Food, Drinks, and catching up with old school friends. What could be more perfect?
I didnt know Suntec underpass was ready so it was a big pleasant surprise. Next, I didnt know there had a new extension near the road and so the increase in new restaurants was another big surprise. In fact its so alien to me that I actually got lost. Crap right?
We ended up at "Oosters" for dinner and mussels was really good. Just as we got seated, this little girl sitting inside and seperated from us by a glass panel decided to befriend us. Ok, I aint good at reading lips but she was good. Eventually, she scooted out of her booth and came out to chat with us. She definitely wasnt a shy sheltered kid.
It was fun initially and she was pretty, but after a while, she did get abit overboard and tiring. E made the mistake of starting a tickle game and little Gladys was kinda rough. We tried to get her to stop but I supposed she wasnt told off very often at home and got her ways most days, so she wasnt exactly pleased when we said we wont play anymore if she persists. Strangely, her dad didnt seemed to care where she was, and whom she was chatting up with. Granted it's singapore, but still, child kidnappers are real. At one point when we realise she was missing, we actually got concerned but her dad actually waved us "ok" and continued his drinks with auntie Jessie, with mum absent... It was only when we found her at another table that we could relaxed.
Little Gladys kept coming back and wanted to play hide and seek. It was alittle disrupting to our conversations but we obliged her. At some point, she even brought her godfather and his gf and introduced us.
The strangest part was when I walked off to balaclava to meet another friend who was joining us, little Gladys took off and ran after me. I didnt think her dad even realised she was gone with me for a good 5 mins completely out of his sight. As we were walking, she suddenly reached out and held my hand. Surprised, I looked at her and she said "I like your hair." I smiled and told her "I liked yours too." She smiled.
While standing outside Bala, little Gladys suddenly wrap her arms around my legs and looked up at me as if telling me not to abandon her.
I felt strange. Not because all the guys at Bala was staring at me with this cute kid clinging onto me, but rather, strange because I didnt quite know how to react to that stranger's child hug. I am Not very good with kids, in fact I generally do not quite like kids unless they are very well behaved and cute. So I merely patted her head like what I would with a pet dog hoping to assure her.
For a minute there looking at her, I felt sorry for her. She's a nice kid but I think she is sadly attention deprived and I am not sure what sort of parents she had. I recognised the look of surprise on her when I called her "darling" at some point of our conversation. She said "Did you just call me darling?" I said "yes" and she gave me the brightest smile.
My friend came and initially he was laughing at me and my little friend. He was surprised when i revealed little Gladys is actually a complete stranger.
As we were walking back to Oosters, Gladys started talking about witnessing this "auntie not wearing a bar and an uncle putting his hand under the shirt and pinching the bra ( i think she meant breast.) My friend and I were shocked. We didnt know what she saw or who she saw. I was rather concerned and asked if the uncle tried anything funny with her. thankfully he didnt. While I was telling her never to allow any uncle or brother to touch her and to tell some adult if it happened, she replied happily that she knew and would "kick the pee pee" if it happens. I laughed at her ernest reply, though frankly, I doubt she could overpower any adult with bad designs on her.
I brought her safely back to her dad's table. Apparently no one realised she was gone. We decided to head to harry's instead because the group agreed little Gladys was getting abit too much of a responsibility for strangers like us.
As I was waving bye to little Gladys, she paused and ran towards me. I squatted down so that she could give me a bear hug and I kissed her goodbye on her cheek. I am sure I wont see her again. I wont judge her parents. The dad seemed like a nice decent chap but I certainly wished my little stranger Gladys all the best as she grows up.
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