Lovers’ Chance Meeting

Armei and Lee were college sweethearts, but they separated after graduation. One day, Armei found that Lee had not been posting pictures with his girlfriend for a while. She decided to plan an accidental meeting with him at the popular dim sum restaurant, which he and his girlfriend used to frequent, and post their meal on their Facebook page. She knew that Lee loves weekend dim sum and will not miss it for the world.

Armei: “So nice to see you. What a surprise. How are you? Where’s your girlfriend.”

Lee: “She’s …. How about you?”

Armei: “I am meeting my friend here, but she’s always late.”

Lee: “It’s so noisy here. I can’t hear you very well. Let’s just sit together and order. I am starving. Too bad we have to share our table with strangers. Might as well.”

Armei: “You used to never care about such things–noises, crowds. You thrive in them. Now you are different. Probably your girlfriend has changed you. Are you listening? It is really noisy here. Can’t they have less tables and more space? Dim sum is not for conversation. It’s for eating only.”

Armei: “Are you listening? I have to really raise my voice here. When are you and your girlfriend going to get married?”

Lee: “Actually she’s getting married with her coworker. Not me. She never told me that she’s in love with her coworker. What do you think? People should be honest, right? I mean in a relationship, I value honesty the most.”

Armei: “That’s exactly what I would say. Be honest. Save a lot of troubles and heartaches.”

Lee: “Well, just tell me honestly, have you been thinking about me after college? It’s a dim sum here. Oh, I’m sorry it is so noisy. Can you hear me?”

Armei: “Of course I can hear you. To be honest, I think about you all the time. Actually I wrote an entire book of love poetry on our relationship. And I think my rise to the assistant editorship is largely based on… Wait a minute. Where are you going? Are you leaving? This is preposterous. Right after I confessed my unwavering love for you. You ask me to be honest, but you just can’t handle honesty, can you? Where are you going? You jerk. I just know it. I know it. Whenever I say I love you, that’s the death sentence to a relationship. Guys like you are too conventional, too unimaginative. You need a girl to handle you, to hide things from you, to entice you step by step. If you hear one honest word from a girl, you freak out and run out of the room. Truth and love have no place in your life. All you want is to manipulate and be manipulated in return. This is the worst dim sum I’ve ever had.”

Lee: “Really? Is the food really bad? What? Why are you looking at me like that? I just ran out to get a phone call. It is too noisy here. See the Bluetooth on my ear? it’s automatic and hands free. You didn’t notice? You are near-sighted, just like in college. And you refuse to wear either glasses or contacts. Haha.”

Armei: “You haven’t been listening to me?”

Lee: “No, I haven’t. What did you say? I heard you say honesty saves a lot of troubles and heartaches. Did you say something else? Sorry I haven’t been listening.”

Armei: “No need to apologize.”

Lee: “Are you still writing poetry? Like in college?”

Armei: “I don’t think I want to talk about poetry today. One scare is enough for the day.”