Somebody to Love

Chapter 8: Nescafe 3 in 1

It had been an awesome day despite the fact that it didn't start as I hoped. I'd never get over it - the pancake that never landed on my plate. I knew I'd still think about it tomorrow. But the events that followed the pancake incident managed to lift my mood today. 

Nazrul brought me to the nearest Mamak joint for a quick, albeit a bit unhealthy breakfast. Then we went to Putrajaya for a long and successful meeting with Tengku Shazana at her grand office. I've never been in such a condusive and amazing environment for creative discussion. It later turned into a lively brainstorming session where Tengku Shazana shared with us her brilliant ideas on the next project Nazrul was bidding.

Time flew so fast that when I glanced at my watch it was already 4pm and Tengku Shazana had to rush to another meeting outside. Nazrul drove us back with a wide smile on his face. 

"Your ex-fiancee is full of surprises. Tell me, is there anything that she can't do or haven't achieved?" I asked. Nazrul gave a low chuckle as he took a left turn at a traffic light. 

"She's got everything she wants and she'll work her butts off for anything she needs to achieve, regardless of whether she had to do it herself or rely on other people."

"God! She's so highly motivated. I wish I could be in her shoes." I sighed, overcame with jealousy but when I looked at Nazrul's side profile, the smile had vanished from his face. 

"You don't want to be her, Allysa. Trust me," he murmured in a tone that told me that his statement was not open for argument.

He dropped me in front of my apartment block at about 6.30pm and I saw Elaine slow jogging towards me. 

"Hey! Was that Mr. Hotness?" She craned her neck trying to catch a glimpse of Nazrul, who had made a right turn at the end of the block. "You've been with him the whole day?" Elaine winked at me and made a teasing face.

"Pretty much, yes." I caught Elaine's hand and we started climbing the stairs together - two steps at a time. "We had a long meeting in Putrajaya and I am so exhausted."

"Let's have a drink at my place and we can talk about it. I wanna hear everything."  I was kind of expecting Elaine to ask me over. She must be dying to know what was actually happening between Nazrul and me. 

"Sorry, babe. I'm too tired to even unzip my skirt. But we can always hang out together tomorrow night." The only thing in my mind right now was my pillow - my big fluffy pillow. 

"Oh, poor dear. You've been working too hard. Okay, I tell you what, let me book a karaoke room and we can sing our hearts out tomorrow night. How's that? Afterwards, we can go to Bob's Place for coffee."

"Which Bob?" I asked. 

"Duh!" Elaine's hands flew in the air. "The new coffee joint next to your office block. I heard it's open 24 hours."

I let out a long sigh. "I must have been living in a cave. I don't even know about a new coffee joint near my office."

"You work too hard. You need some time off." Said Elaine as we reached the second floor, where our apartments were located. 

"You know I can't afford to take leave now, Elaine. It's year end. Our workload is triple the usual. If I slack, can't meet the deadlines, I won't be getting this year's bonus. And you know how badly I need the bonus."

"Yeah." Elaine put her hands on my shoulder. "You need to start anew in Kedah. I understand that. But you need to take it easy, babe. Your health and happiness must come first."

I shot her a sharp look. "Do I look like someone who is unhealthy and unhappy?" Elaine laughed and I gave her a soft back slap. 

"You look just fine, babe. But it would be good to know that you really enjoy what you're doing. And what's more important, enjoy life - it's too short for grudges." 

Elaine's words stayed with me through dinner - which was a bowl of instant noodles and a cup of Nescafe 3 in 1 - extra strong. Would I be holding grudges if I were to listen to my mother and leave everything I have here? Would there be regrets?

After I finished my noodles, I rinsed the bowl and brought my steaming coffee into my room. There were soft giggles coming from Lily's room. She must be talking on the phone with one of the 'boys from work' as she liked to call them. Lilly and Nora had many admirers but they decided not to get seriously involved with anyone just yet. They had so many options, I bet some of the guys would continue on chasing them even when they're in their late thirties. 

Suddenly I was reminded of my own big three-oh that was approaching fast. Although I still had almost two years to stay at the wrong side of two-oh, the fact that I was growing old too fast had started to creep me out. 

I sat on my study desk and started to go through some of the designs given by Tengku Shazana. I found it difficult to address her as Ku Na - it sounded rude. After listening to her brilliant design concept ideas, I felt a bit guilty for thinking that she was just another bimbo wrapped in designer clothes. She had to be one of the cleverest woman I had ever met. 

My eyes were getting blurry. Two of the designs in front of me were of a fine dining restaurant in Dubai. Tengku Shazana told me to come up with something almost similar, but with Malaysian identity. It was tricky. She wanted it to look as grand as the Dubai restaurant, but she didn't want people to see it and say, "this reminds me of that so-and-so restaurant." Perhaps I should just come up with something of similar concept, but choose Malaysian made materials and use tropical colours so that nobody would be reminded of a Middle Eastern ambiance. 

"Pst! Pst!"

It's that sound again. I turned abruptly and as I suspected, there was no one else in the room. My torch light was on the study desk. I reached for it and held it as a weapon. 

"Who's that?" I asked as I tightened my grip on the torch light. "Come out and show yourself." I tried to sound brave but what came out was almost a whimper. 

"Allysa," said a soft, male voice and I jumped backwards, almost hitting my study desk. 

"Who are you?" I picked up a paper weight from the desk and positioned myself in a warrior stance. 

"I'm not going to hurt you. Can you put those things down?" The voice whipered. I was sure it was a male voice but it was too faint at times, like a sound that came out of a broken transistor radio. 

"I don't know who you are or what you are. If you are a man, come out now. Only cowards hide like this." If this was a Hollywood movie, I'd be breaking the paper weight and started attacking my invisible enemy blindly. 

"You can't see me," it said. "But I can try something, so that you know you're not dreaming."

"What? What are you trying to do. Don't come near me. Just show yourself, or I'm going to call the police, or I'm going to scream." I was beginning to panic; I switched on the torch light and sweep the entire room with its beam. 

"I've told you, you can't see me." The voice was getting clearer and I thought it was coming from just a few metres away from me. I was about to take a step back when there was a very cold wind blown on my face and my teeth chattered all of a sudden. 

"God.... what's happening?" I muttered as the cold feeling traveled through my limbs. 

The cold wind stopped as abruptly as it started and I heard the voice again, "that was me Allysa. That was my breath. I'm right here in front of you."

"Whaaa?... Wheer?" My questions were almost inaudible.

"Hold out your hand," it said. I followed its intruction as though I was charmed. "This is my hand," it said and I felt an icy cold object wrapping my palm. I tried to scream, realizing that there was an entity in my room that might or might not be human. 

It was saying something but I didn't hear it because everything suddenly turned black as I passed out.