LCTM Chapter 11

    I think it's another woman.

    Really, I think Shang's seeing another woman. It has to be something in any case, if it's not that. It's been two months since I was sick, and Shang brought me over to his apartment. Soon after, we were officially in a relationship. At work, once the word got around, I was fully transferred to the Web Design area of work. Figures in such a male dominated society I'd be the one to get put into a different job. At least I still have my internship.

    I took a sip of my iced-cappacino. I was sitting indoors, at a coffee-shop in the Shibuya district, not far from our office. It was Sunday, but I was finishing up a project for a client. My laptop flashed to its screen saver after a few minutes. The orange, white, and brown cats danced across the screen against the black background. They were playful, and energetic, just like kittens, but I know for a fact, when they get that old, they're just good for taking up space in your apartment.

    One month ago, Shang asked me to move into his apartment with him. I had my doubts, but he assured me that if things were going too fast, we could slow them down.

    And now he's seeing another woman. How typical. This most likely started when he found out my ideals of abstinence till marriage. Also, possibly the fact that his parents want him to marry a nice, traditional Chinese girl. Not some rebellious, liberal American, with gasp, blond hair.

    Maybe I'm just over-reacting. But he seems that he has to go "take care of something," more and more often. I barely get any time alone with him. Now all I have are four, extremely fat, gaseous, old, stinky fur balls that lay around all day and only use me as a scratching-post. I feel so used. I know this would happen. It always does. Well, it would happen if I had ever actually have been in a relationship before this. I started college at 15, after being skipped ahead quite a few grades due to my supposed "genius intelligence." I managed to finish my Doctorate in Computer Science at age 22 and then my Bachelor's Degree in Linguistics, with special study in Asian Languages at the age of 24. Then I came here, four weeks before I turned 25, and met the man of my dreams. Only to find he's seeing another woman.

    Well, maybe I am over-reacting, but what else could it be? I glanced down at my cup, and began tracing the rim. I sighed, and lost myself further into my melancholy.

    "Stay away from him." I glanced up to find a beautiful Asian girl, which could be no more than the age of 16. She wore a long, graceful black skirt, with a traditional gray Chinese shirt.

    "Excuse me? Stay away from who?" I answered, knowing full well the 'whom', we were referring to.

    "Don't play dumb. Just heed my warning he's not everything you think he is. It's in your best interest to avoid him, and the twins’ altogether. You don't know them, or what they are what they can do. Just stay away." she narrowed her eyes at me, looking for something in my gray eyes, but she didn't find it. Or maybe she did. But she turned briskly on her heel, and walked to the door, just as she opened it to step out, into the brisk morning December chill of Shibuya, she called back to me: "It's not another woman. It's something else."

    And she disappeared into the sea of people