You might wonder why I was not disappointed that Mme.
Empathy did not get her uppercomance. First, I had not expected any
because this is not a movie, but a true story in the real
life. Secondly, it was all those men who had bent the rules and
morality to indulge her ever since she could remember. What person
would not be affected by that? What person would even think of doing
the right things or playing by the rules after such easy rides? I
have no sympathy for those men who ended up being trodden by her. I
was just sooooo grateful that I had survived the woman.
Besides, a few months break in Japan had normalized my
noise sensitivity.
I realized that the worst was over. Mr.
Pride’s architect had done a good job suppressing the noise of the
ventilation. Sure there was still some noise during the night, but
my super-duper insulation SHIZUKA would conceal it. Sure it was
unfair that I had to pay for them from my own pocket, but they were portable
thus I could take them with me anywhere.
Mme. Landlord was still ever bent on driving Mr.
Pride’s restaurant out, but I was feeling sorry for the new
owner. The new owner was also a victim of Mme. Empathy. I
shall call her Miss Harmony because she sent a letter to every resident and
every landlord that she would like to talk and come to an amicable
agreement. No one replied, except me. I felt sorry for
the woman who had been lied to and invested her savings into this dodgy
restaurant permit. If she could agree to insulate the ceiling of the
restaurant, I would have loved to make peace with Mr. Pride for her
sake. With this high expectation I went to meet the woman with Mme.
Landlord.
How naïve I was. I should have remembered
my instinct when I first saw Miss Harmony: the dark shadow leaning against the
wall puffing smoke out with confidence. As I got to know her, I
began to see why Mme. Empathy felt no remorse for deceiving the new owner of
the restaurant from Hell.
But what surprised me just as much, if not more, was Mme. Landlord who
was not at all pleased about meeting Mme. Harmonie. To my surprise the
departure of Mme. Empathy did not excite her either. ‘They're just
tenants. Dealing with them does not solve the problem at the
root. It is the landlord that matters.’ Her reasoning was
correct, but I was a tad surprised to detect classism in her
tone. We are all guilty of some form of discrimination, but not
everyone poses to be egalitarian. I had respected Mme. Landlord for
her volunteer works for migrants and her tolerance for
homosexuals. Unfortunately, she was having problems with her other
tenant who was gay and that may have affected her frame of mind?
To be continued.
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