Boring nights.
Usually he finds himself sitting in a leather lazy boy seat, staring at the white ceiling in top of him. The silence is so strong that he swore it’ll drive him to insanity one day. But what could he do? There’s basically nothing to do but just to sit around until something happens or when the night just compels him to close his eyes to sleep.
But it’s too early for all that.
He finally stood up, the same time as his cell phone rang. In an instant, wishing it’s something worth checking in the first place, he grabbed it.
He received a message from a friend, which simply wrote, “Are you free?”
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He found himself stepping into a nice looking restaurant, a local Chinese eatery not far away from home. In just ten minutes he rushed into neat clothes, brushed, washed his face and headed to the place the text message indicated.
It didn’t take long until his friend spotted him and dragged him in a table filled with people. Some people he knew, some he haven’t seen at all. But then he saw her.
He didn’t know her.
Actually, this was the first time he ever saw her.
She was one of the people he didn’t have a clue who they were. She sat just across him, talking to those around her comically and just enjoying a good time.
But he found himself captivated by her presence. He watched her every action, her small smiles, her soft giggles, her conversations…
He felt like he was being a weirdo, but he can’t help it. Is this what people call a guilty pleasure?
“The food is served!” A voice called. Minutes later, food was being laid in front of them. Before he even touched his food, he looked up to steal a glimpse of her eating. He watched her as she broke a wooden chopstick (she laughed when she did it wrong), and when she determinedly positioned each between her fingers. There was also a time when she failed on carrying a piece of meat, so she stabbed it with one of the wooden sticks, and ate it happily.
A smile played in his lips.
“How’s the food?” His friend asked him from behind. He jumped in surprise.
“I…uh…,” He stammered. He didn’t know what to say. He didn’t even take a bite yet. All he did was staring at her eat…
“It’s real good,” Her sing song voice replied in his place.
“That’s good to know.”
He let out a deep sigh of relief, and when he looked up their eyes met.
He literally felt a jolt of electricity down his back when she smiled at him and slightly raised the piece of meat between her chopsticks, encouraging him to start eating too.
He felt his face turn warm looking away from her, now conscious if she noticed how long he kept his eyes on her. As calmly as he can, he broke his chopsticks and started eating too. He effortlessly ate his whole meal with the pair of wooden chopsticks in his hands.
“That’s so cool!” He heard her say.
He looked up, noticing she was looking at his way.
No, it’s probably someone behind him.
But her eyes met his once more, and because of her amazement, people looked at his direction too.
He could feel the embarrassment befall on him.
“You’re good at using the chopsticks huh?” She asked him. She’s definitely talking to him.
“I guess?”
“You should teach me!”
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And then, he sat in his chair, through another night.
“Ding-dong.” The doorbell rang. He stood up and opened the door.
But he wasn’t alone.
She was in front of him, on his doorway with a plastic bag in her hand.
“Care for a Chinese takeout?”
