Bette and Jenna exchanged a mirthful look after the brunette shook the offered hand.

The other Asian man handed Richard a few business cards, who offered one each to Bette and Conrad, bowing slightly again as he did so.

“I get that all the time,” Richard said, smiling at the women, to indicate he’d caught the subtext of the look they’d exchanged, surprising them with his comfortable use of American colloquialism.

Conrad laughed lightly. “Me, too!”

The men, whose names formed unfortunate bookends of a common expletive, exchanged easy smiles.

“You learn not to let it get to you,” Richard observed, after they’d all taken a drink from their glasses. “Middle school was tough, though.  As well as the early years of high school when my mom moved me to another boarding school.”

“Have to say it that in my case, all that teasing just propelled me to outwork everyone else, try to do well … although a lot of times I had to grit my teeth …” Conrad nodded, shaking his head.

“And control myself from responding in kind,” Richard shrugged. “Certainly had to learn to defend myself.”

He paused, looking at Conrad, and then asked, “Taekwondo?”

Conrad shook his head. “Wrestling.  You?”

“Mixed martial arts,” Richard answered.

“Got myself into Harvard Law,” Conrad added, and then jerked his head to the side in a questioning manner.

“Wharton.” Richard responded. “Mama was so proud.”

“Yale,” Bette joined in, smiling broadly.

“Cambridge,” Jenna added.

“You were picked on because…” Conrad asked turning to Bette, picking up from her tone and knowing smile that she understood the pains he and Richard had experienced during their school years.

“I was a lesbian,” Bette answered, finishing his sentence.

“Smart. Or smarter. And gangly, with buck teeth,” Jenna chipped in, laughing at herself.

Buck teeth? Bette asked, a look of surprise crossing her face as she mouth her question to Jenna.

Butt-ugly, Jenna answered, with a shrug. I didn’t always look like this, you know.

The men observed their silent exchange with shaking heads.

“Smart, I believe,” Richard said, with a touch of incredulity. “But ugly?”

“Uh huh,” Jenna nodded, and swiped a glass of champagne from the tray of a server who walked up to the group. Her hand shook visibly when she picked up the flute.