AAE SHOPPING FOR LOVE!
WRITTEN BY: MARGIE L.

San Mei slowly pushed her trolley past the rows of shelves until she came to the one stocked with the product she wanted. Her daddy had wanted a special sauce for the spaghetti meal he was fixing for her tonight. She reached into her jacket pocket for the piece of paper on which she had scribbled the name of the sauce. Reading the labels of the many sauces available, she could not find the specific one she wanted. Moving slowly backwards to recheck the labels, she suddenly bumped into a human wall.

The 'Ouch!' that followed was definitely male.

"Oh my stars!" She immediately offered her copious apologies. "I'm terribly, terribly sorry! Did I step on your foot?"

"I would say that's pretty obvious," her 'victim' replied dryly.

"Well, I'm sorry -- but you should have looked where you were going."

Xiang Zhe was flabbergasted! "I should look where I was going?" This lady was in the wrong but here she was placing all the blame on him. "Lady, you were the one walking backwards!"

"Alright then, I'm the one in the wrong." She did not want to waste time arguing with him. She opened her leather case and took out her wallet. "Here!"

"What's this for?" Xiang Zhe looked at the money she was offering him.

"To pay your medical fees for your 'injured' foot." She replied and placed the cash in his full trolley. Maybe he was one of those conmen; pretending to be injured to fleece their victims, she thought. "It should be enough." She left him standing there watching her with an incredulous look on his face. As she moved further away, she heard him chuckling.

San Mei took out her cell phone. "Daddy, I can't find the sauce," she complained. "Are you sure you last bought it from this place?"

Her father confirmed he did and told her to look again. He told her the sauces were placed on the highest shelf. So, San Mei reluctantly returned to the 'scene of the accident'. He was still standing there. She ignored him and tried to source for the item she wanted and found it. Standing on tiptoe, she tried to reach for it but it was too high for her arms to reach.

"Allow me." Xiang Zhe reached for the sauce. "Just one bottle?"

"Two please." San Mei thanked him and wheeled her trolley around.

"Wait!" Xiang Zhe returned the cash to her. "I don't need to see the doctor, so please take back your money."

"Even so, please keep it." She smiled slightly to show her sincerity. "I don't take back what I've given away."

He grinned. "Then can I ask you to pay me for a new pair of shoes instead?"

"What?" She looked down at his pair of leather shoes. They were so shining; she could see her face on them. "Are you an extortionist?" she demanded angrily. "There's not even a spot on your shoes. Talk about giving an inch --"

"Lady, I was only joking!" He took her hand and placed the money on her palm. San Mei felt a tiny jolt course through her body at his touch. "I don't take what does not belong to me."

He smiled at her and continued wheeling his trolley to the next aisle. After going a short distance, he turned back and waved at her.


****


"Ms. San Mei, Mr. Yin's secretary is on the line." The telephonist then put the call through.

"Ms. Zhen, I'm Xiao Yin. I'm sorry but the appointment for today has to be postponed."

Apparently, her boss has to travel to England on short notice and will be there for two weeks.

Two weeks? San Mei was disappointed. She has been banking on clinching the account with XZ Yin's company. Boasting of having a big client like WR Consultancy would put her company in the spotlight.

"I hope it's not some family emergency?" Perhaps one of his parents was ill? She asked the secretary with concern. She had learnt earlier that his parents live in England.

She heard someone speaking in the background.

"No, it isn't. Don't worry." Xiao Yin assured her. "Mr. Yin would like to speak with you."

A pause, then a male voice took over.

"Ms. Zhen? This is Yin Xiang Zhe." San Mei thought she has heard the voice before. "I'm really sorry about the postponement. We have a crisis at our affiliated office in England, so I have to fly over there right away."

"I hope it's something that can be resolved soon," she replied. "Don't worry, we'll fix another appointment when you get back."

"We haven't spoken before but I thought you sound familiar. Have we met before?"

"Today is supposed to be our first meeting."

"Tell you what. I can still study your proposals if you can bring them over to me at the airport straight away. I can read them when I have time."

San Mei thought it was so considerate of him to offer. They exchanged cell phone numbers and arranged to meet in front of the departure lounge.

Unfortunately, the traffic from San Mei's office was excessive. She was still stuck in traffic some 40 minutes later and had to call XZ Yin to tell him not to wait for her. He said he would get his secretary to set up another appointment when he returned from England.


****

"Girl, come look at this fish." Zhen Gui Cheng beckoned his daughter.

San Mei laughed. "What's so interesting about the fish that I have to look at it?"

"Don't be sassy!" her daddy chided her lovingly. "I want to teach you how to buy the freshest fish. The only fishes you know now are the ones on your drawing board."

"Daddy, how could you insult me like that?" she chided her father back. "I know you're a famous chef and all, and I'm not what you'd call a good cook, but I do know how 'a long dead' fish looks like."

"A long dead fish wouldn't even reach the supermarket." Her daddy knocked gently against her temple. "You better stick to your crayons and leave the cooking to me."

"Hello, we meet again."

San Mei turned around. "Oh, it's you."

Zhen Gui Cheng's reaction was a vast difference from his daughter's. "How nice to meet you again."

"Daddy, you know him too?"

"Mr. Yin's one of my regular patrons," Gui Cheng replied. "You've both met before?"

"We had a previous clash at this supermarket." He laughed at Gui Cheng's puzzled expression. "Please, just call me Xiang Zhe."

Mr. Yin? Xiang Zhe? Isn't he the Yin Xiang Zhe she was supposed to meet more than a week ago?

"Ok. Xiang Zhe, this is my pampered little girl, San Mei." Xiang Zhe and San Mei looked at each other and laughed.

"You returned earlier than expected," San Mei responded first. "Has everything worked out alright for you?"

"Thankfully, it has. That's why I could return home so soon." He smiled at her. "I was going to call you on Monday."

"So soon? I see you're not those who need to recover from jet lag."

"What's going on here?" Gui Cheng could no longer rein in his curiosity. "You're both talking like long lost friends."

Xiang Zhe told Gui Cheng about his 'amusing' meeting with San Mei and their doomed appointment.

"So when you arranged to meet, you did not know that you were actually acquainted?"

"Daddy, we were not really acquainted since our first meeting started off on the wrong footing."

"Wrong footing?" Xiang Zhe laughed. "That's a good pun!"

"Well, it sounds as you were both fated to be friends." Gui Cheng said.

"I strongly believe in fate." Xiang Zhe nodded his agreement. "Who knows, 'Fate' has even destined something more for us?"

San Mei blushed at his insinuation. Her eyes, however, told him she liked what he was suggesting.


THE END!!