Seoul. Thank you Your Grace,” she said still wiping her
eyes.
    “Glad I could be
of service,” Jae replied, unable to suppress a grin.
    “You are familiar
with Pride and Prejudice —I’m impressed,” she said ignoring his remark.
Her voice still filled with laughter. “And peerage titles,” she added, still
chuckling.
    Jae raised an
eyebrow.
    “You are just
entirely too dreamy, Jae. Did anyone ever tell you that?”
    “No.”
    Sue gave a little
laugh. “How the heck did our conversation turn so drastically?”
    Jae shrugged,
smiling, he answered, “You started it. I simply inquired your talent on the
sole basis of a business matter and you accused me of speaking like a British
duke. Then you insulted me by