Parents & Problems

"nothing really," timothy said, avoiding the question. tho he wanted to tell her about his feelings but somehow he could not say it out.
"well, whenever you're ready timmy," shayna said, patting him on the thigh., "let's go eat."
"you know, you're the only person that i let get away with calling me timmy," timothy said.
"i'm that special huh?" shayna said with a smirk.
"you wouldn't know how special," timothy said.

***

colin sat down with his father after dinner to look at the financial news. they had numerous investments all over the world and they need to be updated with the latest movement of the stockmarkets.
"so you think this would hang on?" Mr. Tan asked, pointing the remote at the television screen.
"i think so. the last i heard of this company, they were exporting their products all over the world and even trying to embark on it's investment in China and Russia," Colin commented, flipping though the newspapers.
"but i think we should invest in these instead," Mr. Tan suggested, pointing to another two companies.
"let's hold what we have now and see what happens overnight. i'm not really in the mood to discuss work right now," Colin said.
"what happened? girlfriend problems?" his father asked cheekily.
"not really. well, shayna almost became my girlfriend until... she decided we should start as friends first and now she's out with some doctor from the same hospital. huh!" colin spat, obviously terribly unhappy.
"son, you know that you are not the only eligible bachelor in town right?"
"still! it doesn't render the girl i like to be out with another one," colin replied.
"Colin, you have to woo the girl with all your heart and show her how she means to you. in the end, she will have to decide on which guy she would like better. i remember when i had to chase your mother... boy, it was tough!"

"dad. this is not the time to remember old times. your son is in relationship problems right now," colin said.
"not everything comes to you on a sliver platter. work for her. shayna is a very sweet girl. i can understand why other guys would be attracted to her. if i were younger...."
"DAD!"
"oh sorry. i'm sure you know what to do with your life, son. you're nearly 28." colin sure didn't feel much comfort though he had talked about it with his father. somehow he didn't want to work for her... they were meant to be together and they will be... soon... somehow... would they?

***

timothy and shayna returned back to their apartment block after a lovely dinner at an indian restaurant. it was shayna's first visit to an exotic restaurant and the food there was amazing although it was a little spicy and they had used many herbs and spices for the dishes. other than that, it was an amazing dinner.

"i had fun," shayna said as they arrived at the stairways.
"me too. we should hang out more often," timothy suggested.
"i'm not sure timmy. you should ask the girl you want to pursue out instead of me," shayna said, playfully slapping him on the arm.
"but i am asking her out... again," timothy finally said it. there was no better time he could think of. shayna stood there silent for awhile, she had to process what she just heard.
"god. i... i have to go..." shayna said, turning her body to dart up the stairs as soon as possible. she would rather choose avoidance than confrontation when it came to these things.

"shay, please. let me explain," timothy said, grabbing hold of her hand and urged her back. she hesitated but then turned back around to face him but said nothing.
"shay, ever since i broke up with Cecila, i haven't dated any other girl because i realised that the only girl that i ever could bond with best was you... and i let you go when i dated Cecila instead of pursuing anything with you. i regretted that and it took me a long time to find you back. it was fate that brought us together right? why don't we give each other a chance?"
"timmy... i... i... i don't know," shayna said, utterly confused and the thoughts weren't processing at all.
"i won't force you shay. if you are in love with someone else tell me, i'll forget everything," timothy said.
"i'm... i'm not," shayna replied, thinking that what she had with colin wasn't actually love... was it?
"then let us try... i know we can work well together," timothy asked again.

"let's take it one step at a time alright? right now i cannot see myself attached as yet. let's just work it out just being friends alright?" shayna said, thinking that was the best solution, being friends.
"ok. but i do hope you really give us a chance. i don't want to lose you shay. i really don't," timothy said.
"we'll see timothy. good night," shayna said as she bolted up the stairs.
timothy just stood there, disappointed. that was the first time she ever called him timothy to his face and he wasn't used to it at all. he wanted to be timmy to shayna, not timothy. that sounded too distant for him to handle.

***

shayna opened the gate to her house and darted into her room. she threw herself on her bed and started to cry. she didn't know why she was crying but she needed to relieve herself of all her problems now. why did she have to have two amazingly gorgeous and sweet guys liking her at the same time? there wasn't a choice between these two. they were so different yet so similiar. she was placed in a situation, either one or the other. she could not understand why she had to choose but she felt that if she chose one over the other, it would not be fair to the other one.

"shayna?" her father called, knocking on the door. she qiped the tears from her eyes and quickly blew out her nose. she checked to see if her eyes were red. she prayed her father would not notice.
"come in papa," she said, blowing out the final stuff from her nose and then throwing it swiftly into the dustbin.
"is everything alright?" Mr. Fong asked, frowning with concern.
"yeah.. everything's.... i don't know," Shayna said, breaking down again.
"precious, you know you can tell me anything," Mr. Fong said, hugging her.
"it's about colin and timmy," shayna said.
"oh i see. relationship problems..." Mr. Fong said.

"it's not really relationship problems but more of pre-relationship woes. i don't know which man to choose!" shayna said, stuffing her face into her pillow.
"gosh. they are two very good guys and i know both of them treats you well..." Mr. Fong said, "but i would have to say i know Timothy longer than i've known Colin."
"but that isn't the deciding factor, is it papa?" shayna said.
"oh no.. of course not. but colin was two-timing with you and his ex-girlfriend in the past and timothy could have changed a lot since the last time we've meet back when you were at college with him," Mr. Fong reasoned.
"precisely my point, papa. i'm really lost."

"let me guess, you went out with timothy today," Mr. Fong said.
"yeah i did. he said it was like a friendly dinner and it was... until just half an hour ago," Shayna said, hugging her legs close to her.
"he told you the feelings he had for you?"
"yes. and i actually guessed that he fancied me but i didn't really think much of it because i didn't want to be caught in this situation... and now everything's out in the open but i don't feel good at all," shayna said.
"shayna, you have to make this decision on your own. neither papa nor your mother can help you decide this one. we like both these boys. you just have to pick one you fancy more."
"but i don't fancy them more over the other. i like them both..."
"... but you can't have both. take your time to choose. have a good sleep and think about this tomorrow," Mr. Fong said, kissing her on the forehead before leaving her alone.

shayna lay on her bed, trying to get to sleep but timothy and colin's face keep appearing in her mind.