Chapter 3

Once my work is done at the EPF, I waited for Hamid. It is quite unusual for him to be late. I tried calling him but he didn't answer. I was about to call Hamid for the forth time when this huge BMW drove in and parked right in front of me.

I saw from the corner of my eye, the driver side door opened and came out someone. “I sent Hamid home.”.

I turn to the voice and there stood Imran by the side of his car. Both arms rested on the car roof top. “What do you mean? Hamid was supposed to pick me up....”, I asked.  I am confused. I never expected to see Imran.

He came over to me and held out his hand. “I am asking you, would you give me the honor to drive you back to your office?", he asked. "Would it be alright with you……if I drive you back to KL? Anyway I wanna return your Ipad which you accidentally left in the cab. ”, he tried to convince me. With that good looks......I melted.

Well...., since he asked politely, it's not nice for me to turn him down.“Ok…”, I answered. OK? Haish....

I did not reach out to his hand instead I walked over to the car and opened the passenger side door. I slide on to the seat and made myself comfortable. He stood out there....."Well, this car ain't moving on it's own ya know......", I said.

Imran laughed and replied, "Yes, it won't....". Soon after, we drove off…..

I sat there thinking what happened just now. I find myself sitting in his car and he is such a charmer! To think of it, he is not such a bad looking guy. His eyes are so deep and when he smile........well, he does looks attractive.

"Here, you left this....", and he passed me the Ipad. I flipped just to check if it was in good condition.

"Don't worry it is still intact.", he smiled while concentrating on the road.

"No, don't get me wrong. I sendiri tak perasan yang I tertinggal Ipad ini dalam cab.", aku bersuara. "Terima kasih sebab bersusah payah memulangkannya pada I...", aku senyum dan memandang Imran. "So you finally had your car fixed?", I asked.

"Nope it's not ready and still at the workshop. It'll probably take another 2-3 days to get the parts and the repair works. In the mean time this is a temporary replacement. It's not the same but it'll do for now....", he replied sincerely.

We were silence for a moment. Awkward.

“To tell you the truth it’s strange because I have never done anything like this before. I had the strangest feeling when I left your office this afternoon. Normally my charm would work but not with you, this time. I can’t read you. You send too many different messages. You are so polite and down to earth. Not many of these we see now a days.”, he expressed.

“Strange? Mixed messages? Well anyway, I guess I was raised by good parenting method…”, I interrupted and smiled. We stop at the red light and he looked at me.

“What I'm trying to say is…..I like you, a lot. I hope you don’t think I’m crazy or a lunatic. If I don’t do this, I might never get the chance to see you again.”, he further elaborate. He drove on. It was a very hot day and the traffic to KL was suffocating.

“Well, I am flattered by your sincerity. I tak tahu apa yang you nampak pada diri I. I am nothing special. But…..,”, aku masih ragu-ragu.

“But…., you dah berpunya. Is that it? Yeah I should have guessed. Orang yang sweet like you surely dah berpunya…..”, he sounded defeated.

“Yes I memang sudah yang berpunya…..kepunyaan my parents and brothers……”, dan aku tergelak. Pucat jugak muka dia tadi.

“And dia pandai bergurau juga….”, he teased me. There was a sense of relief I could hear from his voice.

We finally arrived in front of my office and I thanked him for his kindness sending me all the way back to KL. “Can I call you sometime?”, he asked dan menghulurkan mobile phone nya. Aku menolak, “No thanks I have one myself…”, aku jawab.

“Your number? Please?”, he asked and raised his eye brow.

Aku ketawa, “I’m sorry. That was silly of me……”, lalu aku menaipkan nombor aku dan memulangkan semula mobile phone nya. Malunya aku….

He stepped out of his car and came around to open my door. We shook hands and I walked in into the building. I went straight to the basement where I got into my car and drove home. Lagu-lagu Calvin Harris menemani aku sepanjang perjalanan ke Cyberjaya.

Home to me is Cyberjaya dan aku sudah tinggal di sini almost 5 tahun. Aku sebenarnya bekerja di Cyberjaya. Ya ada pekerjaan tetap. Cuma kadang-kadang aku suka menyibuk di pejabat Tan Sri. Aku satu-satunya anak perempuan Tan Sri, Tan Sri Khaled to be specific.  

Tapi aku hanya anak angkat. Tan Sri dan isteri yang selama ni membesarkan dan menyayangi aku tanpa berbelah bahagi. Mereka tidak pernah membeza-bezakan aku dengan anak-anak kandung mereka.  Tan Sri expects anak-anaknya berusaha jika inginkan kejayaan. Obviously setiap kejayaan comes a reward from Tan Sri. 

Yes, hidup aku mewah. Semua di sediakan. Selepas aku lulus ijazah sarjana muda, Tan Sri menghadiahkan aku sebuah kereta.

Kemudian setelah aku lulus ijazah sarjana, kedua ibu bapa aku menghadiahkan sebuah apartment di Cyberjaya. Berat hati mereka melepaskan aku tinggal jauh dari Kuala Lumpur tetapi aku tetap dengan pendirian aku. They relented. 

After my shower I sat down and watched TV. Then my mobile phone rang.

Mommy : "Assalamualaikum Q. Mommy ni...."

Aku : "Waalaikumsalam Mommy....mommy sihat?"

Mommy : "Yes, I am good...alhamdulillah. Q apa khabar? Dah lama tak balik rumah....mommy rindulah anak mommy ni sorang...".

Aku : "Q sibuk sikit mommy....next week Q baliklah untuk kenduri arwah."

Mommy : "Q tolong mommy plan the kenduri ya...you are always good with organizing event."

Aku : "Boleh mommy. No problem."

We discussed about the caterer, food and gifts for our guests. She told me that My sister in-law, Kak Alia is 4 months pregnant. Kak Alia is Abang Long's wife and they have been married for 4 years and after getting treatment at a fertility clinic she finally is pregnant. Abang Long is a lawyer and he has his own law firm. Tan Sri was hoping Abang Long to follow his foot steps. Unfortunately Abang Long is adamant to practice law.

Mommy : "Okay Q, you take care and makan tau.....daddy cakap you dah semakin kurus. Bila dia hugged you dia kata you tinggal tulang je...."

Aku : "Mommy...daddy tu exaggerating je. I am fine and don't you worry about me."

Mommy: "Alright then...keep in touch and I'll see you next Thursday ya..."

Aku : "Yes mommy....bye." 

And we both hang up.

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…..

Chapter 1

“Guys? Dah set up projector? Mana Azmi? He is supposed to make sure the movie nanti run smoothly and no hiccups….” , aku agak cemas sebab Azmi masih tak muncul-muncul.

“Khairiah, please cari Azmi.....tell him the show must start as schedule, 12 noon sharp!”, aku mengarah Khairiah. Khairiah menganggukkan kepala dan cepat-cepat keluar dari training room.

Lima minit kemudian Khairiah masuk semula tetapi membawa Nanda untuk membantu. “Q, Azmi MC la but I brought Nanda, our IT genius. He can help us.”, said Khairiah.

“Good job Khairiah. Nanda can you help us to set up the projector?”, I asked dan memandangnya. Nanda tersengih.

“Sure no problem Q..”, he replied and started to work on the projector. Nasib baik ada si Nanda. "Thanks so much Nanda, I really appreciate it. Coffee Beans on me tomorrow", I promised him. Feeling indebted. Nanda tersengih lagi dan mengangguk-anggukkan kepalanya....

“Ok I leave it to you. I need to be in the break room....just, to make sure the popcorn and pizzas are ready to be served.....”. I gently gripped Nanda's arm, let go, sambil berlalu pergi.

The moment I stepped into the break room, keadaan kelam kabut seperti berada di pasar. Terlalu ramai sangat yang nak membantu. I had to take charge. “Okay guys, listen. Excuse me....!", aku meninggikan suara. Serta merta aku menjadi perhatian.....

"Alright, thank you all......siapa yang nak tengok movie boleh proceed sekarang ke training room. We will start tepat pukul dua belas nanti. We have to follow the schedule. Movie kena habis before one thirty. Lambat start lambat pulak habis. Takut nanti Tan Sri tak setuju for another movie next month. Susah nak convince dia.” Aku terus membuka kotak popcorn dan memasukkan satu bag ke dalam microwave one after the other. After a few minutes, "Ting!". Pop corn ready to go. This should be enough during the first half of the movie, fikir aku.

“Let Siti and myself settle the popcorn. Maliq please carry the water thermos and be careful. It’s hot coffee. Nana, you carry the pizza boxes. Okay? Semua set?”, aku bertanya.

Semua berkenaan menjawab serentak, “Yes, Q….”. Masing-masing mula meninggalkan break room.....sunyi.

Setelah movie bermula, aku kembali ke break room untuk mengemas dan mengagihkan lebihan popcorn ke dalam individual container. Aku memastikan tidak ada barang yang tertinggal dan bersepah. Nanti takut pulak Kak Sham the cleaner, marah.

Tidak beberapa lama kemudian, Khairiah masuk ke break room, “Q, Q, cepat Tan Sri pun ada dalam training room….dia tanya mana popcorn?”

“Tadi punya dah habis ke? Anyway, nah, ambil ni, ada extra….”, aku menjawab. Sambil menatang beberapa pek popcorn, aku menolak pintu dengan badan. 

Tiba-tiba aku terlanggar sesuatu….habis bertaburan popcorn yang aku pegang jatuh ke lantai. “Shit!”, tiba-tiba terpacul keluar dari mulut aku.....lalu memandang ke arah seseorang yang berdiri seperti tunggul kayu di depan aku.

Jejaka itu memandang aku. Tanpa berkelip. Dia kemudian bersuara, “Please, let me help you…..”, he said.

“It’s okay. You don’t want to get your hands dirty. I apologized. I tak sengaja langgar you….”, aku meminta maaf tapi dalam hati ni.....Tuhan saja yang tahu. Geramnya.......

But he insisted. “No.., no…, it’s my fault. I wasn’t sure where I was going…”, he smiled and helped me pick up the popcorn.

Khairiah yang tercegat memerhatikan kami berdua sambil tersenyum. “Apa tersengih-sengih? Nah, bawak yang ni ke dalam training room. Nanti bising Tan Sri…”, aku mengarah Khairiah sambil menghulur 5 bekas popcorn yang dapat di selamatkan.

“Okay Q….”, Khairiah replied dan berlalu pergi. 

“Star Trek fan?”, tiba-tiba tanya jejaka tadi. Dia memandang aku lagi. Tak berani aku nak mengangkat muka sebab aku boleh merasakan kehangatan bahang pipiku.

“Sorry?” Aku menjawab. Tak pasti apa maksudnya.

“Q? A character from Star Trek…”, he replied.

Aku tersenyum….”Ahhhh…..yes, definitely a fan but I fell in love with Picard. Hmmmm……I wonder how he speaks perfect English accent but has a 100% French name. If there was a story told I must have missed the episode…”, lalu aku tersenyum sendiri. Melayang pulak fikiran aku sekejap. Bila tersedar, I lifted my face and he was already staring at me…..He giggled.

“I am sorry. I just had a moment....... “. Terasa malu, I stood up and he followed next.

I extended my hand and introduced myself. Dia menyambut salamku. His hands felt warm and strong. His grip was not too hard but just nice enough for an air passage in between.

I let go of the grip. “I’m Quxandria with a Q. Got it?”, I said sambil mendepakan kedua lengan aku. He laughed and nodded like he understood.

Then he replied, “Got it!.....and by the way I am a Star Trek fan, too. For me it’s Mr. DATA all the way….”.

“I have to clean up here. Again saya minta maaf banyak-banyak sebab kejadian tadi. Are you a guest or a client? Can I direct you to someone?”, aku bertanya.

“Q?.....sepatutnya awak marah pada saya tetapi this is the opposite. Sejujurnya saya belum pernah  jumpa lagi dengan seorang yang sungguh sopan and berbudi bahasa and yet at the same time can be very entertaining and witty….until I met you. But instead you apologized to me. Please don't apologized. My meeting is over and lost my way out. Could you show me the way?” He said dan aku rasa segan bila di puji  sebegitu. Typical Malay. I remembered my ex-supervisor once told me, always accept a compliment. You deserve it…...

“Thank you for the compliment. Please, follow me this way…”. Aku mula berjalan. He followed me from behind.

A few seconds later we reached the reception desk and pointed him to the elevator. “Are you parked in the basement?”, I asked.

“No, my car will be waiting for me downstairs….”, he replied. His eyes never left my face. Tersipu-sipu aku dibuatnya.

“In that case, just press LG and it’ll take you to the security lounge and the main entrance.” We shook hands again.

“Thank you very much Quxandria….It was a delight to have met you”. He smiled and walked towards the elevator.

“Thank you for helping me to clean up back there…”, balas aku.

He stepped into the elevator and turn, “No the pleasure was all mine….”, he said.

And the elevator door slide closed…..