Maddy Tan

A Mocha Mint and Two Discernible Men.

I was on my own in a nice, quaint little café in Solaris on a late Friday evening. Sipping a mocha mint and devouring an American marble cheese cake. You know, I never really know why it is named after the Americans. The cheese cake I mean. Anyway, I've just came from watching Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince which I'm refraining hard from posting a review. We wouldn't want spoilers, now would we ... for those who haven't seen it yet.

As I settled in a comfortable loveseat, there were two men seated not too far away from where I was seated. They were quite hard to miss really … given their loudness. Though I did try hard but seeing that it was a very, very quiet café which its purpose is for people to do their reading whilst enjoying a cuppa, their conversation stood out like a sore thumb. From what I could make of it, they are business associates. One, a Chinese man, probably in his late thirties and decidedly not married. Let’s call him Mr. C. The other, a ‘mamak’, probably in his late thirties as well, definitely married. He shall be Mr. M.

Although I noticed them, they were of little interest to me. Initially. As I was reading my book intently, my ears immediately perked up at “Oh, it’s for my girls” said Mr. M. I couldn’t help but to wonder as to whether he meant ‘girls’ as in daughters or mistresses. A little after, he was on the phone. Speaking to what it appears to be, an estate agent in relation to securing a place for his girls. You know, the usual run-of-the-mill kinda stuff e.g. rent, deposits, possession etc. After the phone call ended, Mr. C said “Oh, I didn’t know you are renting a new place”. To which Mr. M replied “Ahhh, got to take care of my girls. You see, they are special”. Hmmm, interesting. I don’t know why, but my hunch tells me it’s not for his daughters. Of course, assuming he has any.

Then Mr. C’s mobile beeped. It was a special ring tone (it sounded really different from the earlier ring tone) and I suspected that it was his woman calling him. Then Mr. M said “Ahh, Wei Wei is calling you”. A-ha bingo! Mr. C answered his mobile by saying “Wei Weiiii … what do you wanna eat .... oh Jinjang … that would probably take about 45 minutes …if you want to wait for me, it’s up to you … I’ll come pick you up then … see you soon”. Throughout it all, Mr. C sounded really sweet talking to Wei Wei. And I smiled to myself.

Then the two men were silent. And I thought to myself “Oh good, now I can go back to reading my book”. But only for a while. Then Mr. C asked Mr. M “So, how long have you been seeing these girls of yours?”. AH-HA BINGO! So they were mistresses. He was renting a place for his mistresses to stay. Mr. M closes his eyes as he recount the months/years then replied “Coming to a year I think”. Then Mr. C commented “You’re crazy”. To which Mr. M satisfactorily replied “Money buys you happiness mate”.

And that, really got me thinking.

Doesn't this mean that if it weren’t for his money, his girls would not even be with him ... rendering Mr. M aware of the fact that they are with him for his money. That does seem like a logical view to take, doesn’t it? And if that were true, it appears that he seem to be alright with it. That money motivates people even though it is not business related. And as these two men left for their next agenda, Mr. C to see Wei Wei and Mr. M to see his wife, a realisation dawned upon me. That happiness is very subjective and it is difficult to define.