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Chapters (77)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. 1
  4. 2
  5. A Series of Screw-ups: The Chisaki Joan Katsuyama Story, Part I
  6. 3
  7. The History of My Beef with Brynn Foer-Preston
  8. 4
  9. 5
  10. 6
  11. 7
  12. The History of the Katsuyama Family, Part I
  13. 8
  14. 9
  15. A Brief History of Chisaki Joan Katsuyama’s Romantic Learning Opportunities, Part I
  16. 10
  17. 11
  18. 12
  19. A Brief History of Chisaki Joan Katsuyama’s Romantic Learning Opportunities, Part II
  20. 13
  21. The History of the Katsuyama Family, Part II
  22. 14
  23. 15
  24. 16
  25. 17
  26. 18
  27. 19
  28. The Complicated History of Chisaki Joan Katsuyama’s Imaginary Relationship with Her Nonexistent Dad
  29. 20
  30. 21
  31. 22
  32. A Brief History of Chisaki Joan Katsuyama’s Romantic Learning Opportunities, Part III
  33. 23
  34. 24
  35. 25
  36. A Brief, Backward History of the McAllister Family, as Paraphrased from the San Jose Mercury News
  37. 26
  38. 27
  39. 28
  40. A Quick and Eerily Relevant History of Asians in America
  41. 29
  42. 30
  43. 31
  44. 32
  45. 33
  46. 34
  47. 35
  48. 36
  49. A Brief History of Chisaki Joan Katsuyama’s Romantic Learning Opportunities, Part IV
  50. 37
  51. 38
  52. 39
  53. 40
  54. 41
  55. 42
  56. 43
  57. 44
  58. A Series of Screw-ups: The Chisaki Joan Katsuyama Story, Part II (Or Maybe It’s a Prequel)
  59. 45
  60. 46
  61. 47
  62. 48
  63. 49
  64. 50
  65. 51
  66. 52
  67. 53
  68. The History of the Katsuyama Family, Part III
  69. 54
  70. A Note from the Author
  71. Index of Flowers and their Meanings
  72. Acknowledgments
  73. About the Author
  74. Praise for This Time Will Be Different
  75. Books by Misa Sugiura
  76. Back Ad
  77. About the Publisher

Still. Having Andy as a boyfriend was fun and horizon-expanding. When I was with him, I laughed and watched movies and went to comedy clubs and had sex and never worried about anything until I missed my period.

10

OUR AD FOR THE (SORT OF) FIFTIETH-ANNIVERSARY sale will appear in the magazine in March, two months from now. In the two days since we came up with the idea, Hannah has spent every spare minute working on the details. She wants to kick off the week of the sale with a big seventies-themed party; if we have a good February, we’ll be able to pay for a caterer, so this afternoon, she’s out talking to caterer friends, trying to finesse a bargain.

In Hannah’s absence, Owen’s taking calls and dealing with customers while I work at the demonstration table putting the finishing touches on a ginormous arrangement that will be part of someone’s twenty-fifth-anniversary party tomorrow. Because all the snipping and clipping generates a lot of mess, we usually work in the back. But sometimes if a piece is really impressive, like this one, we finish it up in the front to give people something to admire.

The arrangement is made up of red chrysanthemums (longevity) and incredibly expensive out-of-season red peonies (good fortune), and holly branches (enchantment) and orange branches (sweetness and generosity) nestled in sage (health, long life) and wrapped in ivy (fidelity, friendship). It’s a tricky one, so Hannah did most of the framing and structural work, but she’s letting me do a lot of the filling in. With some poking, clipping, and shifting, I think I’m making it work.

I’ve been sneaking peeks at Owen every now and then. Now that I’m paying attention, I guess I can see what Emily sees. He kind of has a K-pop/J-pop thing going for him, what with his mussed-up hair and serious brown eyes.

Owen looks up from his phone and wanders over from behind the counter. “That thing is huge,” he says, gesturing at the flowers. “It must have taken forever.”

“It did—don’t touch!” I surprise myself by slapping his hand away as he reaches out to play with the sage leaves. I didn’t know I felt so strongly about protecting my work—Hannah’s work, really. But also mine.

“Sorry! I didn’t know it was so fragile.” He makes a show of putting his hands in his pockets and smiles. “This better?”

“No, sorry, it’s okay. It’s me. I—I think I’m nervous about it. It’s the first really fancy one that Hannah’s let me do so much work on. I guess I want it to be perfect.”

“It looks great,” Owen says.

I step back and walk slowly around the demo table, checking for anything out of place, and he walks with me. “I mean, Hannah did most of it.”

“You’re welcome.”