Oh gosh.

How do I tell her this straight without fucking hurt her?

“No, I don’t have any problems with you being such a moneygrubbing whore… Afterall, everyone deserves to daydream even a little, of a blissful and happy life doing nothing everyday and being filthy rich just by spreading your legs everyday at the same time and serve the man you married for his money and a EU PR status. Yeah, I really don’t see any problems in you doing that. Go on, my dear, you have my blessings.”

Geez, that just sounds bloody cruel, don’t you think? But why do you want of my approval for what you’re going to do? You’re just going to ignore what I say anyway, if I tell you what I think of you, honestly. You’re somewhat a friend and I used to think you were smarter than that, but you end up sinking into the same level as those sad arses we used to bitch about and gossip together over a coffee at Starbucks.

Okay, before you think I’m crazy, let me tell you a story:

The story is about a girl who wants an easy life. She comes from a fairly unwealthy family, with three sisters, two elder and a younger one. The eldest sister is married to a state-clerc, they still live in the 60 sqm family house with their four sons. The second sister is married to an ojek-guy next door and they live there with his family, along with their two toddlers. While the first sister lives with her husband’s Rp-2-million-per-month salary, and the only luxuries she can afford come from Mayestik or Tanah Abang slum markets, the second sister can barely meet both ends: her husband being a stereotypically lazy Betawi boy, she has to work part time as a maid and earns as much as Rp 600,000 per month.

Now, how do you think people can live with Rp 2 million or even Rp 600,000 per month? The weak Rupiah rate gives nearly Rp 9,500 for one US dollar buck, Rp 2 million is worth a little bit over US$ 200. And Rp 600,000? Do the math yourself. But this is Indonesia. We can buy a gallon of Aqua (that’s how they call ANY bottled drink water here) only with Rp 3,000 – so imagine how cheap life must be. Well, if you happen to be one of the miserable ones living under poverty line here, even Rp 3,000 can buy you food for a day, but it’s not much fun either living with Rp 20,000 per day when you have two little kids and a lazy, demanding husband. But let’s save it for another story.

Point is, this girl I know, let’s call her Linda, doesn’t want the same life. She had the luck to finish her highschool and half-worked to earn her degree, then she landed a fairly good job, earning Rp 1.5 million of monthly salary, working in an insurance company.

Then I met her and we became sort of friends. I thought she was smart and has a high appreciation of herself, but time has proven that I was totally wrong.

About two years ago, Linda first told me about her love affair with a German guy.

“He’s the love of my life,” she said. “I love him so much I can’t stop thinking about him. I lost my virginity to him.”

Then I got to meet the man she so dearly adored, and I gasped in shock.

He was 54!!!!!!

Okay, I know 54 isn’t that old. But if the man were to adopt you. Not fucking you. Linda was 23 and the man had even lived 31 full, blossoming adult years before Linda was born. He was married twice before she popped up to this world.

Okay, I might be wrong, I told myself. This could be love.

But then, Linda found out the man never really left his current wife (48-year-old, German, and to my opinion suited him better than Linda did, in any way). So they basically broke up, it ended with her being thrown out of the flat he paid the rent for because he stopped paying for it. He didn’t even live in Jakarta, he lived in Germany and came twice a year to fuck her.

Then she met another man online. Also German, his name was Jensi or something like that. He was 42. Totally redhead and not very pleasant. He sent some money every month to her, and came once, a week, to fuck her. She said she was happy with him. Okay, I think, this might still be love.

But then, a month after he’s done fucking her, he just stopped contacting her in any way. So that ended abruptly, just like that. The only thing she regretted was the 60 Euros he used to send every month through Paypal (yes, this had been a bargain, just like stuff you’d buy on eBay).

Oh, so she took it herself that she was worth no more than 60 Euros, I started to think. Even his monthly insurance must be at least five times more expensive.

Then, she landed an Australian guy, with whom she lasted two weeks, the time he stayed in Jakarta. He was 44. He gave her AU$ 500 for make ups and things, a mere sum of Rp 3.5 million, come to think of that. That was pretty cheap for two weeks full of hot, steamy sex. Linda said she wasn’t even in love with him. So, she did it for money, I resumed.

After the Australian guy was gone, this time she was interested with a man already engaged to be married. To be honest, the man was sort of an asshole as well, big time liar who loves to boast around and lie about everything in his life. To make short, this guy was fucking around with like, 5 girls at the same time, got two of them knocked up, and was initially forced to marry one of the preggers.

Linda had to complicate things up, meeting him right about two weeks before he had to tie the knot, and so being the sixth chick he messed around with, plus, that without any protections whatsoever. She was so afraid to get pregnant, she said, but I was kind of sure she kind of hoped she got the seed planted, to bully him into paying expensive.

The strange thing is, that man wasn’t even attractive. He was 40. He called it quits about 3 days before he married another woman, and still had the opportunity to once again fuck Linda.

Then, merely a week after the tearful breakup, Linda already hooked up with an Englishman named Roger. She met Roger on a party, and he was on his Asia trip. She had her hopes too high, wanting to get married soon and move to Britain forever. Turned out he was married, as well, and the Asia trip was actually an Asia brothel trip – in every country he stayed in, he had a personal slut (or should we call it honorably “Lady Escort”) reserved to hold him company.

And now, Linda landed Michael, whom she met on internet, and is coming to Jakarta soon after a so-called business trip to Australia. Plans are they would get married in Bali and he’d bring her to live in Vienna. Problem is, Michael is 48 and has two grownup kids of 27 and 25, both of them girls and living with him, and already refused to grant their consentment to their father’s future second marriage, merely ten months after their mother passed away.

But Michael’s got this huge house in Vienna, seven cars (“Two of them being BMWs and three of them Mercedeses and one 2005-Beetle and one new Mini Cooper!”) and loads of money. And Linda, having never seen Michael in real life, albeit having cybersexed with him, has declared herself truly, madly, deeply in love with him.

“Money is enough to buy love,” she said happily. “I asked him to buy me a Cartier engagement ring with a diamond as huge as he can afford, and who cares if it doesn’t work out between us after? I’ll get an EU PR and after the divorce I can go back to the market to have a better, closer look,” she grinned. “I can always find another younger stud to fuck me behind his back whenever he’s not looking, if it turns out that he’s not good anymore in bed because of his age. That’ll be such a hot option! What do you think? You don’t mind me doing that, do you?” I smiled weakly back, not really knowing what to say.

Now you know how I end up writing this entry.

Well then, I might bitch about her on this blog, but of course, but what I did, at least, as a supposedly supportive friend, was to say, “Go on, you might end up loving him for real.”

Thank God we have a blog.