CHAPTER THREE: “THE LUNCH”
I woke up. It was 9:00 am. Master Chang was going to be here in just over two hours. I got up. Brushed my teeth. Cooked some eggs. Poured a bowl of cereal. Ate. Hopped into the shower. Shaved. Took my time getting dressed picking out just the right clothes to meet Jackie Chan in. Went to style my hair taking extra care into putting every strand in the right place.
Checked the time. WHAT!??! IT WAS ONLY 9:30!!! Why the hell was time passing so slowly?!?!
I still had just under two hours to kill. What did I have to do still? Right, I had look make sure I had some videos of me. Went to my shelf and dug up the tape. Packed it up safe and sound. Check the time. 9:45. You’ve GOT to be kidding me!
After another excruciating hour of lounging around the house, bouncing off the walls, and trying grasp the fact that I decided to call Master Chang to see where he was. He lived relatively close to me and was at most a fifteen minute drive away.
“Hello?” came Master Chang’s usual gruff voice.
“Yes sir, just checking to see you know where I live.”
“Yeah, I remember, just leaving now, I’ll see you soon,”
“Great! Thank you sir, see you soon.”
I sat by my door with my eyes on the clock. It was eleven. Okay, no problem, fifteen more minutes. Five minutes passed, then ten. I felt like there was a nuclear bomb set to go off next to me with only five minutes left on the clock. Four minutes. Three minutes. Two Minutes. ONE MINUTE!!! Time was ticking, and Master Chang was nowhere in sight! Okay, he’s probably just around the corner. Give him a few more minutes. Another five passed. Then ten. I couldn’t take it! I called him.
“Where the hell are you, you senile old man!? Don’t you know who we’re going to meet!?! What the hell is wrong with you?!?!” was what I wanted to say, but instead a respectful, “Sir, is everything okay?” was all that came out.
Apparently he was stuck at a left turn just around the corner from my house. I totally forgot that that left turn takes FOREVER but I didn’t think that it would be busy on a Sunday morning of all days!
I felt like DYING! We were supposed to meet Jackie and his people at noon for lunch all the way downtown and it was already 11:45! He finally arrived and we drove down to the restaurant. As we approached I recognized it as Dynasty – a posh Chinese restaurant on the 2nd floor of a building by Avenue and Bloor. I would often walk by the restaurant because I went to U of T had classes in the area, but never been inside.
We parked and hurried into the restaurant. The maître D greeted us. “Um…hi we’re here to meet Jackie Ch-“ I didn’t even finish saying his name before he said, “Right this way,” with a giddy, excited look on his face. He led us to the table where Jackie and his entourage were sitting. I still couldn’t believe this was happening! I was excited, elated, intimidated, and afraid all at the same time. They were all sitting around the table – the circular ones that all Chinese restaurants have.