'Don't work too late,' drawled Edwin smarmily as he strolled out of the office, swinging his black briefcase in a carefree manner, 'and don't miss me. I'll be watching 'Survivor'.' he can afford to be happy, thought Siew Lan, not without a tinge of sourness. As the Sales Manager, he only needed to pitch deals to prospective clients. The only occasions that he needed to work were when he had to wine and dine the clients. Big chore that is! Siew Lan sighed as she thought of the long night ahead. One of her pet peeves was working late in the office. Not only because it would mean less personal time for her, but because she always felt uneasy when she had to stay in the office after dark. she had never mentioned it to any of her colleagues for fear of being laughed at, but she always felt that the office was eerie in the night.
And the stories circulated by her colleagues did not help either. People have experience strange or inexplicable happenings when they stayed back late in the office. When she pressed for details, they wouldn't explain, their excuse being that she was young and fresh out of school an they did not want to frighten her unduly. They would only say that the office was not 'clean'. When she asked why, they only claimed ignorance. She was not sure whether they were being truthful or they were taking her for a ride. To play it safe, she actually went to a temple to get an amulet that would supposedly keep evil stuff away.
Siew Lan's head snapped up as she remembered something. 'S***!' 'What?!' a startled Edwin asked. 'What are you doing here? I thought you had gone back to catch 'Survivor'.' 'Yeah, but no hurry, the night still young. Moreover, I forgot to ask Angie what she would like for breakfast tomorrow morning.' Oh, so that's why. Angie was the belle of the office. with her long, silky hair, porcelain complexion and svelte figure, even the girls in the office could not deny that she was tres, tres beautiful. Although she was a mere secretary by designation, the truth was that she wielded more power in her perfectly manicured hands than even some of the managers. This was because even the most senior guys in the office, even if they were not besotted with her, gave her 'face' because of her elegant and regal bearing.
Sometimes, it seemed to Siew Lan like it was a psychological game. because Angie behave like she deserved the respect and deference, it was given to her. Well, sadly for Siew Lan, long as she had observed Angie, she had to admit to herself that her mannerisms were inimitable. As for the more junior managers, like Edwin, well Angie had them eating out of her hands. Fascinated as Siew Lan was with Angie, she had a more urgent problem at the moment. She had left her amulet in her old bag at home. Oh, why had she been so careless? should she call her mother and ask her to bring it down? She'll surely get a scolding. But that would be better than to stay alone in the office. but when Mum gets angry....
From the corner of her eye, she caught sight of Angie coming out of the pantry with a mug. The aroma wafting towards her told her that the mug held steaming coffee. A ray of hope appeared before her. 'Aren't you going back, Angie?' Angie turned and shook her coiffured head with a pseudo tragic expression. 'Nope, I've got to rush out the Delongie's presentation for Nat by tomorrow morning.' The nice thing about Angie was that despite her beauty and the spells that she wove around the male half of the population, she was totally without airs. She was as nice to the gals as to the guys. And now, she appeared to be even more beautiful than ever to the grateful Siew Lan.
'Siew Lan, I hope you don't mind if I switch off the aircond. You know how cold it can get.' At the moment, Siew Lan would not have minded if she had wanted to borrow RM10,000. Without another word, Siew Lan went back to her report, working at a feverish pace, in the hope that she could finish it and go off at the same time as Angie. Forty five minutes later, Siew Lan looked up from the monitor. She rubbed her bleary eyes. The office was quite isolated now. Apart from Angie and herself, everybody else had left. She looked at the time; it was half past eight. No wonder she was feeling rather peckish, it was long past her dinnertime. She looked out of the window and saw that it was already dark. The awesome skyline of the city failed to impress her as it usually did. She had more basic needs to fullfil than her aesthetic urges.
'Angie, do you want to get something for dinner?' 'Huh, oh, it's alright, I'm on a diet. You go ahead.' The price of maintaining a beautiful exterior, thought Siew Lan with a mischievous grin as she got up. She turned back as she was about to step out of the office and her heart almost stopped for a moment. She had seen many figures sitting at the cubicles. She put a shaky hand next to the cold glass door to steady herself and almost laughed out loud as she realised her error. because of the office's open concept, she could see almost all the armchairs in the open area. Due to the fact that the office aircond was too efficient, most employees had a sweater or cardigan in the office to ward off the cold. At the end of the day, most people would just hang their warm clothing neatly over the armchair and for an instant, when she turned back, her eyes had played a trick on her and she had mistaken all the coats, cardigans and sweaters for people.
She must remember to bring her amulet in the future, she reminded herself as she headed for a lift lobby. There was along queue at the Burger King outlet downstairs. After getting her Swiss mushroom burger thirty minutes later, she decided to dapao the meal back. She had better eat as she work. Otherwise, Angie might finish her presentation earlier and go off, leaving her alone in the office. As she opened the glass doors of the office, a blast of cold air hit her, raising goose bumps up her arms and down her spine. Angie must have changed her mind and switched on the aircond again.
She saw the seated figure in the red cardigan, her long, glossy black hair flowing down the back, head buried in work. 'Angie, sure you don't want some fries?' The head shook. 'Are you cold? You are wearing your cardigan, you want me to switch off the aircond?' The head shook again. Siew Lan shrugged. Maybe Angie is tired, she thought. And she too better get back to work if she wanted to go home earlier. She settled down in the seat. A splash of yellow caught her eye. It was a memo pad. On it was written the following message, Dear Siew Lan, I've already finished my presentation. So I'll go off first. See you tomorrow, And don't stay back too late! Regards, Angie
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