2013-07-02 - 2:50 p.m.
Before we began, let me tell you something about me:
I�ve never had any real workout in years and I seriously need to start doing that again...as in SOON! Soon, as in this month. It�s a perfect timing for me, I believe, because Ramadan (a fasting month for Muslims) start in the middle of it.
Yep, a good workout and a new, much healthier eating habit will surely do. I have to. I�m 31 now � and I don�t want to end up like Dad by the time I reach 60. (Stroke.) That�s the only motivation I can think of � and am seriously holding on to.
Anyway, let�s get back to last Friday.
It was the very first time I�d ever experience a fire drill / simulation in the building. I was just sitting for fifteen minutes at the meeting that afternoon when the alarm went off � along with the announcement over the hall speakers. All of us obediently got up and walked out, using the fire escape stairs. (I was still carrying my laptop in its case and my backpack because I�d shown up late for the meeting. I know I�m not exactly The Employee of The Month.
We were all gathered outside at the vast carpark at the back of the building. The sun was still shining and my poor Caucasian friends were already sweating...a lot. The security guards and the admin staff were handing out free bottled drinks and bread. Yum.
Then Paula showed up even later than I�d been, along with her daughter Sakinah. The pretty little brunette was eating a Magnum ice cream. Paula took another one from her plastic bag and handed it to me. I didn�t expect that.
�For me?�
�Yeah.�
�Thanks.� I accepted it happily. She even handed another � which was the last one � to Tony B. (I know at least three or four Tonys in my life; one is my brotherly best friend.) He and I simply grinned at each other. What luck!
We were eating out ice cream when Andrew the newbie came by and saw us.
�Where did you get that?� he asked. Uh-oh. �Are those freebies too?�
Tony B.and I exchanged nervous glances. Thankfully, I was pretty quick in scanning my surroundings. My eyes spotted a minimarket nearby � which I sometimes visit � and I pointed at it.
�They sell this for ten thousand rupiahs a piece.�
�Oh.� Guess what? Andrew really did go there to buy a Magnum for himself! I just grinned guiltily while Paula and Tony B. laughed.
After that, karma taught me a lesson.
We heard another announcement that told us that we could all go back inside the building. Since all the workers from the whole building were lining up for the elevators, some of the admin staff, Andrew, and I decided to climb up the runways of the carparks in the building � nine storeys up!
�Are you alright?� Andrew, walking a few steps ahead of me, turned to me with a worried look on his face. He�s as old as Dad, yet I was the one huffing and puffing.
�Yeah.� What an understatement.
R.
