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This was the end of life as Iris Chin knew it.
She carried her desk chair up to her new bedroom on the third floor of Ngin Ngin’s house. On the way down the creaky stairs, she encountered her father, who was carrying up a box of clothes.
It was the Saturday before the lease on her Liberty Village apartment was up, and she was moving in with her grandmother. Her father had borrowed a friend’s van, and he and her mother were helping with the move. Ngin Ngin was supervising. Dad had tried to get his mother to stay on the main floor, but she insisted on going up and down the stairs and just generally getting in the way.
“What’s in that box?” Ngin Ngin asked as Iris entered the house. “Why you have so much stuff?”
“Jewelry,” Iris said. “Scarves. Purses.”
Plus condoms and her small collection of sex toys, but she wasn’t going to tell Ngin Ngin about those.
It had been so nice when she’d moved out of her parents’ house and no longer had to strategically hide things from her mother. Putting things in a drawer was certainly not enough to keep her mother from finding out about them—oh, no. Her mother was a master snoop.
Iris suspected Ngin Ngin was not as dedicated a snoop as Mom. Still, she might be prone to a bit of snooping, even if Iris’s room was on the third floor and Ngin Ngin rarely went up to the third floor anymore. That might change now that Iris was living here.
“This will be so much fun!” Ngin Ngin said as Iris paused on the main floor to have a drink of water. “We’re roommates!”
“Yes. So much fun,” Iris said, heavy on the sarcasm.
She couldn’t help smiling, though. It was nice to see her grandmother so excited.
“You can teach me all the hip new things,” Ngin Ngin continued.
“Right.”
“We’ll listen to the hottest radio stations.”
“Nobody listens to the radio anymore.”
Ngin Ngin frowned. “Fine. You show me how you listen to music. You show me the latest dance moves, too.”
“Um.”
“I’m ninety-one but young at heart. I can learn. Who are the hottest heartthrobs these days? You have posters in your room?”
“No, I do not have any posters in my room.”
“I like Robert Redford. You know Robert Redford?”
“Isn’t he, like, over eighty?” Iris pulled out her phone and looked at his Wikipedia page. “Yes. He’s eighty-two.”
“Spring chicken! Almost a decade younger than me. I used to like older men, but once you’re over ninety, that becomes a problem. Men who are older than me are all dead!”
Iris did not know how to respond to that.
“I used to watch his movies,” Ngin Ngin continued. “Did not really understand them because my English was very bad, but I watched for eye candy. That’s what you call it, yes? Eye candy?”
“Sure. Eye candy.”
“You can find old Robert Redford movies on Netflick for me. Maybe I’ll understand them now.”
“Okay. We can do that.”
“I will buy popcorn for movie nights.”
Iris was starting to worry that this move was a very, very bad idea. Would her grandmother expect her to be around every minute she wasn’t at work?
“You know I have my own life,” she said hesitantly.
“Of course I know! Silly girl. You must go out to meet boys. But I will cook for you during the week and we can have dinner together. On Sunday night, we can watch movies. Sunday night is Ngin Ngin and Iris time.” Ngin Ngin wrapped her arm around Iris’s waist and squeezed. “Now go finish moving.”
Another half an hour, and Iris was finished moving in, more or less. She had some unpacking to do, but all her furniture was in the right place, and all her boxes were in the bedroom. The box with the jewelry and sex toys was under several other boxes—she’d made sure of it. Her couch and her coffee table were in the other third-floor bedroom, though she didn’t know if she’d use them much. Her dining room furniture would be stored at her parents’ house.
Once the van was empty, she sat at Ngin Ngin’s kitchen table with her parents and grandmother, drinking tea.
“Take her grocery shopping once a week,” Mom said to Iris. “Make sure she doesn’t run out of her meds. Your father and I usually come every two weeks to do some vacuuming and cleaning, but you can do that now.”
“Aiyah,” Ngin Ngin said. “I can buy food myself in Chinatown. Don’t need help.”
“You’ll need more food now that I’m living here,” Iris said. “I’ll take you every weekend. If you need to get something small during the week, you can take your cart to Chinatown.”
“Don’t need help with meds. Easy to manage.” Ngin Ngin shooed Mom and Dad toward the door. “Now go. Iris and I need to draw up roommate agreement!”
A roommate agreement. Seriously?
A half hour later, Iris had written down a list on a sheet of paper.
According to the roommate agreement, Iris would wash all the dishes, and Ngin Ngin would cook all the dinners, except on Saturday, which she proclaimed “date night” for Iris. They would go grocery shopping on Sunday mornings, but not too early, in case Iris had been out late the night before. Iris would do the vacuuming and clean the washrooms. Ngin Ngin offered to do all the laundry, but Iris felt a bit weird about that and planned to renegotiate it tomorrow. Sunday night they would watch a movie, but not too late, because Ngin Ngin got tired early. Sunday afternoons, Ngin Ngin went to Mrs. Yee’s to play mah jong.
“I never come back before five,” Ngin Ngin said. “So, if you want to have a man over—”
“Please don’t finish that sentence,” Iris begged.
Alex immediately popped into her mind—he’d done that sporadically over the three weeks since they’d slept together. Iris was starting to resent him for it, even if it wasn’t his fault.
No, it was his fault for looking so damn hot and being really good in bed.
What would Ngin Ngin think if she met Alex? Would she ask him inappropriate questions, like if he could take off his shirt and flex his bicep for her?
No, that’s just what Iris would ask him to do. Not that she was going to see him again, and he was definitely never going to meet Ngin Ngin.
Although Iris did have Alex’s number, and Ngin Ngin was out of the house between one and five every Sunday afternoon...
Tempting, but no.
She didn’t want anything that remotely resembled a relationship, and even if she desired more spectacular sex, she’d left his apartment early in the morning, without even saying goodbye or leaving her phone number on a napkin. She doubted he’d want to hear from her again.
Anyway. No more thinking about Alex. She’d focus on her new living arrangement, which hopefully wouldn’t be too bad, but only time would tell.
* * *
“Wake up. Wake up!”
Iris wasn’t used to someone screaming in her ear first thing in the morning. She hoped Ngin Ngin wouldn’t do this on a regular basis.
Shit. Maybe Ngin Ngin was screaming because something really was wrong.
Iris jolted up. “Is there a fire?”
Ngin Ngin clucked her tongue. “No fire. But it’s nine o’clock. You should be up!”
“It’s Sunday. I’m allowed to sleep in.”
Ngin Ngin furrowed her brow. “You were not out late last night. No reason for you to sleep in so much. Or did you sneak a boy into your room? Is that why you’re tired?”
“No, I did not sneak a boy into my room.”
Her grandmother pinched the fabric of Iris’s oversized white T-shirt. It was well-worn and had holes around the neckline.
“Why you sleep in this? I can teach you to sew. We will make a nice nightgown.”
Iris sighed. “It doesn’t matter what I wear to bed. I don’t need to look nice for anyone.”
“Maybe that’s why you cannot get a man. You should wear a sexy nightgown, not this.” Ngin Ngin made a face.
“So you think I’m having men sleep over on a regular basis?”
“Why not? I know how things work. Everyone has sex before marriage. Am old. Not stupid.”
Well, Iris wasn’t going to protest and say she’d never had sex.
“I forget why I’m here.” Ngin Ngin paused, then raised her finger in the air. “Yes! I remember. You must get out of these rags and come downstairs. Now.”
“As you wish,” Iris said with a sigh.
She put on jean shorts and a T-shirt, and when she got downstairs, she heard a motor running. The neighbors must be cutting the grass.
Wait a second.
Iris reached the back door in the kitchen, which led to the backyard.
Someone was cutting Ngin Ngin’s grass.
In fact, the someone in question was an attractive young black man wearing gym shorts...and nothing else.
“Very handsome, no?” Ngin Ngin said, suddenly appearing at her shoulder. “I told him to take off his shirt. That was my idea.”
Iris could do nothing but stare at her grandmother. Usually, Iris was the one who cut Ngin Ngin’s grass. She’d come over once a week to do it. It didn’t take long, since the backyard was very small, but now Ngin Ngin appeared to have hired a man to do her job—shirtless!—even though Iris had just moved in.
“Did you hire him for the eye candy?” Iris asked. “I don’t think it’s appropriate to ask people to take off their shirts like that.”
“Silly girl. Am not paying him.”
Iris looked out the door again, and an awful realization crept over her.
“You’re trying to set us up!” she exclaimed. “I told you no matchmaking, and yet I’ve been here less than twenty-four hours, and you’re already doing it.”
Ngin Ngin grinned. “Jonathan is the son of Dee, my friend. Dee is from Jamaica, and she and husband run Jamaican restaurant in Kensington Market. I see her every week. Don’t understand half of what she says because I struggle with Jamaican accent, but I think she understands everything I say. She wishes for son to settle down and get married, and I wish to find husband for you, so we made a plan! You have love at first sight?”
“No, I do not. That’s just bullshit.”
“Not bullshit. I have experience.”
Iris raised her eyebrows. “That’s what happened the first time you saw Yeh Yeh?”
Ngin Ngin waved her hand away from her and turned to look out the door. Jonathan was now trimming the edges of the lawn. He looked up and waved at them.
“Ngin Ngin, you experienced love at first sight with Yeh Yeh?” Iris was intrigued by this. Her grandparents’ marriage, from what she’d been able to glean, had been miserable, but perhaps it had been different at the beginning.
“Aiyah. Stop annoying me.”
Iris assumed that was a “no.” Interesting. Had there been someone else after Yeh Yeh? Before him? Or while she was married?
“No love at first sight...that’s okay,” Ngin Ngin said. “But you agree he’s very attractive, yes? If I was young—”
“I don’t think you’re supposed to admire men who are sixty years younger than you.”
“He’s sixty-three years younger than me.”
“Right.”
“Am old. Not dead. He has nice muscles. You don’t agree?”
Iris decided not to answer that question.
Jonathan did, indeed, have a nicely-toned body, and he was handsome. But to her frustration, she found herself comparing him to Alex and finding he came up short.
Not that she would have wanted to go out with Jonathan anyway.
This was the man her grandmother was trying to set her up with, for God’s sake, and she wasn’t interested in any attempts to marry her off. She was happily single.
Ngin Ngin clucked her tongue. “I think he’s finished now. He’s coming inside. You must flutter eyelashes and look pretty. Would be better if you’d brushed your hair.”
Jonathan stepped inside and picked up his grey T-shirt, which had been draped over the back of a kitchen chair.
“No!” Ngin Ngin squeaked. “Not yet.”
“Let the man put on his shirt.” Once he’d done that, Iris stuck out her hand. “Hi. I’m Iris. Sorry my grandmother has involved you in her plan to marry me off. I’m sure you’re great, but I’m not interested in anyone at the moment.”
“No problem. Neither am I. I just came here this morning because my mother insisted.”
“See!” Ngin Ngin said. “He’s a keeper! He respects his mother! And he has his own business. Landscaping company.” She turned to Jonathan. “At work, do you take off your shirt on very hot days?”
Iris just prayed that Ngin Ngin wouldn’t ask if she could come watch.
Fortunately, she didn’t.
“Would you like some water?” Iris asked, trying to be polite. “Coffee?”
“Coffee would be great, thank you.”
Ngin Ngin decided to give Iris some time alone with Jonathan so they could get to know each other. They talked for twenty minutes and drank coffee, and it was pleasant enough, but nothing more than pleasant.
Once Jonathan left, Ngin Ngin came back downstairs.
“So? Isn’t he a great catch?”
Iris was practically pulling out her hair in frustration. “I told you. No matchmaking. Why can’t you listen?”
“I listen, but I don’t agree. So, I do what I want.”
Well, it looked like living with Ngin Ngin wouldn’t be so easy after all.
* * *
After a not-so-relaxing weekend, Iris was glad to escape to work on Monday morning. She worked at a small structural engineering firm in midtown called Lowry Engineering. Sometimes she took transit to work, but today she drove because she had to go to site in Markham later.
“Hey! How was your weekend?” Emma asked as Iris walked into the office. Emma was the other female engineer at Lowry, and she had the desk next to Iris’s. She was ten years older and had been a mentor of sorts.
“I moved in with my grandmother,” Iris said.
“Right! How did that go?”
“She’s already tried to set me up with someone. She got the son of one of her friends to come over and cut the grass—shirtless—at nine in the morning yesterday.”
Emma started laughing.
“She’s going to be the death of me,” Iris muttered. “Then in the evening, we watched Barefoot in the Park on Netflix after I set up the internet. My grandma likes Robert Redford.”
Sunday movie night with Ngin Ngin hadn’t been too bad, actually. In the afternoon, Iris had had a break from her grandmother—who’d gone to play mah jong—and had done a lot of unpacking. But in the evening, it had been nice to have company, even if Iris had to pause the movie every ten minutes because Ngin Ngin kept asking her questions. Ngin Ngin had also brought out her popcorn maker from the eighties, so they’d had popcorn with melted butter. Probably healthier than the microwavable stuff.
“How was your weekend?” Iris asked Emma.
“Oh, you know. Maddie emptied a bottle of shampoo in the only room where we have carpet, so that was a mess.” Maddie was Emma’s two-year-old daughter.
Iris poured herself some coffee and got to work on a report that she had to finish by the end of the day. At ten-thirty, she drove out to Markham. She and Emma had worked on the structural engineering for an addition to East Markham Hospital. Some rich guy had donated a lot of money to the hospital and was having a new cardiology wing named after him. Construction on the addition had started recently, and today they were supposed to pour concrete for the foundation. Iris had to inspect the formwork and rebar first to make sure everything was as it should be. Emma had done the past couple of site visits, but she’d been put on a new project that was taking up a lot of her time, and Iris would now have to come here about once a week.
No big deal. Iris didn’t mind going to site on occasion, as long as it didn’t take too much time away from her other work. Sometimes it felt a bit strange—she was often the only woman on site—but it was nothing she couldn’t handle.
She parked her car and put on her steel-toed boots, her safety vest, and her hard hat. She got out her clipboard with the structural drawings of the addition and headed toward the trailer, where she would sign in and meet the site supervisor, who worked for the general contractor. His name was Alex, but that was all she knew.
Which reminded her of...
No. She wouldn’t go there. She needed to stop thinking about that Alex. It had only been a one-night stand, and that was three weeks ago now. Time to push him out of her mind.
There were two men standing by the trailer, and they turned toward her as she approached. The man on the right was a tall, middle-aged guy with a crooked smile, and the man on the left was smaller in stature and...
Iris’s stomach dropped.
It was that Alex after all.