HI everybody. Finally this is the conclusion to the story. Its a long conclusion about 5000 words. Without further delay, let me unroll the final part of this story.
The story finally concludes...
It was another busy Friday night. As we went about our usual dance routine, I glanced around. There were a lot of people. I scanned around for familiar faces as I looked from the left to the right. As I was about to look at the right hand side from the stage, I was given a thousand dollar sash as the pop sound from the confetti spray came. As the flower girl pointed to the right hand side from my view, I was shocked to who gave me this sash, but I had to carry on dancing on the stage and to remain composed. Many pair of eyes also looked at his direction.
He was not Chris. He was not Alex. He was George. My heart sunk to the deepest abyss of the ocean. My past had finally caught up as he eventually found me in here.
“He gave you a one thousand dollars sash. Why don’t you go over there to entertain him?” Mr. Fang questioned me as I was hanging around at the bar.
I did not even answer his question. I sulked at Mr. Fang and went over to the table.
“Hi, my name is Vanessa. What is yours?” I was aloof when I spoke to George pretending not to know who he is.
“Don’t pretend, Ling Ling. You know who I am. I could not have changed so much over these few months. It’s almost a year. My heart is still loyal to you. Please come back to Taiwan with me. I would not disappoint you anymore,” George started on his cajoling as I distributed the alcohol from his bottle over the two glasses, pouring a lot on my side.
“Drink up,” I took the glass and handed it to George.
I drank the concoction in my glass. It seemed bitter to the taste but yet it soothed my nerves. I gulped it down as fast as I can.
“Ling Ling, my father passed away one month ago. I sold a few businesses to reduce my responsibilities. Everyday, I tried to take you off my mind but I could not. Apart from drowning myself into work, my mind only had you. When a Taiwanese friend of mine told me that you are working in here, I immediately flew here to look for you. Please don’t go. I promise I would give you happiness and a very comfortable life. You would not need to work for the rest of your life,” George pleaded me as he grabbed my hand tightly.
I turned away to a direction where nobody could see. As it was a corner of the place, not many people could see us making a conversation. I tried to hold back my tears. My aim to come here is not just to avoid him, but to have a comfortable life ahead with my mother. I was afraid of his father, but I know that George is not the same as his father. He had also paid a price on his mistake of losing his wife-to-be.
“I want to propose to you right now at this moment. Would you take me to be your husband and go back to Taiwan with me?” George opened up a small red box as an engagement ring was planted in it.
“Don’t do it now, it’s very embarrassing. I am working now. Could we discuss about it later?” I hissed at him as I gripped firmly onto his hand. George seemed to want to spring out of his seat anytime.
“I have a boyfriend here. If things go well, I would marry him and stay with him in Singapore. He can take care of me. It’s not about money, George. It’s about whether we can click. The feelings for each other must be mutual. George, you know what I mean. My feelings for you had died in Taiwan there and then. I am sorry,” my words seemed to be rocks shattering the fragile glass into a million pieces.
“I will come everyday to prove my sincerity and I will not go back to Taiwan till you go back with me. Seeing you is the least I asked for right now,” his persistence did not move an inch of my stand towards him.
As I was walking to the toilet, Alex came. I was so delighted that I put my arms around him as a tear trickled down my cheek. Alex was taken aback by my action.
“What’s wrong with you?” Alex spotted that bead of tear on my cheek.
“Nothing, I am just happy to see you again,” I gave a white lie not wanting to let Alex know what happened.
As I went to the washroom, many thoughts meandered through my mind. I knew that being with George, I would have a very comfortable life. Recalling the times that we were happy together, he was indeed very good to me. He was right after all, I was not his mistress, not his lover. I am just his companion. It was just so coincidental that his wife-to-be is my best friend. My thoughts tangled with one another. No matter how much I try to straighten them, it was just too difficult. It seemed impossible.
That night seemed long. I tried to avoid George as much as possible, but in order not to avoid any suspicion from the management and my other colleagues, I treated him like other customers.
“You don’t look alright. Something must have happened earlier,” Alex initiated the conversation as I sat on his table.
“Nothing, can we behave like a couple today?” my request seemed strange in Alex’s ears as I spotted George looking at our direction.
As he put his hand around my waist, I leaned against Alex. I felt good as I gave him my glass and he drank half of it and I drank the other half. I looked around, only George was intensely looking at our direction. It was too far away to judge his exact emotions but I intend to play this game a little further. I kissed Alex’s lips for a full two seconds.
As I left his table, I purposely went to George’s table. The perturbation of his soul was not only in his posture, it was in the very eyes glinting with anger. Jealousy was etched in the lines above his brows. His mouth wanted to move to sting me with the first few words that came straight from his mind at that moment.
“You did that on purpose right, you. Who is he?” George pointed his finger at Alex’s direction.
“He is my boy friend. Can’t I have a moment of intimacy with him?” I knew that my words would send his anger bursting through the roof of tolerance he had all these while.
He left with a huff as he glared at Alex.
“Who is he? He seemed to be angry with you and me,” Alex was taken aback by George’s actions when I walked past Alex.
“He is just another disgruntled customer. It’s common. Maybe he likes me and he is jealous that I am close to you. It’s normal in here,” my lies through my teeth seemed convincing.
The days seemed harder to pass. George turned up everyday without fail. The one thousand dollar sash that he gave me everyday raised suspicion not only to my other colleagues but also to the management. They are curious what the background of that new generous customer was and his intention of doing that everyday.
“I want to make a request to go to another place to work. It would be better that I leave this country,” I confronted Mr. Fang as I could not stand it anymore.
“Ever since that mysterious man turned up, your popularity seemed to go up even more. Wouldn’t it be a waste for you to go just like that? I am also curious to what your relationship between you and that man is too,” Mr. Fang tried to reason with me.
“I cannot tell you. I hope you understand. I want to get out of the country. It’s my request. You can bring me to another country to work but you got to keep it a secret,” I pleaded with Mr. Fang.
“If you had not known, that mysterious guy called George had approached me earlier today. He knew that you are bounded by a contract. He had given me a cheque of twenty thousand dollars. You only have two more months left before your contract ends. This amount is more than enough to cover the damages for breaching the contract and your employment in here can be terminated immediately. If you do agree to it, I would terminate your contract immediately but there is one condition. You have to go back to Taiwan with him and I would not allocate you to another work place. He say you would know the reason to his actions,” Mr. Fang’s words seemed to send my world crashing down as I looked disappointed.
“I know you wouldn’t want to leave with him to Taiwan. Why not you continue staying in here, I think eventually George would give up and go back to Taiwan. At the moment, there are no other places you can go to anyway,” Mr. Fang seemed to have anticipated my thoughts.
I nodded my head reluctantly. I really do not wish to see George anymore. But I did not know where a relationship would be headed to with Alex either. I think I would prefer to be alone.
It was a Tuesday night. I prayed hard that George would not come tonight. I just did not want to see him or pretended not to see him if he was around. I am not worried so much for Belinda and Carol as they are coping well with their work so far. It was a vast improvement as compared to the first week when they came in. Ever since that lecture, Kelly was someone whom I slowly strayed away. She is a dangerous person who lurked around my shadows, ready to pounce at every opportunity.
As the night progressed, there was no sight of George. As George normally sat at the same table, I was looking constantly at that direction to see if he was there. He was not there. The table was empty even when there was a reservation sign on it. I felt relieved. Maybe he had given up on me after more than two weeks.
It was one in the morning. A group of youngsters were making some commotion as Belinda was there. I knew that I had to go over to help her.
“Belinda, what happened?” I was concerned as I saw Belinda frightened.
Before I could pull her away to ask her to explain, one of the youngsters walked up to me and stared at me.
“We just want to play around with Belinda, why do you want to disturb us?” he seemed to be threatening as he raised his voice at me.
“I just want to know what had happened. It seems like you are bullying her. I want you to stop what you are doing if not I would ask the management to investigate,” I ordered as a new found courage crept into my nerves wanting to protect Belinda.
“Fine, we would just drink. Its all because of you that’s why our fun is spoilt,” his voice was the same as I could see fury in his eyes.
“What exactly happened?” I was anxious as I pulled Belinda out and asked her at a quiet spot.
“We played five ten, then they cheated and they wanted me to drink all the time. Then when I drank, they mocked at me saying I am slow and stupid like a retard. I wanted to get out there after a few rounds, when you came,” Belinda explained.
When the night finally ended, Belinda and I walked out of the premises and into the alley towards home when we were confronted by that group of youngsters.
“Just now you did not allow me to have my fun. Now I would want to see where you are going to run to,” the same youngster who talked to me just now pointed the finger to me as the group surrounded us.
As the group closed in on us, I heard a familiar voice.
“If you lay a single finger on them, I would not be kind to you,” I was surprised that the voice belonged to George.
“You are looking for trouble?” another voice from the group projected out loud.
“Run away quickly. Don’t worry about me. I would know what to do,” George shouted out as his hands waved wildly.
As the group closed in on George, I did not know what to do. I ran off away from them with Belinda. My heart told me to help George, but my mind told me that its better we stayed clear.
As we headed home, I felt uneasy. Although I did not want to see George, I did not want anything bad to happen to him either. I hesitated in going back to find him.
“Sister, I think its better we go back to check out if he is alright,” Belinda seemed to have read my thoughts.
As I saw George sitting on the floor, the group of youngsters was questioned by the police and eventually taken away. He had bruises all over and there was slight bleeding on his left leg.
“Would you need me to call an ambulance for you?” one of the police officers offered but George shook his head.
“George, are you alright?” I was frantic as I looked at George’s injuries.
“I am alright. As long as you are safe, it’s worth it,” George smiled at me as he seemed to be pleased by what he had done.
“You are foolish, you are stupid. Why do you have to come here to look for me? You should know the reason why I would not want to be with you,” I rebuked at George even though I was holding his arm looking at how badly he was.
“I did not want that to happen. I agreed I was playful last time. You have lost your best friend, I have lost my wife. But that’s the past. When Karen lost her life, I have changed a new leaf. I want to be with you, only you. You are not her substitute. You are you. She is she. You two are different people,” George’s eyes were wet with tears as he grabbed my hand.
“Sorry George. Let’s end it here. Go back to Taiwan. If you force me to go back to Taiwan, you can have my body, my soul but you can never have my heart,” I did not even look at him and my voice quavered although I wanted to stay calm.
He let go of my hand slowly, his hand which held mine was trembling. I got up and left. Belinda did not know what to say as she was behind me all the time.
“I think you really mean a lot to him. Why don’t you give him a second chance?” Belinda said.
I did not bother to answer Belinda. I just walked on and I did not even want to talk to Belinda even upon reaching home.
I held my tears back as much as possible as I rushed to the bathroom. I slammed the door shut and locked it. Torrents of tears fell. As they hit the sink, I could hear the inaudible sound of the teardrops making their impact on it. I do love George after all. Even when he wanted to be my companion, I had fallen in love with him. I could not admit it to him. I did not have the guts to do so. He did make mistakes in his life which let me down but he had paid a dear price for it. A second chance is what I wished I could give, but by doing so, I am letting down Karen. She died for nothing. She hoped that she could find happiness but in the end fell to a bottomless pit of misery. At least she would not be able to express it out, I was not able to express out in words for her, for myself.
“Mr. Fang, I want to go to another country to work. I just want to leave here as fast as possible,” I called Mr. Fang upon waking up not long.
“There is a new club which opened about a month but it is in Tokyo. The boss is in need for more Taiwanese dancers there. Even though you only need to perform there, I believe that you might need to do more than just performing in there. It’s not a flower joint like that of your present work place, but you can earn a lot more in there. You can try out for a month or two. If you do not like the environment, you are always welcome to come back to Singapore,” Mr. Fang’s suggestion isn’t a bad one which was worth considering.
George and Alex did not come up immediately in my mind. It was my mother. Although I wanted her to come along, we do not have any relatives there. I would need to discuss with her.
“You are leaving, don’t leave Vanessa. I really enjoyed working with you,” Kelly seemed to appear from nowhere.
“There are some scores that I want to settle with you. You scheming woman, you used Carol’s phone to take videos of me and Belinda. I knew it quite a long time ago, just that I do not want to tell you. So don’t act like you are concern for me when you want to get rid of me,” I confronted her.
“Fine, I admit I did all these. Why? Because you always been stealing the limelight. Ever since you came, my popularity went down,” Kelly admitted at last.
“I wish I could give you a tight slap for your disgusting actions, but you are not worth that slap,” I stormed out of the room not even wanting to face her when I said that statement.
“Hi, aunt. I come to see mother,” I returned the smile as my aunt was delighted when she saw me.
“Mother, I would like to go to Japan to work. The pay is much better there, but I would like to know what is your viewpoint,” I held her hand as we sat next to each other on the sofa.
“Ah Ling, you are old enough to make decisions for yourself. Do not worry about me. Your aunt can keep me company. I am getting used to staying with her. Go to Japan on your own, I just want you to call me back every now and then so that I would know that you are doing well there,” my mother’s comments gave me mixed feelings.
“But we would miss each other. Sometimes I really cannot bear to just put you here with aunt,” I confessed to my worries but was quickly waved away by my mother.
“Just go, my child. I would be fine in here. I am getting used to the life in here. If I go to Japan, I would have to adapt to a different lifestyle. I am old already, I do not want to move around too much,” her assurance put me more at ease.
As days passed, Mr. Fang cracked the good news to me. I can go to Japan in a week’s time. That move was a big surprise not only to Belinda and Carol but to everybody. Even though most people persuaded me to stay, I stood firm on my decision to leave.
It was a Wednesday night just four days before I leave. I was in a happy mood as a lot of my customers were wishing me good luck before I left. Some felt sad that I was about to leave whereas others felt happy for me as I would gain more exposure in a foreign country which was much closer to home.
“I heard that you are going to leave soon,” Alex’s few words came when I walked to his table.
“I wanted to tell you, but I did not have the opportunity to do so,” I defended myself, which was the truth.
“When would you come back? I really hope that we can be together. I really miss you a lot,” Alex’s confession moved me a little.
“I understand how you feel, Alex. But I have to go to another country to work. This is arranged by the agent..” I stopped talking as he suddenly grabbed my hand.
“I am not stupid. That man who hang the thousand dollar sash almost everyday at that time was part of the reason why you wanted to leave. On that night, you did not even see me or pretended not to see me in here. When I left, I witnessed him being beaten up by a bunch of gangsters. I saw you with him. You two are closer than it seems. He is not just a customer that you know of. You knew him long time ago,” I did not know that he was so sharp and observant.
“Its ok, Vanessa. Sorry for telling you all these. I wish you all the best and I would cherish the memories that we had together,” Alex continued making me speechless.
“I should not have lied, but I am too used to saying white lies so that customers in here would not ask too much. I hope you do not get offended, really,” I could find any other more suitable words to say at that time.
“I understand,” It was only these two words that he said as he punctuated it with a light pat on my hand.
As the days passed, it was time to go to the land of the rising sun. As my auntie and my mother bade me good bye, I felt a bit sad leaving this country. I had met a lot of nice people in this country and also someone whom was quite special to me although he and I were not together.
“Hi, Vanessa. I am Mr. Yamato. Mr. Fang’s friend,” his fluent words of the Chinese language impressed me.
As he brought me to my room, it was small and which had only a mattress and a pillow, a cupboard and a few other pieces of furniture.
“Vanessa, make yourself comfortable as I would need to give you some instructions. From what I know of, you can speak a little Japanese. I have a guidebook for you to learn more Japanese words. Your stage name would have to be changed to Yumiko. This would be your name when you are working in your new workplace,” Mr. Yamato stood like a woodblock as the instructions rushed out of his mouth.
“Why do I have to change my name?” I was curious.
“Actually, you are supposed to change your name when you came to Singapore from Taiwan. But Mr. Fang allowed you to keep your name because that name is commonly used in Singapore too and it’s a nice name for a Taiwanese gal. This is Japan, so you have to change your name to fit into the local crowd,” Mr. Yamato’s explanation seemed to be logical.
There seemed to be a big boulder of obstacles to work in there. My limited vocabulary of the local language was one of the many stumbling blocks I have. I was relieved that there were Taiwanese dancers in our group too.
“Hi, my stage name is Akako. Jessica is my actual name,” Jessica gave a friendly pose as she shook my hand.
“Hi, my stage name is Miyuki. Gina is my actual name,” Gina’s seductive look was definitely worth a second look.
“My stage name is Yumiko. Vanessa is my actual name,” I introduced myself.
“This place is not a flower joint. It is a place where you can earn extra tips. You just need to be a bit easy with the customer when the customer wants you to sit beside him. I have worked here for two weeks. The range of tips normally would be twenty to thirty thousand yen per night!” Gina gave me more details of the workplace.
I counted in my head. It was about more than four hundred Singapore dollars. My basic pay is double that of in Singapore too. I was thinking that I have really made the right choice.
“I think your figure is very good too like mine. Use your body to earn more money. The Japanese people seem to like Taiwanese girls, especially when their complexion is fair. There are quite a number of tall Japanese men who frequent this club too. I have tried some of them in bed and I can get at least an additional forty thousand yen for spending the entire night with them,” Gina whispered in my ear as if afraid to let Jessica hear.
My excitement seemed to be doused down by the words that she whispered into my ears. It is no different from prostitution. It was something which I did not want to do. I guessed I would have to play the rules of the games very carefully.
As we performed on the stage, we had number tags on our dance attires. At first I was not used to it as some customers are very touchy. Although I had offers to spend the night with them, I refused flatly. Instead, I offered to have meals with them sometimes. In the night, they would offer me extra tips for the number of hours that I accompany them earlier on those days. Although I was tempted at times as some of the customers are very handsome and well-built, I was firm on my stand. I was not treated with disrespect for refusing their offer.
It was almost a year. I did not even have the intention to go back to Singapore anymore as yet. Although I missed my mother, I knew that I had to stay on for a little more while before I came back to Singapore.
As I was walking on the street in the afternoon on the way to meet a customer, a familiar voice caught my attention.
“Vanessa, it’s so coincidental to see you here. I am on holiday here. I guess you must be working here,” the voice belonged to Alex as he gave a light tap on my shoulder.
“I think you called the wrong person. I do not know you,” I spoke in broken Japanese as I tried to avoid him as I walked faster past him.
“You are Vanessa, I have no doubt about that. I may not understand what you are talking about but why are you ignoring me?” Alex caught my arm as he took a closer look at me.
“My name is Yumiko, not Vanessa. Sorry, I said again I do not know who you are. Please get your hands off me,” I raised my voice as I deliberately spoke to him in Chinese in a weird accent. My ice-cold look gave him a rude shock.
“Ok, Sorry that I have mistaken you for the wrong person. Yumiko, I find you very attractive. I know you are Taiwanese and can speak Chinese. Can I know you?” Alex seemed to be half-sarcastic, half-serious about trying to know me.
I smiled at him briefly, turned my head around as I walked away without saying a word.
“No matter what, whether you are Vanessa or Yumiko. I hope to see you soon in Singapore,” Alex shouted as I walked as fast as I could away from him.
I really wanted to acknowledge him, but I knew that the time was not right. This was not the place to do so. It may seem nonsensical, illogical but I was too immersed into my new identity, my new role, my new status in this foreign country. I did not want anything involving my past identity to distract me. I did not know whether it did to begin with.
As I knew that he was out of sight, I started to walk slower. As I glanced across to my right, I saw the faint scar on my right arm. The cut that was made moments before Karen committed suicide. I looked down not in despair for losing Karen but in wonder to what’s in store next in my life. What landed on the floor was not Karen, but my past identity which went past me as I walked. A chilly breeze did not howl cries into my ears but caressed my face. I had no tears for the breeze to blow them back. A sigh came silently through my mouth. As I looked up to the sky, I knew that a special someone would also be looking at the same sky and I had an intuition that I would meet this person very soon……
I may have many stage names, but yet I was a girl who did not have an identity of her own, did not have a name which I could freely bring along anywhere I go. Every new name, a new role in the workplace encompasses a totally different identity that one would eventually fit in and one might forget about the previous identity. I was just an ordinary gal, another gal just like the other dancers who not only work in Japan but also in Malaysia and Singapore etc. A girl with no name.
-the end-
Thank you for all your support and comments. I hope to have an inspiration to write another story soon.