12. The seed was planted, the plans took root

Carol could irritate me at times for example when she did not answer questions I posed in messages to her. When I saw her, there would be other things on my mind and I’d forget to re-ask my questions. Was she purposely keeping me at bay? This thought did occur to me later!

Near the end of her stay in the UK, Carol came across some friends, Wendy, and her flatmate. Wendy had been looking for someone else to share their flat after a former flatmate left to go home to China. Carol took up the offer and asked me to help her move her belongings using my car. At last this opportunity to leave the other shared house came up, allowing her to leave the disagreeable countrymen and women with whom she never was able to get along. The men were promiscuous and the other girl, too strict in her interpretation of Chinese culture.

It struck me as strange when I noticed Carol hugging and cuddling her new friend, Wendy. I thought,

“If she’s happy to have so called ‘bodily contact’ with Wendy, then why can’t she ever hug me?” I  wondered with jealousy, remembering how one of my Vietnamese friends, Phạm, often lifted me off my feet in a bear hug when she came to visit me. Vũ explained, “Phạm was more Westernised, unlike most other Asians girls particularly those from China.”

Questions started to form in my head,

“What did Carol really mean when she disclosed her feelings, telling me, I love you?”

All these questions soon evaporated when Carol invited me out to a Chinese restaurant for an authentic Chinese meal. Her explanation for the invitation was that I had helped her so much that this was the least she could do for me. She told me, by joining her I’d be able to experience Chinese food made by a professional chef, cooking the same food as I’d be served, if one day, I visited her in China.

“I’m looking forward to visiting you in China.” I replied, “I’ve started to save for the trip, though it may have to wait until I’ve sat more of my music exams,” I admitted.

“Yes, your exams are your top priority. I’ll wait for you, you’re welcome to visit me anytime.”

The seed was planted, the plans took root. I would nourish it to fruition.