Bluek - part IV

Shadows flitted across the table, warping into faces and sometimes streching into limbs that collided around each other. I blinked my eyes rapidly, unsure whether my eyes had been close or open, whether i was concentrating or zonking. After several minutes of blaring music and loud singers in the background, i started to feel irritated. I looked at my watch so many times i thought it was not moving. Undauntedly, i picked up my chopsticks and wiped them over and over again. It was most unscrupulous, i thought, for a guest to be left in hunger. Where is my food?

I scanned around my table and sat up straight. The old man opposite me was obviously thinking about the same thing. He was not even sitting up straight anymore. Poor man, i smiled at him sympathetically. He nodded and shifted his spectacle that was sliding down his nose. Somehow i realised he was a dangerous man.

A few meters away, i saw food coming. Immediately, i lifted my chopsticks again and stared at that empty space i knew would soon be replaced by a plate of dish. I can feel the tension and cold sweat dripping as the old man touched his chopsticks. I looked at him intensely. He had much silver hair on his smartly combed head. His ears were big and long and his eyes, steady and dark. It was not until i saw a mischievious turn on his thin lips that i realised that food had arrived and was just right in front of me!

I quickly stood up to get my share. I took one bowl after another until it was the last green brocolli left on the big purple plate. Just as i was about to reach for the brocolli, the old man extended his chopsticks and took it away hastily. I was flabbergasted!

I looked hardly at him but he was very protective of himself. He did not look up until he finished his brocolli. Finally he lifted his eyes and nonchalantly wiped his mouth. Without a trace; without a sound. He looked innocent and stoic. Indeed, i was not wrong when instinct told me he was a dangerous man. He had claimed a silent recognition in this battleship.