James’ young wife, upon realizing that the gas delivery uncle has changed to a young, good looking hunk, began to put in more orders. It doesn’t take a genius to realise what was going on, but instead of confronting his young wife, James understood her needs and chose to, observe and enjoy the show.
Before i go into specifics of how this happened, i need to describe how i look. This is important, because without the contrast, you wouldn’t understand why i chose to accept this.
I’m fat.
There are different kinds of fat ok, mine is the worse kind. Guys can have a belly but still have tone arms and muscles, they still look good. Or maybe they are like teddy bear kind of plump, looking jovial and happy, overall they look so welcoming and approachable, say like a chef.
The chef kind of plump, is the best. Everybody trusts a slightly well-built chef more than a severely underweight one.
Then there is my kind of fat.
I’m round and short. I’m only 1.5m, then i’m 80kg. Not the super obsessed built, but i confirm fail all the HPB guidelines. Infact, i think i will give everyone at Ministry of health a heart attack if they look at my stats.
To top it off, i have no neck.
Anatomically i do i have one, but you cannot see it already. My double chin and my shoulder have sort of fused together in a way. I don’t work out, not one bit, and i’m 45 this year.
Now, my wife Natalie, or Nat for short, is 24.
Wait, wait, wait, WTF?
Looking the way i look, i can get a wife that is 24 and look like an influencer even without make up?
Confirm my grandfather owns a gold mine or my father is a developer. I’m loaded as shit and drives a sports car.
Unfortunately, these only happen in dramas.
I’m not rich, but i still do well enough to afford a 2 bedroom private apartment.
Apartment ok, not condo.
Think East coast area, small foot print gated apartment where the gate already gone case for 2 years and MCST no money to fix. No security guard, only 1 camera working and the only thing the estate can afford was a metal sign that says ‘private property’
My place, don’t even have lift, no piped gas as well.
So don’t just go ‘wow’ everytime someone tells you they stay in private property. There are many different kinds of private. My kind is the type where developer see already not keen for enbloc, tenants see already will think of what illegal business can they do there.
So how did i marry someone as hot and young as Nat?
Buy lah.
Ok, buy sounds a bit off. It’s via a matchmaking agency, they link you up, bla bla bla, you meet, talk, fall in love and whatever but come on la. It’s a transaction.
Others may not see it that way, and yes, many truly fall in love, but i see it clearly for my case.
No woman will love someone like me given how i look. And despite looking the way i do, i still want a hot and beautiful wife, so how?
How do we bridge this gap?
Money lor.
Nat was beautiful in a way that was hard to accept as real, like a fresh memory from a fever dream. She had the kind of beauty that halted conversation and made people take a second look.
There were no sharp lines to her face, no obvious tells of vanity like those super fake filters or the ‘obviously i upgraded my face in Korea’ look.
It was all symmetry and softness, big round eyes with the natural curl of lashes women pay hundreds for, lips that sat full and bright above a chin that tapered gently.
It’s like someone hand sculpted her face for a children’s storybook princess.
She had the skin of someone who spent most of her life indoors, milky and hardly scarred, and hair so fine and dark it looked almost blue when the light hit just right.
She never fiddled with it, no flipping, no tucking behind the ear like some Ah lian trying to get Ah beng’s attention, she simply let it fall in strands.
Her body was exactly what the idiotic phrase “petite but curvy” was invented for. She was 1.6 meters, 45 kilos at most, but moved with the confidence of someone twice her height. Her posture was excellent. Her hands were always in motion, looping her sentences with careful gestures, and her wrists were so small I wondered if children’s watches would fit her.
She looked like an undergraduate on the way to campus, bright, alert, always a little rushed but a kind of presence i find it hard to describe.
I remember the first time I saw her. The agency had set up our meeting at a cafe in Balestier. Usually you’ll need to fly over to Vietnam to meet the girls and have a wider selection, but the agent regularly brings a few of the girls over for better interaction with potential clients. Nat happened to be here then.
I’ve met 2 others which i felt was ok, but they don’t really tug at my heart strings. So Nat was the last one before i need to pay extra or fly over to Vietnam. I saw her pictures but come on, pictures they say, tell lies.
Always see in person.
I arrived early, she walked in ten minutes late.
She wore a pale blue dress, nothing fancy, but it made her look like she had just stepped off some mid-century Singapore postcard. Her hair was up in a knot, wisps floating above her ears. She looked around, scanning the room once, then walked straight to me when she saw i flash her the agency’s card.
Nat spoke English, not very profeciently, but good enough for us to understand each other. She felt more comfortable when we switch to Mandarin.
Our conversation started awkwardly, as all these arranged dates do. We exchanged the usual stats: ages, family backgrounds, favorite foods, the obligatory “What are you looking for in a partner?” I was so anxious about my own appearance that it took all my mental bandwidth not to apologize for being the way I was.
I kept looking at her face, waiting for the tiny flicker of disgust, the microexpression that would betray her. But it never came. She listened. She laughed at my jokes. She asked follow-up questions.
We talked about school. She was two years away from a degree in Early Childhood Education but she had to stop due to the family’s financial situation. They family wanted a better life and opportunities for her, that was why they chose to go to the agency.
She asked about my work, and when I told her I did “business development” for a mid-size logistics company.
I had told myself, going in, not to get my hopes up. That this was just another in a long line of fix-ups, a transactional prelude to the grim negotiation of marriage.
But Nat wasn’t like anyone I’d met before. She had a way of looking at you, head tilted, as if she was trying to solve a really interesting puzzle you’d presented her.
When she spoke, she measured her words, pausing to choose the best ones.
After the first hour, I realized I was in trouble.
Fuck, i was in love.
But I also knew that a woman as beautiful and sharp as Nat had options. Even with the arranged marriage circuit, there’d be dozens of men with better resumes, better hairlines, better jawlines. So why was she here, across from me? Why did she keep glancing at my hands, as if to confirm I was still there, that I hadn’t run off?
She was perfect to me in many ways.
After we parted, i immediately called the agent to confirm i want Nat and ask him to check with her if the feeling was mutual.
That was when the surprise was sprung.
Agent : Bro…Nat likes you too…she thinks you are very honest and down to earth, but there is something i need to tell you…
James: Huh ? what is it?
Agent : Nat…has a minor birth defect.
There, i knew it.
She has ASD, a atrial septal defect, a hole between the two upper chambers of the heart, present from birth. A small ASD (especially under roughly 5–8mm) may never cause a significant volume overload on the heart. She could live a full, normal lifespan, be physically active, have kids, and simply never have it become a medical issue. But it’s something that was flagged in her medical report as part of the disclosure. Marrying her, meant being responsible for all her future medical costs, insurance and what not.
That is the reason why Nat was always let go at the later stage of the match making between many men when the defect was revealed.
I didn’t falter one bit, she was so sweet, so beautiful and sitting in front of her, looking at her smile, i just knew she is the one.
So i said yes.
We fast tracked everything, got her visa approved and before i knew it, we were legally married.
And the first night we were together, man.
That was when i knew i landed myself a gem.
Nat, has a serious addiction to sex and orgasm.
I thought i struck gold.
Until it dawned on me eventually that, i will not be able to satisfy her needs on the level she requires.
Coming soon