The Story of Ah Lim

Ah Lim is my business partner, also an occasional reader of my blog. He has a female friend, an ex-collegue, whom he has been dating regularly. They go dinner, drinks, movies, spa, shopping, etc...what most dating couples would do, except that they don't hold hands, because betwen them, it is just friendship. They know each other for more than 5 years and when Ah Lim quit his job, he still continue to keep in touch with her. I find it rather difficult to maintain a friendship status with a female friend, if I were to date her every week, but Ah Lim is able to withstand temptation. Years ago while working as a sales director in a IT company, I had a marketing manager worked for me. Due to our nature of work, we travelled together quite frequently, and without knowing, I actually fell in love with her. I stepped on the break when the idea of a divorce crop up in my mind. I was getting too emotional with the relationship. Today I still meet her once every few months for coffee, and that is it. I no longer have the kind of feelings for her.

Back to Ah Lim...whenever he had a date with his female friend, he would become excited and told me about the date with his "girlfriend". Maybe Ah Lim envies that I have a 亲爱的, so he felt something is missing in his life. One day, I told Ah Lim. "You've been dating your girlfriend for a long time, and nothing happens. Don't you think you're wasting your time and money? What if she actually likes you and is waiting for you to initiate? After-all, she is still a girl, so don't expect her to make the first move. You have to make progress during your next date. Make it or break it!"

Last week I was in Shanghai. When I got back to my hotel room in the late evening, I received this MSN from Ah Lim:

26-May-09 12:58:32 AM Ah Lim got some latest update
26-May-09 12:59:53 AM Me what?
26-May-09 1:01:26 AM Ah Lim wife around , wait a while
26-May-09 1:01:38 AM Me sigh
26-May-09 1:02:16 AM Ah Lim did not fail u in your expectation in the last discsuuion
26-May-09 1:02:26 AM Me oh..what's the progress?
26-May-09 1:04:19 AM Ah Lim k , now can talk
26-May-09 1:04:37 AM Me wat progress?