Taipei 101
They had been to Taipei before but, for one reason or another, never to the top of the Taipei 101. So, this time they took the elevator to the 89th floor, which housed an indoor observatory. There was a small cafe and a souvenir shop too. Diano guessed the beautiful paintings on display were made by famous Taiwanese artists, but he didn’t pause to read the tags. It was almost sunset and he didn’t want to miss it.
Taipei didn’t compare to Hong Kong where average building height was concerned. Nevertheless, it was a beautiful city in its own way. A bit laid-back for his taste.
They had flown in earlier in the day and taken a bus from the airport to a cheap hotel in the Ximending area. Ximending was a shopping district like Causeway Bay and one could spend hours walking around. There were lots of places to eat too.
They took the stairs up to the 91st floor and stepped out onto the outdoor observatory. The sky had turned into a beautiful mixture of colours. As they watched, natural light faded away into a carpet of city lights.
“It’s chilly up here,” Summer said.
“I wish Norman were here.”
“And Oliver too,” Summer said.
“After he stood me up that night, I didn’t make any effort from my side.”
“He stood you up. That was bad.”
“But I miss him all the same.”
“You love him very much.” Summer shook her head.
“Like you love Oliver,” Diano said.
“Ha! Right! He has disappeared too.”
“Why don’t you call him?” Diano asked.
“I don’t want to appear too eager.”
“What if he thought you weren’t interested?” Diano stood next to the railing and tried to look down.
“He doesn’t miss me.” Summer made a sad face.
“Just like Norman doesn’t care,” said Diano. “He hasn’t bothered to call again.”
Summer’s cell phone started ringing. She took it out of her purse and looked at the screen.
“It’s him!” She squealed.
Diano smiled to hide his jealousy. One month had passed since they had spoken but the desperation to meet Norman hadn’t subsided yet. Alright! Yes, he was in love. There was no denying that. But what could he do? Force himself onto Norman? Take over his life? Chi Sin.
Summer winked at him as she spoke into the phone. Diano stepped away from her. He wondered why he loved Norman so much. Was it because Norman didn’t stop him? Was it because he was happy when they were together? Had he found the love of his life after all the painful experiences? He smiled at that thought.
On their last weekend together, Diano had cleaned up Norman’s flat, washed his clothes and ironed them. He had folded his underwear and stacked them neatly in the drawer. That was so cute. Aussiebum. Ha-ha! Norman had prepared a delicious dinner, which they had eaten on the sofa while watching a rerun of the Titanic on TV. It was a nice feeling to belong to someone. With Norman around him, he felt secure and relaxed. Diano had begun to let Andy go.
Summer came over after hanging up.
“La la la.” She sang. “I’m happy.”
“And I’m jealous,” Diano said.
“Don’t be lah. Be happy for me.”
“Of course. I was kidding!” He laughed.
And then Diano’s cell phone started ringing. He took it out of his jacket pocket and looked at the display. It was Norman!
“Hello!”
“Hello, my love,” said Norman. “How are you?”
“I’m okay lah. Looks like you’ve forgotten me wor.”
“Don’t be silly. I’ve been busy at work. New projects with tight deadlines.”
“Don’t forget to eat on time.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll be fine.”
“Okay, okay. Guess where I am.”
“Taipei. Taipei 101.”
“How did you guess that?!”
“Oh.” Norman paused. “That’s easy. You’d mentioned going to Taipei some time ago.”
“Really?” Diano couldn’t remember having told him about it. In fact, it had been a last-minute decision to fly to Taipei.
“Yup,” said Norman. “Don’t you remember?” He laughed.
“May be lah. Anyway, what’s up?”
“I’m fine. But miss you very much.”
“I miss you too. But it looks like you don’t wanna see me any more.”
Diano had to walk away from Summer, who was trying to catch what Norman was saying.
“Stupid. I wish I were with you right now.”
“Really? Fly over then,” said Diano. “Can you?”
“My boss has me chained to my cubicle. I don’t have time to go out for dinner. I’ve been eating takeaways for days!”
“Take care lu.” Diano felt bad for having accused Norman of ignoring him.
“When are you coming back?”
“On Saturday.”
“I see.”
“How’s your girlfriend?” If Norman had been lying, he’d be caught.
“Which one?” Norman laughed. “I don’t have any.”
“Liar. I know you have many.”
“Just have you lah. That’s enough already. How can I handle any more.” Norman laughed.
“Liar!”
“Aiya, you are on roaming,” said Norman. “I should hang up.”
“Will you call again?” It was nice to hear his voice.
“I’ll try to,” said Norman. “Look. Why don’t you stay over at my place next weekend?”
“I fly in on Saturday lah. Are you sure?”
“Of course.”
“Don’t be lonely, okay? I’ll be there soon.” Diano thought his heart would burst from the excitement.
“Okay!” Norman said and paused.
Diano wondered if he had disconnected already.
“Hello?”
“Yes. I’m here,” said Diano. “Just waiting for you to say something.”
“Say what?”
“Something.” Diano hoped he would take the hint.
“Something.” Norman repeated.
“Aiya.” Diano sighed.
“What happened?” asked Norman.
“Nothing. Nothing’s happened. That’s the problem.” Diano laughed.
“You sound weird. Anyway, I just called to say I miss you very much and…” Norman trailed off.
“And what?”
“And see you soon, baby.” Norman blew a loud smack.
“Thanks! Love you too.”
Summer poked him as soon as he had hung up. They gave each other a hug.
“Let’s go eat xiao long bao at the other shop we went to last time?”
“I hope they are open,” said Summer.
“They should be. It’s our lucky day today,” Diano said.
They laughed as they headed towards the exit.
