I just finished up my lessons in marketing, and I headed to café de coral, a very typical and lowbrow cafeteria inside the university. The food was only so so but for students, it was a good bargain. The most popular choice was baked pork rice for $48 with a mango sago drink included, or the curry beef rice for $50 with no drink included. It was good enough for me.
“Hello! oh baby! oh, oh be careful. It’s hot. May—I sit here? You are Bauhinia, right?” I had no idea whom he was. He had hair that was curly, looking like a breeze had blown his fringes all to one side. As he said all this quickly, and almost flirty, he flipped his hair to one side, and his drink almost tipped over as he put his tray beside mine.
“Your food looks good. This is me, Darcy.” He showed me the card hanging around his neck. On one side was the octopus card, the other side was a business card. The name was totally forgetabble. I instantly forgot about it.
“I work for luckful. Luckful. Stupid name isn’t it. My mother came up with that name.”Darcy said.
“By the way, who are you?” I asked suspiciously.
“Basic accounting principles. I sat in the front roll. I saw you came in late.” Darcy said. He ran his fingers through his hair again, like he was very deliberate about.
“Why would you be eating here, if you work for a restaurant?” I eyed his Luckful business card. It said, Luckful is a Three Food Rice Takeaway Service.
“The food there is horrible. I grew up eating it all my life. Even more horrible then fast food shops like this. I’ll bring you there one day. It’s horrible. And I only had to work there because it’s the family business.” Darcy said, while shoving some spaghetti into his mouth.
“Well I have no family business, I am just an average student who does part time at Beau Tea. I won’t mention it during my off hours. I hate the shop so much. I used to love milk tea, but working there made me feel so sick about it. I could get free milk tea any time I want, but now even the sight of people carrying free milk tea made me sick.” I said, the baked pork piece today was a little small and stiff.
“I love free milk tea. I guess it’s a good idea befriending you.” Darcy said dreamily. “I notice you always sit by yourself. And you look so cool doing that, didn’t imagine there would be people watching, right?”
“No certainly not someone with a family business, fancy hair, and in a funny red suit would be watching me. That’s not what I would be expecting at all.”
“If you want to add to that, let me tell you. I have also lived in the peak for several generations. But it’s really nothing, it’s old property. I am also single.” He added, thoughtfully, like he was expecting an answer.
I looked at him with eyes eschewed. “I – “ I thought about Bensimon fleetingly. I didn’t know Darcy enough to open up about Bensimon. “I think someone as amazing like you wouldn’t be single, or even eating by yourself.”
“You too, I never thought a cool girl like you would be eating by yourself.”
“Wouldn’t you be surrounded by a groupie of girls who would be fantasizing about marrying you.”
“Oh no, they don’t do that at all. Last time I invited girls, they totally dissed me. I once invited them to my family shop. Luckful. They were shocked and surprised that the family business was so shabby, and only located in the wet markets with people sitting around in shabby folded chairs with tables which were only occasionally cleaned by the market staff. The meat was so hard that they couldn’t swallow that stuff. I also tried offering them food on another occasion, that was another story. They were so fed up with my making only rose buns for them, and not hawthorn maracons or bird nest egg tarts. They laughed at my cooking wholeheartedly. It all made me feel very stupid. Do you think I can come eat lunch with you, whenever we have lessons together?” Darcy said, almost as if he was happy he found someone who would listen to him.
My thoughts were with Bensimon and what I could do to distract him so that he would not be breaking the law. The thought of Bensimon and his bookish flat fringe crossed my mind. It almost made me feel sad, that there was nothing I could do as he walked over the cliff.
“So tomorrow, I will see you again in the lecture and have lunch together?” Darcy flipped his hair to one side again. He smiled. I had never seen Bensimon smile like that.
ns216.73.217.23da2
and then Add to home screen.