A bit of both
Summer was overjoyed on receiving an SMS from Oliver. It was an invitation to hang out on Saturday night and it had come late in the evening while she was busy with her friends at the karaoke. Since she had decided to spend the evening with her friends, she had politely declined it with a promise to go out with him in the near future.
Midway through the week, she had messaged him to check if he was available on Friday evening. To her delight, he was free. He’d offered to pick her up after work and take her to dinner.
The D-day arrived.
The black dress Summer had chosen accentuated her figure. To top it she had chosen to wear her favourite pearl pendant, which hung from her neck on a thin silver chain. Her hair was done differently. Her colleagues had complimented her and so had Oliver. He hadn’t expected to see her in a dress and had almost driven past her while she waited for him outside the Gateway.
She had expected dinner at a proper restaurant but Oliver surprised her with a plan of his own. He’d asked her if she was okay with eating something cold. Of course, she was. She didn’t want to be of any inconvenience to him.
They drove to Elements and bought a sandwich, a wrap, and some juice at the ThreeSixty store. Then they drove all the way to Tai Mo Shan and parked at one of the BBQ sites along the road to the top. They got out and walked up the slope.
“I had no idea we’d be coming here.” Summer smiled. “I’d have worn jeans.”
“I wanted to surprise you.”
“I know!” She laughed. He had driven all the way without divulging where they were headed. It had surprised her and made her happy. How many times did she get a chance to be driven to somewhere unexpected?
“I should have driven a bit faster. We missed the sunset.”
“Thanks for not having done that. I’m in no hurry to die young!”
“I’m a good driver,” he protested with a mock look of hurt.
“I know. I was kidding.” She laughed. “It’s not dark yet.”
They walked a bit farther up and stopped when they came to a bench.
“Do you want to sit down here?” he asked her.
“Yeah, let’s eat here. I’m hungry.”
Oliver set the paper carry bag between them. He handed her the wrap while he took the sandwich. As they finished the early dinner, they watched the brilliant colours of the sky turn into dark night. The distant lights of western and northern New Territories came on to match the stars that twinkled high above them.
“It’s a clear night today,” Oliver remarked.
“Yes. Do you think we can see Shenzhen from here?” she asked.
“From over there.” He pointed at a spot, which was further up from where they sat.
“It’s beautiful,” she said. “So romantic.”
“Yes.” He laughed.
A chilly breeze blew across and made Summer shiver. Autumn was coming in fast.
“Are you cold?” Oliver had noticed her shiver.
“A bit.”
“I have a jacket in the car. Let me get it.” He got up and went to fetch it.
She shivered some more. This time it was from happiness. She was far from the city, under the stars and with a caring man.
###
Cute sat several rows behind Richard and Roger at the cinema. Given the choice he would have run away as soon as he’d spotted them. But he was with Fred who’d been asking him out often recently. He’d been holding back because he’d wanted to concentrate on Richard. But after the narrow escape he had at Richard’s, he decided to go out with other people. Focusing on one person, the one who wasn’t making a serious commitment, was getting him nowhere.
Fred was happy to see him. They had dined at the Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao restaurant upstairs and then, as a follow up, decided to catch a movie at the Palace IFC.
Cute had spotted them as soon as he’d entered House 5. It was hard to miss Roger, who was decked like a Christmas tree, prancing alongside Richard, several paces in front of them. It was great Fred had picked seats towards the back of the house. He was lucky.
In a way he was unlucky too. Cute’s concentration was all messed up. Rather than focus on the movie, he was watching Richard and Roger. He wasn’t jealous. You feel jealous when you know you want something badly and somebody else is taking it away in front of you. This was anger. He felt angry Richard was still entertaining that drama queen after making so many promises to break up with him. Cute didn’t wanna end up being Richard’s mistress. He wanted to be his partner. Shit. Richard wanted to see him only when Roger wasn’t around. He took him home only when Roger wasn’t supposed to go there. Well, that had been frequent since Roger didn’t visit his place often. Richard had bought him clothes, a watch, and a cell phone too. Cute was, in fact, a mistress already. He was the third-party, easy to use and get rid of. He wanted to scream.
He was shaken out of his thoughts when Fred’s hand brushed against his thigh. He tried to ignore it at first and continued looking at the screen. Soon Fred started playing with his thigh, as if he were pressing the keys of a piano. They moved inward and then Fred had his thigh in a grab. He began massaging it gently.
What a horny bastard, Cute thought. They always thought of him as an object of sex, nothing else. The more he tried to convince the two he was interested in a long term relationship, the more openly they displayed their carnal desires for him. What was the world coming to?
Then, like always, he thought about his options. He could either stop Fred there or let him continue. If he let him continue, Fred would think of him as an easy target — Wham, Bam, Thank You, Ma’am. But if he stopped him now, he’d come across as a more difficult catch. Men liked that. If something was easy, they lost interest. If it wasn’t, they tried harder. He chuckled to himself. He’d made his choice already.
