2013-08-30 - 5:06 p.m.
What has gone after that fateful night at 7-11? Has the French-Turkish guy finally called and asked the romantically-challenged skeptic out? Did they go out? Was there any possible romance, eventhough short-lived?
Most importantly, has he turned her into a former romantically-challenged skeptic?
Ha-ha, what a joke! Don�t we all want that to happen?
Well, this is real life, not some dumb chick-lit/chick-flick.
Anyway, after that night, let�s imagine yourself(or selves) in her shoes again.
After that night, you found yourself wanting to call him first � but had held yourself back. Good girl. You live in the world of double-standards, after all. What�s okay for guys doesn�t necessarily mean it�s all good for you. Have a sense of pride, dignity, and elegance � please. Don�t be aggressive and desperate. Yuck!
But what if he doesn�t call? a voice in your head argued. That has happened before. It�s either he�s not that into you � or he�s afraid that you might not be into him.
Tricky, eh? (That�s why you prefer anything else but romance. Like friendship, for example.)
Speaking of friendship, you�d decided to just start treating him as a new friend. After all, it was only the beginning. Expect nothing.
You waited for a day, before you decided to text him � yup! � first day after that. (At least you didn�t call him.) It was a simple message with his name on it:
�****, have a good long weekend!�
That night after that, he called you. You�d tried to suppress your excitement within with your calm �Hello?� until he squashed it all at once with:
�Who�s this?�
Silence. You blinked in disbelief.
�Hello?�
WHAAT?! You�d wanted to scream in rage. So he hadn�t saved your number.
You�d almost given up on him, but a voice in your head said: give him a chance. He�s probably just forgotten your number, that�s all.
So you did. You decided to refresh his memory by telling him who you were.
�Oh, yeah.� Good, at last he did remember. Now he sounded cheerful. �We talked a lot that night.�
�Yeah.� Not bad, but not good enough either. Would he remember you next time? Would he save your number after that night?
�Want to meet?�
�Meet?� You stared at the dark, night sky outside the window in front of you. Bad timing. �Meet where?�
�You come over.�
Come over?? This time, you literally stared at your phone and cringed. Come over to his place??
Eww. Just who did he think he was? Who did he think you were??
�No.� You felt your voice going cold and hollow. You weren�t just disappointed and angry; you�d felt stupid, humiliated, and personally insulted. �That would be a bad idea.�
Instead of apologizing, all he said was: �Okay.�
Okay? Okay??
�Bye.� You hung up. Honestly, you were just too upset to decide what to do with him next.
--- // ---
The next day was Saturday. You were watching �Star Trek: Into Darkness� with one of your best friends. You were on your way to the mall when he texted you:
�Hi.�
Raising one eyebrow skeptically, you replied: �Hi.�
�Want to come over?�
Ugh. �No, I�m watching a movie with my friend.�
He didn�t bother you again for the rest of that long weekend...
--- // ---
�Some men are just plain clueless that they think all women are the same,� one of your girlfriends told you. �They need serious guidance from us. Give him one last chance, but if he doesn�t deserve it at all � move on.�
You sighed. Actually, you�d already given up on him. To you, he was a lost cause.
However, what she�d said had challenged you again. Okay, perhaps she was right; you shouldn�t have given up too soon.
Then again, you�re not good at this, you have to admit. After all, you don�t call yourself �romantically-challenged� for nothing.
Anyway, you reluctantly texted him again:
�Hey, what�s up?�
You waited. A few minutes later, he responded:
�Sorry, who�s this?�
Alright, that was it. Three strikes and he was out for good. He didn�t even deserve to be your friend at all.
When you told your friend that, she was furious.
�Tell him that you�re the curly-haired girl he talked to that night at 7-11, but since he doesn�t remember you and won�t even bother � this will be the last time he ever hears from you.�
So you texted him that. After that, you deleted his number.Why bother?
Either he was daft or just plain ignorant (or probably both), he replied again with:
�Sorry, I�ve just got back from Bali. Know any cheap hotels in Jakarta?�
What?? Grrhh...aarrgghh!!
�Don�t know, don�t care. Go figure it out yourself.�
That was your last response to him. After that, you told your friend: �That�s alright. He felt too good to be true anyway.�
�Don�t give up yet,� she cheerfully urged you. �If it�s not him, there�ll be someone else out there just right for you, I�m sure.�
Okay...
--- // ---
Time flies. You�ve moved on.
Then came that fateful Wednesday night. You were sitting alone again at the same 7-11, this time typing on your laptop.
As usual, people come and go, the glass double-doors swinging back and forth with a soft, gentle swish.
You looked up and scanned around, before wishing you hadn�t. Sometimes your photographic memory can be so uncanny.
A few chairs to your right, there he was. Still burly, with average height and dark complexion. No longer charming, though � according to you.
He was flirting with a head-scarved girl sitting next to him. (Shame on him!) The poor girl seemed dying to get away (or make him disappear soon). You wouldn�t blame her for that, though.
When he noticed you looking at him, you quickly averted your gaze back to your laptop screen. Damn it! you silently cursed yourself. Why did you have to do that?
You remained cool when he approached you. (Or course, you�d learned your lesson.) He grinned at you, but you just kept your blank stare back at him � as if you�d just seen him for the first time in your life.
�Hey, I didn�t recognize you at first,� he said cheerfully, as if he hadn�t done anything wrong. As if he�d never forgotten your name TWICE and that you two had been friends already. �How are you?�
�Fine,� you answered flatly. Then you asked sarcastically: �Have we met before?�
His grin slowly faded and his dark eyes were guarded. Gotcha!
�Uh, I suppose...no.�
Good, now please get lost and leave me alone. You glared at him, waiting for him to split someplace else far away.
�Are you busy?�
No, I�m just typing some rubbish into my blog, but thanks for asking. You held your breath as you said: �Yes.�
�Okay.� He shrugged. Then he said: �I�m going to smoke outside. You can join me later if you want.�
�Sure.� It was either you�d said that or something else that sounded more like: �Whatever. Suit yourself.�
He left you alone and went outside.
When the wi-fi connection at 7-11 finally died down on you, you decided that it was time to head home. You turned your laptop off, packed up all your things, and left. No, you didn�t come to his table outside � even just to say goodbye. No need to anymore. Why bother?
Once again, this is real life � not some dumb chick-lit/chick-flick. Some guys can only provide you the illusion, not the real deal. Oh, what a beautiful fantasy. The sooner you know, the faster you move on.
R.
(Jakarta, 18/8/2013 � 6:00 pm)
