Mid Summer Night's meal

SUNDAY, APRIL 6, 2008

Another long day at work was not that much of a surprise when you are just starting to climb the career ladder in the construction business. Even after six years of undergraduate design assignments and training, nothing compares to the stress and chaos of meeting actual deadlines for a building submission. Especially when you have the government, as your client.

Time = money.
A simple business equation.  Ironically, I felt , in our business, however, that equation was more realistically  " time = money/job hierarchy".

Which was also the reason why I was even working on a Sunday, after being politely asked to "help" with the workload of my team. There were about seven of us that afternoon, all in casual clothing, but felt like just another day of the week really.  My immediate supervisor, Max, who was also one of the directors of the firm, had came in at 7 am with three knee-high stacks of documentations-drawings and folders of updated site informations to be worked through as quick and accurately as we could. 

The office was open-plan, with L-shaped desks for all employees including the directors all sitting in plain view of each other with the exception for the accounting office for obvious reasons.  My lucky stars, naturally, got  my desk to be right across from the big boss, which means there was little to no chance of me ever really being able to goof-off.  Even on the weekends. 

Four hours of silence, because I'd forgotten to pack my earphones, somehow I managed to stay awake and finished the last batch of marked up drawings laid on the desk. Max was on the phone less than three meters away from me, and I assumed he had been called away as he hurriedly packed his things. "You better have yours printed, missy." he barked as he walked away, still frowning. 

Two months of work, balled into a week. Clients weren't too happy in our last meeting, but what else is new?

Que sera sera.

It was almost 10 pm by the time I had printed what I finished, including time to correct the misprinted ones. 
I had one of my colleagues escort me to the emptied car park. Summer sun had long gone as autumn slowly came. The air was still quite warm but the chills were just about to close in. I just wanted to get home before Monday arrived.

Scrambled eggs, tomato pieces, butter and herbs~ My apartment reeked of food as I entered. I would have thought my flatmates would be in bed by then. Leia, my female flatmate was usually at her boyfriend's Clays on the weekends, but my other flatmate Cliff usually had his pack of mates around.  Their action-packed "missions" (another fancy name for testosterone driven activities) didn't usually last after 10 pm on week day, having to keep their daily professionals lives the next day. Perhaps the rugby was on?

"I can't believe how much you neglect yourself," A blue eyed sort-of boyfriend scoffed at me as he laid a plate onto neatly made dinner table. Andrew,  my sort-of boyfriend, because, he was in fact a friend of Cliff's. And we haven't yet decided on anything...erm, serious? yet.
 "We're going shopping for food tomorrow. You have nothing in there."

I was itching to say something back but I bit my lip instead. Its only been a month since we started dating. I had to make clear, that it was MY space, after all. No matter how cute or attractive I find he was... that needed to be said, especially since he has access to my space. I assumed he may have just been hanging out with Cliff earlier and decided to wait for me or something.

Over at the corner of the living room, Cliff was pretending not hear us, seeming to be absorbed in his book. I saw him grin even though his eyes were glued to his book. Sometimes I wonder if all other creative jobs in the world have as much as demanding personal space like I do. If not in reality, at least in my mind. Looking at him, I wonder if I was just in denial. 

I decided to give him a hug instead. And then a peck on the cheek. "I didn't expect you to wait for me. You could have called. Or texted you were here."
He kissed my forehead and held out the chair for me.  "Well, I just want to make sure you ate. I'm just about to go, but I have to feed you first." He smiled that toothy smiled I had crush on when I first saw him. "At very least, I can just make sure you are OK."

I know in real life we cant always get what we want.
Me?  I'm just extremely lucky. I got what I didn't even knew I wanted at the end of a Sunday.

Thank you.