Page 32 of The Sitcom Star
—AJ Matsui,Queer Can
Chapter 9
@maddieng: Fried chicken (and ice cream!) sandwich with my friend @friedchickenintoronto
@porkbun32: Looks like something Mike would try to sell at Chu’s Restaurant, maybe with a little hoisin sauce.
@tbayscientist: That’s disgusting.People actually eat this??
@notthatasiangirl: I love you in Chu’s Restaurant.When is Season 3 coming?
@itsbrett67: Check your dms
WhenMaddiegotoutof her Uber near Bathurst and Wilson, Adrian sucked in a breath.She was wearing a blue and white floral sundress, sunglasses, and a floppy sunhat, and she looked stunning.The dress hugged her waist and hips, then flared out, ending around her knees.
He couldn’t believe he’d actually kissed this woman, but Friday night hadn’t been a dream.He had two hundred new Instagram followers to show for it, thanks to Maddie’s post.
But the time in the park, the kiss…those memories were just for them.
“Hey,” he managed to croak out.“You get here okay?”
She took off her hat and mask.“Yep, no problem.”
He lived about a fifteen-minute walk away, and as he looked at her now, he couldn’t help wondering if he’d get to bring her home today, slide the sundress over her head, watch it pool on his floor.
Not that he expected it, but he couldn’t stop those images from running through his head.
“So, which way?”Maddie asked.
Right.They were supposed to eat at one of the Filipino restaurants nearby.
“Okay, so these are the options…”
“Oh, look!”She pointed at the bus stop.There was a picture…of her.Well, of the main cast ofChu’s Restaurant, Waverly Yu standing in the front, hand under her chin, designer purse tucked under her other arm.
It wasn’t like he’d forgotten who she was, but he’d been thinking of her more as Maddie, who’d gone to school with him many years ago, not as Maddie Ng, sitcom star and creator.
She laughed.“Take a picture of me with it.”
He pulled out his phone.Maddie struck the same pose and expression as in the ad, when she was playing Waverly, and… How had he kissed her?How was that real?
He snapped a few photos and was about to send one to her when someone said, “Hey, you really are Waverly Yu, right?I mean, the actress, Maddie Ng.”
“Yep, that’s me.”
Unlike the guy at the chicken place, this young Asian man actually thought it was her, not just someone who looked like her.
“Love the show,” the man said.“My mom loves it, too—we watch it together.Could I take a picture with you?”
“Of course.”
Maddie moved to one side of the ad.The man stood on the other side and held his phone toward Adrian.“Could you take it for me?”
Adrian took a couple of pictures, and the man thanked him before heading on his way.
Seriously, she’d just been recognized in public!What was she doing with Adrian?Surely many men—including ones who were much more successful than him—would be interested in her.At one point in his life, such a thing might not have bothered him, but it was a sore point now, after the way his last relationship had ended.
However, he didn’t have much time to ponder that because his phone started ringing.It was probably junk, but he looked at the screen just in case.
