Kim was a real tomboy, putting more than a few grey hairs in the head of her parents. She fought all comers, climbed trees (and sometimes she fell down - like the one time she got a rather nasty concussion. As soon as she was out of bed, she was in the top of that tree again), and she played soccer. Always active, she had that kind of electrical energy that is irrepressible.
She calmed down a bit when she got a bit more ... mature. Things had started to happen to her body, and she found it boring to play soccer, basketball or any other sport, when the boys were more interested in her than in the game. Annoyed with the attitude of her former sporting mates, she concentrated entirely on school. Obviously, she couldn't give up sports completely - she jogged, swam or rode a bike around, but it just wasn't the same as the more physical contact sports.
After perhaps fifteen minutes, an old man stopped his movements with a small, resigned sigh, and started walking towards Kim. Kim was of half a mind to run away - fleeing from this strange, old Chinese - but in the end her curiosity got the better of her, and she stood there waiting for the old man to make his way over to her.
Kim wasn't quite sure what she expected from the old man - a scolding, a brusque inquiry what she wanted, or something similar - but to her surprise and delight he offered to train her in this form of moving meditation, if she were interested. Doubting at first, she nevertheless agreed to meet him in the park the next day. Butterflies in her stomach, she met to her first lession in Tai Chi Chuan - and were immediately hooked.
In Tai Chi Chuan, she found a release for all of her nervous energy. Afterwards she felt taxed, but calm and at rest with her self. In the end, she came to regard this old man as a sort of adoptive grandfather, and after a while she also came to know the family of Chen Lai. Strangely enough, her parents (Bob and Emily) also came to appreciate the Chens, and a warm but strange friendship found its roots and grew strong.
Kim eventually received her degree in law, and got a job as a junior partner with a small law firm located in San Francisco. It was a bit strange to move from Ann Arbor, but as she had lived away from home while getting her law degree, it wasn't as big a change as she had feared. She thrived on the challenges she got in her job, loving the chance to flex her law muscles, even though all she got in the beginning were nothing but routine cases.
This rather idyllic situation lasted up until the moment when one of the junior directors got a more than professional interest in Kim. It wasn't very strange - she were not only intelligent, but also downright beautiful. After advancing to the position as personal secretary for this director - she had, in addition to her law degree, a degree in Business Administration, she tried to get used to the job she had landed - hopefully a stepping stone to something larger and better.
Her boss were nice and cheerful - at least to begin with. Actually, he was almost too cheerful, considering the way he hung over her when she was taking notes or letters. Kim didn't see - or didn't want to see - why, or at least not to begin with.
The boss asked Kim over the intercom to come into his office to take a letter - but he said it in such a way that it sounded like he were the one doing the taking. Puzzled, she picked up her pad and pen, and went into her boss' office after having smoothed her outfit.
She got the shock of her life when her boss came around his desk and towards her (not unusual), went over to her (not really unusual), slapped the writing pad out of her hands (very unusual), and forced her into a tight, almost crushing embrace with all the requisite patting and stroking of various parts of her anatomy (completely unheard of).
Finally, Kim managed to push him away, and asked him what he thought he was doing. Her boss went all dark, muttered something about "so she wants it rough, eh", and came towards her again. She didn't quite catch what happened next - suddenly she lay on the floor, with him on top frantically clawing at her clothes.
Her Tai Chi Chuan training took over. With a graceful, yet powerful backhand which hit the head of her boss with a teeth-jarring impact, she got him off her. Standing up, she positioned herself in the open ready position. When her boss came at her again, she utilized a fiendishly effective combination with a kick to his tenderer parts together with an elbow smash to the side of his head, ushering him into unconsciousness. Crying hysterically, Kim rushed out of the building with torn clothes. Her paycheck, together with a notice informing her that she didn't have to come to work any more and a hefty bonus, were in her mail the next day.
After this little incident, Kim started desperately looking for a job, escaping from the real world in her Tai Chi Chuan training. For some reason, all her applications for jobs she was clearly qualified for were turned down. She had started smelling a rat when she got a telephone call - from the boss she had knocked down and out.
Essentially, he told her that she would never work in San Francisco again unless she gave in to him. Kim slammed the phone down on the hook. Could she do something like that to herself? But she had to have a job, and waiting tables wasn't really an option...