“The business is doomed,” Xia Lin announced as she entered Tanaka’s Sushi Bar & Restaurant at eleven a.m. one Tuesday morning.

        Several heads turned in her direction.

        Technically, Tanaka’s place didn’t open to the public until eleven-thirty, so she, along with a few others on the block at the outskirts of New York’s Chinatown took a small lunch break before going back to work. This particular morning, seated in Tanaka’s restaurant for lunch was Tanaka himself, his right hand man and fellow sushi chef Kozue, Tanaka’s wife Tina, and April, who owned a bridal shop just a few doors away from Tanaka’s.

        In some weird way, the group had been somewhat like a family away from family, considering they had all established their respective businesses roughly around the same time. Of course, one individual was missing, namely Xia’s boss, which was why she here in the first place.

        Kozue took a break from his ramen and retrieved a plate of various sashimi for Xia that he prepared for her about half an hour ago. It was Xia’s favorite, and since she started working at Chinatown Flowers down the street nearly a year ago, she had this particular item at least three times a week.

        “What happened?” Tina asked.

        “Okay…this morning, the boss man has an appointment with Mrs. Lang. You know, she owns that big hotel a few blocks north of here?” Xia pointed in the direction. “Apparently, one of her nieces or something is getting married in three months and she wants flower arrangements and stuff…So they went into his office to talk, and you know how his office has a window into the shop where I can see what’s going on and he can see what’s going on…” Xia took a piece of sashimi and chewed before swallowing. “So her back is to me, and they’re talking for what seemed like five minutes, and all of a sudden, I start seeing her body shake. Then he tosses a box of tissues on the desk and she grabs some and runs out of the store.”

        “What the hell…?” Tanaka set his chopsticks down.

        “And just on Saturday, when this woman kept going on and on about her bridesmaids dresses and how the flowers should match, he pretty much told her that flowers are the least of her worries if she’s marrying a man who takes business trips three times a month and works late at the office every day.” Xia shrugged. “She left crying, too.”

        “Wow…” April pushed her plate away.

        “What’s wrong with him?” Kozue asked.

        “I’ve never seen him like this,” Xia declared. “I mean, yeah, Bridezillas get on both of our nerves. But I’ve never seen him tell off any customer like that. He’ll correct them if he thinks they’re wrong on something, but now he’s just getting personal.”

        “Did something piss him off?” Tanaka asked.

        “I don’t know,” Xia shrugged. Her eyes lit up. “Wait, he has another appointment in about fifteen minutes…”
 

==
 

        Exactly twenty minutes later, April, Tanaka, Kozue, Xia, and Tanaka peeked through the street window of Chinatown Flowers. Inside, Devlin Cai was talking with a petite brunette.

        “How long does Dev take with these little meetings?” April asked.

        “Usually ten or fifteen,” Xia informed. “But lately…”

        The group couldn’t hear the words from their friend, but his biting tone was loud and clear. The brunette immediately turned and dashed out of the store, sobbing.

        “Jeez…” Tanaka watched the woman run down the street.

        The group turned back to look through the window. And noticed the precise, quick, almost jerky movements of their friend as he began to arrange several flowers for an order that he had placed on the counter.

        “He needs to get laid,” April announced.

        Four heads turned to stare at her.

        “What?” she blinked.

        “Are you volunteering?” Kozue asked.

        “Is getting laid your answer to everything?” Tina demanded.

        “Yes,” Xia answered dryly.

        “Hey!” April crossed her arms. “Besides…even if I did volunteer…you know he’d say no.”

        It was common knowledge in the group that April had been interested in Dev since he first established his shop on the block. But at every offer she made, he always turned her down.

        “Wait a minute…” Tanaka began slowly. “Maybe…Maybe April’s right.”

        “What?!” three heads swiveled in his direction.

        “Think about it…” Tanaka mused. “We’ve known Dev for a long time and not once have we ever seen him on a date, with a girlfriend, hell, even hit on a woman.”

        “That’s because he’s very private about his personal life,” Tina reasoned.

        “That still doesn’t explain why he’s never hit on a woman.”

        “This is ridiculous,” Tina threw her hands up in frustration. “We don’t know anything about his personal life. He could have been married, divorced, widowed-”

        Tanaka gave her a pointed look. “I don’t think so.”

        Tina blew out a breath. “How do you-?”

        “I know,” Tanaka said firmly.

        His wife sighed, looking through the window. “All right…so let’s say…you’re right.”

        “We should take him out,” Tanaka stated, nudging Kozue. “To the bar, to the club…”

        Kozue’s eyes lit up and he grinned. “This could be interesting.”

        “Are you serious?” Xia cried out. “You actually think this could work?”

        “Look,” Tanaka said. “He’s a pain to work with right now, and no one wants to be around him…why not make things easier for everyone?”

        “Good. You talk to him about your plan to get him into the social scene,” April said sweetly.

        Tanaka’s eyes widened. “What?”

        “You’re the undeclared best friend,” Xia agreed, nodding. “You should talk to him.”

        Tanaka grimaced, obviously not looking forward to that discussion.