Sad Tragedy

Foresight

Spring.

Spring began with a one week break for students nationwide. It's short in every possible way because if you think about it, it will just breeze through you like it didn't even take place at all in the first place, and soon you just find yourself back in the very formidable grounds of your horrid school, surrounded with mostly horrendous people. However, this spring break, particularly and exclusively this one out of the past ten I had since I commenced elementary school, was one shocking and thrilling one.

Although my first national examination paper would be taking place on the very first day of June, like literally less than sixty days away, let alone my first semester exams, I still find myself climbing out of bed in a morning struggle to get my lazy ass to work. It's shocking in a way that although I am very well aware and wary of the impending arrival of my mid-semester and first national exam, I am still working part-time at a Subway instead of paying more meticulous attention to my depreciating academics. While I very much regret my absurd waste of precious and bejewelled time by working nine to five daily during the break, one thing I did not regret was meeting my future boyfriend I guess.

Call me crazy and even disgusting and I am, but yes, my Subway colleague is going to become my future boyfriend and at first, the thought of it didn't shoot through my mind in any circumstance, but as the days go past during the period of my break, it did justice to my thoughts of him. Nevertheless, this relationship thing didn't really become a thing until I completed nationals.

It all started with an infatuation on the third day at work. You see, in our Subway outlet, it was really quiet and secluded. Even though it was located in a hugely popular mall near a university where tremendous amounts of students would patronise the mall every single day after their lectures and what not, the outlet I worked in with him was located in the very corner of the basement, blocked off by a huge wall and a pillar. To make matters worse, or should I say business worse for the franchise, the big three of fast food chains -- McDonald's, KFC and Burger King -- were situated in the first and second levels of the mall, all of which with their enormous signages hung prevalently lit against the glass windows which overlooked the main street where waves after waves of patrons would use. With these three standing their ground in the territories of the mall, it would definitely not come as a surprise that the Subway outlet I was working at didn't see a lot of human traffic. Unless you are the store area manager or someone who is really familiar with the entire mall and want to eat healthy for once, don't expect a huge crowd start knocking on the doors of this outlet. However so, this isolation from the crowd made everything else ever so pleasant for him and me. With the store being ever so busy, we had a huge bulk of time to laze around and talk. Furthermore, since the store had so less human footprint per capita, it was obvious to the franchise to post all but the both of us to other more profitable outlets to assist, and you could say, we were lucky we didn't get transferred off to another branch.

During the week I worked with him, we conversed all day, literally. Aside from the one day where the area manager would storm his grounds for a weekly inspection to ensure the quality was up in the ranks to satisfy the upper management, and the occasional measly handful amount of customers needing some attention, we either browsed our socials, watched videos or just talked and laughed our time there. I don't know why but every time I see him smile or simply just to steal glances at him when he's lying out the cookie dough onto the trays or just doing what an employee should do at a Subway, it overcomes me with great emotions — positive in every sense — I can feel my heart pound a million times harder resulting in my cheeks getting blushed from time to time.

Remembering the first two days of my return to Subway as a sandwich artist after almost three months of vacating the chain since my winter vacation ended, I was just a lone employee operating the store and preparing all the vegetables and mashing up the egg mayo cause you know, morning shift, so everything must be ready before the store opens at nine to welcome the first of customers if there would be any. Then, like literally out of the blue, here came a freshman to the somewhat still darkened store and alleyway that connected the rest of the more densely populated areas of the mall to the lone and isolated Subway in the cosy corner of the basement of the mall. In his bright green tee with the Subway branding right smack in the centre of it, sky blue name tag with the name Alexander printed rather prominently on it, a pair of tight fit black jeans and a trendy but classic pair of white sneakers to finish his quite gorgeous fashion statement. I mean uniforms are my thing, the more formal, more sophisticated the uniform, the more I am a fan of them, because I feel prouder and more satisfied to work for that company with a more trademarked or stylishly formal uniform — but in Subway's case, it was just a simple green and a logo to speak for it — nothing more, nothing else. Regardless, the way he wore it made a simple, boring work attire something more, something profoundly good, somehow revolutionising in a way?