The Idyll of Spring

Despite the sweltering heat creeping in with February, it has been a bit of a spring idyll these days for us.

And by us, I mean Charming Calvin and me. He came back to his hometown a while back several days before Chinese New Year and I took an early flight back here to join him.

Which means lazy golden afternoons with me on the couch idly rifling through the pages of my latest book Getting Genki in Japan while Calvin fiddles around with my new sets of Lego building his very own empire. Whiling away our time in each other's company while the radio plays a peculiar mixture of sentimental Mandarin weepies and swinging jazz. Every once in a while, I swipe him with my hardback and steal a kiss from him, messing up his shockingly methodical approach to Lego brickbuilding. He mutters a complaint but gives in anyway, putting aside his carefully arranged bricks - by colour, size and uniqueness - for the moment.

All horrifically domestic.

And yes, awfully nauseating. Enough to make me hurl in disgust if I were the unfortunate one looking in from the outside.


Flowers are romantic, aren't they?
Which I am sure Calvin's mother, Madame Borgia, wished she had. Of course if she had been within such close quarters playing reluctant chaperone, she would probably have had me bludgeoned instead. Having Calvin come over as often as he has the past few days certainly irked her to no end - especially since our conservative Madame must have dreamt up all sorts of horrifically perverse scenarios starring her vulnerable son and his scheming gay ravisher.

Not knowing that we were both relatively involved in surprisingly benign PG-13 tasks. Certainly can't get more family friendly than board games, Korean dramas and a set of Lego!

Probably not the kind of indoor games Madame must have imagined us playing. As it was, our wily Madame Borgia still managed to keep tabs on our daily activities.

Madame : Son, where are you?
Calvin : I told you I was going out with Paul.
Madame : Will you be having dinner back home?
Calvin : This is the second time you've asked me this but no.
Madame : Just checking. Showing concern you know.
Calvin : That's alright.
Paul : Tell her I'm busy licking that tiny indent in your belly button.
Calvin : I'll tell her no such thing.
Madame : What is that? Did Paul say something?

Her excuses were starting to run thin so she quickly dispensed with valid reasons to call after a couple of attempts. No doubt in a failed bid to stop wicked me from ruining her innocent progeny.

Paul : You think she might have hired a spy?
Calvin : Don't think she has reached your level of insanity yet.
Paul : True.