Tu m'aimes?

I love how the Boy indulges me.

To say I am a messy girl would be a gross understatement of mariana-trench depth. An ex-housemate regularly describes my room as a blackhole, and my room at its best (read: worst) would quite easily fit into BBC's featured chaotic work spaces. The afore-mentioned ex-housemate has always said that the reason I've been single for so many years is because my room is a mess, and that it would scare any potential boy away.

So, my poor darling Boy, who lives with me, often despairs at the state of my room, and would periodically throw his hands up: "Ma cherie, you're such a mess, your room is such a mess..."

My response is to give him a flat stare, pull out a pouty lower lip, and ask him: "Tu m'aimes?" (You love me?)

And he is trapped (yay!) - and I can see from his eyes that he sees through my not-very-subtle trap at once, but still, he responds immediately: "Oui, bien sur je t'aimes!" (Yes, of course I love you!) and pulls me into his arms.

I tell him there is a Chinese saying "爱屋及乌" (Ai4 wu1 ji2 wu1) which means "love the house and the crow on the house", so if he loves me, he has to accept me as I am, flaws and all. Everyone has flaws after all, just that some are more flawed than others... heh heh heh... >:)

My cousin laughed when I pulled the "Tu m'aimes?" stunt in front of her. She thinks I'm being very aggressive. I think I'm just cheeky.

And since the first time I pulled my "Tu m'aimes?" pouty face, the Boy's response has cheekily and teasingly progressively evolved from impassioned exclamation ("Oui, bien sur je t'aimes!"), to gentle reassurance ("Oui, je t'aime ma cherie"), to reluctant admission ("Ouais... je t'aimes.."), to a begrudging barely-there acknowledgement ("Ouais..")... and I pull a longer pouty face and throw mock sniffles into the bag for dramatic effect... so it's all fun and games with the Boy.

He's the sweetest, darlingest boy most of the time, and I really appreciate it, and I am going to make an effort to be neater and more organised and have been progressively trying to weed through my various mounts of sentimental possessions, knick-knacks and i'm-sure-this-will-be-useful-in-future-so-i'll-keep-them-just-in-case items.. But this I am not going to undo 26 years of bad-habits overnight. He has said that his aim is to get my room into a good shape by the end of 2009. So clearly he knows the mountain is steep, and the journey is arduous... and I am thankful he is realistic and patient.

I only hope his patience and love will last so I will always be able to pout at him and ask: "Tu m'aimes?" and feel his answer in my heart, no matter what mischievous faces he pulls or cheeky answers he gives.