[kiasusam]

"Baby…baby, wake up. Your food is here.” Faith said, while shaking me out of my sleep and unplugging the earphones I had in my ears.

I startled, and checked on Keane who was still sleeping in the basinet in front of me. I turned and checked on Kate as well, who was smiling at me, munching on her food, she said, “I’ve helped you order your chicken and tonic water with a pinch of salt, just the way you like it.”

“Thank you, mama,” giving her a warm kiss on her cheek.

I fell back to my seat and turned to my other side. Faith was busy unwrapping her order and getting ready for her meal. I checked the screen in front of me and realised there was still a good 2,400km away from our destination.

The meal was quite standard but I was extremely hungry that I asked for another helping. Luckily for me, they do have an extra set.

The ladies looked at me in disgraced. “What?” I questioned them before adding, “I’m hungry! Besides, Ah May say we can ask for second helping,” feeling rather proud.

I was holding Kate and Faith’s hands as they lay their heads on me, sleeping. The plane seemed to be crawling to our destination as I went on with my movie marathon. Keane, surprisingly, was still sleeping in his bassinet. We were so worried that he may be cranky during the flight as it was his first time. We saw so many cases of children crying and getting all cranked up during their flight because of the pressure in their ears.

I was watching The Holiday starring Jude Law and Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet and Jack Black, a romantic comedy. The romantic scene between Jude Law and Cameron Diaz brought me back to the day after Faith’s return from Beijing.

That afternoon, I left work early, made my way to town and bought the same ring that I had bought for Kate as her wedding band. I am wearing the same series except that it is for men and without the diamonds.

With the paper bag containing my symbol of love to Faith, I stood outside the boutique, thinking things through. I made up my mind and called Kate.

“Hi mama, I got something to discuss with you.”

“What is it? Why so serious? Is everything ok at work?”

“It’s not about the office. It’s about Faith.”

“Huh? What happened? Papa, you’re scaring me huh.”

“Oh, sorry sorry. Don’t worry. Nothing serious. It’s just that…,” I paused before continuing, “I want to ask if I can buy a ring for Faith.”

“What!” Kate exclaimed and I got a fright. I literally had the fine hair on my skin erected like domino effect from the back of my head to my neck and back, shooting right down to my legs after hearing her reaction in the phone and thought that was it. I had finally stepped on her tail. “Go ahead la!” Kate’s voice came flying into my ears. “Why do you have to ask me? Just do what you think you need to do,” she continued.

“You are…not angry?”

“No lah, aiyoh. What for? Just go ahead ok? Ok ok, I got to go, helping my mom in the kitchen. Bye papa.”

I was rooted at the spot with my phone still on my ear although Kate had already hung up. I was wondering what just happened because I had never expected it to be so easy. My worries were absolutely unnecessary. Shortly after, the vibration from my phone interrupted my thought. It was Faith.

“Hi baby, where are you now? I’m at my mom’s. Wanna pick me up?”

“I’m about to call you. Ok, I’m in town now. I’ll call you when I reach. Err…about 20 minutes?”

“Ok. See you later. *muack*” Faith said and blew me a kiss in the phone.

On my way to fetch her, I was planning how to give her the ring. I could not wait to see her reaction. Should I bring her to a romantic dinner or should I just do it at home and perhaps a treat from her in bed. As I drove, I smiled and decided.

I was turning in to the service road to her mother’s place and saw Faith waiting at the usual place, not alone, but with her mother. Auntie pointed at my car and said something to Faith who was nodding in responds, looking rather uneasy.

“Hi auntie,” I called out as I stepped out of my car.

“嗨, 要上来喝杯咖啡吗?” – Her mother asked with her usual expressionless look after giving me a scan.

“不了, 谢谢你. 要走了.” – I said with a smile.

Auntie knows me as I had helped out every night at the wake of Faith’s father some half a decade ago. To her, I am just the best friend’s husband of her daughter but that was what I thought.

“好, 小心开车.” – she said before turning to Faith and added, “礼拜天下午记得回来吃饭. 你妹妹她们都有来.”

“呣, 你先回, 我走了. 拜拜.” – She bade her goodbye and gave her mother a hug before we went off.

On our way out, Faith kept looking back. I sensed something is not right so I asked, “Is everything ok baby?”

“Sigh,” slamming herself back to the seat before replying, “No. I told my mum I’m seeing someone but I didn’t say it’s you. And just now when I say I’m going off she asked how am I going back. I said someone’s coming to fetch me. She then asked if it’s the person I’m seeing fetching me. I didn’t know she would want to come down too so I said yes. Just now when she saw you stepping out, I could see she was surprised to see you. What to do now?” She said before curling up and rested her head on the B pillar of my car.

I did not know what to say and paused for a long time. I did not know how to react; I could not react. However, I suggested something that I have been trying to avoid. I want to be with Faith, at the same time, I was worried how her family would react to the whole relationship. I knew at that point, I could not hide anymore.

Just do what you think you need to do.

Kate’s words floated into my mind and I held Faith’s hand and said, “This coming Sunday I’ll come back with you for lunch with your family,” I gave her a big smile before adding, “This thing has been lingering for too long. Now since your mum knows, no point hiding. I’ll face it with you.”

Faith’s eyes instantly turned red and tears flowed down her cheeks. I began to realise I could buy her the whole world and it would not give her the security she wanted. I believe only going home with her to see her family would I finally give her the security she was sorting for, at least to show her my sincerity. She nodded with a smile, wiped her tears off her cheeks. Those were happy tears and I am glad other than buying her a ring, I found a way to make her happy.

I drove on to our next destination – Morton’s. As expected, there was a queue. Luckily for us, it was not very long. As we waited, I quickly made up an excuse and ran to my car to retrieve the ring when I was out of sight from Faith.

Back at the restaurant, Faith did not suspect a thing and was hugging me while we waited. Shortly after, we were showed to our table. The environment was great and so was the dinner. After the sumptuous meal, we proceed to the bar, had a couple of drinks and went for a walk. I deliberately brought her to the underside of Benjamin Sheares Bridge. It was not as beautiful than The Helix Bridge but it was where we first dated back in 1995.

Of course, it has since changed a lot. Back then, it was nothing but grasses everywhere. I still remembered we bought a roasted chicken from Carrefour and a couple of other finger food for our small little picnic. Now, it has the Flyer and the F1 tracks. However, it is still a nice place to go for couples, walking by the water.

We chose a quiet spot and sat down, looking at the water sparkling with the reflections of the city lights. Listening to the traffic flying pass with their tyres roaring above us on the highway and chatted away.

Stealthily, I sneaked my hand into my pocket and held the ring in my palm. Looked around to make sure nobody was near enough to hear my mushy speech, I turned and faced Faith who was sitting with her legs placed together to her side, looking into the water. Holding her hands in mine, I held the ring secretly in my right hand and said, “Baby, I’ve got something to say to you.”

“Ya? What is it?”