The hot girl (part 2)

[Part 2 of 2]

Randall shakes his head. "Let's start the insanity"

The girl looked mixed-race; most likely a Japanese/Taiwanese combination, though she may have some European/African ancestry as well. In any event, she looked exotic, and she knew it.

Most people at Starbucks will sit and look at their phone and/or laptop. Not this girl. After she sits down with her coffee, she reaches into her bag, and pulls out a hardcover copy of Dashiell Hammett's "The Maltese Falcon" and starts reading that.

"Woah." I whispered. "She hot, speaks English, and likes detective novels. Impressive!"

The guy she smiled at was no sasquatch either. He well-groomed and well-dressed. He also had the male J-Pop star hairstyle (like Takeshi Sorimachi). He had his laptop open, but it was obvious that he was not focusing his attention on websites any longer. He kept giving the girl quick glances.

Ronnie looked at him looking at her. "Randall, I don't think you're going win this bet. He looks like he's getting ready to walk over and talk to her." he said quietly.

"Yeah, but getting ready to do something and actually doing it are two different things." replied Randall. "There are plenty of times I wanted to talk to some hot random girl on a train or bus in Stockholm. But do I do it? Hell No! Because I'm a chicken sh*t"

"Well, that's why you Scandanavians get trashed every weekend. That's instant courage." I replied. "It's same in Norway. without booze, Norwegians are the most reserved people on the planet. But once they get drunk. It's like 'HEY JOHN, HOW ARE YOU...' Jesus they even start talking to me in English."

"That's because you're an idiot, John!" replied Randall sarcastically. "No one, including me, wants to talk to you unless we're drunk."

The J-pop guy looks like he's about to get up and walk over. But just as he is about to stand, the girl's phone rings.

"Dammit" I said.

The girl anwsers her phone, and starts to speak Japanese. "もしもし？。　はい。お久しぶりです。そうです...１５日前、台湾に戻って、検疫した...今日はここの２週間に初めて外に居た...”

"Did you understand what she said?" asked Ronnie.

"I didn't get all of it. But I think she just got back to Taiwan from Japan and did the quarantine. This seems to be the first time she's been out since." I replied.

"Dude!" Ronnie said. "If that guys does have the balls to go over there. He'll get her number. Hot Japanese girl comes back from Japan, she's all alone, prolly doesn't have any friends here..."

"I don't think so." replied Randall. "I think I'll win the 1000NT now."

"Why?" I asked.

"Because the girl speaks Japanese and reads English. Maybe she doesn't speak Mandarin." said Randall.

"That's true. I wouldn't have the guts to go up to some random girl if there's a chance she doesn't speak my language." added Ronnie.

Dammit, I thought to myself. He's right. I probably will lose this bet. I looked at my watch, another 14 minutes to go before the 1/2 hour was up. I also noticed J-Pop guy was sort of not looking at her anymore.

Just as I'm about to admit defeat, her phone rings again (she had an iphone, but it had the classic Nokia ringtone da-da-da-da, da-da-da-da, da-da-da-da,daaaaaaaaaa).

She answered again only this time speaking Mandarin. "喂。你好！ 對啊， 我剛回國。 嗯。 對啊， 做了居家隔離。沒問題。 我今天才出來了。。。。 [Hello!, Yes! I just got back! Yes! Did the quarantine and just got out today]"

"Back in the game." I replied.

"F*ck!" replied Randall.

Ronnie looked at his watch "John 你還有10分鐘 [You have 10 minutes]. Let's see if that guy has guts."

After the girl confirms she could speak Mandarin, the guy, at least to me, seemed like he was gathering up his courage again. Come on, you dumbass, I thought to myself. You have 9 minutes.

A couple seconds later, J-pop guy actually looks my way and we make eye-contact. I give him a nod and the "thumbs-up" sign. He smiles back at me.

"NO NO NO NO", replied Randall. "YOU CANNOT DO THAT. INTERFERENCE. IF YOU DO THAT AGAIN, THE BET'S OFF!"

He and Ronnie muttered some Taiwanese to me, no idea what they said .. sort of sounds like "DIU GAO". (I am assuming this is some bad word in Taiwanese but they never explained what it meant).

J-pop guy gets up. He adjusts his tie, and brushes back his hair. Pretty much everyone around us notices him. He takes a deep breath, and starts walking slowly to the hot girl.

"You owe 1000NT, Randall" I said.

"SH*T", replied Randall.

"And I think this proves my point. We may all live in a digital age, in a virtual world, where we're all isolated in our own cyberspace; but some things just don't change." I said smugly.

"SHUT UP, John." yelled Randall.

Ronnie laughs at us.

J-pop guy walks up to hot girl. She looks up and smiles. He then mutters something to her, and suddenly her smile turns to one of shock.

"Wait, what the hell did he say?" asked Randall.

"No idea. I didn't hear either." I replied. "Ronnie?"

"I don't know either." replied Ronnie.

Ronnie turns and asks the guy next to us. The guy replies and Ronnie shakes his head.

"Oh Jesus Christ. He just got his nerve up to ask the girl if he could plug his laptop cable into the wall outlet behind her."