Happy Birthday to Me - Chapter Two
Ten minutes past midnight
Leaning out of the window to see the dim light outside
Lost quiet rainy night kisses passersby
Once you whispered in the rain:
Happy birthday my loved one
Ten Minutes Past Midnight, Sally Yip
* * * * * * * *
"Did Tom really do it with you seven times in one night?" I leaned in towards Fan, my voice soft. I didn't want anyone overhearing us. The cafΓ© was noisy, but still.
Fan leaned in, her lips quirking into a smile. She had black rings under her eyes that even her makeup didn't hide. "Every night Isabelle, I'm exhausted. Honestly, he just doesn't stop. The man's insatiable." She glanced around, lowering her voice to a whisper. "He did it to me on his desk this morning at work. One for the road, he said. Honestly, he's so good, he just makes me scream my head off but I can see why his wife stayed in the States." She giggled. "I'm actually relieved he's gone back to the States for a couple of weeks."
That was why Fan and I were having coffee. Tom had left at midday to catch a flight back to the US. Kam had gone to the airport with him, they were working on another client, Kam wanted all the time he could get with Tom before he left. My work was quiet, I'd asked David if I could leave early. So there we were, drinking coffee.
Fan shook her head. "It's not like he takes anything, I checked, it's totally natural, he's just insatiable."
I giggled. "I wish we could average him and Kam out, Kam's always so tired." I was disappointed. It'd been two days since that wonderful night and nothing had happened since. I'd tried. Maybe tonight. I must have looked disappointed. Fan rested her hand on my arm.
"Don't worry Isabelle, they've been working hard, he's probably just tired and exhausted, be patient."
"I know," I said, "but I do wish he was more like Tom." I looked at myself. "I mean, I'm attractive enough aren't I Fan?"
Fan smiled. "I'd die to have a figure like yours Isabelle, I mean look." She gestured with her head at an American guy across the cafΓ© who was looking at us. Me. My boobs. No eye contact. Until he saw us both glancing his way. Then he smiled, still looking. My eyes met Fan's, we both giggled. "See, that's what I mean Isabelle, everyone looks at you." She looked a bit more serious. "You're not having a problem with Kam are you?" Her hand touched mine. "I'm not being nosey Isabelle, I like you, just, I know you don't know much about guys, so if I can help, just ask, okay."
I nodded, touched. "Thanks Fan. It's just, I love Kam, I know he loves me, but ..." I blushed.
Fan giggled. "You want him to fuck you more, right?"
I blushed even more, nodding my head. "I try to encourage him, but honestly Fan, I don't know what I'm doing wrong, I mean, I'd die for Kam to do it to me seven times in one night." I almost shivered at the thought. Three had been heaven. And then... Nothing.
"I mean, a couple of nights ago we made love three times in a row and then ... nothing."
Fan squeezed my hand. "Was there anything different? Did you do anything you don't usually do? Dress differently? Act differently?"
I must have blushed. Fan looked at me, tilted her head, giggled. "See, you know something was different. Whatever it was, try it again... No, don't tell me ... Just whatever you did that got him excited, try something similar and see if it works."
I nodded. Yes, I remembered Kam's excitement when I walked out of the apartment in that dress, how excited he'd got over that American's business card. Hmmmm.
"Thanks Fan, I will." I smiled. Tonight, after Kam got back for the airport.
Fan's cellphone sang. She looked at it. "Mei-mei. Excuse me a minute Isabelle." Then she was on her phone chatting with one of her friends. I watched the passersby, idly sipping my coffee. It was fund trying to figure out what they did from the way they dressed and walked. Most just typical but every now and then, mixed in with the crowd, you see those girls, the ones who make you feel inferior. Perfect hair, perfect skin, perfect makeup, perfect boobs, long silky legs, tall and slender and good looking, all perfectly packaged in clothes that show them to glossy perfection. I saw one.
She had "fuck me" written all over her.
She was beautiful. She was the kind of girl I'd always wanted to be. Confident, sexy, self-assured, the sort of girl that made boyfriends stop talking to their girlfriends, husbands ignore their wives and turn their heads to look at. She was so comfortable displaying her body, so confident, so aware of her attractiveness and so natural in the way she carried herself. Her legs moved with a sleek smoothness, she exuded sensuality, she drew eyes like a magnet. Even mine.
I envied her.
What was it like to be her?
She looked the same age as me. Was she married like me? Or was she single? I watched her as she glanced over past Fan and I, waved, smiling, turning and walking past us, sitting down at a nearby table with a group of young men. All young and handsome, all flirting with her. I'd never flirted like that. I didn't know how to flirt like that. I'd never even had a boyfriend until I met Kam and Kam had swept me off my feet. I'd never flirted like that. I'd never had the courage. And now? It hit me like a blow.
I was married.
I might look good but I would never be able to flirt with other men like that girl. I would never do what that girl was probably going to do and fuck a drop-dead gorgeous guy just for the sheer physical pleasure of it. I'd never dress like her, advertising myself sexually, putting myself on display to attract men. I was attractive enough, I knew. Physically, probably more attractive than that girl I'd been watching. My boobs for example, were far better looking. Large, perky and firm, Seoul boob job gorgeous but entirely natural. No, it was all in the mind, I knew. I was as good looking as that girl.
I looked at Fan, still talking. She wasn't as good looking as I was but she more than made up for it with her personality and her style. Her clothes as well. The clothes and the makeup made a huge difference. That and the attitude. I remembered again how excited Kam had gotten.
"What are you thinking about Isabelle?" Fan interrupted my thoughts. She'd obviously finished her call.
I made up my mind in an instant. "Want to come clothes shopping with me?"