Imperfect Desires

"Can you play the piano?" asked Dylan and Darren shook his head. "Then go back to your work. You"re of no help to me right now."

Darren also wanted to concentrate on work but how was he supposed to do so with these two around? And oddly, both of them weren"t even stepping out to talk. Not like Darren wanted to leave his best friend alone with his girlfriend. That was usually a recipe of a disaster; Xiu and Dylan, alone.

Even thinking about it made Darren shudder. 

"Wait, you want me to teach you how to play the piano?" Xiu looked at Dylan weirdly. "Why?"

Dylan leaned close and whispered in her ear while Xiu nodded her head in understanding.

"Good idea, right?"

Xiu nodded her head again, "It"s good and romantic but isn"t it too troublesome?"

Dylan shook his head in reply. "It"s not called trouble. It"s my way of showing sincerity."

"Makes sense," agreed Xiu. "But why me? Shouldn"t you hire an expert as a teacher? You can"t afford me as your piano instructor."

"I can"t afford to mess with you either," replied Dylan and went on, "But I still mess with you."

"Indeed, you do." Xiu contemplated it silently while Dylan almost dropped on his knees pleading to her with his eyes. She was obviously gonna say yes, but it was amusing to see him doing this. So, she just enjoyed herself and took her sweet time before saying, "Fine. I"ll reluctantly take in a stupid student like you but I have a condition."

"I agree with anything. Whatever you want I"m willing to give," was Dylan"s abrupt reply which got Xiu even more amused. 

She looked at Darren who was giving her an inquisitive look, she smiled brightly in reply and winked at her boyfriend before telling her one and only condition to Dylan, "I don"t want anything. I"ll help you because I"m a good person. But you"ll have to call me s.h.i.+fu."

*Important note: "s.h.i.+fu" in Mandarin is written with different characters and it can mean, "skilled person", "teacher", "tutor", or even "father". The meaning depends on the strokes you used to write the characters. Additionally, there is a saying, "A teacher for a day is father for life", that"s why one of the meanings is "father".

"Never!" 

Xiu got up shrugging her shoulders nonchalantly, "Then forget about it."

Dylan held her wrist to stop her, "Can"t we come to another agreement?" Xiu shook her head in response, solemnly. Dylan hesitated for a long while before agreeing, "Fine! I accept you as my..." Xiu widened her eyes urging him to complete that sentence. Dylan"s reluctance was visible on his face as he muttered, "s.h.i.+fu."

Xiu patted his head, "Aww... That"s like a good student! You"re a fast learner. Your future might be bleak, this s.h.i.+fu will brighten it up for you."

"You"re really enjoying this, aren"t you?" inquired Dylan.

"Oh, I"m loving it." Xiu didn"t even bother hiding her grin of victory. Poor Dylan was being played on her fingers and he had no idea at all. "So, where are we practicing? I don"t have a piano."

"But I do," said Dylan in reply.

"You don"t even know how to play then why do you have it?" 

"When I bought the house, my interior designer said it"d look cla.s.sy."

"So, just because it looked good, you wasted money on it? There really is no limit of dumbness."

"Stop insulting me for once."

"I try but you end up doing something so dumb that I can"t help it."

*Ring*

Both Xiu and Dylan stopped bickering when they heard Darren"s phone ringing and turn to look at him simultaneously. 

When Darren got busy on the phone, Dylan slid close to Xiu and whispered, "Did he tell you that he"s going on a business trip?"

"What? When? For how long?" was Xiu"s reaction which Dylan had actually expected. 

"Keep your voice down!" Dylan shushed her and went on, "This was decided a week ago but he had been trying to avoid it. I guess he doesn"t want to leave you. But it"s an important exhibit and he needs to be there himself."

"He"s been avoiding it because of me? Why?"

"And then you say that I"m dumb. You"re no better," complained Dylan. "Of course because he doesn"t want to part from you. He didn"t see you for one day, and before you came, his face was like a wilted flower. But as soon as he saw you, he bloomed up again." He poked her head as he went on, "You have no idea how much you control not only his emotions but him as well."

"But I never try to come between him and his work," mumbled Xiu.

"I know silly but he already knows he isn"t able to give you more time because of his work. That bothers him a lot."

Xiu shook her head as she looked at Darren"s back and sighed, "He really is..."

"Strange? Weird? Crazy?" Dylan offered some words from his limited vocabulary which earned him a smack on his head from Xiu.

"None of these. He"s the best life partner one can ask for."

Dylan rubbed his head as he said, "Why do I feel like you just need excuses to praise your boyfriend?"

"Why can"t I do that? If my boyfriend is the best, I"ll call him the best. Where"s the lie?" She took a pause before adding, "Besides if you have a boyfriend like mine, anybody would be showing him off all the time. I don"t think I"m doing anything wrong."

"Well, to me it seems like you"re being a nuisance and you"re even making others feel self-conscious. Also, don"t forget with your praises will make girls" expectations of ideal men go higher how will normal men like me survive after that?"

"Don"t ask girls to lower their standard, you better raise your worth instead!"

Dylan gaped at her for a minute in silence and finally sighed in defeat, "I"ll see you tomorrow for our piano lesson. You better be on time."

"I"m always on time," said Xiu as she waved him goodbye.

"Tomorrow is Sunday. I highly doubt that you"d be on time," retorted Dylan knowingly.

"Wanna bet?"

Dylan stuck his tongue at her and left the room.