Catching Simon in the act ... that no-good, lousy two-timer Scene 5: Café Light Nibbles, Nathan Road
A very sad smile flits across Anna's face. 'You won't think badly of me, I hope? For the sake of our friendship, please don't think badly of me - '
Twinkle almost stumbles over her own chair in her haste to get up and reach over. ‘Anna, it’s okay. I’ve been in relationships too and I understand – ’
‘No, you don’t.’
‘What do you mean?’
Anna drops her head. Her hair falls over her face, obscuring her eyes.
Twinkle can’t tell if she’s started crying. She hopes not. The lunch crowd is thinning out but there are just enough people inside the café to make it a very public place. ‘Anna?’
‘Let me ask you a question – ’
‘Sure. Go ahead.’
‘How many boyfriends have you had?’
‘Oh – four, including Jeff, that is. My first boyfriend was when I was in middle school. A silly guy called Billy.’
‘And what’s the longest relationship you’ve ever had with any of your boyfriends?’
Twinkle scratches her head. ‘Simon was my longest, I think – eight months.’
‘Eight months. Did it feel like a long time to you – eight months?’
‘Yes, actually. In the eight months, I went through a lot of ups and downs with Simon. Basically, he had a lot of things going on in his life – family relationships, career, his friends and workmates – and I was dragged into everything. I was so glad actually when it was all over. To tell you the truth, I couldn’t take it anymore!’
‘Well, before Jeff and I went steady, he was seeing this girl Selena from the D'amor Departmental Store in the building across the street – did he tell you that?’
‘No. I didn’t know this. Go on – ’
‘I had just joined Tung Ming as a trainee and Jeff was my mentor. We spent a lot of time in the office around each other and almost everyday after work, he’d invite me out to supper.’
‘But what about Selena?’
‘I found out about Selena only after six months. She came to the office one day and threw a bunch of letters on my desk. Letters that Jeff wrote her while they were dating – ’
‘Ouch – ’
‘By then, I was too deeply involved. I didn’t know how to get out of it – ’
‘But what was Jeff’s explanation about Selena?’
‘He said it was over between him and Selena. That it had been over for almost four months. That she refused to let him go. That she was the jealous, possessive sort and wanted to make his life miserable if he dumped her.’
‘Oh my God – was it true?’
‘I don’t really know. At the time, I believed Jeff. He was so sweet to me and I was emotionally very attached to him.’
‘Yes, I see. I don’t blame you. Then what happened?’
‘Jeff threw away all those letters from Selena. He burned them, I think.’
‘You never had a chance to read them, see what’s inside?’
‘No. Anyway, I’m glad actually. The less I know the better.’
‘Yes, that’s true. So, how did you two deal with Selena?’
‘Jeff told the boss and Mr Cheuk gave orders to the security personnel to prohibit Selena from stepping foot inside the building to harass us.’
‘That’s awful.’
‘I know. I felt so guilty about the whole thing. Luckily, I had Jojo. She was also a trainee then and she walked me home everyday just in case Selena came up and tried to do something funny to me.’
‘You and Jojo are very close, huh?’
‘Yes, she joined the company about a year before me. She was finishing her traineeship when I came in.’
‘So did Selena come and bother you?’
‘Actually, once or twice I saw her in the streets. I think she thought I wouldn’t recognize her but I did. She looked pretty bad, she didn’t groom herself properly, she was skin and bones, and her eyes were these two huge dark globes with bags underneath. At the time, I told myself had I been Jeff, I would’ve dump such a person too. But now – now – ’
‘You think perhaps Selena was going through depression?’
‘Yes – ’
‘As a result of being jilted by Jeff?’
Hot tears spring into Anna’s eyes. ‘Yes, yes ... ’ She grabs Twinkle’s hands. ‘Oh Twinkle, what have I done? Is this the punishment for me for stealing someone else’s boyfriend? I checked and checked my horoscope and it says I’m perfectly matched with Jeff and yet today he and I have broken up. I cannot think of any logical reason for this except that I’m being punished for stealing Selena’s boyfriend in the first place!’
Twinkle, now on the same seat as Anna, puts a hand around her shoulders. ‘You mustn’t think that, Anna, you mustn’t! You didn’t do anything wrong, you were innocent!’
‘Twinkle, you asked me how I feel about Jeff today. Do you still want to know?’
‘Yes, er, yes …’
‘I hate him, Twinkle. I hate him. Really, really hate him.’
‘Oh, Anna.’
‘Yes, I’m ashamed to say it but it’s true. When I went away after we broke up, I thought about the whole thing and I realized the relationship was doomed from the start – ’
‘Why did you say that?
‘I realized I was doing all the work. Don’t get me wrong. He is a nice guy. He knows how to say all the right things. He knew how to talk sweet. He was the sweet talker. But it was me who did all the emotional work, all the mature part of our relationship, I had to be responsible. He was like one big kid, always needing to be persuaded, always needing to be taken care of, always needing to be cajoled. I give you an example – do you know he has never shown any initiative in building a future for our relationship? Do you know that all he ever wanted to do was just go out and have fun, that’s all? That when I start talking about serious things like saving up, he’d just laugh it off and accuse me of being a worry-wart?’
‘Yes, Jeff is too playful and immature sometimes.’
‘Twinkle, I’m sorry to be unloading on you. I just hope you have better luck with him than I have.’
‘Thanks, Anna, I hope so too.’
‘For me, the biggest lesson I’ve learnt is this – ’
‘What, Anna?’
‘Never love someone who is in love with himself. Such a person has no room in his heart to love others the right way.’
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