Surprises

the next morning, tammy was already wide awake and sitting at the counter with her daily dose of fashion magazines right in front of her. she propped her thin legs onto the seat beside her and lazed there, awaiting breakfast to be served.
"my my... tammy leong awake before nine? that's a first," timothy said as he walked into the kitchen. tammy placed her magazine down and stared at her brother.
"i'm always an early waker. it's just that YOU don't know it," she snubbed, pointing her finger at him, "anyway, where's breakfast?"
"i'll make breakfast. you want pancakes? i'm making shayna some before she wakes up. it's a surprise," timothy said, bringing out the pancake mix and a bowl.
"YOU make breakfast? now that's a first," tammy laughed, "but i'll take on the challenge to have a taste of your homemade pancakes."

"hey, i make good pancakes," timothy laughed, pouring out the mix and adding water and oil, "wait till you sink your teeth into these babies." tammy watched as her brother carefully mixed the mixture and heated the pan. he added chocolate bits into the mix because he said chocolate was what shayna liked with her pancakes. he even asked tammy to prepare milk for all three of them and specifically wanted one of the glasses to be lukewarm because shayna can't take cold milk in the mornings.

"she's sure something special for us to go through all these trouble," tammy said, warming up the glass in a basin of hot water.
"no... not really," timothy said as he looked at his sister and gave her a wide grin. tammy knew that grin anywhere. timothy's signature denial sign.
"right. and i'm stupid. please, you waking up early in the morning to make breakfast just the way she likes it... the signs are all there. my brother is in love," tammy said, going back to her seat and to her magazines.

"maybe i am. no one has ever made me happier. don't you think?" timothy said, pouring the mix carefully so it made the shapes he wanted.
"yeah..." tammy shrugged after thinking about the question for awhile, "... no one other than me."
timothy scrunched his nose at his sister, "you are egotistical. has anyone told you that?"
tammy laughed and leant back on the chair, "all the time, my brother, all the time."

***

after giving the ego princess her breakfast, timothy neatly arranged his breakfast surprise for shayna on the tray and carefully brought it up to her room. he knocked on the door gently, thinking that she might not be up yet.
"shayna? you awake?" he called out. but there was no response. timothy gently turned the knob and the door creaked open. shayna was still in bed, cuddled up with the comforter. the night had ben cold and shayna still hadn't got used to the weather yet.

timothy placed the tray on the side table and slowly crawled under the sheets with her. he carefully placed his arm around her stomach and kissed her neck slowly.
"wake up darling," he cooed, kissing her cheek this time round. shayna groaned a little and turned towards timothy before opening her eyes.
"what time is it?" she asked, smiling back at him.
"nearly ten thirty. i have a surprise for you."
"what is it?" shayna asked, still blurry eyed. timothy then presented her the breakfast in bed. she smiled and kissed him.
"this is so sweet of you. pancakes and warm milk... and these pancakes are in the shape of the letters of my name! how cute."

"i know it's stupid but i just wanted to make breakfast exclusive," timothy said, scratching the back of his head, not knowing what else to say and feeling a little silly.
"aww, it's gorgeous. i love it. would the chef wanna share it with me?" shayna asked. timothy nodded and cuddled up with her as she poured the maple syrup on the pancakes, cutting a piece and feeding it to timothy.

"did you make tammy some too?" shayna asked.
"of course. that little girl helped with the milk too."
"thank her for me. i really like this. maybe you should prepare breakfast for me more," shayna teased.
"hey hey hey! you should be returning the favour soon," timothy joked, nuzzling his nose on her neck. both of them laughed and after breakfast, they continued kissing in bed. timothy licked the syrup off shayna's lips, as though her lips weren't sweet enough for him. shayna liked the feeling of timothy close to her and cuddled closer to him.

"i could stay here all day," timothy whispered to shayna's ear.
"but we have a long day ahead of us. we have to get ready."
"do we really have to?" timothy cooed, making shayna's hair stand.
"stop it. you're getting too mushy... go and get ready. i want to see the campus."

timothy reluctantly left the room, leaving shayna lying on the bed. timothy was a great boyfriend but why does she still have reservations about him being the one for her? wasn't the saga with colin enough to tell her that timothy could be the one who could take care of her much better than colin? she didn't know what was wrong. in her mind, timothy and colin kept clashing... she had to forget colin but she couldn't. she had to love timothy with all her heart, but she couldn't do that either.

finally she buried her head in the pillows, trying to forget about them.

***

colin resumed work and he had never gotten more serious with work than today. everyone was afraid to get near to him because he was irritable and very particular about things today, especially today. when his secretary brought him coffee, he complained that it was too bitter. then when the new proposals came in for reviewing, he kept commenting on every single grammer, spelling, concept and theme errors. he scolded every single staff in the office today, slamming files and circling mistakes with his red pen. everyone was afraid of him, like students scared of their headmaster.

during their lunch break, the staff had their usual meal together and they would usually gossip and chit chat. today, all they could comment about was colin's attitude. they rumored it to his ruined love life, family problems or other issues. colin was the hottest topic in the office.

mr. tan came into colin's office to check on what was going on when he heard from his secretary about the matter.
"what's the problem now, dad?" colin said, too buried in a document to even greet his father.
"your attitude son. it's been getting bad to worse! you have scolded every single staff member under you! how do you expect them to work for you?"
colin looked up at his father and stood up from his seat, "my attitude? MY ATTITUDE? i scolded them for poor work and you blame my attitude? if their errors go unnoticed, your company would suffer, dad! i'm doing YOU a favour and you are scolding ME?" mr. tan was alarmed and rather surprised at his son's change.
"colin... i know you mean well for the company but you should think of the feelings of your staff."
"i have no time to think about their feelings. this is work. work has no feelings," colin spat.

"yes it does. you have been there. it's just that you changed since.... since shayna left." mr. tan didn't want to mention her name but it looked like as though he had to. colin went silent and bit on his lip. his father had hit the nail on the head. he then sat back down on the chair and buried his head in his hands before starting to cry.

"come on son. you are stronger than this..."
"i'm not, dad. i feel like the biggest loser in the world," colin said.
"you're my son. my son is not a loser. he gets what he wants but he also needs to learn to let go of the things he fails to achieve."
"i can't, dad. i love her too much. i feel like a fool."
"fools cannot make her fall in love with you again. you have to regain her trust by first remaking yourself to be trustable," mr. tan said.

colin looked at his father once more and saw the concern in his eyes. for the first time, colin buried his crying face in his father's arms. that caught mr. tan by surprise. colin never did that since he was five and now mr. tan felt so much love for his son once again.

"it's alright my son. just cry it out," mr. tan said, clapping colin's back and tried to make him feel loved, as a son.