On the seventh day of her funeral, I tendered my resignation. YBY rejected it, but I told him, that my dad had literally stopped talking after my mum passed away, I just wanted to spend some time with him, to make sure that he was okay.
My sister has moved in with Dr Ian, now the house is just left with the two of us. Without the females in the house, it was very quiet. Jun came for the funeral and helped to send my mother off. But when we had to collect her bones and urn, it was just the four of us, Dr Ian, sis, dad and I.
There were a lot of regrets with my mum, but the biggest would be, I didn't learn her secret recipes. The food that we cooked didn't taste the same. As if something was missing. Two males in the house, thank God that we were not fussy with our food. Whatever he cooked, I would eat. Whatever I cooked, he would eat.
Our days passed like this, wake up, packing up my mother's things, some we kept, the rest, we donated. My dad even lost his bell belly. I realized we couldn't live like zombies together, so I started to take him out for walks, groceries and forced him to play mahjong with his friends.
One day, Kim called at asked me to cover her up for 2 - 3 months, because she found out that she was pregnant (Yeah, happy for her), she was advised by her doctor to take it easy. Her baby has low heart beats.
I was like, "Seriously? You want me to temp for Jun?"
"Yeah, I am desperate, because I need to find someone that I can trust to handle his personal matters. Is only for a few months, and besides, didn't you say that you owe him?"
Shit you la.
"What do you need me to do?"
"Most times, he would be away for his projects, you just need to manage his schedule and office operations. No need to travel. Some days, you can even work from home. You can still take care of your dad. "
"Won't it be awkward for Jun? Have you spoken to him about this crazy idea?"
"Yes, he told me to get my own temp. It won't be awkward, because, no one, you won't be meeting up often, and secondly, I tot both of you are still friends?"
Haiz...."Okay, I will do it one condition, I don't want to be paid, just consider this as my pay back."
"You ah... like got a problem with money. Just make sure, if there are any office expenses, you make a claim la. Start on Monday."
I told my dad that I started working again, and he was very relieved. I didn't know he was worried about me being jobless. My sister's reaction, when she found out who I was working for, was more dramatic.
"Are you crazy? Working for your ex? You know that he is with someone else now, right?" She was flapping her arms and rolling her eyes. "Do you need money? Is this why you are forcing yourself to work for him?"
Precisely, why I didn't tell her that I was doing this for free. Kim happily passed her office laptop and handphone to me, together with a long list of my duties. It was mainly, taking care of his appointments, vetting through his office emails and one in a blue moon, working with his marketing girl, Jia En to post on his official account. The handover also includes his residence keys.
Kim told me that he has moved out from our old place. He got a new condo in Bukit Tunku. I didn't ask who he was staying with. None of my business
Most of my correspondence with Jun consists of reminders, logistic arrangement and updates. She was right, it wasn't awkward at all. Because we have known each other for so long, I was able to assist him better, as in vetting through his deals and able to identify which he would prefer, and filtering through his gazillion emails and flag those that I thought were important for him.
He didn't need to elaborate much, from the tone of his voice, I would know if he was pleased with something or he would reject it. The first month passed through very quickly and effectively. One day, I got a message from his onsite assistant, informing me that he was coming back and asked me to air his condo and fill up his fridge.
I was like...er.... finally, I have an excuse to use his house keys. Bright early the next morning, I went to Jaya Grocer and purchased his favorite food and brands. This was a task that I am extremely qualified to do, after all, I had been doing this for 9 years plus.
Carrying the groceries into his unit, I had a heart attack.
YOU ARE READING
I'll tell you in 30 years
Romansa"I can be changed by what happens to me. But I refuse to be reduced by it." - Maya Angelou What would you do, when you lost everything, career, family, money and self esteem? This is a story of fall from grace with a (un)healthy dose of smut.
