Friday, August 24, 2007

leaving again

Things will come to those who wait. Do they really?

I have had that experience one time too many not to believe in it.

I was being lazy in bed this morning when my phone rang. It was the office. The guy told me that I have to attend a course from August 27 - 30th. I have to go on Sunday. My tickets are booked and ready. I only have to go pick it up at the travel agency.

It's a teaching courseware kind of course and it is going to be held at the Holiday Inn Santubong, Kuching.

Is that crazy or what? To think that I was just there last Monday and I am gonna be there again this Sunday.

I had a great time with the team and of course with N. I didn't know I am going to be there again so soon.

I sent him a text message telling him about it and asking if he'd be around during that time, wondering how he would react to it. An hour later he responded with a simple "Will still be in Kuching next week." Which is fine, because how else should he have responded? Remember, he is going to be 49 soon and he is not the excitable kind.

He called me later and we talked some more.

"Where are you going to have the course?"
"Adalah, somewhere jauh, jauh, jauh in the jungle."
"Hmm... jauh, jauh, jauh in the jungle..."
"Well, not exactly the jungle, of course,"
"Is it in Santubong, then?" Boy, he knows his turf.
"Yeah, jauh kan."
"No, it's not that far, it's just about an hour from my place."
Tak jauh? One hour... tak jauh? That is so sweet. Pandainya ambil hati. Ada apa-apa ke nih?

Among other things, we talked about our plan of spending some time together in KK next month. I was surprised that he wanted me to apply for leave for one whole week. I explained to him that if I don't have a valid excuse for the leave, then I would have to apply for 'unpaid leave' and that would affect me later when it is time for me to retire. He realized that would be a bad idea. And I thought, it's going to be Ramadhan anyway. I don't think that is a good idea. Letih and lapar nanti.

Then he said I will have to apply for leave and extend my stay this time. I asked him what for? I told him the last day of the course would be the 30th (I wonder if he remembers my birthday!!! But even if he doesn't, I am not gonna take it to heart) and the next day would be Independence Day and then the weekend, so I don't exactly need to apply for leave. Then he said he's not sure what he's supposed to be doing or where he should be on Saturday and Sunday and will check later, and that he might have to be in KL. I went "Alah..." in my most manja voice, feigning disappointment, he quickly put in, "Well if that is the case then all you have to do is come with me then."

I was like... quietly, of course... well, I didn't know what to think, really. That was either the sweetest thing he could say or the corniest? I don't know. But for the time being, I'll take that as sweet. Man, he sure knows how to play his cards right. Is that from experience? Hmm... :-)

But then a co worker came by and asked to borrow my mp3 radio transmitter thing. He wanted to buy one when he goes to KK tomorrow. I kept him on the phone all the while and then when I got back to him, we were ready to hang up. Such detail lah aku cerita ni. Huhuhuhu...

Well, for the things he said on the phone about keeping my tickets open because we won't know when I would be leaving until it was time to leave and the extending of my stay and the other nice things, I will not take everything so seriously and try to take things as they come so that I won't be disappointed if they didn't happen the way I wanted them to be. I have made that mistake before, it makes me feel like sh*t and made me hate him. I am not going to let that happen to me again. Because I will be the one who will be hurt. Another lesson learned.

Anyway, that made my day, really.

So tomorrow I am gonna go to school and mark the exam papers I left before I went on my last Kuching trip and leave the marks for the respective teachers before I have to leave again on Sunday morning.

I have never had the need to apply for leave in my life before. So why is it so hard for me to accept the fact that I should not be doing that simply because I wanna spend more time with him, because it is totally unnecessary.

No, not even for him. And he knows that.




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