At one of the Saint Alp’s Tea Houses in Pok Fu Lam, Rockstar reaches for my iced bubble milk tea. I jump. It’s made with jelly bubbles, strong black milk tea, and tonnes of sugar. One bite of the proverbial apple and he would probably be hooked. Not to mention he’s already a handful on normal days, without the added cocktail of sugar and caffeine.
Keeping a straight face, I force a breezy, “Mummy doesn’t think you’ll like it, but go ahead and try it for yourself.” He freezes, the heavy, full glass halfway to his lips. I clench my teeth slightly with the effort of not grabbing it from him immediately – as they say with forbidden fruit, he’ll only want it more. Slowly, with infinite care, he delicately places the glass back on the table without spilling a drop. “Are you sure you don’t want a tiny sip, Sweetie? It’s good to try new things and you never know, you might like it.” He averts his eyes.
“Mummy doesn’t think you’ll like it” is my trump. Each time he called my bluff he was tasting something like beer, unsweetened coffee, ginger ale – all stuff I was sure he would hate. GlaMum’s back in the game. Too bad she only discovered “Mummy doesn’t think you’ll like it” after he discovered a love of French fries.
