UK - 1, Su Ann - 0

i am brought back to a time in a place where the air conditioning and the ceiling fan are both on at the same time. the ceiling fan is dotted with glow-in-the-dark stars and it makes lulling sounds in it’s repetitive whirring. clunk clunk clunk. the air is otherwise silent, draped in a calm that is reminiscent of sitting on grass and letting the evening wind tug on your hair.

i turn to my right and he is there, sleeping. i know that if i make an exaggerated movement, his eyes would fly open and he’d say hmmm? in a voice that is hazy yet concerned. i settle myself deeper into my pillows. there is a yellow pillow under my head and another one under my back. i still sleep the same way at home. my right shoulder rests lightly on his left arm. i still sleep the same way with my boyfriends. we arent cuddling, we arent holding hands - we’re just sleeping side by side. i look back on this bemusedly. when we first started out, we slept in each other’s arms every night and woke up in a tangle of limbs every morning. but time has gently nudged us into a zone of higher practicality, and so we no longer sleep like that. it comforts me that we have made this transition from square one to square two without any hitches.

sleeping like this is exactly how we spend our quiet hours together, until we both wake, and whisper to each other what we dreamt about. then we get out of bed - i go online and he watches tv behind me. hey come watch this video, i tell him. jeon ji hyun eyes, he says teasingly. my heart flutters and i cannot help but grin as he plants a kiss on my forehead.

i remember how he used to wake me up - both the nice way and the naughty way, which was also nice. i remember my grumpiness when i woke up and how he was always very patient about it even though i would snap at him. no one wakes me up now, and i guess that’s why these days i’m much later than i used to be.

last month, when i was in sri lanka, a guy at the supermarket gave me a sample of Lipton tea and i took it, smiling as i walked away. but after drinking what was in the white paper cup, i ran back helter-skelter to the Lipton guy and demanded to know what drink he gave me. “it’s Lipton’s newest mint latte, madam,” he says. “but it tastes just like coffee bean’s morrocan mint latte!” i exclaim. he looks at me in confusion. “i’ll take 10 boxes,” i tell him. “this guy i know really likes mint lattes. it’s like, *his* drink. he’ll love this.”

i never did get to give you the tea. i just thought it’d make for a nice gift especially since you wont get coffee bean over there. plus this tea comes in convenient little Lipton packets that would go very well with maggi mee. i know you brought maggi mee over, dont bluff. sorry i didnt call to say bye.

20 comments September 23rd, 2006