Thoughts of a Boyfriend Past

Today, for no good reason, I started thinking about this ex-boyfriend I had, when I was 17. I am not even sure if I can call him a boyfriend, because we were together for all of 3 weeks. However he represents a series of "firsts" for me, so I felt he deserves a place in my memory and this here blog.

The Firsts
1) He was the first "older" man I dated. He was 27 and I was 17. I never told my mum, she would have freaked out, but he lived really close, so it was easy to sneak out on dates and such.

2) He was my first non-Indian, non-Singaporean boyfriend. He was Iranian, in Singapore to import and export Persian carpets. Ever so slightly shorter than me, gorgeous green eyes set on olive skin, and curly, lamb-wool hair that he wore long at the back.

3) He was the first (and only) Muslim I ever dated. He wasn't deeply religious or anything, and at that point I was not committed to anything in particular, so it wasn't really a problem. He did make the loveliest pilaus and lamb gravy thingies though. And fed me! Like I was 5. It was nice being pampered like that.

4) He is the only boyfriend I ever had who was involved in a real war. He never talked about it except to say, "I saw many things, things I hope you never see." And got this pained look in his eyes. I never pushed it further. He did have a wee scar on his cheeck where shrapnel had hit it. About an inch away from his right eye.

5) He was the first boyfriend I ever, kissed kissed. You know, the French type. He found my inexperience very amusing, and I was surprised that I actually enjoyed the exchange spit thing. He was a very rough kisser and left whisker burns on my lips and cheeks, but that was fine by me :). I am not saying that's all we did, but the kissing was memorable.

6)He was the first guy that I made the first move on. As opposed to him picking me up. We were on the train and exchanging looks all the way from Orchard to Ang Mo Kio. I was delighted to see he got off there as well, and brazenly asked him for the time. The rest happened the usual way.

So why did we not continue? I think we both knew that we in it just for the mutual "exotic" factor. There was no way the relationship would have gone anywhere and I didn't want to lose my virginity at 17, so there really wasn't much point. His English and my Persian left much to be desired, so our conversations were rather stilted and tedious to get through. I stopped calling him (and I never gave him my number), and that was that.

He was a good man though, and probably is a very successful carpet merchant now, with 3 wives and 12 children. I hope he is blessed and happy.