The Love Between The Mathematician and The Killer

--CHAPTER ONE--

It was 7.35 A.M. in the morning. I got out of my house as I did every weekday morning. Just before stepping out onto of the street, I will glance at the bicycle lot, noting the absence of the blue bicycle. It was raining heavily in the morning so the wind was bitingly cold. I walked with my head down, burying my chin in my scarf. A short way to south, about twenty yards, ran Taman Jurong Road.

  The quickest route from my apartment to my workplace was due south. It was only a quarter mile or so to Taman Jurong Park. I worked at an office just right before the park. I was a manager.

  When I reached the end of Taman Jurong Park, there was a bridge called SNDF Bridge. At the foot of the bridge, I climbed up the stairs back up to the road. The office was right across the bridge from here, but I turned and walked in the opposite direction.

  A sign facing the road read ‘Kent Ridge-Tei’. Beneath it was a small shop that made boxed lunches. I slid open the aluminum-framed glass door.

  “Good Morning! Come in, come in,” called the call.

   It was a familiar greeting and a familiar voice, but it somehow always managed to put a spring in my step. Phoenikelly Yong smiled at me from behind the counter. She was wearing a white hat.

  I felt another thrill as I realized that there were no other customers in the shop. We were alone.

  “I’ll take the special.”

  “One special, coming up,” she replied brightly. I couldn’t see her expression as I was staring into my wallet, unable to look her in the face. Given that we lived next door to each other, I felt like I should have something to talk about other than his boxed lunch order, but nothing came to my mind.

  When I finally came up with something and mumbled it out, they were lost in the sound of another customers opening the sliding glass door behind me. Phoenikelly’s attention had turned to the new arrival.

  Boxed lunch in my hand, I walked out of the store. This time, I headed straight for SNDF Bridge, my detour to Kent Ridge-Tei finished.

  After the morning rush, things slowed down at Kent Ridge-Tei, as far as the customers were concerned. At the kitchen, however, there were lunches to be made. Several local companies had the shop deliver meals for all their employees by twelve o’clock. So, when the customers stopped coming, Phoenikelly would help out in the kitchen.

  There were four employees at Kent Ridge-Tei. Jordan was the manager, assisted by his wife Nicole. Syazwani, a part-timer, was responsible for making deliveries, while Phoenikelly dealt with in-shop customers.

  Before her current job, Phoenikelly had worked in a nightclub in Clarke Quay. Jordan had been a regular there and Nicole had been the club’s mama – though Phoenikelly hadn’t known they are married until just before Nicole quit.

Author's Note

This story is dedicated to my friends and someone special. I hope you enjoy this book.