Love Makes Us Blind Or Perceptive? (Flash Fiction Continued)

This is the 2nd half of the story. The 1st half is here.

“What? What are you talking about? What got us together?” Jong asks.

“It’s an epiphany today. Thank you for enlightening me. I can’t believe I didn’t realize it before. It’s hiding in plain sight but I just can’t see it for what it is. Let me explain. Remember when we first started dating? I was a worried mess and you comforted me, but only out of politeness and your little vanity of being the stronger one…” Shia says.

“I object. I don’t have a vanity like that.”

“Wait, wait. Let me explain. You comforted me but didn’t really make an emotional connection with me. You comforted me and made a connection with your own superiority of being polite and being strong. You didn’t connect with me, but I mistakenly thought we connected. It was a total misunderstanding. I connected with a fake image of you, and you connected with your own illusion of yourself.” Shia says.

“I beg to differ. I am not vain. I am only polite for good causes. I can’t believe you think of me in these terms.” Jong is upset.

“We never had an emotional connection. Our talks are too reasonable, filled with information and facts. Our interaction has no quirks and absurdities. Our arguments lack spontaneity. We don’t even have lovers’ fury and forgiveness. We’ve never connected. You have been politely comforting me, but in your heart, you don’t connect with me and you hate my nervousness. Confess. You hate me.” Shia says and her tone is vehement.

“Aren’t you being unfair? I have been so patient and so nice with you while you were such a spoiled whiner and a bitchy brat. I am the good guy all along, but now you make it look like I am the hater… Anyway, if you feel that there’s no connection between us, it’s all because you are too nervous to make the connection possible.” Jong is really upset and his face starts to get red.

“So you do hate me. You can’t stand me, can you? Now I know. I think it is because of your mother who’s such a narcissist. I have refused to allow myself to see it because I wanted this relationship to work so badly. But now I see it so clearly. My diagnosis is that she emotionally cut you off. She hated the marriage with your father and she hated you, but she fed you well and pushed you to be ambitious.” Shia raises her voice to a higher pitch and she speaks really fast.

“Don’t bring my mother into this. She is a wonderful mother and she sacrifices everything for me. She would move heaven and earth to scrape up money for my education. As an Asian immigrant, she has to work so hard and dream so hard. I won’t allow you to desecrate her…” Jong is yelling and almost crying.

“Oh, my goodness. She has tortured herself so passionately. She does everything with such bitter enthusiasm. That’s why you were brought up trying so hard to swallow your bitterness for a higher goal all the time. This is why I can always feel your antagonism…”

“Get out of here before I… I want to…” Jong smashes his hand on the table so hard that the table wobbles.

While Shia dashes towards the door, the Bamboo Palace owner, Lau, comes over to see what is going on.

“What’s going on?” Lau asks.

“She is awful. She is so vicious. I’ve been so nice to her, only to get her to throw viscous accusations at me. She even trashes my mother’s good name. How can she be so awful? She is the worst woman imaginable. Lau, why is she so awful? Why?” Jong’s eyes are brimming with tears.

“Tell me about it, young man. I’ve been there. I know.” Lau hugs Jong.

(The End)

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Image by Siegfried Poepperl from Pixabay