Begin Again: Chapter 18

Ramses is definitely not Eastern Sea.

That’s what crosses Nicholas Li’s mind once he steps into Ramses, comparing the luxurious restaurant to his parents’ in Chinatown. He takes his time to admire the stylish main lobby of the restaurant, the elegant blue carpet, the couches and chairs, and the classic yet timeless design of the whole place. As an interior designer, Nic is thoroughly impressed. 

After mentioning Ellen DeGeneres’ name to the mâitre d’, he’s led to the main dining room which looks even more impressive. Actually, 7pm might be just a tad too early for dinner for New Yorkers, but Nic notices that most of the table there are already occupied. Seems like nobody minds to have an early dinner as long as they can brag about having the chance to do it at the Ramses.

Nic is shown to the big round table in the middle of the room, where Portia’s family and Ellen—with her mom, are talking to each other amiably. 

“Good evening,” Nic greets them with a bright smile. “I’m really sorry. I hope I’m not very late.” 

“Don’t worry. You arrive just in time,” Ellen says while standing up. 

“Good evening, M’am,” Nic shakes hands with the friendly old woman that he thinks to be Ellen’s mother. Then he shakes hands with Ellen. “Good to see you again, DeGeneres.” 

“You too, Li,” Ellen nods. 

“Come sit with us, young man. Don’t be so formal,” Betty says to Nicholas. 

Nic sits between Portia and Michael. He leans over towards Portia and whispers, “Did I miss much?” 

“No,” Portia whispers back. “We just got here ourselves.” 

“Oh, good.” 

“Marge told me that she thinks of you as her own son,” Betty says. 

Nic turns towards the white-haired woman and smiles. “That’s right, M’am. Our families have known each other for years. We’re just one big happy family.” 

“I’m really jealous that she has lots of children. And right here I’ve only got Ellen, while my son is out there somewhere,” Betty comments. “So, if you don’t mind my asking, what do you do?” 

“I’m an interior designer,” Nic answers. 

“Nic is the one who designed my apartment,” Portia chimes in. “He’s extremely talented.” 

“Oh.” Betty DeGeneres’ eyes sparkle in delight. “Do you want me to introduce you to my friend’s daughter, young man? She’s really pretty. She—“ 

“Mom,” Ellen interrupts from the right side of her mom, “Nicholas already has a girlfriend.” 

Nic looks at Ellen with a faint sign of surprise. Hm…

“Oh.” Betty looks a little disappointed. Then her eyes avert towards Michael. “What about you, Doctor? I remember Marge telling me that you haven’t got one yourself.” 

Michael moves uncomfortably on his seat. “Well, not yet…” 

“That girl I know, she’s really sweet and smart,” Betty goes on. “She works at Sotheby’s, still single—“ 

“Mom,” Ellen has to interrupt her mom once more. 

“What?” Betty asks. “I’m just trying to help.”

“I think you should try to hold yourself back from fixing up other people’s children, Mom. I’m not sure that they'd appreciate that.” 

Betty stares at her daughter for a while, then finally she nods. “You’re right,” she admits. “I really should pay attention to my own daughter first. Once I succeed in fixing you up with Portia, I’ll start helping my friends out.” 

For a while, it was dead silent around the table. Ellen glares at her mom disapprovingly and Portia blushes. Nic has to pretend to drink to try his best not to laugh out loud seeing Portia’s family’s face. 

As if not realizing the awkward silence surrounding them, Betty DeGeneres turns towards Andrew and says, “What do you think, Andrew? I hope you support my effort in trying to get them together.” 

Andrew smiles politely and says in a careful manner, “I guess now is still too early to decide, M’am. This is only our second encounter, after all.” 

“Of course you’re right,” Betty replies. “That’s why I invited you all to have dinner together, so we can get to know each other better.” 

“Speaking of dinner, I guess we’d better start now,” Ellen says and indicates the waiter nearby to serve the food. 

Nic elbows Portia’s torso softly, then slightly leans over. “Your soon-to-be mother in law is really interesting,” he whispers. 

“Oh, shut up,” Portia says grudgingly. 

************

The food at Ramses really is as marvelous as people say it to be. Nic is close to crying tears of joy while he tastes meal after meal that are served. Ramses is just spectacular. Nic would happily oblige to helping Betty DeGeneres’ in her mission if it means that he, as Portia’s best friend, will get to dine here often. 

After the appetizer is served, the conversation at the table proceeds casually. Betty no longer talks about her effort of fixing Portia up with her daughter. They talk of daily things, about their jobs, about family, about Ramses and its incredible food. Nothing dangerous. Then…

“So, Ellen,” Michael starts with a light tone. “I heard that you and Portia were once in the same high school?”

Ellen glances at Portia, then answers, “Yes, that’s true.” 

Portia stares at Michael with a slight frown, but Michael ignores it and keeps focusing on Ellen. 

“You’ve known each other for quite a long time, then?”

“Yes.”

“But I heard that you weren’t exactly friends.” 

Ellen hesitates for a moment, then says, “No.” 

“Hm,” Michael mumbles quietly while his eyes are observing Ellen appraisingly. 

Ellen’s face doesn’t show anything, but her body is tensed. Alert. She’s about to start speaking again when something stops her. She pulls out her phone from the inside of her suit and raises her eyebrows. “Excuse me one minute,” she mumbles, stands up and walks away to receive the phone call. 

After Ellen left, Portia throws a sharp glance at her brother. “Michael,” she hisses because she doesn’t want to be heard by Betty who’s still speaking to Jenna. 

“What?” Michael says innocently. 

Portia glances over at Betty before scowling back at her brother. “Not here.” 

Michael squints his eyes. However, Nic knows that Portia will come out as the winner. Finally, Michael sighs quietly, giving up to his sister. “Fine,” he mumbles reluctantly, “I’m not going to talk about it now.” 

“Thank you. Tell Andrew.” 

Andrew, who seems to understand what his siblings are talking about without having to actually hear it, tilts his head and shrugs to state that he understands. 

“No,” Nic protests while staring at Michael and Portia alternately. “Do it now while I’m here. I want to know what happens.” 

Now Portia is glaring at him.

**************

Ellen walks away from the table and taps on the green button on her phone. “Hello?”

“Hey, Ellen!” Sarah Paulson, one of her good friends, greets her cheerfully. “Busy?” 

Ellen peeks over her shoulder towards the table. “It’s dinner time, so yes, of course I’m busy,” she answers, “but since you’ve just saved me from…. something, I’m going to spare my time to listen to what you have to say.” 

Sarah laughs briefly on the other end. “If you can spare a little more time tonight, I’d like to invite you and Audrey to my bar tonight. We’ve invited numerous actors from Broadway to have a little gig here,” she explains. “I recall that you once forced me to help you look for a Broadway’s show premier ticket, so I thought perhaps you’d like to stop by my little show tonight.” 

Sarah was one among many people that Ellen contacted to get those tickets to impress Portia the other day. Portia de Rossi has zero idea about how hard Ellen had worked to get those precious tickets. 

“We’ll see,” Ellen says. “I might go there.” 

“And you’re going to take Audrey with you?” 

“Audrey?”

“Yes. Your girlfriend. She loves musical shows, doesn’t she?” 

It’s not Audrey who does, but Ellen doesn’t feel like she has to correct Sarah’s thoughts. “Alright,” she says. “I’ll be there. Now I have to go back to my guests.” 

Ellen hangs up. She takes a deep breath to muster some energy and courage before walking back towards their dining table. Time to face Dr. Michael Rogers again. Judging from the questions and from the way he looks at her, that one brother of Portia’s clearly already knows something about what happened between Ellen and Portia back then. Portia herself might have already forgiven her, but her brothers might not excuse what she’d done so easily. But one thing’s for sure, she doesn’t want them to have a negative impression of her on their second encounter. 

“Sorry,” Ellen mumbles while sitting back down next to Portia. 

Portia smiles at her and goes back to eating her dinner. 

At that time, Andrew Rogers wipes his mouth with the napkin, then asks Ellen, “Giants or Jets, Ellen?” 

Ellen blinks. Is this a trick question? Is her answer going to settle both Portia’s brothers’ opinion of her? Oh, for god’s sake. She’s really not trained for these things. All her life, she hasn’t ever met any of her girlfriends’ families. She decides to not think too long. “Yankees,” she tries to sound as casual as possible. “I prefer baseball than football.” 

Andrew smiles. “Good to hear. Michael and I are also Yankees’ fans. Are you simply a fan or have you ever played?” 

And the conversation around baseball continues from there. Ellen is a little perplexed to feel the change of the topic before she left and after she got back to the table, but she’s not complaining at all. She glances at Portia and wonders if it’s the girl’s magic work. 

Not so long after, the desserts are served. Everybody is listening to the funny story of the teenage self of Betty DeGeneres which is being told in a dramatic and vigorous manner. Taking the chance where everybody’s focusing at her mom, Ellen asks Portia in a very low tone, “Do you have anything else to do after this?” 

Portia turns to her with curious eyes. “No. Why?” 

“Wanna go with me to a bar? It’s my friend’s.” 

Portia’s eyebrows shot up. 

“They have some sort of a live show there almost every night,” Ellen quickly explains. “My friend said that tonight they’re gonna be having some Broadway actors and—” 

Portia gasps so loud that Ellen jolts from her seat and everybody's staring at her in surprise, 

“Sorry,” Portia mumbles with an embarrassed face having attracted everyone’s attention towards her. “Uh… This… This pavlova is very delicious.” 

Ellen thinks that Portia’s excuse doesn’t make any sense at all, but none of her family suspects anything. They agree to Portia’s comment and goes back to listening to Ellen’s mom. 

Portia clears her throat quietly and slightly turns her body towards Ellen, without really looking at her, then mumbles something that Ellen doesn’t catch. 

“What?” Ellen asks, leaning over towards Portia. She forgets to whisper. And Portia’s elbow is quick to attack Ellen’s arm. 

The other 6 heads turn towards them once more. This time they’re staring at Ellen and Portia curiously.

“I’m sorry.” Ellen stares back at the other 6 people, trying not to wince. “Please continue.” 

Ellen waits until everybody’s attention is averted from herself before she winces and rubs her right arm that has just become a victim. “I think I better start documenting every tiny bruise I got from you,” she grumbles quietly. “Just in case I get to ask for some compensation one day.” 

“Sorry,” Portia mumbles reluctantly, “but you’re the one who always provokes my automatic attack mode.” 

Ellen steals a glance at her, then she reaches for Portia’s left hand that’s holding her napkin on her lap. 

Portia’s eyes widen in surprise. “What are you doing?” she whispers. She looks down to her hand that’s now in Ellen’s grip. 

“I just want to hold your automatic attack mode for the rest of our conversation,” Ellen says lightly. 

Portia snorts. “You’re joking.” 

She tries to pull her hand, but Ellen doesn’t let go. Ellen knows that her grip is far from tight, but Portia can’t really pull away without attracting more attention. 

“Relax,” Ellen whispers. “I’ll let you go once I’m sure that you’re not going to hit me again.” 

Portia rolls her eyes. 

“So where were we?” 

Portia observes her family who’s still talking to each other, making sure that no one notices anything, then she whispers, “Your friend invites some Broadway actors to perform at their bar.” 

“Ah, right. So she invited me there, too. Do you wanna come?”

“Yes.”

Ellen’s head turns in a split second. “What? You do? Really?” she asks in surprise. This time she remembers to keep it down. 

Portia glances at her. “Yes. Why? You want me to change my mind?”

“Of course not. I’m just not very used to hearing you say yes.” Ellen smiles. Then she frowns. “I hope you don’t easily say yes to every woman who happens to have a Broadway ticket or something like that.” 

Portia squints and tries to pull her hand again. “You can let me go now,” she says. “I’m not going to hit you.” 

Ellen doesn’t let go, of course. “You are the worst liar ever.” 

Portia half-snorts half-chuckles, but she doesn’t try to pull her hand again. She lets Ellen holds her hand for a few more seconds. 35 seconds, to be exact— oh yes, Ellen counts the time— until Andrew calls Portia to ask her something. That’s when Ellen finally lets go of Portia’s hand.