Somebody to Love

Chapter 6: Pancake with butter and honey

I fell asleep on a small armchair in my work attire: the pink cardigan and Zureen's black skirt. At about 9pm I was awakened by the doorbell; it was the pizza boy - I could hear his loud voice, bragging about how fast he was riding just to deliver the pizza. I heard Lily and Marina giggled when the pizza boy called them 'hot girls'.

My housemates ordered pizza and they didn't bother knocking my door to offer me some. I decided to go back to sleep; I've had enough frustration for a day. I told myself that I was going to make pancakes with butter and honey tomorrow morning. They're a lot better than oily pizzas with extra cheese. 

The room was very cold when I was awakened again. I thought it was already past midnight because the house was so silent. The girls must have gone to bed. I got up groggily and dragged my numb feet to close the window. The night wind rushed in; sounds of rustling leaves and a far away thunder told me that it was about to rain. After I closed the window, I stepped out of my work clothes and searched for my nightgown in the closet. I went to the adjoining bathroom to brush my teeth then picked up a hair brush, sat on a small stool and started brushing my straight hair at the dressing table.

"Pst! Pst!" 

I froze in front of the dressing table and stared at the mirror. "Yes? Who's that?" I thought it must be one of my housemates. It could be Lily; she was always afraid of loud thunders and lightnings. 

"Pst! Pst!" 

I turned around but there was no one at the door. I switched off the ceiling fan - sometimes it made funny, creaky noise when set to high speed - and waited for a moment. 

"Pst! Pst!" 

The sound came from right behind me. I jumped and quickly opened the door. It was dark outside and I couldn't see anything. The girls had switched off the lights at the living area. I went back into my room and locked the door. 

Scanning the room, I was sure that everything was in place. My laptop bag was lying on the floor, a few coffee mugs were on my study desk and my hand drawn tiles were hanging neatly on the wall. There was no sign that anyone had entered the room and messed with my things. What was the sound I heard?

I jumped onto my bed and pulled the comforter over my head. A very bright lightnight struck and I could hear sounds of falling tree branches outside. The lights went out. Under the thick comforter, I coiled like an infant as I listened to the sound of my own breath.

When it became too hot to bear, I pushed down the comforter and searched for a torchlight I kept near the bed. My hand touched a very cold object and it suddenly moved away. I stifled a scream and pulled back my hands. "Who's that?" I asked with trembling voice. 

No answer.

I waited for a few minutes but there was no sound except for the 'tap, tap, tap' of the pelting rain. "Anybody here?" I asked again. 

Electricity supply was back and my eyes were blinded by the sudden bright lights filling the room. I quickly stood up and started searching the room - under the bed, in the closet, in the bathroom and even outside the window. There was no one but me. 

Could it be I was imagining things?

I sat at my study desk and checked my cell phone. There was an SMS from Nazrul: 'We hv an appointment in Putrajaya tomorrow. 9a.m. Wear batik. I'll pick u up at 8.15.'

I glanced at the clock; it was already 2.30a.m. Great. I hope 4 hours was enough for my beauty sleep. 

The room was in total darkness again after I switched off the lights. I pulled up the comforter and tried to remember what I was supposed to prepare for tomorrow morning's meeting. My phone alarm was set to 6.30am. Hopefully there would be enough time for me to go through Nazrul's emails and make some preparations. 

The rain had stopped; I thought about the pancakes I was going to make tomorrow morning and started to doze off. It could have been part of my dream, but I thought I heard someone whispering softly to me: "I'm right here...."