Chapter 4

This afternoon, when Kaelyn and I were browsing through Mt. Kiara’s Bazaar, we got stopped by this high school boy who wanted to do a survey for his school project. Before I could say anything, Kaelyn started, “Yes! This jie jie (big sister) will help you.” And then she left me to look at some wooden beads necklaces.

And so I did the survey (like I had a choice?). Thankfully, it was an uncomplicated one, asking about my internet usage at home, at work, what sites I visit most and stuffs like that. The boy read out the questions, and all I had to do was point out the answer: A, B, C or D. Everything went well, until we came to the last page, when I had to give my personal details: age, gender, occupation, income bracket, the usual. And then we got to “Marital Status” column, and without looking at me for confirmation of any sort, the boy put a tick in the “Single” box with such great show of confidence, I really didn’t know what to say.

I was still in the state of stunned astonishment when I joined Kaelyn at the accessory stall, where she was paying for a set of purple bead necklace and matching bracelet.

“So how did it go?” Kaelyn asked.

“Single.”

“Huh?” Kaelyn stuffed the package into her bag and looked at me.

“Single.” I repeated. “The boy ticked “Single” for my marital status.”

Now my friend was giving me The Look. “And that’s a problem because?”

“He ticked “Single” without even asking me! I mean, do I have like “I Am Single” stamped on my face or something?”

I never got an answer, because Kaelyn started laughing, and laughing. And laughing. Yup, and she calls herself my “bestest” friend. Some friend. It was embarrassing standing next to her; I walked off towards a stall selling black and white photographs.

And there I spotted the most beautiful picture, ever! It was a black and white image of a man, in sweat pants and singlet, after a hard work out, wiping sweat off the side of his face. It was so sexy! He was so sexy. But at the same time, the composition was also very very beautiful. The man was so unself-conscious, so natural. Light bounced off his strong, gleaming biceps, and his face was slightly in the shadow – the mysterious look, always works, doesn’t it?

After Kaelyn finally got over her hysteria, she joined me. And when she saw the picture all she could say was “Yumm.”

I grabbed the picture and quickly paid for it. Kaelyn is so jealous! She even suggested that we took turns hanging it in our rooms.

Yeah, right.

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As we were walking back towards the car, Kaelyn said something about some things find their way to us, without us having to go search for it. At first I thought she was doing another one of her astrology talk, and I sort of zoned out a bit. (I know I should be paying more attention when Lyn talks, but I really can’t bring myself to listen to another one of her astro lectures.) But later, when I got home and was admiring my handsome-sweaty man, it struck me how true her word were. But it has nothing to do with Astrology or Cosmic-whatever.

I’m sure you’ve experienced this some time or other – when you set out to specifically shop for something, a skirt, a blouse, a pair of jeans, you end up not finding what you are looking for. But on days when you are totally not planning to buy anything, when your purse is dry and you are “just looking” into the shop windows from a distance, there it is!

Well, that was what happened to me, which led me to finding a new place to move into.

Last weekend, I got so so fed up with the room hunting business that I trashed half of my neatly packed cardboard boxes, slammed out of the house, got into my trusty old Mini and drove out of the car park complete with the sound effects of squealing tyres – just like in the movies.

Forget it! I had told Lyn over the phone. I was just going to set up camp across the road from Plaza Damas, among the small jungle of trees, and play Tarzan and Jane or something. I was so frustrated it was not funny! I’d shopped through the amount of rented rooms advertised in the Star and the Straits Times and the Malay Mail and whatever else my friends and family dished up, and still was unable to find something marginally satisfactory; the areas I preferred didn’t have anything available within my (humble) budget, and the places where I could afford were smack in the middle of no man’s land, miles and miles away from civilization; and the due date to move out was pounding down, and my “used-to-be-good-friends-landlady” was no longer speaking to me (ok, Tutu, take a deep breath) – breathe. Wouldn’t you have felt defeated too?

People say you have to suffer a little before you could appreciate what you have. But hello? – I sincerely appreciated being where I was, having such a fantastic landlady-friend, and pretending to smell the coffee and the fresh baked bread in the morning! I did not take it one bit for granted!

So there I was, days from being a homeless squatter, driving around like a mad woman, and I turned into this road in TTDI where all the bungalow houses were quietly tucked in, with their tall tall gates, long driveways with designated car park lots for expensive European cars; immaculately landscaped gardens with swimming pools or water features, lots of mirrored glass windows, and not a soul around. Lyn and I like to drive by here once in a while, just so we could wow and drool over the perfect posh-ness of it all.

The road was always so quiet and peaceful, lined with tall shady trees; there were no cars haphazardly parked in front of houses, no bags of trash left by the side of the road, and definitely no stray cats wondering about.

I slowed down to admire a particularly house, quite quaint in its design, architecturally different from the other modern structures. Behind the black wrought iron gate was a very pretty garden filled with brightly colored flowers, some in low bushes, some tall and swaying softly while some others creeping upwards against the seasoned brick wall of an English cottage styled building. It even had a chimney at one end of the thatched roof!

It was then the sign caught my eye:

Studio-room for rent. Price negotiable. Open for inspection daily 2-4pm.

Later, when I thought back about the likeliness of these rich folks putting up a homemade sign advertising a room for rent, I couldn’t help wondering a bit about Lyn’s cosmic-astro stuffs. But at that very moment, it never once crossed my mind to question. I got out of my Mini, walked up to the gate and rang the bell. Moments later, an elderly man wearing a hat and gardening gloves appeared on the garden path from the side of the house. I assumed he was the gardener. These rich folks always have their own personal landscaper and housekeeper and nanny and all that. Anyway, when I informed the man that I was interested in looking at the room for rent, he just nodded and let me in through the side door beside the gate. And then he asked me to follow him.

We walked through the beautiful garden, and I could smell the faint scent of roses and jasmine and something else I couldn’t identify, but it was very calming and pleasant. My earlier aggravations disappeared.

We rounded the back of the house, and there, set among a couple of trees, was a small replica of the main building, with the same distressed brick walls, thatched roof, and a small chimney too! If this were the olden days, it could have been the staff’s quarters, or the gardener’s shed! It was as if I had taken a step back in time, and leaped across a couple of continents too!

The elderly man must have noticed my wonderment, which is probably the normal expression everyone has when they see the place for the first time.

“The studio is separate from the main house, but it has its own bathroom and a kitchenette equipped with a small cook top. You will have complete privacy, and we’ll even offer you a car park space so you don’t have to worry about leaving your car outside.” He opened the door and we stepped in. “As you can see, this is the kitchenette and a counter where you can have your meals. Over here is a small seating area, not very big, but you can easily fit in a two seater, and the TV can go against this wall. Through here is the bedroom, and the wardrobe and bathroom is behind that door. Everything is in working order as we just got a contractor in to do some renovation and give the place a fresh coat of paint.” The man stopped in the middle of the bedroom, and turned to me. He didn’t sound at all out of breath from the long speech, while I was feeling slightly breathless for an entire different reason. His smile was very warm. “So, how do you like it?”

How do I like it? I loved it! How could I not? But I immediately knew that the rental would be way over my league. Given the state of the place, and its location, I could probably be better off paying mortgage for my own unit. I smiled back at the man, hoping that it looked as warm as his was, and pretended to look the place over.

“We are thinking of RM650 a month, but of course that’s negotiable.”

I thought maybe I’ve heard wrongly, I mean, everything was beginning to feel like some sort of dream, so I politely asked him to repeat again.

“RM650, but that’s excluding electricity and water. I understand if you need some time to consider. You can always call back, or drop by again?”

An hour later, I walked out of the English Cottage through the side door, rental agreement in one hand, and the keys to my new studio in the other.

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You want to talk about coincidences and cosmic energies, talk to Kaelyn.

I got a new home, surrounded by a beautiful garden and situated on the streets where people drove only BMWs, Mercedes-Benzs, Porsches and lots of other names I don’t recognize. (My Mini look out of place, but at least it’s a classic.)

I am beyond thankful, and at the moment, that’s all I am focusing on.