29. The Ram

“Call me Ishmael.”

~ Herman Melville (Moby Dick)

 

That was how he introduced himself, The Ram. Not in those words exactly.

Similar.

It was an introduction that made me very happy, until I realised he had quoted (in a modified way) the book. (I will explain my disappointment later.) Perhaps that was why I didn’t get the quote at first. Or I was tired and hopeful. Or I just was (am) not a fan of Moby Dick :p

Actually, the Ram does not really qualify as one of the Unspoken, Undeclared … Non-Uttered… ours was more a case of Wrong Place, Wrong Time, Wrong Circumstances to such an extent that even if we were the Right Person for each other, at that time, in those circumstances and being oceans apart, things could not work out.

I am happy to say, that we are still friends. And while I cannot figure out which Unspoken characters to write about next (without jeopardising friendships etc), I think I will write about the Ram.

Why? Because he pointed out, teasingly I hope, that he noticed he didn’t make the list, so basically he is asking for it :p And because I think we have reached a comfortable place with each other that the friendship will still be ok after I am done, and that there are still lessons to be learned from our story.

Ready?

28. One Year

It has been almost a year since my last post (life has a way of keeping me occupied), and much longer since I last had a connection/communication with Mr SG. However, I guess if you have a certain closeness with someone, it is possible to have some sort of psychic connection with them.

Of late, I have been dreaming a lot about him, even though in wakefulness I have not spared a single thought in his direction.

And it is because of these dreams that I thought to revisit this blog, and saw the message that it has been a year since I signed up here.

Time flies.

27. Business as Usual

“Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.”

~ Dr. Seuss

A couple of weeks after I settled into my new home, and got the internet properly set up, I went through my email notifications for news about Mr SG’s activities. I found that I felt no resentment towards him and reading the articles just seemed “natural”.

I continued to add on to the repository and saved images individually. When I had enough images, I emailed them to him labelling my emails with numbered subject headings, so he could figure out the set.

While in the past he would acknowledge having received a complete set, ever since that last meeting where I didn’t take a photo standing next to him, he just didn’t respond. I learned not to expect it.

There were some articles that did not sit well with me. He was becoming more involved in politics and some of the media pieces became more intrusive and not really newsworthy. Where I had an opinion, I wrote him. I cautioned him about how he was being presented, advised what I could for future reference and hoped he saw it not so much as nagging but a silent partner watching his back and being the voice in his head. If he read my emails.

It was not all hunky dory in celebrity land and I wondered if he ever thought that he had bitten off more than he could chew. As a demonstration that I harboured no hard feelings for things said in the past, and that I could set aside whatever personal affections I had for him to maintain a working relationship, I offered an olive branch.

It was about 5 months after our meeting as colleagues. The silence having started even before that. I sent him an email, said what I had to say about what I read, and offered him my ears as his sounding board whenever he felt he needed an outlet. While I stated that he need not reply to that email, I ended it with a proposal to forget what had been uttered and to pretend that none of it took place.

He replied a few hours after. His reply was simple: “Thank you” for the email and that he “appreciated it”. That was how we broke his silence.

Months after that, his PA had informed me that he was planning to visit my home country. He had asked if my family was interested to attend the formal event being held, for which he was the invited guest speaker. I extended the invitation to my sister and asked her to spread the word.

Unbeknownst to me, my family met him not only at the event venue, they also sent him off at the airport.

During the event, the sister who had met him before was re-introduced to him. He recognised her and in his opening address, she said he spoke of how good it was to see the familiar faces of people he regarded as his family. He then looked in the direction of my sister and the other members of my family.

How unfair is that??? They, he considered as family. Me, a colleague. If I had not had affections for him, I would have been very angry. :p

My family saw him leave at the airport and my eldest sister said he had taken the time to meet with them first before he left.

We continued to communicate through emails, snail mail for a few years after. I could still ask him what I wanted and when it counted, I always got a reply.

He eventually got engaged to the girl who had made an appearance by his side, as his date, at a community event. Mutual friends reassured me that I was better off. They got married in one of the most publicised wedding ceremonies for that year.

He was my Facebook friend for a while too but I had the strange suspicion (with less than concrete evidence) that she checked on my wall using his account. I promptly removed him from my friends list and was annoyed that he had allowed for my privacy to be compromised. I don’t think he noticed the disconnection. Most of his posts are probably updated by his PA.

 When their first born was delivered, I made the conscious effort to stop contacting him. I left it open to him to reconnect – I keep the same email and that was the most common way we kept in touch, and he has my mailing address, if he kept it, if he ever wanted to.

I just stopped everything on my end.

It was not all that difficult to do.

26. Escape

“If I had not met him, I would not yearn for him. If I did not know him, I would not think of him so much. If we had not been together, I would not have to disappear. If I did not treasure him so much, I would not have so many memories. If I did not love him, we would not need to throw each other away. If we had not been face-to-face, we would never have been together.
Perhaps, if I had not met you at all…”

~ Hae Soo (Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo)

I arrived at the hotel safe and sound. Covered my mouth with the soft hotel pillow and screamed. No one heard, I don’t think.

It was hours yet till my flight, but I didn’t want to linger in the room and I knew I would not be able to sleep, though my eyes had stung from being kept open by my hyperactive brain.

I got to the airport early and loitered for the next few hours.

There’s one thing to be said about Asian airports – they’re good for those needing lots of space for aimless wandering.

It was too early to check in and I was not really hungry to occupy a table at any of the restaurants there. I found myself a spot at the internet cafe and started yahoo messenger, and got in touch with my sister.

I told her what happened and she kept me company while I finished up the hour of online connection that I had purchased.

Then I went to the prayer room. I prayed. I sat for a while after my prayers, and thought of all that had transpired just hours before.

My sisters, both of them, bless their hearts, had dropped off their sons at my mother’s and met me at the airport. It was well past midnight but they were there waiting for me when I landed. We sat at a booth of the 24-hour eatery there and stayed all night chatting. They asked very little and listened a lot. I am so lucky.

I got home and cried what tears I had left.

I went back to work when the new week started. I focused on handing over what I needed to and tried not to think of him. While I was not expecting anymore communication from him, I could not help checking that stupid inbox for even the slightest encouragement. Thankfully, my list of to-dos was over-full.

Keeping busy (not by choice) was what helped me keep my sanity. I had too many things to do. Aside from a brief explanation to my closest colleagues (who had been cheering me on) why things didn’t work out, no further mention of him was made.

Then all too soon, my migration papers and details were confirmed and I flew out to the other side of the planet. It was the furthest I could have thought of going.

25. Colleagues

“They had no conversation together… but what the commonest civility required. Once so much to each other. Now nothing! …  Now they were as strangers; nay, worse than strangers, for they could never become acquainted. It was a perpetual estrangement.”

~ Jane Austen (Persuasion)

As  I was led to a table almost in the centre of the hall, I wondered if it would be better if he joined me sooner, or much later. Later would have given me some time to regain what little composure I had had and perhaps I could have made an excuse to not wait if I wanted to chicken out.

I didn’t really get a chance to dwell on it too much because he walked over from his group almost right away. I cannot even remember if I had a drink brought to me. I just remember he sat at the small square table with me.

The atmosphere was tense and uncomfortable.

He picked up the book that he authored, and I had brought with me, got a pen out and signed it. I then gave him the compilation of newspaper clippings from all the newspapers and magazines that I had put together in a book. It was a little messier than what I had done before but I had been pressed for time.

He flipped the pages but his cursory glance through the articles lacked the same enthusiasm that he showed the previous gifts.

We were both quiet. I didn’t know what I could say to lighten the mood. And he, I believe, didn’t know how to broach the subject I had written about. There was a business-like air to his movements that night.

I was silently willing him not to say anything… because somehow I knew it would not be a response I wanted or needed. Inside, I berated myself for insisting on being there. I wanted to just get up and leave and hoped that he would provide me with an exit. He didn’t.

Finally, perhaps he too couldn’t stand the silence anymore, he said that he appreciated what I had done. He said, he thought of me as a “colleague“.

I have always read how people said that they wished, at some point of embarrassment in their lives, that the ground would open up and swallowed them. I didn’t understand the analogy or how profoundly mortified  a person could be to wish that, until that night, at that very moment.

I remember nodding my head as I tried to find the right words to say that would make any sense and not make things worse. All I could do for several seconds was nod. I didn’t really hear if he said anything else, or maybe I don’t remember. It was almost like he was talking to no one in particular, he was looking down at the table as he spoke and therefore he didn’t see my nods. He didn’t seem to notice that I had not said anything.

I think I finally said, “it’s o.k. ******, it’s fine”.

Then he nodded and added, as if he was offering a consolation, that he thought I was very brave. I thought “huh?” and didn’t quite comprehend what he meant. Brave? I must have looked very puzzled because he explained, that he thought I was “brave for writing” what I did, for letting him know my feelings.

I don’t recall what I said exactly but I know I thought at least I have said what I needed to say. He seemed to think he needed to say more and all I wanted to do was to say, stop. Enough.

So I said again, “it’s o.k. It really is.”

He nodded and then we both got up and walked in opposite directions. Me towards the main exit.

As soon as I was out his sight, I sat on a stone wall and called X. I needed to talk. The driver who drove me there would have only just started his dinner and I didn’t want to make him come right away. A part of me needed to get away to figure things out and another part just wanted to crumble and cry. I still had the drive to the airport and a flight home to get through so I needed my wits about me, but my brain was all foggy and my heart, well that part of me was confused with feelings of disappointment, sadness and frustration.

I was a colleague??? Not even a friend? Not even an inner circle? After all that he shared, after knowing so much about him and his family and being included by the people he was close to… I was just a colleague? The outer ring that is just one away from the general public? Ouch!

Brave? That was my consolation?

I was his brave colleague.

Give me a medal.

24. Personal Circles

Colleague: [noun] A fellow worker or member of a staff, department, profession, etc

~ Dictionary.com

Back in the mid 90’s, I went to Japan on an exchange, friendship visit. As a part of that visit, to foster cultural understanding and appreciation, the organisers arranged for each delegate to reside with a local family for a night. Just so we understood how precious and exclusive a home-stay was to the Japanese families that were going to receive us, how much it was outside of their comfort zone, we were given lessons on what was normal for Japanese people, traditionally.

At one of those sessions, we were told how the Japanese maintain boundaries within which they place the different groups of people in their life. While other societies do the same, the boundaries tend to be flexible and can even be vague – friends can be closer than family, for instance. For the Japanese, the lines are clear and (fairly strictly) adhered to.

In the inner circle, there is the person and their immediate family – which may include paternal grandparents. They live in the same household and know about all the goings-on of that household. They share the most intimate “secrets” of the family/household, which they maintain as privileged information just among themselves.

The home is sacred ground, where they can shed their outer persona and be entirely themselves. No pretense, no masks.

The next circle out from that innermost one is where they place their friends, family, and family friends, and perhaps a close neighbour. These people may have an insight about the family and may have even been invited to the home.

Further out from that is the more superficial circle of colleagues, business acquaintances, and clientele. This group of people may hang out with the person (karaoke sessions, business dinners) and may meet with the spouses. Often they don’t get invited home and only know what they need to know. They will also know the person based on the personality he chooses to show – a front, polite, and stoic, laughs at the right time. They may never know the person as he or she truly is.

The outermost circle is everyone else.

Considering how we (the exchange visitors) are foreign to our host family, for them to agree to have us stay a couple of nights with them, that was really taking them out of their comfort zone, having to reveal their innermost secrets to perfect strangers, most of whom don’t even speak their language (we were all given a crash course).

In our culture, the lines are faint. I grew up with friends visiting our home and I have visited theirs. My sisters even had friends sleep over at our place and we have accompanied my eldest sister at her friend’s place when that friend’s parents were out of town. When we went for Quran reading lessons, we helped our teacher with her home food sales business – packaging, preparing the ingredients. We hung out in her home.

Sometimes, I think I forget that while I function on that faint boundaries principle with the people around me, there are others who maintain very fixed lines like the Japanese do.

23. Silent Treatment

“She was humbled, she was grieved; she repented, though she hardly knew of what… She wanted to hear of him, when there seemed the least chance of gaining intelligence. She was convinced that she could have been happy with him, when it was no longer likely they should meet.”

~ Jane Austen (Pride & Prejudice)

He was silent for a long time.

I thought then that maybe he had the impression that I didn’t like him, and that he misunderstood my interest.

My plan to migrate was materialising slowly but surely; it was weeks before my departure date and I was wrapping things up at work. I had 2 options. Leave things as they are and fly far away, or, make my feelings clear and see what happens (and then fly far away). Option 1 was the simpler thing to do. It was also safe.

Option 2 had all the risks, and went against everything, that until then, I had put up for the purpose of self-preservation. It could lead to rejection and everything associated with it (humiliation, awkwardness, broken friendship).

Past experience has shown me that Option 1 will lead to the potential mental stress of wondering “what if” and the regret of never knowing (and decades later writing a blog about all that :p), and I am a sucker for punishment (I have a strong heart – or maybe it is just numb from the abuse I put it through :p), so I decided to select its alternative.

I sent him an email to apologise for any possible misunderstanding I might have caused that evening. Then I explained how and why I came to connect with him and confessed my interest. I asked that he gave it some thought and time if needed and requested a confirmation either way.

He said nothing. He wrote nothing.

While waiting for him to respond to the confession, I continued with my contribution to his achievements. I updated the repository of news of his achievements and his website. I sent the updates to him for his approval. I got nothing back.

I had one last project to give him. (I noticed that none of the things I gave him were ever displayed. I know he showed the 2 volumes I gave him at the gathering to his father but there was also a portrait sketch that I have not seen since. I know he has received it since he acknowledged as much – others have also given him things like caricatures that they did/commissioned to have done of him, and other mementos, that went on a shelf of things his fans gifted him. What I gave him never made that shelf. I just thought, at that time, that what I gave was not good enough a likeness.). I thought twice about giving him the last gift but I had no use for it myself, and it would be a waste to just leave it laying around.

Bracing myself for a cold reception, I contacted his personal assistant and made arrangements to go to that place when he was going to be there.

When I arrived, the PA, who was supposed to have been there to meet me, was nowhere to be seen. I waited outside the building and saw Mr SG pulling up in a car driven by a woman I did not recognise. He walked into the place without noticing me. I should have followed my gut feeling and left, but it was an expensive trip I was not sure I could repeat soon.

I tried to contact the PA but did not have much luck. It was getting late. There was only one thing to do. I walked to the reception and said I had something to give him. They knew me and asked if I wanted to meet him. I could not really make out his expression through the glass wall of the attached meeting room.

As I was contemplating my next move, the guy ushered me in and told me to wait at a table. I did.

I should not have.

22. Who do you love?

“If I could but know his heart, everything would become easy.”

~ Jane Austen (Sense & Sensibility)

Before I continue with what happened after my huge mistake, and what other dumb things I did, there is something else I want to share. This is for those who know me, and know who Mr SG is.

In the very first interview that I read about him, it was reported that a very close friend of his stated he was not seeing anyone.

In one of the first few emails I sent him that first night we communicated, I said I found that hard to believe but was it true? He replied that he had a girlfriend for a year, and “in a couple of years”, he planned to settle down (with her, presumably).

That was one of the reasons I was lukewarm about the whole thing, at first, and continuing with the communication was more out of curiosity about the person, and how much I can do to get more information about him from the horse’s mouth. It was just a challenge. At first.

As his popularity grew, and more interviews were conducted, I tried to read between the lines of the many articles published about him. As someone who has had my own words quoted in the (local) newspaper, I know that what comes out in print isn’t entirely what was said. There were a lot of inconsistent information about his relationship status.

I eventually concluded that during the time that I was interested in him, and prior to my big mistake of offending him, he was not seeing anyone. Why? He said so himself, at the gathering where he took my number. He announced to all present that while he was “dating” the girl announced as his girlfriend, he did not have a girlfriend. As in, he just went out on dates with her. Also, in the article from the magazine he asked me to obtain, it was published that he was still searching for a significant other.

A source, who was probably closest to him, even suggested that it would have been o.k. for him to find someone local to the country he was training in … and the person surely would not have encouraged that if he was indeed already in a committed relationship.

What started as a challenge gradually turned to familiarity, and then, interest, after I felt convinced he was unattached.

 

21. Seasons change, as do people.

“But people themselves alter so much, that there is something new to be observed in them for ever.”

~ Jane Austen (Pride & Prejudice)

After the autographs were signed, and the photographs were taken, the members began to disperse… for some, it was an opportunity to strengthen new-found friendships based on mutual interest. Others came with friends, or family and just wanted to hang out. The younger members brought parents. There was also someone from the media – some local internet publicity person.

Mr SG retreated into his office to sort some things out and after he was done, he re-emerged. I watched him and saw him looking around. As he searched he called out the name he knew me by, and when I waved (I had not actually moved from my spot on the sofa), he nodded in my direction and said, “I’m leaving”. I smiled and said “o.k.” and asked that he take care. He then looked for the president of the club to say his goodbyes.

I stayed on to chat with the friends that I made through the group, helped with some of the packing, and then I too excused myself and made my way back to the hotel.

He texted me that night. That text, in which he thanked me for coming and for the gift, brought me to clouds higher than any plane did. I had a smile plastered to my face for a long time after.

All that time, right up to the moment his mission took place, I continued expanding the website I put together for him, which meant he kept in touch because I let him vet each section. Just before he took off, he actually requested I compiled the media pieces on him, so I also created an online repository separate from the website. I added materials from before, during and after his mission.

We had brief conversations on the phone. And I really mean brief. All but one of those conversations took place after I phoned him.

One time, just once, he phoned me.

I was in my office talking to my partner and we were chatting about him. Almost as if we had said his name once too many times that we conjured his presence, my phone rang. I had to re-check the caller ID when I saw his name. I confirmed it was the name I never expected to see, and the phone literally flew out of my hand… I had to catch it mid-air before it crashed to the ground.

You should have seen our faces – mine and my partner’s. She grinned as I cleared my throat. She might have whispered “quickly!”, I don’t remember now; both of us were concerned that he might hang up if I took a second longer to answer.

I was making all sorts of facial expressions as we spoke, because I was happy and nervous. My partner stayed in the room to listen. He spoke of the gift I made for him, and how his father wanted one of the 2 parts I gave. When I said “no…”, he assured me that he had no plans of giving it to him. I made a mental note to offer his father something else or maybe a smaller copy if and when I had the time.

He then mentioned that he was being interviewed for a magazine published in my home country. It was one of those you’d get by subscription only. And the only people I know who subscribed are doctors, dentists and lawyers … you know, for their waiting rooms. He asked if I thought I could get him a copy. I said I would try. At first it was difficult. A friend offered me her copy. I then found the publisher and they asked me how many I wanted. He was pleased to hear that when I updated him.

The publishing office staff said this one thing that I daren’t ask him about, even though I was curious too. She said, if he was the subject of the interview, “we would normally give them a copy/copies”. I made some sort of excuse and assured her that they were for him and she had seen me contacting him (to ask how many he wanted). I don’t know why he called me to ask me except, was that an opportunity for him to call without seeming too obvious?

Once I had the copies of the magazine, with extras for a couple of the other members, I called him to ask how he would like me to pass them to him. I mentioned my intention to meet with a few of the committee members that weekend and he agreed to meet me then. He told me to let him know once I arrived.

I flew to that city again that weekend, and went straight to his place of business. The other members of the committee were there too. It was to be my last meal with them before I migrated to my current home.

Unbeknownst to me, he had called the place around the time we were just gathering for dinner. He spoke to his staff and asked if I was there, when they told him I was, he asked to speak to me. The expressions of the people in the group were very mixed. I was very uncomfortable. If darts could come out of their stares, I would have been like a voodoo doll stabbed by several.

I went to the phone and confirmed with him that I would wait till he arrived. One of the committee asked why he had asked for me and not for them. I really didn’t know what to answer.

When he came, he sat with us and we chatted. He poured us some tea and continued being a pleasant host. I gave him the magazines, which he signed for us. He didn’t seem to have any plans other than to spend the evening with us.

Then I made a mistake.

You see, I don’t like photos of myself. I often find that I ruin the picture. I prefer to be the one behind the camera. So, when the group gathered for a photo with him, I took a few shots. He called for me to be in the picture and gestured that I stood next to him for it. I agreed in the end but the person next to him seemed comfortable there and made no attempt to change positions.  Awkwardly I stood at the end. I had hoped for another picture of just the two of us. However, his expression had changed and after that, he said he had to leave.

It might have been only my imagination but he seemed to have been offended.

He was cold after that, very cold.

He ignored all my emails and text messages, even though I tried to explain.

20. Is it all just my imagination???

“Elizabeth could not help observing… how frequently Mr. Darcy’s eyes were fixed on her. She hardly knew how to suppose that she could be an object of admiration to so great a man”

~ Jane Austen (Pride & Prejudice)

So. How exactly did I get it into my head that Mr SG might be harbouring unspoken feelings for me?

After that gathering, he returned to that faraway foreign country where maintaining communication was difficult. He continued with the emails and where it would save time and effort, he replied through the group.

Without disclosing the content of the email, I found he was opening up, but then that all might be just my perception.

We met again on a few more occasions. Mostly before he completed his mission, twice after.

On one of those occasions when we did meet, I had my eldest sister with me. The rest of the members spent time with him in another section of the room, separated by a glass wall. I was told that he had asked for me to join the group but one of the members wasn’t too keen. She had asked why I should be there when I was not even from their country. Catty.

Once they were done with the meeting, he rejoined us. Photo opportunity. We took one of him with my sister and then it was my turn. We stood naturally next to each other and our arms automatically went behind the other person. I was not sure where to place my hand and felt around for the back of the chair that was just behind him. I could sense his hand doing the same with the chair behind me. It was comfortably awkward. I liked that picture.

As he was about to adjourn to another group, where his friends and brother were, I called for our transport and left with my sister.

From different individuals, I have heard that he said positive things about me. It was to the point that some jealousy arose from the other members. I didn’t really care about most of them. I was older than they were and wasn’t in the running for “games”. He and I are of the same age, and perhaps that was why we got along. One girl introduced me to her mother and friends as Mr SG’s “favourite”. When I asked her why she had said that, she mentioned being told so by another person and also because of the way he spoke of me.

I called him over the phone once, he was on a vacation abroad. It was new year’s eve. Had he been home, I wanted to invite him to join my family for our celebrations.

On another occasion that we met, after his mission was completed, he asked that I stood next to him as he looked at the gift I gave him. He asked for my number.

I had his number but he never saved mine, until that night.

It was another formal event. The atmosphere was a complete opposite compared to the first one I regretted attending.

While he signed autographs and took photos, I sat on the sofa right by him. We were not next to each other but we were close enough that I could see him and he could see me. He turned every now and then to look. Maybe that was just coincidence.

When almost all the guests had got their autographs and photo opportunity, I went to get mine (I have many but it was part of the event, so I was happy to have more). When I went to stoop down next to him (he was seated and though he was tall, I didn’t want to appear like I was towering over him), he stopped me and said he was going to stand.

We stood next to each other yet again. This time our arms went around each other spontaneously. The photo was not taken immediately. He was talking to someone on the other side, still holding on to me. When we were ready, my friend took the photo for us. She took 2 shots.

He then sat down and asked me to whom I wanted the autographs addressed. (He knew I had many already :p). I gave him a couple of names and then he asked, “who else?”. It seemed to me that he did that to keep me there. When he asked for more names, I asked if he would mind if I called my sister, to see if she had any requests. He agreed. I even let them talk to each other on the phone. All that time, I stood next to him.

We eventually stopped as other people were returning for more pictures with him. A group wanted a photo with him altogether and their photographer asked if he would stand. He said, “No.”. I teased and said, “Mr SG would only stand for me, right Mr SG?” and without hesitation he replied, “Yes.”

19. Mixed Messages

“And you overthink, always speak cryptically… I should know that you’re no good for me. ’cause you hot then you’re cold. You’re yes then you’re no. You’re in then you’re out. You’re up then you’re down. You’re wrong when it’s right…”

~ Katy Perry, Lukasz Gottwald, Max Martin (Hot N Cold)

 

The first day we met, I had flown to his home country after work. No one in my family or among my friends/colleagues knew where I went or was about to do.

I met up with the friend I made from the group, and the other members, who were also there to meet him. When we were finally introduced I was a nervous wreck.

We had already met his business partner and a number of his staff and we were shown great hospitality that I felt as if we (with the business partner and staff) had been friends for a long time. I tried to stay in the background as much as I could. I just wanted to watch him from a distance.

The group had actually gathered there to discuss fan club matters – membership benefits, freebies, and also the 2nd gathering that weekend. I didn’t want to intrude on committee matters so I stayed in the background. Once though I jumped in because he had said something and his partner understood it as something completely different. After I said what I did, he agreed that that was what he meant, and all parties nodded. After that, he looked directly at me for more than a few seconds.

When he sat at the round table so that he could pre-autograph the door gifts, one of the girls there had to go to another room to get something. He looked at me and asked me to sit in her seat, next to him. I was flattered but I could not do it because I knew the girl was returning and would then not have anywhere to sit. Considering she was there to work, I let her take priority. I gently refused the offer and hoped he was not offended.

When the preparations were done, we left the place and I took my flight home.

I flew up again for the gathering, but almost wished I hadn’t.

Where he was welcoming and acknowledged me during the introductory meeting, the one time I almost bumped into him at the start of the gathering, he walked past me and I felt as if I was invisible. I thought to myself, “ooooook…”

At the gathering it was all business, he posed for photos (it felt rather stilted), gave speeches and talked about his mission and training. Then all too soon, it ended. I didn’t like the air of formality that was all around that night. I had preferred that informal meeting, and even chatting with him in emails was far better than being at that kind of an event.

 

 

18. Getting to Know Mr SG

“It is not time or opportunity that is to determine intimacy; it is disposition alone. Seven years would be insufficient to make some people acquainted with each other, and seven days are more than enough for others.”

~ Jane Austen (Sense & Sensibility)

Since I was not able to attend the first meeting with Mr SG, I satisfied myself with reading about the event, looking at photographs captured by many of his “fans”. There was also a video recording.

Our correspondence continued both through the group messages and through email.

He was very forthcoming with information about himself. For the most part, the communication felt very official. It came out as very practised and vetted; as if he was cautious about the audience reading. However, there were times when I felt that he had more to say if only I read between the lines.

The style of writing alone revealed a lot about the man. The content filled in the gaps.

This was mostly how I got to know him. We had eventually met in person (will write about that in the next blog) but most of our communication took place online. Face-to-face, I was very aware of who he is, and there were always others watching and judging. We didn’t talk as much. I always wondered if that was why he sometimes seemed cold, if he thought I was not what I seem in person as I was via email.

I wanted to do something with all the information he gave me. I remembered setting up web pages when I was part of a chat community. The members there taught me the basics. I remembered enough and started a website for him. The information at first was sparse but when I showed it to him, he provided more detail and even included pictures whether or not I requested them.

I worked on that quietly, not quite ready to show it to the group. I was not sure how it was going to be received. I had not intended it for the public anyway; it was a gift for him.

The group that I joined, by the first gathering, became an official fan club for him. As a natural progression, a website was suggested and a graphics professional from within the group was asked to set up an official page for him.

The page was fancy, with bells and whistles that I could only say I have used, but never included in my pages. Still, at one point, he said he believed the site I created was ready to be shared. I did.

In spite of what happened between us afterwards, we had kept in touch through email… at least for a couple of years.