A girl walked over and sat on the chair next to me. I glanced at her, noticing she had “Everyone Worth Knowing” in her hand. I couldn’t help but had another glance because of the book and that she’s speaking Shanghainese on the phone. But aside from the book and the language, she has nothing resembles Sheila. The girl is actually slender and tall. So I took two more looks and went back to my book. Five minutes later, I found her looking at me when I raised my head for anothger sip of my latte. Our eyes met for a second, and she caught it. “Hello, Lori.” she said. I hid most of my surprise and merely lifted one of my eyebrows. “I’d prefer Lorainne. You are?” She’s well-prepared. I can tell. “I’m Sheila’s friend. My name is Missy.” I contained the urge to roll my eyeballs. She continued when she realized that I had no intention to say anything else and was going to return to my book. “The thing is,” she tried to sound calm, “Sheila wants to meet with you… if you don’t mind.” “Why?” I remained patient. I’m usually nice to strangers. “Ugh… she kinda wanna get to know you.” I could act like I don’t know a thing she’s talking about, but I was in no mood playing games with her. It’s a waste of my time. I just wanted to read my book. “Why?” again I asked. Her composition broke a little bit, “She wants to be friend with you.” Ha, I thought. I wondered why some always want to be friend with boyfriends’ ex’s. Anyways, I could have thrown another “why” at her, but I was afraid that she might cry. To avoid a possible scene, I replied, “but the desire is, unfortunately, not mutual.” She froze for a second or two and squeezed a tiny bit of a smile, said “Oh… okay. I’m sorry to bother you.” She took off with her book right away. What a hypocrite. Birds of a feather flock together. How true.
In my opinion, Sheila is a very traditional Chinese. She is able to comfort herself in every possible way. Q philosophy, if you happen to have some knowledge about Chinese literature or culture. I’m sometimes amazed by her attitude, but mostly I regard it with contempt. Optimism and thankfulness in a way maybe, but pity and low self respect are more accurate.