Hazia’s Reflections

I came to work even later than usual this morning, almost 10am. I normally take the day off on my birthday but I couldn’t this time. Apart from having just taken 10 days for Raya, I was also serving my notice period.

I found a red base heart shape box of Federro Rocher on my desk, nicely tied with a gold ribbon and a red rose. There wasn’t a card so I assumed it was a new standard birthday gift from my company. Before I could even switch on my laptop to check my email and get to the bottom of it, The Snake startled me by saying that he wanted to have a client meeting when I was settled. That spoilt my morning buzz.

I got out and went to the canteen for breakfast, without even taking my mobile. Let him wait, superior or no superior. To make matters worst, I forgot to fill up my work timesheet yesterday. So, I couldn’t access my emails until I filled up a form and obtain my MD’s approval. It turned out that the gift was from my junior colleague, she emailed me her wishes. That was sweet:) I missed her birthday early this month, that wasn’t good at all. Anyway, I’ll give her something before I leave, probably my book.

After that, my friend , Dr N, sang me a Happy Birthday song on YM, hehe… Another friend wished me on YM too with the hug icon. Luckily she did not used the kiss icon anymore, I’m sensitive to two 2 smileys, Ad and I used to exchange them everyday. I’d wish him ‘Morning, morning, morning,’ not just a simple ‘morning’ like I did to everyone else. And yes, I still missed him, but let’s not dwell on that. Kebaya Man asked me why did I not confront him when I found out that he was a fake. Hmm… at that time, I wasn’t even sure what he was capable of.

Back to the team meeting, we had it at noon. This time The Snake bluntly told us our client’s personal agenda. I was glad that I wasn’t going to be part of it any longer. I hated working for clients like that, the crookest of crooks. The man purposely ignored the fine line between halal and haram. The Snake ended up accompanying him for drinks, etc until 5am today. Crazy! I couldn’t even look at the man’s face for a few hours.

I also realised that The Snake found out about my resignation from our junior colleague (I told her myself), instead of through the management meeting the way it should be. He was about to have lunch with our junior colleague when she told him it was my birthday. He immediately called me and invited me to join them but I declined.

My mother called me and smsed after that many times, asking me to buy flight tickets for her and my father. Obviously, she had forgotten my birthday. She seldom did but she always missed the significant ones e.g 30th, 35th, etc. Couldn’t hold it any longer, I told her then. Funny thing was that she and my father had been talking about organising my birthday dinner in KL next week without actually realising that today is my birthday. LOL! We’re trying to hold it in Bangsar so I can invite the Kebaya Man; his boutique is nearby. Actually, it’s a small family only kind of thingy:D.

We had our office October babies birthday celebration just now, 4 of us. The donuts from J.Co and healthy cheese cake from Secret Recipe were nice. But I didn’t touch the other stuff, wasn’t in the mood for roast chicken and mushroom spaghetti. We each got a red angpow with RM80. Though I’d never enjoyed their company, I tried to stay longer than usual this time, no more celebrations with these bunch after this.

And in case you’re wondering, Kebaya Man is tied up tonight. His partner and him got a special invitation to a private party of a celebrity who just got married. This is the one where they are sponsoring the white wedding dress. My friends asked could he not bring a partner. Hmm… when I spoke to him on Tuesday, he just found out and he didn’t even have the right attire. The dress code was white jacket. I doubt that he’d even have the space to think about bringing someone else. Oh, he sms me a long Happy Birthday wish yesterday, way in advance. BTW, I just missed his birthday, it was on 5 September, so he is 51 days older than I am:)

I remember the conversation of a few of my senior colleagues 5 years ago. All of them were single women in their late 30s or 40s. They said when you hit 35, being unmarried doesn’t bother you anymore. You stop caring. One thing about turning 35, I had been damn curious to test out that theory after all these years. Hmm… that’s not true, I still care:p.