Hazia’s Reflections

I just came back from a date with Mr Coconut. Yeah, finally. He was moving way too slowly.

He kept telling his pet sister who matchmade us that he knew what he was doing, that an old man would know better how & when to make the move. His timing , hmm… well, it’s been a month since we were introduced and we were only onto our very first date. That alone took me 4 phone calls!

Yeah, after some ‘very strong encouragement’ from her, I’d agreed to push for it.  She kept insisting that though hard to get, he is worth the catch. Okay, so I told her I’d do it.

It started weird enough just now. I arrived earlier at KLCC and went to the surau for Zohor. Unfortunately, it was being renovated and I had to adjourn to the mosque nearby. It was warm and quite a distance, I was drenched in sweat. And I didn’t bring a ‘tudung’, dahlah baju jarang, Ya ampun. The stairs to the ladies’ area is only accessible via the men’s praying area too. While praying, 2 children came running around and stepped in front of me - that gave me a ‘masjidil haram flashback’. Luckily, they moved away just before I sujud.

Back to the date, we agreed to meet at Dome and then decide where to go. There I was waiting at a table outside near the fountain reading a book when he came towards me. Guess what, I didn’t recognise him. LOL! Man, I didn’t even notice that he was good looking when we were introduced, yeah really. I knew it was nightime and he was dead tired then, I was tired too, but how could I miss something like that!

I asked where he would like to go  but he was okay with where I was already seated - it was strategic to spot him from that table but it was not a good choice for dating. Under direct sunlight outside Dome - hmm, every line on your face is visible.

He was dressed in a white t-shirt and blue jeans, but he looked smart nevertheless, smelt good too. He immediately asked about my book, I gave him a signed copy. I can’t believe that he actually read my instructor’s forward message. He commented that my co-author is very young, err, he’s only 2 years my junior. Mr Coconut himself is not that old, 47, but I did feel the age gap.

Topics of conversation - schools & universities we went to, our families & hometown, people we knew, work, his new contractual appointment on top of his business - effective from tomorrow, his 13 year-old daughter, education, politicians & politics, religion & economy. Several times though, the conversation was getting intectually too high for me, and I had to quickly stir, so as not to appear not-very-smart. Once, he even gently corrected me. Gosh, I never had that problem on a date before. His pet sister did say that he likes inteligent women, just that I had no idea how inteligent. Also, I find his take on religion a bit confusing.

His pet sister warned me against suggesting that he bring his daugter along for my book event which is in 2 weeks’ times. She said the girl is really a spoil brat. However, he mentioned his daughter quite a bit through out and it was only natural that I did so. Interestingly, she attends an international religious school, hmm…

I noticed that though his pet sister (my friend) is very close to him - they’d known each other for 10 years - there are things that they just don’t talk about. Like… 1) Whether his daughter ever sees her mother since the divorce 10 years ago - he said he forced her to go to her mother’s place every Saturday though she was reluctant, 2) He is the youngest child out of 17 siblings, etc

He excused himself 2 hours later, his daughter had a fever since last night. I was surprised that he even turned up at all. Frankly, when he didn’t reply my sms & pick up my calls last night ( he asked me to remind him), I had assumed that he would not show up. Ehm, after all that I’ve been through, can I be blamed if I don’t think much of men? I finally smsed him this morning that if he didn’t confirm asap, I won’t show up. He replied - short - ‘3pm’.

Coming to parting gestures… okay, I’ve observed the guys who have come and gone. When a jerk says ‘I’ll call you’ -  it means all you’ll going to get are calls after calls after calls, no more than that. And a killer sign off - ‘keep in touch!’ - it means you’ll never see or hear from the guy ever again.

How Mr Coconut did it? He was about to walk along with me when I told him I wanted to sit there for a while, he seemed puzzled, curious to know what I was up to. Anyway, he stood up, smiled widely, said ‘Byeee!" and then, squeezed my hand and left. That was his sign off. No promise, no future plan, nothing. That’s new:) Oh, BTW, he did say he’ll drop by at my office soon to see my big boss, No 1, on business; they are related too.

What I think of him? I don’t know, this is very unfamiliar territory for me - he’s good looking, very inteligent, highly-principled and cynical - I don’t know anybody with all of that. Hey, wait a minute! Come to think of it, that sounds exactly like my father. They share the same horoscope too. Oh no! LOL!

What he thinks of me? That I am dying to find out. Shall bug his pet sister first thing tomorrow morning. But then again, he doesn’t share everything with her.