Unrequited Love and Secret Agendas

I love my handphone number. It is easy to remember and it contains my favourite numbers 9 and 25. I think I will probably use it for the rest of my life.

The previous user to the number is David, a fact which I gathered from numerous 'wrong numbers' I received till now. I also infer him to be of Indian descent and a male executive in his early thirties. I can imagine him having a well-trimmed beard, wearing neatly pressed striped shirt and shiny leather shoes.

His friend Moira messaged him on Monday using my number, asking him to call her when he is free. I was feeling friendly then and replied her with this:

Hey Moira! This is
the new user to
this hp number.
David no longer
uses this no. You
have to find other
ways to contact
him. Good luck!

Yet for all the warmth I tried putting into the message, all I received was:

Thanks

I was totally devastated and heart-broken.

Alright, I was exaggerating but how often have your intense passions been extinguised by unspontaneous responses? How often have your initiative been met with indifference? As Moulin Rouge philosophy puts it: "The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love, and be loved in return."

Yesterday, I received another message from an unknown person:

Meeting 10 tomolo?

I thought that it must be one of David's flings again. I asked who it was and when the person replied, I discovered that I made a big mistake. It was my BMT mate YL. He called me last Sunday to make a breakfast appointment today. I had forgotten all about it and never even save his number in my handphone. I felt so guilty about it. If he had not messaged me, he would be there waiting for me.

I have already decided to go to school early to do some stuff and I tried to postpone the meeting. However, he started reprimanding. He wondered how people actually think these days. Making empty promises. Giving excuses at the last minute. Prioritising other things over friends. Is that the way people treat friends? he asked.

He said that he had an overseas posting at Brunei for 1.5 years and have not met up with his friends for a long time. He needed desperately the support of his friends and took the opportunity of this one week break to meet up with friends and reminisce. Yet people are constantly busy or simply not interested. I have failed in reciprocating friendship this time.

He struck my conscience and we met at 1130 for lunch today. We talked about lots of things. We related to each other about life after BMT. He has three dependent younger brothers and the financial strain on his parents was rather substantial. That is why he volunteered to go for overseas posting where the pay is much higher so that he can ease the burden. Then, he started to talk about dreams. He wished to earn big money so that he can let his parents retire early after slogging all their lives for their four sons.

He then asked what my plan for the future was and I was evasive as usual. He questioned if I ever thought of doing something for my parents for all that they have done for me. I was never a big fan of long-term plans and I gave general answers to shake him off.

He started talking about the need to become financially stable to provide for my parents. He went on to ask if I have read "Rich Dad, Poor Dad". Then about getting out of the rat-race. Then about workshops that help you to do that. He said that NUS do have such workshops but tickets are priced at $60. Then he said he has one that is just $5.

So all that emotional outpour, all that psychological manipulation, is just to make me meet him and hear him beat around the bush and eventually introduce me to this valuable and insightful workshop at a cheap price? I never thought that he will actually have a secret agenda up his sleeves. It is so depressing. I never agreed to go for the workshop.

I wondered if Moira has a secret agenda for David as well.