Chapter 1

I saw her again six years later.

I was on my way to work that morning when a lady, dressed in an oversized flowery blouse and a plain skirt, stared at me. We were at the edge of the bus stop. Other than a few tertiary students pushing their thumbs on their handphones, all the people were wearing office attires.

When the lady kept on gazing at me, I looked away. She had red chubby cheeks which reminded me of my first love, Lara. I remembered those days when I used to pinch her cheeks and smiled. Those were perfect memories. Almost.

The lady had dyed her hair brown. It was wet but if it had been dry, it would have appeared blonde. When the bus came, almost all the people elbowed their way towards it. I ambled towards it. It was still early and I could afford to take the next bus.

The lady queued in front of me. We were so close that I could smell the moisturiser on her hair. When she stepped onto the bus, she rummaged her purse. As she took another step, I planted my right leg on the first step of the bus.

“Oops.” she said.

I dug out my wallet and waited for her. As she forwarded a step, I placed both my feet on the second step.

“Oops.” she said again. “I forget to bring my card.”

I tried to take another step but she was blocking my way. The single-deck bus was only half-full. I could not cross over to the right side of the entrance as there was a metal bar blocking my way. So I waited. At most, I would take the next bus.

“I forget to bring my card.” she turned to face me. I smiled at her and nodded. She did nothing.

“Okay.” I said. Still, she stayed on the step, not moving. The bus driver did nothing. He was looking at the rear mirror to check if the passengers were moving in.

“I forget to bring my card. I didn’t bring coins.”

“Okay.” I said, hoping that she would either get off or get in. But she stayed there.

“I forget to bring my card. I didn’t bring coins. I am going to be late.”

“Okay.” I said once more, gritting my teeth. The bus driver seemed to be unaware of the commotion.

“I forget to bring my card. I didn’t bring coins. I am going to be late. This is my first day of work.”

“Okay.” I pondered on what I should do. The bus was only half-full. Why don’t you just move in and let me in? I thought.

“I forget to bring my card. I didn’t bring coins. I am going to be late. This is my first day of work. I want to take this bus.”

“Okay already!” Finally, I gave up. I ransacked my pocket, found a dollar coin and gave it to her.

She smiled, took the coin and slotted it into the coin tin. “Thanks.” she said and at last, she moved in.

I sighed and tapped my wallet against the Card Reader.

LOW VALUE
VALUE -0.03
PAY CASH
GO TO TOP-UP

It was then I remembered: My card had run out of value yesterday and I was going to top it up today! The one-dollar coin in my pocket was for the trip to work today. I scanned for the lady. She had found a seat and smiled at me once more. Then she nodded and used her chin to point to the empty seat beside her.

I tightened the grip on my wallet, stared at the lady with the sides of my eyes and alighted at the entrance of the bus. As I marched home, I cursed the lady silently.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In the end, I was late for work that day.

I had to rush home to get another one-dollar coin. That cost me another fifteen minutes. I could still remember the lady’s face.

My boss, Mr. Kano, is a fifty-something machine who refuses to retire. According to some of my colleagues, he is the only employee in the office who works for interest and passion. How many people have interest in Marketing and Sales?

I had always respected him: I remembered on the day of my interview, he was one of the interviewers. He had asked me if I had interest and passion for Marketing and Sales. When I babbled about my so-called “interest”, he told me about his passion. He said that it was not the salary that inspired him: It was the success of marketing. He said that a good salesman could sell a product for ten dollars, whereas a bad salesman could sell the same product for only ten cents.

“Third time?” he said.

I nodded. I wondered if I should tell him the reason for my lateness. However, my reason sounded fishy and I knocked off that thought.

“One more time, Jie Lun, and you’re in trouble. You hear me?”

I nodded again. I was crossing my fingers. And I was thinking of the lady.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

At lunch that day, I lunched with my usual gang.

We went to a Jurong East Central coffee-shop for our meals. When I had finished my plate of rice and was about to start my usual routine of smoking, someone tapped my shoulder. It was the lady who was in the bus earlier.

“Hey, thanks for the coin just now.” She searched for something in her wallet. I lit my stick and exhaled a cloud of smoke. The wind blew the smoke towards her direction.

“Hey, can’t you stop smoking?” she said.

“I just lit it, flower girl.” I tried to exhale the smoke away from her on my second drag but the wind pushed the smoke towards her again.

“Heaven’s call.” I said and whistled softly under my breath.

“Can’t find the coin. Get back to you soon, eh?” she said, covering her nose and almost running off.

I giggled a little. An eye for an eye, flower girl.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

When I was at the Lift Lobby waiting for the lift, I saw the lady again.

I stood away from her. She saw me, beamed at me and was about to approach me when one of the lifts chimed. The lift door opened and all the people rushed in.

I was the last to go in. The lady was standing close to the door. When I stepped in, an alarm sounded. A button with the word “Overload” lighted up. I stood out instantly and the alarm stopped.

I looked at the lady and was about to give up on the lift when the lady stood out. “I’m not in a hurry.” she said.

She must be feeling guilty about her act just now, I thought. “Thanks, flower girl.” I stood in and once again, the alarm rang. I jumped out instantaneously, blushing. The lady twisted her head and then stepped in. The alarm did not sound.

I crossed my arms as I stood back. The lady touched her forehead repeatedly to apologise to me before the lift door closed. I swore under my breath.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

When I got into the next lift, I saw the lady again. She was alone in the lift.

“Shit.” I whispered, trying to control my volume.

“Hello.” she said. “Sorry about just now. You should go on a diet.”

I turned to her, snored a little and then, when I stared into her eyes, it all came back.

The chubby cheeks were still there, but the black plastic glasses that used to rest on her nose were gone. It was replaced by frameless glasses. She seemed a bit thinner and her hair was almost close to blonde. Her fringe was short.

There was no mistake. It was Lara.

I almost shouted, “Lara?”

Lara nodded. There were only the both of us in the lift. I reached for her hand and then stopped myself.
 
“My gosh, it’s really you?” I whispered. The lift door closed. Lara nodded again.

Memories of her flowed into my mind like a stream of water. I played back the scenes like a fast-forwarded movie. “Gosh, oh, gosh.” I whispered. “Lara! How long has it been, huh?”

“Six.” she said, without needing to count.

“Six years!” I yelled. “Had it been that long?”

“How are you?” she said.

“Great. We need to talk.” I looked around me. “Why is it so stuffy here?”

Lara pushed a button in the lift, “Because the lift is not moving.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I asked Lara out for supper that night.

It had been six years. I had not expected to see her near my workplace. She is working in a small company on the ninth floor whereas my office is on the eighteenth floor.

“We could go to work together everyday.” she said. “Just like, you know, old days.”

I nodded. The old days were great, I wanted to say. “I can still remember you singing aloud when you listened to the portable CD player.”

“Hey!” she said and slapped my forearm.

We were at a café near our workplace. We had been there since we knocked off. Coincidentally, our working hours are the same: 8:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. We even have the same lunch break from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m.

She told me more about her. After she got her results, she went to Singapore Polytechnic and majored in Business Administration. She quitted the course after two years and changed to “Business Information Technology” course, which she thought had more prospects. She had just graduated last year and this was her first permanent job.

“Cool.” I said. Later, I told her more about my story: My typical routine of three years at Ngee Ann Polytechnic; about two years serving the country and a year at my workplace. She listened attentively.

“Cool.” she imitated my word.

We spent the next hour catching up on old times. None of us mentioned about the young and innocent relationship we used to have: It had, somehow or rather, became a veiled history that was taboo in our conversation.

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