CHAPTER FIVE
One Sunday morning, while Lee is sitting at the coffee
shop reading her books, a white, tall, and elegant looking young lady walks
into the shop. In nice and smooth silk robe, the young lady is about her age. In
her right hand, she carries a black purse which matches perfectly to her white silky
robe.
The young lady asks the waiter if Yong is around. Not
knowing where he is, the waiter tells her that he has gone out. To where, he
has no knowledge. The young lady asks the waiter what time Yong would come
back? Usually around lunch time, the waiter replies. Looking at her watch, it
shows 10.30am. The young lady asks the waiter if she can wait there for him for
a bit in case he drops by before lunch? The waiter nods. The young lady walks
towards a table at a corner of the shop next to Lee’s table and asks the waiter
if he could get her a glass of water.
The waiter comes back with a glass of water in his hand
and asks the young lady, “what business is she looking Yong for?”
“He is my boyfriend,” the young lady says without
hesitation. “I want to say ‘hi’ to him.”
“I see,” says the waiter, a surprised note is on his
face. “But I have never seen you around before.”
“Right,” the lady says, after sipping the water from her
glass. “I just got here yesterday evening.”
“Do you want me to give him a call?” the waiter
suggests.
“No, thanks,” the young lady interjects. “I did not
tell him about my visit because I want to give him a surprise. You don’t need
to call him. I’ll see him when he comes.”
“Then I may excuse myself to serve other customers.”
“Go ahead,” the young lady responds.
As the waiter leaves, the young lady stands up and walks
towards the news stand and grabs a local newspaper to flip through while
waiting for Yong’s return.
Having heard the young lady announced herself earlier as
the girlfriend of Yong’s, Lee is in desperate mood. The pen in her hand drops
to the floor. Lee could not sit still in her chair. Her mind is not with her at
the moment. A lot of memories between Yong and her flash back into her mind.
“How come he did not tell me about having a girlfriend?”
Lee asks herself, repeatedly. “No, he doesn’t need to. I have never asked him
myself,” Lee murmurs to herself, angrily. Lee steals a look at the young lady
and thinks to herself, confused. “What am I to compare with her? She has the
whole package, smart, elegant, high-class, and seemed well educated young woman.
I am just a normal girl from a poor background.” Unable to stand the
atmosphere, Lee stands up and checks her bill at the counter and leaves for her
dorm room.
Along the way back to her dorm, Lee is not in her whole
self. She feels her sky is becoming grey. She is lost. She could not think
things through. She wants Yong to explain and, at the same time, she doesn’t
want him to explain. “Do I need him to explain things to me? Is it not clear
enough? How can a young decent lady lie to the waiter about her relationship
with Yong? What does she get to spoil her image in front of others? I don’t
want to hear his heartbreaking answer ‘Yes, the lady in silky robe is his
girlfriend back in Thailand.’ I don’t want to hear all of these things and I
don’t want to hear his explanation. Maybe he is getting close to me because he
doesn’t have anyone here with him. Maybe he just wants to get laid with
someone. Fortunately, I discover his secret in time so that I would not fall
into his trick.”
Lee does
not go to her room; instead she walks to the library to see her Cambodian
friend. She knows that she can’t be at peace hiding herself in her room. She is
in confused mess and she needs someone to talk to.
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