Postcards From Africa

*5*

A waitress approached the table of the two grumpy people, not sure whether to approach or not. She looked at the red haired woman and then at the sour Korean man with the crew cut.

"Good afternoon, anything I can get for you?" she asked.

The woman looked at the man, waiting for him to answer. He ordered for the two of them and as soon as the waitress left, he cleared his throat.

"I have offended you. I apologise."

She perked up instantly. "I am sorry for cursing at you too. It's just that I worked really hard on my makeup and then you talked shit about-"

He slightly groaned. "Don't use filthy language. You're not American so why do you use those words?"

"You are so..." Tae stared at him with disbelief, lacking for words. "Curse words are not just an American thing. And anyway, how do you know that I am not American?"

"You almost have the accent," Choi said. "But...I mean, I didn't mean to but I had to find out who you are so I went on your socials and you are waving your flag proudly. That's not an American flag."

"So you stalked me, basically?"

Choi shrugged. "I guess." He had seen photos of her with different hair styles and colours, in formal and casual wear as well as one photo of her at some resort, in a pool with her family.

The waitress brought their food and left.

Tae dug in and she covered her mouth, holding in the satisfied groan that almost left her lips. The food in the bowl consisted of some watery spiced noddles with vegetables and pieces of meat. She smiled into her plate, kicking her feet under the table because the food was so nice it made her a little giddy with excitement.

Choi didn't even touch his food, gazing at her as her hair fell around her, almost hiding her face from him. This woman was crazy because she had just kicked him under the table. Maybe...just maybe, it would be alright working with her.

She was a hard worker and that had been clear last night as she helped him with his proposal. She was using her own valuable time to help make his dream possibly come true. She was investing her time and money in him and even though he still didn't like her, he appreciated her. Somehow, he had a feeling that she was the one that had reviewed the first proposal before coming here. She was the one that had given him a chance because last night, he saw just how bad the proposal was, with many many errors.

"Are you enjoying your food?" he asked, digging into his own.

She nodded, her mouth full.

After the meal, they started more work on the proposal, Tae looking gluttonous as she kept ordering more and more food until there was a mini stack of plates on the table.

"Are you not full?" Choi asked.

"My stomach is full but my tongue has not had enough. Everything tastes so different."

"You'll gain weight. You're already above average."

Choi really questioned Tae's food choices because the food she was eating had really high content. She was almost fat by Korean standards, with her round bottom and thick thighs that stretched her pants, a belly that bulged slightly at the bottom and a bust that threatened to spill out of the shirt holding it together.

"I don't mind and so should you because this is not your body," she bluntly shut him down. "Where do you get off commenting about my eating habits? Its like me telling you to take more protein and go to the gym more because you are skinny compared to the kind of men I am used to. You are below average."

Choi was offended by the woman's sharp tongue. He couldn't wait to get done with this damn proposal and the woman would be gone.

"Next time," she said. "Refrain from commenting about anything about me, will you? And learn to leave your prejudices behind because I realise that even though you applied to our company, you barely know anything about it which suggests that you did not do your research. Because it is mostly black owned and if you are going to be making such comments about people and their habits, you won't last a day. Some of my colleagues are not as nice as me."

Choi just stared at the deceivingly calm woman, a cold shiver running through his body. He was used to meek women, women that tried to be cute with him, not questioning him, not talking back so sharply and putting him in his place.

His dislike for Tae increased. He was desperate for her company's investment because other companies around Korea had rejected him before even giving his proposal a chance. He could not afford to be in worse books with Tae because he was already in bad books with her. So he bit his tongue.

"Ok," she said, her reading glasses back on. "I see that here you haven't stated the capital you will need. You have to look like you are sure about what you are talking about, Mr. Hyun. Even if the capital amount seems ridiculous, appear confident in what you say no matter how desperate you are. Example..." She looked at him. "Say you need 10 yuan from someone. Always request something slightly higher and pretend to 'be open to negotiation'. Request 20 yuan and they'll work you down to 15 or so. You make them think they actually negotiated you down but you just got 5 yuan richer than what you originally wanted."

He nodded, barely concentrating because he was still bitter about earlier.

"If you are going to mope, we might as well cut this meeting short. I have more important things to attend to." Tae stood up and packed away her tablet and laptop into the laptop bag before walking out, leaving Choi with the bill.

He glared after her then counted the money for what she had eaten out. He called the waitress and paid before walking out.

Tae seemed to have already left when he got outside.

He called her and she answered.

"You hurt my feelings," he said, straightforward.

"Welcome to the world of the black woman living in Korea," she dryly said, bitterness thick in her voice.

Choi sighed. "Can we continue the meeting tomorrow please? I promise I'll be on my best behaviour. There's just things about you that tick me off because of...well, like you said it, my prejudices. I promise I'll work on being better around you."

He was being genuine.

He already hadn't liked Tae because of her skin which many Koreans frowned upon. Add her witty and sharp tongue to the mix and Tae was a disrespectful woman, despite her rich status. She was a nightmare for any Korean man. Probably any man at this point. But she was a good businesswoman. She knew how to make Choi's proposal better and he could be raking in millions of foreign currency in the near future because of her.

Tae was silent on the other end. So silent that Choi thought she had cut the call but the numbers on the phone screen were still running, charging the call.

"Ms. Tae?"

"Let's take a break for tomorrow, alright? Our tempers are both running high...at least mine is. I need a strong ass cup of alcohol-"

"I know a place," Choi quickly interjected.

"Thank you, Mr. Choi Hyun but I am going grocery shopping right now and I plan to buy the strongest liquor there is at the store. You have a good day."

Before Choi could even say a word, Tae cut the call.

He wanted to yell, to scream, anything! Tae was rubbing him up the wrong way and he didn't like it because he was usually a composed man who was loved by most, if not all.

And Tae hated him.