Chapter 18: You Can Keep It

Tristan and Jessie had not met since the events of the past Valentine's Day. They were both naturally workaholics and therefore stayed busy. Tristan was busying himself with the World Trade Center project, and Jessie flew to Europe and stayed there for an economics forum. It was not until over a month later that Jessie called Tristan and asked him to meet at the gym. Tennis was her favorite sport. First, the outfit could highlight her prominent feminine shape; and the movement was both elegant and lively, which could display her youthful side. Jessie was a good player and was confident in both her appearance and skill, but today she was out of form and had serious errors, obviously incapable of displaying her full range of skills. Tristan remarked of her casually, "You are under par today. Why is that?" Jessie said she had been tired lately. The high-intensity job of live shows made her physically exhausted. She also felt fragile mentally when she was exhausted. Like most women, she hoped there was a man to lean on at this point in her career. The one she had expectations of, however, seemed to her like a saint instead of a normal man. After a few sets, she won fewer than she lost. She knew that Tristan let her win sometimes. Her self-esteem made her more depressed. And to make things worse, they met a friend of Tristan when they took a break. He had a young girl by his side, not more than 20 years old. Her youthful face and tender skin increased Jessie's sense of crisis. Two years ago, she could carry on despite the presence of these kinds of ignorant girls, but she started to feel that they were threatening her today. Jessie had Japanese food for lunch and probably ate too much sashimi with wasabi, thus on their way back, she felt extremely parched. Tristan handed her a bottle of purified water in the car, but she shook her head. "I don't like this, too plain." Tristan laughed and said, "It is healthy." But she insisted, "I want to have yogurt." She was acting coquettishly, but it seemed to be working. There was a supermarket ahead, and Tristan pulled over the car and went out to buy yogurt for her. Jessie was complacent inside while she waited in the car. If she knew the consequences of this move, she would probably be deeply sorry. It was a small supermarket with two cashiers at the door. Inside, the atmosphere was surprisingly joyful. A young man was telling a joke while sorting through merchandise, and girls in uniform giggled at his joke. Tristan scanned the beverage aisle, but most of the products were public brands. Eventually, he picked one yogurt that looked barely acceptable and went to the cashier. The cashier had a ponytail and wore an apron printed with the supermarket logo. She was bending down, sorting the drawers. When he came close, she raised her face and smiled. The two cute dimples on her cheek were distinct in the sunlight. Their eyes met, and they were both struck dumb. The smile on the girl's face stiffened, and her fair face became even paler. Tristan feigned calm immediately, pretending nothing had happened. He passed her the bottle. "I want to buy this one." The girl with the dimples got her senses back and took the yogurt, slightly trembling. She scanned the barcode and said without raising her head, "sixteen dollars." Tristan took out his wallet and passed the cashier a fifty-dollar bill. She stretched her fair hand and took it from him and hastened to get change for him. She dropped the coins on the floor by accident. The coins hit the tiled floor and gave out a crisp sound. She bent down to pick them up. Tristan stared at her silently, but when she rose up, he said, "You can keep it." And he walked out of the door. Kate looked at his back as he walked out, got into his big black sedan, and drove away. She took a long breath. It never occurred to her that they would meet again in this way. The city was still not big enough, way too small. "My God, Kate became a nympho finally." And there burst out laughter from the back of the store. Kate turned around to find that everyone was looking at her. John had stopped telling his joke. Crap. They all saw what happened. She felt ill at ease, like she had been caught stealing something or one of her secrets being exposed to the public. They all took it as her being shy and stopped teasing her. Sarah sighed, "I saw that man when he entered. He was really hot, hotter than Brad Pitt." "Did you see his clothes? They are super expensive. Should be a big rich guy." Another girl named Jenny echoed. John curled his lips in contempt, "This kind of man changes woman every day like changing a diaper. A lower-class man like me is more reliable for women." "You? Stop putting adjectives before you. You can only narrowly be categorized into the man." Sarah retorted. Narrowly? John rolled his eyes. Suddenly Sarah cried out, "Wait. The way the man looked at Kate was suspicious." Kate's heart skipped a beat, and she heard Jenny ask, "What was wrong with it?" Sarah gave it a thought and said, "I don't know how to say it. It was like his eyes popped out and then nothing. But from a woman's instinct," she stopped playfully. "Kate, I think he had an interest in you. Uh, like in the movies, love at first sight, and rags-to-riches for Kate. You think he will come to our supermarket every day from now on?"