Chapter 4 - Early Introduction

In this chapter, I was hoping to create the background story of Rebecca, how she became to be.  It started with her first encounter of a mature man, who used her for sex, and introduced her to the sex club scene (to be written) and from then onwards, she had carried this dark side of her, and sought adventures that were different from the norm. It would then hopefully introduce Christopher (as seen in Chapter 1 and 2) as someone who would take advantage of that side of her, and create an environment that fed that side of Rebecca, gave her the outlet to fulfill her sexual fantasies (at what cost we will need to find out), which hopefully will answer some of the questions as to why she would not have a complete memory over the past 15 years. 

------------------

June 1995

Rebecca knew this would the man she’d meet that evening, even before he saw her. She had dressed in a black floral silk Qi Pao looking dress, she had bought it in Macy’s, it had a nice cut, and was short, risen just above her knees.  She was always confident in that dress of hers.  It’s those dresses that you’d see movie stars in the 1930s wore in Shanghai. She looked like such a star, delicate feature, porcelain white skin, oval shaped face, with dark eye shadows framed her big almond shaped eyes. . She had long jet black hair, a voluptuous body in a petite frame, she had large perky 34D cup size breasts that were unusual for a petite Asian woman, and the dress embodied her well and showed off her asset.  When she walked into the restaurant, she noticed people looked at her, this was a common phenomenon. She was not the drop dead gorgeous type, but she breathed sexual energy, she looked people in their eyes, people took notice of her, she walked with a natural confidence, she was different. Different not because she was Asian, but she was a different kind of breed.

When people first met her, they always asked her if she was from Shanghai.  Somehow that was the impression of the people, westerners seemed to only know of one city in China, and assumed all pretty Chinese women came from there. When she said no, there was often a lack of follow up, the air would just hung there, awkward, silent. She would be waiting, and the person who asked the question would then switch gear onto something else. Rebecca would always be disappointed. People didn’t have a second guess.

Rebecca once dated this guy named David. David had been quite proud of himself having lived in Taiwan and traveled to China, before it was common. David would say that Chinese women had two types only, the pretty ones and the ugly ones. Rebecca should be offended – it was her people he was talking about, but she found herself secretively pleased. David found her hot, pretty, sexy, David was smitten by Rebecca, as many men did during those days.

Rebecca met Mark online.  He wrote to her when her bikini photo was used to advertise an online dating site. Her friend who worked at America Online at time asked her for a photo of hers, she had given him the permission to use it, it was a side shot of her, she had leaned against a balcony, looking at the Caribbean sea, in her two piece bikini. The photo was taken by her then boyfriend William, who took her to the Bahamas. She broke up with William after the trip but the photo captured happier times.  Mark wrote in an email to her and said that he found her really attractive, and he was new to the area and would like to meet her. He was working for an east coast news paper. To further establishing his credentials, he told her that the paper he worked in, and provided links to his articles that he’d written for the paper. He said that he had been awarded a fellowship at Stanford and had just arrived from New York.

Rebecca had always wanted to be a writer, and she had never met a journalist before, a real one anyway, she was fascinated. Mark sent her a photo of him before arranging for a meeting. He had longish wavy sandy blond hair, he said that he looked like Kurt Russell and assured her that he was good looking.  Rebecca agreed.

In the picture Mark had sported a crooked smile, he was staring at the camera. You could tell that he knew that he was handsome, he was aware of his presence.

This was the early nineties, meeting people online was largely a novelty, but Rebecca was never one who followed the norms.  She agreed to meet Mark.  

The restaurant was crowded that night, it was a warm Indian summer night.  Downtown Palo Alto was full of pedestrians. Rebecca had arrived slightly late that night, having had a hard time finding a parking space.

She saw Mark, he had worn a dark sports jacket, and when she smiled, he saw her and immediately walked up to her. His hair was longer than the photo, and he smiled, a crooked smile like his picture. He was a tall man, about 6’1”,  strong framed, and had hazel eyes that melted Rebecca’s heart. It was crush at first sight. Mark took her to the table. He said that she looked beautiful. Rebecca was bathing in a school girl’s infatuation.  Mark was 38. Rebecca was barely 22. It was strange to meet someone who’s that much older yet so incredibly sexy. Rebecca knew the reason she liked him the most was his profession. She had always wanted to be a journalist. Before she came to the United States, she had wanted a career as a writer, she had already decided to apply for People’s University in Beijing, the best journalism college in China. Then life took a detour.

In 1988, a government sponsored high school exchange program took place in the city where Rebecca was living.  It was the first time that the government had decided to form a one year foreign exchange program by sending five high school students scattered around Guang Dong province to a high school in the United States, destination, Los Gatos. A San Francisco suburb tucked away in the Santa Cruz mountains. Rebecca was one of the lucky five. She was the youngest of all, only 15 at the time, she was selected because of her high academic achievement, and her lack of controversy. The selection committee, which was made of the entire school board, had to vote. Rebecca was a quiet, studious child, she lived as a boarder in the most academic school in the city, she was always ranked top 3 during mid terms and final exams. She rarely spoke, she was quiet like a mouse, she had short boyish cut hair, a boyish frame. When children at her class started to go on dates, she stayed in the library and soaked in books. She was a quiet one who did well in her school. When the votes got tallied up, Rebecca had the highest score. No one voted against her, there were hundreds of applicants from her school. She would be well behaved and represented our school, our city, and our country well. The school board later would tell Rebecca’s parents.  Rebecca spent a year in Los Gatos, lived with a host family, and by the time she was set to return to China, Tiananmen demonstration started. It was June 1989. Rebecca had been interviewed by the local newspaper and TV stations.  One year in United States, Rebecca had blossomed into a precocious young girl. She learned that she didn’t have to always hold back. This was a free country, you could express your opinion freely. Her American high school teachers taught her. She listened. She expressed her opinion. She was quoted on the paper. The next thing she knew, she was blacklisted, it was a shock to everyone around her, not at least was Rebecca herself. Her return trip was June 16.  The news came to her from a defecting Chinese consulate member,  who made a call to her high school principal.  Rebecca had exactly a week to decide what to do. She decided to stay in America, she was 16 at the time.  The rest, as they would say, was history

Much had happened since then, Rebecca had been on her own since she was 16. She finished college quickly, earned an accounting degree, passed her CPA test and went to work for a consulting firm.  She never had a chance to pursue her dream of journalism. English was her second language, and she needed to make a living.

But now, meeting Mark, was like meeting a celebrity. Where others obsessed with Hollywood stars, Rebecca always was obsessed with news casters, and journalists.  That night they talked about their lives. Mark was polite, and charming, and Rebecca was smitten.

By the time Rebecca had finished her dessert, it was clear that something was not agreeing with her. She felt sick. Mark took her back to his house, and asked her to to lie down. He lay next to her and cradled her. She went to the bathroom to throw up, and he held her hair. That evening was not what she had expected to be. She had no idea that she would be so weak, and to her horror, so not sexy.

But it didn’t seem that Mark cared. By the morning came, she had felt a lot of better, he held her tight, and cuddled her like she was a small blanket. That feeling of being cared for was what drove Rebecca to Mark, she would later recall. She apologized furiously, and Mark just laughed. He said not to worry, I’d see you again soon Rebecca. He made date for next Wednesday.  He said that we’d have a redo.

Rebecca never went to a restaurant with Mark on the following Wednesday.  She was drawn to him, and he her. They made love, they made up for the time that they missed the first time they met.  Afterwards, Mark told her about himself.  He said that he was going to get married, but after he came back from Iraq, covering for the Golf war, he found that his fiancé was cheating with his best man. “I wanted a real marriage, not one built on a mistrust”. He said. He called off the wedding, and applied for the fellowship, to get away from New York, he said.  “Then I met you.” He caressed her back, tracing his fingers from the top of her neck to her buttock.  He stared into her face, he had those impossibly green eyes, not hazel, as she had first thought. He said that his parents had moved from Sweden to the States years ago, before having him, and they had been together for 40 years, they retired to Florida, and “To this date, they still walk hand in hand on the beach”. “I want you to meet them.” He said. “They’d love you. You beautiful young thing.” He continued talking about his parents while kissed Rebecca.

Rebecca could never believe this, in her short but active dating life, she’s never met anyone like Mark.  It was love. She had no doubt. 

But that was the beginning to an end. Rebecca couldn’t remember exactly how it ended.  Whatever she had with Mark fizzled. She still dreamed about him.  She had heard that sometimes, some people you just couldn’t get them out of your system, Mark was one of them. 

The reason Mark gave Rebecca was that she lacked the maturity that he was looking for in his partner. Rebecca cried and begged for Mark to come back to her. He did, but not in the exact way she had hoped for.

As it turned out Mark had a dark side unlike other men Rebecca would encounter in her future.  The first time Rebecca was approached by Mark, after they had officially broken up, was shortly after his trip back from New York. He had written to her via an email, and let her know that he was back in town, and that he would like to see her and take her to a party.

The party was in Morgan Hill, south of San Jose. It was a farming town before the overspill of Silicon Valley types moved in and houses were built on empty hills.  The party was not exactly the sort that Rebecca had anticipated. She was dressed in a black dress, sleeveless and had worn her high black pumps. She was trying to dress like a mature person, someone who looked older than 22.

Mark drove to pick her up from her apartment in Campbell, he had driven his blue BMW convertible and was in a suit. They took off from there. On the way there, Mark told her that she should expect some surprises but he thought that she’d enjoy, if she still wanted to be with him, it would be the way, he said.

It was a suburban house unlike one of her colleague’s, in fact, she thought for a moment that her colleague would show up at the front door.  A lady in her late thirties opened the door and greeted Mark with kissed on both of his cheeks. She was in a sheer coverall, and you could see her bra and black G-string underwear.  Rebecca had a slight suspicion that this was not the kind of party that she’d gone before.  Mark had led her down to the narrow but hollow hallway until the living room was in front of her. It was already packed with many people, all had dressed in a way that was more than suggestive. Many had been locked in embraces.  Mark led her to a couple who were tall and in their 30s. They hugged Mark and shook hands with Rebecca.  Mark told them Rebecca had come from China and what she did for living. He then told them that she was “new”.  They gave her a look, a look that made Rebecca nervous.