Who: Zen Shinobu and Cat Reed What: First Meeting of the Cat and Zen When: Feb. 19, 2014 Where: Between 130-131 Sycamore Lane at mailboxes Rating/Warnings: G/None Status: Completed
After making sure that Sea was down for her afternoon nap, Zen stretched out and sighed. It was taking longer than he would like to set up this house, which was starting to take a toll on him. Normally he wouldn’t be this tired but between starting up the Yin/Yang, moving in, checking in on other businesses and setting Sea up in preschool, he was beat.
It went without saying that he also had done some background checking on his neighbors to insure he wasn’t near any weirdos. From what he found out the three homes in this part of the cul de sac had two other women. One was a widow with two teenagers and what appeared to be a complex of some sort. The other was a single writer with an adopted child.
While Zen was weary of his neighbor across the cul de sac, he wasn’t as worried about his next door neighbor. She seemed like the nice sort and foreign adoptions were notoriously tricky and stringent if you went through the proper channels. From what Zen could find Catherine Reed was a pretty stand up woman, in a world where those didn’t normally exist.
Walking towards his kitchen Zen realized that he hadn’t gotten the mail and the inevitable bills that would come with it. If he was lucky he would be getting some magazines and the order of books he had requested for Sea. Finding out his neighbor was a writer of a really popular children’s series had prompted Zen to get more serious about teaching Sea English.
Tossing a white wool sweater on over his tank top and light wash jeans, Zen slipped on closed toe brown Birkenstock sandals and went to get the mail. Clicking on the alarm system before he went out the door, Zen made a note to see about motion light sensors on his yard and if they were HOA approvable before going to his giant mail box.
Catherine thought it was about time to check her mail and so, with a giggling Teo clinging to her leg, she clomped out to the mailbox. Any time he wanted to play such physical games, where he was deriving fun from being close to her, she was all about letting him do as he pleased. It was the kind of bonding experience that you couldn’t pay money for.
As she approached the end of her driveway she spotted a young Asian man checking his own mail. Teo stiffened, and immediately clamored for her to pick him up, which she did. She sat him on her hip, where he buried his face in her neck and trembled, the poor baby. "Está bien," she told him quietly, before greeting her new neighbor. Despite the fact that he’d been in the neighborhood for at least a month, Cat had been too wrapped up with Teo to introduce herself.
"Hi," she said, offering her free hand to shake. "I’m Cat, I live in the big gray one." She pointed, when she had her hand back. "And this is Teo - don’t take it personally. You just moved in, right?" It was then that she saw what he’d pulled out of his mailbox. "Ollie Otter!" she exclaimed. "I wrote those!" She had the good grace to blush, at least. "So I guess that means there’s a little one hiding around here somewhere?"
Looking up when he heard speaking, Zen blinked at the mother and child slowly. While he had heard them coming and watched them briefly out of the corner of his eye he had chosen not to speak. The child looked terrified of him and rather than try to force the issue, Zen continued to pull out the books from the box he had gotten in the mail until Cath introduced herself.
"I’m Zen. It’s a pleasure meeting you both. Yes my little one is Sea and she is currently taking a nap." Zen smiled pleasantly one of the books in hand. Motioning slowly with the book, he tilted his head at Cat. "Then I should have you autograph them at a later time. It isn’t often that you meet or live next to a popular children’s author. If I am lucky these books will not only be enjoyable for Sea but help her with her English."
"Oh, your little one doesn’t speak English either?" Catherine asked with interest. "Teo’s only been in the US for a month. He’s from Mexico, but I spent a good part of my childhood there so we speak only Spanish in the home." Hearing his name, Teo ventured to look up at Zen, though Cat could still feel him trembling. It was a far cry from the way he was around the women he had met since being in the country.
"I’d be happy to autograph them," she said, a little awkwardly. She had never really got used to the hype that came with being a successful author. "I’m actually planning the next one, so I’ll have to make sure little Sea gets an advance copy." She tilted her head, thinking. "You know… eventually both of our kids are going to have to learn English. We could throw them together, if that was something you were interested in?"
Mostly, she was impressed with the way he had gauged Teo’s mood and hadn’t pressed the issue. Her father in particular hadn’t quite seemed to grasp the genuine terror Teo had felt at his presence, and kept trying to win the little boy over. It would take time, she knew, and as much as her father’s feelings might be hurt by Teo’s apparent rejection, Cat knew that eventually they would be as thick as thieves.
"Have you met Her Highness over yonder?" she asked with a snicker, gesturing with her chin to the ostentatious Rookwood place. "Do yourself a favor - use the other side of the street if you’re walking, especially if you’ve got Sea with you. I’m told Lady Rookwood’s bark is worse than her bite, but so far her bark is plenty bad enough for me. Her kids seem pleasant enough though."
"Sea has been raised in a traditional Japanese household so she hasn’t been exposed to much English until we moved here a month ago." Zen sighed just thinking about it. "The only we have down so far is: please, thank you, no thank you and help."
Contemplating her offer Zen tilted his head again. "Your idea has serious merit. It serves two purposes well. Teaching them English, as well as how to interact with other children." Smiling reassuringly Zen gave a lazy wave. "You don’t have to sign anything if you don’t like. I imagine it would be awkward and a tad bit off putting to be asked to sign this and that outside of book signings and other events of that nature."
Taking a look at the house she had pointed to Zen shook his head. The dwelling to him looked like someone bought it for looks but not substance. Not wanting to let on that he knew a lot more than he let on Zen shrugged. "I haven’t met her yet but I imagine I will eventually. I own the Yin/Yang and we are neighbors. As long as her bark is aimed at me and not my child I’m sure there won’t be a problem."
"I’ll look into nannies, then," Cat said thoughtfully. "I don’t intend to speak anything other than Spanish to Teo, but an English speaking nanny would be a good start, and I’m happy for Sea to spend time with us if that’s something you’re okay with." If she was going to spend the money for a nanny, it seemed silly for him to seek his own childcare. Surely a nanny could just as easily watch two children as one. "Of course, you’ll sit in on the interviews. If you’re going to agree to this, I know you’ll want to make sure you’re comfortable with whoever I hire taking care of Sea."
Lady Rookwood, of the pretentious, uppity, Lakeside Rookwoods, had made nothing but a poor impression on Cat. Teo wouldn’t go near her, which was all Cat needed to know about her. Her children on the other hand really were pleasant enough. Her son seemed like he’d be a bit of an asshole if he hadn’t had such lovely manners instilled in him, but her daughter was genuinely sweet. Cat might have even considered asking her to babysit if it hadn’t meant interacting with Her Highness.
She liked this quiet, polite man though. She had the sense that he would make a very pleasant neighbor. "Why don’t you and Sea join us for dinner sometime this week?" she offered, taking a chance that Teo would be okay with that. As much as she wanted to respect his very real fear, at some point he was going to have to start working past it.
"I would of course split the costs of the nanny with you." Zen spoke calmly while he let his mind wander over a few particulars. It didn’t take long for Sea to warm up to people but it would likely be best if they did an initially meeting over a short period of time. Dinner might take to long to begin with and if Teo was scared of him it would lead to some unnecessary tension.
"Tell you what prior to dinner plans lets have a play date where the two little ones can get acquainted." For a moment Zen paused and thought if it would be a good idea to have them over today or wait until tomorrow. "Say tomorrow why don’t you both come over in the afternoon. The two little ones can get over their shyness and get to know each other before introducing another unknown entity into the equation. At that point we can also hammer out some of the things we look for in a nanny. I understand there are services for these type of things in this country."
"Oh yes, very reputable services," Cat nodded, shifting Teo in her arms. He was small for his age, but that didn’t make him any less heavy for long periods of time. "Tomorrow afternoon sounds good - say two o’clock? Teo should be up from his nap then. Do you need me to bring anything?"
Casting a glance over at Rookwood Manor, Cat was suddenly aware of motion. Whether it be tree or bush or Rookwood, she didn’t know, but she didn’t feel like sticking around to find out. "Well, anyway, here’s my number - just give me a call if things change. Otherwise, we’ll wander around at two, yeah?" She prodded Teo gently. "Dice adiós al buen hombre," she prompted.
"Adiós," he whispered, quickly burying his face in Cat’s neck again. She waved to Zen as she walked him back up the driveway.
"Two is perfect and you just need to bring your appetite." Zen took her number and waved her off having caught the motion. Having caught Teo’s cute goodbye, Zen recalled the only bit of Spanish he knew. "Hasta luego."