If you want to enter the right circle, you’ve got to look the part first.
If you come by Dempsey Hill on a weekend, you will see me sitting at one of the cafes sipping my $7 coffee and enjoying my $15 smoked salmon toast. I’ll be wearing my $30000 watch, with my continental car parked up at the front.
A car which I will walk over to every so often and pretend to pick something up from the boot or the passenger seat.
With my aviator shades on, I will spend 3 to 4 hours every Saturday enjoying my brunch at the upmarket café. I will take my time to eat; it doesn’t matter if the food and coffee has gotten cold or if I have already finished an entire bottle of plain water. I just take my time.
I love that place.
It’s frequented by a lot of beautiful and hot babes. Many of whom would cast a look my way seeing as to how I am dressed and the car I drive.
I’ve picked up a few girls before but nothing concrete has come out of it so far.
I have a perfect girl in mind.
Not only does she have to be pretty, she also needs to be rich.
And where do you find rich girls?
You go to the places where rich people hang out of course.
That is the reason why I make it a point to go to an upmarket café and pretend to be someone I’m not. It’s all an act.
I need to look rich in order to attract the rich. I need to wear a mask.
A mask that hides who I really am underneath.
It’s just a game people play. Everyone wears a mask.
I look every bit the high flying young executive chilling out and waiting for friends, but this could not be further from the truth.
The truth is I cannot afford any of the things I’m doing.
You see, I’m living large on a $3000 salary.
I’m not kidding. That is all I make. There’s no fucking way I can have any of this, the math will never add up.
After deducting CPF contributions, insurance and allowances for my parents, I’m left with $1600.
How then?
How can I possibly afford to have the things that I have?
It’s all fake you see.
The watch I’m wearing costs only $2000. A grade A knock off that I got from China.
I don’t own that continental car. I rent it for a few hours every weekend just to look good. The car rental alone takes up a large chunk of my salary.
I pack leftovers from dinner for lunch the next day to skim off a few dollars.
The only thing I eat for breakfast is bread and I always make it a point to come home for dinner after work. Since my mum is cooking, why not?
You might think it’s sad but what else can a poor kid like me who is still living with my parents do?
I don’t belong in the right circles to know the type of girls that I want to marry. It’s up to me to figure out how. In fact, I don’t even have a circle to begin with.
Not going out to lunch and after work drinking sessions with my colleagues, sort of made me the outcast.
It’s ok, I don’t mind.
I don’t mind it at all because come the weekend, I will transform into another person.
I will style my hair, put on my contact lenses and change my wardrobe. I will become another man or rather, pretend to be another man.
I know that my patience will eventually pay off.
And it did.
I was taking a sip of my 2 hour old, long black coffee when it started to drizzle. I saw a beautiful girl stop by the side of my table while she looked at the sky.
She’s tall and elegant. Her casual shorts showed off a pair of smooth hairless legs. Her thighs are not too thick but meaty enough to reveal a delicious looking thigh gap in between them.
She had let her shoulder length hair down and when she brushed her fringe backwards, I could see that her features were really nice too. Unlike some of the other girls who pile on thick makeup early in the morning, this one did not.
In fact, I think she only had on some lip gloss.
Our eyes met and we smiled at each other in an awkwardly but polite manner. The same as how strangers do when they are giving way to each other.
I noticed the girl was wearing an expensive bangle and her earrings are from Chanel. She was also holding on to the latest phone and her bag looked expensive with an even more expensive looking twilly going around the handle.
The sneakers on her feet were limited editions and their bright laces against the white canvas was simply too striking to ignore.
I decided to cast my line and see if I can pick up a catch.
I got up from my seat and unlocked the car I rented.
It may be rented but I put in the effort to make it look like I owned it. From putting in packets of tissues, to fuel cards and umbrellas, I did it all.
There are even cushions and headrests and not to forget cute looking plushies.
A rented car can look very sterile and cold.
I need these items to make the rental look real. As if I owned the car.
On the windscreen, I stuck car decals of country clubs and a condominium at Bukit Timah. This is stuff I bought online or somehow managed to scavenge.
On the rear windscreen, I stuck school decals, indicating that I was from an elite school and that I remained part of the school alumni.
You can laugh at me but this is what people look for these days.
They look at your appearance and from that they judge you.
They judge you based on your possessions.
It doesn’t matter that I’m swimming without pants in the sea. As long as the tide doesn’t go down, no one can tell the difference.
The drizzle got heavier for a second and before it started to taper off, I retrieved an umbrella and offered it to the girl.
“Here, take it.“ I offered.
“What? Haha, really?“ She asked.
“Yeah sure, take it.” I said while opening it for her.
This is my opening salvo and the next will be to reel in the catch.
“I can give you my number if you want to return the umbrella to me.” I added with a friendly smile. “My name is James by the way.”
I extended my hand and the beautiful lady in front of me smiled radiantly and took it.
“My name is Meredith, well played James. You caught me at the right time.” She laughed.
“I have the rain to thank for that”
Meredith unlocked her phone and I gave myself a missed call.
She looked at my number and shook her phone at me with a spunky smile on her face, before walking into the rain.
She took two steps before turning back and looking at my car.
“I don’t suppose you can send me back and I can return you the umbrella at the same time?” Meredith asked with a raise eyebrow. “I stay just around the corner”
Around the corner.
Around the corner?
The café is right smack in the middle of town, surrounded by bungalows and condominiums I will never be able to afford. Meredith is probably staying at one of those.
“Of course, let’s go.” I said as I opened the car door for her.
Inside my head, I was pumping my fist in the air.
Jackpot.
8500 words
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