Chapter 2

“Q, you tak join ke tengok movie? Berkemas-kemas ni nak pergi mana?”, sapa Khairiah. Dia bersandar di meja kerja aku.

“I have to go to EPF sekejap sebab nak hantar borang budak-budak yang baru masuk kerja. Nanti lambat register tak sempat pulak nak include their contribution sebab tak ada EPF numbers. Nanti you tolong lock the training room bila dah selesai nanti ya.” Aku berpesan pada Khai sambil memerhatikan jam tangan.

“Q…..I nak tanya sikit ni…..”, Khai asked.

“Apa dia?”, I replied and looked at her.

“Siapa Pak we handsome tadi? Macho nya…..”, she asked and blushed at the same time.

“Entahlah, he mentioned he had a meeting here but did not say with whom….kenapa? You syok kat dia ya…..”, I mengusik Khai. Her face is now red.

“Eh….tak lah….dia ada nama tak?”, she popped another question.

“Alamak I tak tanya nama dia pun…..maybe the receptionist would know. You tanya dia lah……”, I replied and started to leave the office area.

“You tak interested ke? Bukan main panjang berborak tadi masa kutip popcorn?”, Khai was curious of my reaction.

I laughed and replied, “Isyh….nak mampus? Kalau Tan Sri tahu I syok kat client dia, habis I kena nanti. Dia selalu cakap never mix work with pleasure….”.

“Hmmm….ia la tu….I rasa pak we tu syok kat you lah Q. Cara dia pandang you …..terpegun, terpesona.......”, I cut in her conversation.

“Dah tak ada rasa, rasa okay. Dari gaya dia, nampak macam married man lah.....ok, ok,...I dah lambat ni. Please call me a Grab. Malas nak drive tengahari buta ni. Dengan panas and traffic…..tension I.” I asked Khai for a favor.

“Okay but you are coming back to the office, right? Kereta you?…..”, she replied.

“Yup, I’ll come back to the office nanti…..call Grab ya....I tunggu bawah....”. I waved and stepped in the elevator.

Sampai saja di ground floor pandangan aku tertumpu kepada jejaka yang baru saja meninggalkan pejabat Tan Sri. Pelik? Kenapa dia masih ada di sini?

Aku terus menghampirinya. I tapped on his shoulder and he turn around. He was on his mobile phone. He raise his index finger towards me to indicate, one moment please. Malu aku rasa. Maybe I should have not bothered to greet him. Anyway, I looked the other way pretending not to listen to his conversations.

Elok sahaja aku berpaling semula memandangnya, he said, “Hi, it’s nice to see you again…..”.

“Are you still waiting for your car?”, aku bertanya.

“According to my driver, there seems to be an engine problem with my car. He might be late....and I have another appointment at 2:30 p.m.”, he replied.

“Do you need a ride? I am waiting for a Grab to go to Petaling Jaya. You are most welcome, if you don’t mind sharing one with me. Once I reach PJ you can have the cab and continue with your destination”, I suggested.

He raised his left eye brow and smile.

“It was just a suggestion….”, aku rasa ragu-ragu kalau pendapat aku tu kurang senang dengan jejaka korporat itu. Maklumlah orang ada driver tak kan nak share Grab Cab dengan aku.

“Quxandria, you seem to have answer for every problem. Yes, I would like to share a cab with you. Thank you.”, he uttered.

“Great! Why don’t you call your driver and let him know you are in good hands. And we wait for the cab to arrive.” I suggested. Dia menganggukkan kepala tanda setuju.

A few seconds later my mobile phone rang. It was the Grab driver. I told the driver that I’ll be right out.  Aku perhatikan jejaka tadi masih on his mobile phone. Then I signaled him that it’s time to go. He nodded and walked behind me, still talking on his mobile phone. Aku jalan terus ke kereta yang sedang berhenti di bahu jalan. Malas nak layan orang yang tak habis-habis bergayut dengan mobile phone nya.

When we reached to the car, the guy instantly open the back door for me. I stepped in and he followed.

“Assalamualaikum Hamid….awak sihat?”, aku menyapa pemandu di depan.

“Waalaikum salam Q…., Alhamdulillah…..kita nak ke mana tengahari ni….?” Hamid menyahut salam aku dan tersenyum gembira.

“Saya nak ke Bangunan EPF di Jalan Gasing PJ dan encik di sebelah ni nak ke…….”, aku berhenti dan memandang jejaka disebelah aku.

“Shangri-la Putrajaya….,’he replied.

The driver nodded and responded,”Wah jauh tu….RM25 ke EPF dan RM55 ke Putrajaya…”. He looked at me through the rear mirror.

“Saya rasa bolehlah Hamid….”, aku menjawab tanpa memandang ke arah jejaka yang aku tak tahu namanya. Should I asked for his name?

Aku banyak berbual dengan Hamid. Adakala dia buat aku ketawa dengan cerita-cerita pengalaman dia menjadi pemandu Grab Cab.  Aku sudah lama mengenali Hamid. Dia lulusan Universiti tempatan tetapi masih belum mendapatkan pekerjaan tetap. Jadi daripada tidak membuang masa he decided to become a Grab driver. Good for him. He once told me on a good day he can earn between RM400 to RM500!

Jejaka misteri tu asyik on his Ipad dan adakalanya di seperti memikirkan sesuatu sambil memandang keluar. Aku harap tindakan dia berkongsi Grab dengan aku tidak menjatuhkan image dia.

As soon as we reached Kerinchi I interrupted the guy who sat next to me, “Excuse me, I will leave you in good hands. Hamid is a cool guy and he’ll take take you to Putrajaya. Hamid, jaga kawan saya baik-baik ya dan nanti dah hantar dia Hamid datang ambik saya di EPF ya. Saya perlu balik pejabat.”, I smiled and looked at the mystery guy.For the first time since we stepped in the cab, he smiled and said, “Thank you Quxandria…”.

“Please just call me, Q.”, I replied. “By the way, I didn’t get your name?”, aku bertanya.

“Imran.”, he replied short. I nodded.

“Well Imran, it is finally nice to fit a name to the face…”, aku bergurau and he laughed.

“I’m sorry I am not a good company this afternoon. I have a few things on my mind especially this meeting in Putrajaya. I hope you understand and not offended by my silence….”, he went on.

“No….I’m alright with that and good luck with your meeting. Well this is my stop. Take care.”, and quickly stepped out of the cab. Aku menghulurkan RM100 kepada Hamid just to make sure he comes back to pick me up later. “Balance nanti saya bayar bila dah sampai pejabat saya. Ok Hamid?, I said and Hamid agreed.

I stood in the blazing hot weather as I watched the cab drove off…..