{ 雨の天使 }

Rain Angel

Chapter 9
[ The Rain between me, him and.... ]

It's 5am in the wet market.
Many hawkers have started opening their stall after they got the goods from their distributors.
Many people don't go to wet market as much as they used to be.
The convenience of knowing that the supermarket will always have fresh stock of vegetables and meat never helped.
I used to remember that the wet market was always crowded in the mornings.
Housewives trying to fight a 20cent bargain.
People quarreling over the freshness of the displayed fish.
What was the feeling liked?
To accompany your mother to the wet market and watch her display her skills.
Skills in picking the fresh vegetables, choosing the fresh fish.
We'll never understand that.
Negotiation skills as she asked for a further discount.
When was the last time you've done that?
Never?
Try it this weekend.. maybe you have to wake up earlier.
The rewards are incomparable.

Mavis wasn't in the state of her mind when she was arranging the carrots.
Of all the vegetables, Mavis always liked carrot the most.
Maybe her likeness for rabbits have some effect on her preference for carrots.
She was trying to figure out what had happen between Hanling and Wilson.

“Ah Hui, pass me some carrots”
Mavis's mother yelled but there was no response.

“Hello Miss... Not enough sleep?”
KaiLoke nodded her head from behind.

Mavis recovered from her state of trance and quickly passed the carrots to her mum.
“Shall we go for breakfast since you are almost done with your packing?”
“Orhh... ok”
They went to a coffeeshop nearby to have some toast and coffee.
KaiLoke was take a sip on his coffee when he pointed to the playground outside the coffeeshop.

“Ah Hui, do you still remember this playground?”
“Huh? What's with this playground?”
“Aiyah, all of us used to play here a lot. Not this current playground but the one during our years”

“Yeah... I used to get bullied a lot by you then.”
Mavis remembered.
“Yah loh, you always cried. Then Ah Wei and I have to console you”
“Who's Ah Wei? I don't seems to have any memory of him”

“Ah Wei is my buddy lah. My primary school classmate”
“Hmmm.. no idea”

Mavis continued to think while munching her bread.
“He's helping me out lately but you won't really get to see him anyway”

“Don't talk about this lah, so you got any boyfriend lately?”
Loke asked.

“Boyfriend? No.. I don't think I have the time too”
“Don't worry, during the time when you don't have any boyfriend you can always count on me!”

“Anything you ask I will surely help you”
KaiLoke declared.

“Of course you must help lah! I know you so long already”
“Yeah, it's been so long already since our parents first started out in this wet market”

Loke took another sip in his coffee.

“Don't talk about me lah, Why won't you have any girlfriend?”
Mavis shot back.

“Me? Who would like me? I smell like fish all day long”
Loke laughed.

“Loke, you not young liao mah..you won't want Auntie & Uncle to start worrying about you right?”

“No one will like me...”

“Really, what makes you think so?”

“Then do you like me?”

KaiLoke took a hard look at Mavis.

“I..... I think I need to go to school...it's getting late”
Mavis tried to change the topic.
Mavis got up to make her way home for wash up and prepare for school.
She quicken her steps home.
Mavis didn't understand the meaning of the conversation with KaiLoke.

She don't believe KaiLoke will play such a joke on her.
The problem is bigger if this isn't a joke.
Everything seems to happen so fast without stop.

Mavis received a sms from Hanling.
“Mavis, I'm not going to school today. I'm still feeling sick”
Seems like Hanling had not recovered from the rejection after a few days.
Hanling seems to be devastated by his rejection.
Maybe Hanling really like him a lot.

Mavis walked through the park today.
The quiet scenery seems to aid her in sorting out her over storage mind.
She was admiring the flowers when she heard a voice from infront.

“Late for school today?”

Mavis looked up.
It was him.

The man who broke her friend's heart.
The man who almost drew her best friend into depression.
As Mavis continued her stare, she became more furious.

“You know what you have done to her?”
She finally picked up her courage to scold him directly.
She know it's useless as it won't help Hanling in anything anyway.

She just let her emotions out.
“What happened to her?”
Wilson appeared curious.
“Hanling had fallen sick because of you! She had skipped school for nearly a week”
“Then what you expect me to do?”
“Why you don't show care for her? You know how much she like you?”

“Do you think it will help if I call her now?”
Wilson asked.

“I don't know, don't ask me.. I'm lost”
“Do you think that if someone liked you, you have to like the person back in return?”
“If I like you now, will you like me in return?”

“I......”
Mavis knew what Wilson was saying.

She felt the same way as he did this morning when Loke talked about relationship.
“If you don't like her, why must you be so close with her?”

“I'm close to her? I treat her as a good friend all along..”
Wilson tried to look away.
“You've ruined her feelings....”

“It's not that I want to anyway, I already told her before that both of us won't have that kind of chemistry between us.”

“I don't want to see you again...”
Mavis walked past him.

Wilson tried to defend himself but Mavis went further ahead of him.
Soon the sight of her was lost as the stretch of the park went.
Wilson just carry on his journey as they parted ways once more.
The park was back to peaceful state once more.

---------------------

Mavis tried to spend her concentration at her school work but it didn't work out.
Hanling, Wilson, Loke seems to be on her mind throughout the day.
Her exams are not far away and Mavis is trying all her best to stay on track.
Her school ended as how it began.. confused.

-------------------

Mavis walked back to the park after school.
Her thoughts were mainly on the words that Wilson said.

“Do you think that if someone liked you, you have to like the person back in return?”
“If I like you now, will you like me in return?”

As she walked, she somehow came to the place where they first met.

It was the telephone booth.

All the memories that happened that day went back to her.
Mavis smiled.

Her smile was greeted with some disturbance as her mobile phone rang.
“Ah Hui, where are you??”

Her mother sounds stranded.
“I'm on my way home, Ma, what happened?”
“KaiLoke met an accident, we're on our way to the hospital now”
“Ok, tell me the ward. I go there now”

[To be Cont ]