I waited for Ay08 at the staircase, eagerly. She was not late, it's just that I was a little bit early. In fact, she is rarely late. After around 5 minutes of waiting, finally she came down the steps as graceful as a swan. I was taken aback by the moment. After regaining my inner stability, I then asked her,
"Same place Ay08?"
She nodded in agreement.

Ay08 loves to eat breakfast. To her, breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Whenever we went for breakfast, she has this systematic way of eating. She would make sure that the ratio between rice and the side dishes is always fixed. Truly a technicality in which in itself is a sight to behold.

"Jack, thanks."
"For what Ay08?"
"For inviting me to breakfast today. I thought you don't want to be friends anymore."
"Of course I would love for us to remain as friends. I will try my best to make it happen. "
I smiled, and she smiled back.

Upon reaching the restaurant, we sat down and quickly ordered Nasi Lemak. I watched as Ay08 began to eat like an engineer was about to analyze a problem. She meticulously divided her rice , sambal, kacang , cucumber and anchovies into a fixed ratio. I am marveled at its intricacy just as if I saw it for the first time. Ay08, realizing that I wasn't eating began to speak.
"Err, Jack, what are you doing?"
"Sorry, I was just admiring your rice to sambal ratio. It is truly impeccable."
She blushed.
"Stop it, I feel uncomfortable as you watch me eat. Finish your meal old man," she said in a humorous manner.

I finished my food first, as usual. Due to the high level of technicality require to perform the task at hand, Ay08 was still eating. Then suddenly, she spouts out some random nonsense.
"You!"
"What?"
"I wonder, recently it snowed right? Did the pond at Hyde Park freeze?"
"I don't know."
"Wanna go and take a look? I went back to Malaysia so I didn't have the chance to see it."
Actually, deep down in my heart, I wanted to say,"Yes, let's go,". But I didn't. Why? Because I don't want to hurt myself again. I don't want to be where I was 2 months ago. I have changed. Therefore, I said,
"Sorry, not today. Some other day Ay08."

She looked at me with her puppy dog eyes and began to pout. I know she wanted to go to Hyde Park to see the frozen pond. Despite all these, my will is adamant.
"Ay08, if you want to see it, why don't you go by yourself? I can walk you there, but I won't be neither sending you all the way to the pond nor home. Hyde Park is on the way to my college anyway."
"It's okay Jack, but no thanks."
I then walked her home. Throughout, the 15 minutes walk, we stayed quiet. I didn't know what to say to her and she noticed that things are different now. What can I say, this is the right thing to do.

I bid her farewell and embarked on my journey to college. But, along the way, I can't seem to forget about Ay08'S request. So, finally, I've decided,
"Okay, I'll just go to the pond, and if it's frozen, then I'll call Ay08 and invite her to appreciate the sight."
Hence, there I was, doing something stupid again. I took a 20 minutes detour and headed for the pond. Along the way, it can be seen that the tracks were still covered snow, which was a good sign. So, I walked, and on the way, I thought of nothing than the frozen pond and the smile on Ay08's face when she sees it.

After 15 minutes of walking, I have finally reached the destination. I sat down on the bench right in front of it.
"It would be a waste of time for her to come anyway."
The pond was not frozen. And with that, the thought of Ay08's smile vanishes. Guess it is God's way of telling me that we should not be together.

Suddenly, my phone rang. I picked it up and Ay08 is on the other end.
"Jack, where are you?"
I was unsure whether to tell her the truth.
"I am at the university. What's up?" A blatant lie obviously.
"Ohh, ermm...are you free tomorrow, want to do something together?"
Basically, tomorrow is Valentine's Day. What is Ay08 thinking? What should I say? Does she still like me? I stood up from the bench thinking of my reply.
"I must do what must be done. I must do the right thing."