Maybe I was expecting to be let go from the company. So I was kind of surprised when my GM called me in on the eve of National Day to tell me that the company was indeed downsizing and that instead of 4 in-office days, I was now only required to work in the office on Mondays, and remotely for the rest of the week, effective the week after the National Day holiday. There would be no changes to my salary or benefits at the moment, but management was really appreciative of me covering the duties of my colleagues who left. For a second I was wondering why it was the GM who was telling me all this, then I realized I had no HR colleagues left. They were all let go. And for some reason, the small fry of a marketing and BD senior executive was not. Not that I wanted to lose my job, but I wasn’t really looking out for one anyway. Just as well, most of my work could be done remotely anyway.
I went for lunch with a surprising spring in my step and bumped into, of all people, Rebecca and Shirlyn at the hawker centre.
I didn’t feel like I was sociable at that point of time so I tried to sneak past them while they were in the long queue for fish soup, trying to find this vegetarian chicken rice that I saw on TikTok.
Unfortunately, I got spotted.
R: Hey! June!
I pretended not to hear but Shirlyn stepped out of the queue for a second to grab me. I wondered why both of them needed to queue. Perhaps one couldn’t handle two bowls of soup on a tray.
S: Hey! How have you been?
Me: Oh, normal, you know, the same.
S: Why don’t you join us? We have a table over there.
She pointed in the general direction of the side of the hawker centre.
S: See that cute guy over there?
Me: Huh?
S: New hire. We’re having lunch together.
Me: Err. Not so nice right? It’s your company thing.
S: Haha! It’s ok. Just join us. You’re not gonna find a table at this time.
Me: Ok. Sure. Fine.
I headed to the chicken rice stall where indeed, the guy was wearing a pink headband. It was kind of cute really. I got the roasted “chicken” set, waited for a short while as the “chicken” was freshly fried, and headed to the table where the cute guy was.
Me: Hi! I’m June. Shirlyn asked me to join you guys.
Nick: Oh. Hi. I’m Nick.
He extended his hand as I placed my tray down. I shook it and was slightly taken aback. His hand was really smooth, with nearly perfectly manicured nails. He was wearing a light blue long-sleeved shirt and tailored pants. I was wondering why he wasn’t melting in the heat yet. I was very simply dressed in a sleeveless blouse and skirt and I was already sticky from the humidity. He looked really really young though, like fresh out of uni kind of young.
N: Do you mind if I go look for some food?
Me: Sure!
N: What’s good by the way? It’s only my 4th day in this area.
Me: Er… I’m kinda sick of the food here already.
N: Yours looks good.
Me: Oh! I have no idea if it tastes good. Saw it on TikTok.
I pointed in the general direction of the stall.
N: There’s no queue though. Never mind. I’ll find out. Been eating chicken rice every single day since Monday anyway.
He stood up and left the table. I don’t know why I was kind of disappointed but he was pretty short, like maybe a couple of centimetres taller than me. Then again, I already had two, potentially four guys that I was sleeping/could be sleeping with, why was I even looking at this one?
I sat down and wondered if I should start first, or wait. Shirlyn and Rebecca were about to collect their fish soup anyway. As expected they came back pretty quickly.
R: Eh. He’s cute right?
Me: Err…
S: She’s up to her old tricks again.
Me: Guess Mike and Tom aren’t enough for her.
R: We didn’t do it that often la. Give me a break. And your husband… tried to murder me with his dick.
Me: Right.
R: Fresh meat here.
Shirlyn rolled her eyes.
S: I gave up on her long ago.
R: He’s like… what… 27? Can la.
Me: He’s quite short for a guy.
R: Is he? I think the guys you know are all quite tall.
Me: No? Mike and Tom are pretty average. Mark and EoS too.
R: Huh? 1.8m is average?
Me: None of them are 1.8m.
R: Fine la. I’m short. Happy? Don’t tell me you think their cocks are average…
Me: Ok ah. Quite average. Hahaha. Darren is big. That’s all.
R: Send your average cocks my way please. Thanks.
Me: You wanna get murdered again?
R: Err…
S: Can we change the topic? Nick’s coming back already.
R: Oooo. Somebody’s shy. Oi! My shoes!
I think Shirlyn must have stepped on her shoes or something.
S: Just shut up la.
R: Louboutin leh.
S: Wharever la.
Sure enough, Nick returned with a plate of steamed “chicken” rice.
N: I got to say, the ginger sauce looks really legit.
Me: It does.
R: I should have gotten that instead.
I don’t know what Rebecca was trying to do.
N: Why haven’t you started?
Me: I was waiting for everyone to be back.
N: Oh. There’s no need to.
Me: Let’s start then.
We started eating and I was pleasantly surprised. The “chicken” rice was way better than some of the real chicken rice stalls. Not the “chicken” obviously. It was simply a beancurd sheet thingy. But rice and chilli were amazing for a vegetarian dish. And for some reason, Rebecca just needed to keep talking.
R: So Nick is our new marketing and BD exec.
Me: Oh?
R: June is in that field too.
Me: Yeah I am. Where did you graduate?
N: I was at James Cook. Sadly graduated during Covid, so couldn’t really find a marketing related job. Ended up at the test centers doing swabbing, then supervisory roles. Took a sabbatical after that for a year or so.
Me: I see. Good to take a break. I can’t say I’ve actually taken a proper break all this while.
N: Yeah. I went backpacking around Europe. Wasn’t cheap, but was damn worth it I think.
R: With girlfriend? Wife?
N: Solo trip. I’m single.
I could literally see Rebecca licking her lips.
S: You probably can look for June for tips.
Me: Haha. I don’t think I’m qualified.
S: Well, we didn’t have anyone to handover properly to him.
Me: Oh? After Jasmine left? Wasn’t there another marketing person?
S: She tendered a week later. Eh. We were looking for a marketing and BD manager.
Me: Were? Or are?
S: Are. Still haven’t filled that role yet.
R: Nick you wanna work under her? Hahaha.
N: Sure? Why not? Would be good to learn from someone experienced.
I kind of cringed. I think he didn’t catch her joke.
Me: I’m only senior exec level. And to be honest, I’m super comfortable now. Just got news that I only need to work from office on Mondays.
S: Wow. That’s really good.
Me: Company is downsizing. I guess I’m still lucky to have a job.
R: So shiok. Means you got more time to-
Shirlyn stepped on her shoe again.
N: More time to?
S: Pursue her personal interests. We don’t have that luxury.
N: Oh. Must be fun to have that much flexibility.
R: Yeah. Too bad we can’t do that.
She glared at Shirlyn.
We finished our lunch and headed back to the office.
Shirlyn dropped me a text soon after, with the JD for the marketing and BD manager.
Me: Seriously?
S: Why not? Time for a promotion?
Me: Haha. What’s the salary like?
S: $xxxx - $xxxx. Dependent on relevant experience.
Me: I think I know why you haven’t filled that role.
S: Must be the salary.
Me: Yeah. I get more than your high end of the range.
S: We’re SME after all.
Me: With the number of staff in office now, I’m also in a SME. Haha.
S: Oh well.
Me: Thanks anyway.
S: Oh. I forgot to tell you, I’m having an impromptu BBQ tonight at my place.
Me: Oh?
S: Yeah. Family went overseas for the long weekend. I don’t feel like being alone.
Me: Boyfriend?
S: What boyfriend?
Me: FWB?
S: Long gone.
Me: Oh.
S: I invited Mark, Jasmine and Alicia, but not sure if they’ll show up. I invited everyone else as well.
Me: I need to ask my guys. Otherwise it will be another gaming+sex weekend.
S: Come if you can. I think I over ordered.
Me: Sure. Will let you know later.
I dropped Mike and Tom a text to see what their plans were.
I guess having a BBQ in a new location would be a good change from the norm. And I guess we would be able to make as much noise as we wanted considering she stayed in a landed property.
I got to admit, it was pretty weird going to a BBQ where my husband appeared to be the only guy there.
We reached around 7pm, and the fire was not even started yet. Shirlyn was just standing around the pit staring at the charcoal, as if she was expecting it to burst into flames by itself.
There was tons of food though. Trays upon trays of satays, otahs, chicken wings, what looked like either lamb or beef, hot dogs, crab sticks, were all arranged neatly on a foldable table.
Rebecca for some reason had already started drinking, while Kate was merely playing with her phone. I didn’t see anyone else from the usual group. Definitely no Mark, as he was usually the one who would start the fires and handle the cooking at the bbqs at Jasmine’s place.
So 4 girls, and one ex-commando special forces dropout, surely we could get the fire going? We went up to Shirlyn. I couldn’t help but notice that her singlet was a little loose, even though she was wearing a bra, and her shorts were practically non-existent. If it was Tom with me and not Mike, I was pretty sure he would already be planning the night activities with her.
Me: Everything ok?
I passed her a bottle of Moscato that was in my fridge for way too long.
S: Erm. Yeah. Fire’s not starting though.
Mike laughed.
M: I’ll do it. You girls go gossip or something.
She handed over the tongs to him and I watched as he sorted out the charcoal by size and began building some sort of structure.
Shirlyn led me to the table where a visibly flushed Rebecca was practically hugging a bottle of wine.
R: I want that meat. But that meat is scary.
S: That’s my husband you’re talking about.
R: You can have mine. Let’s exchange. Hahaha.
K: Ignore her. I don’t know what’s up with her today.
We all laughed.
Me: No one else is coming?
S: Well I did invite the other people from the office. But…
Me: What about Mark? Jasmine? Alicia? Nat and Darren? Crystal and urgh, Jason?
Shirlyn sighed.
S: Mark said Jasmine’s unwell, not sure about Alicia. Nat and Darren most likely after settling the kids. Crystal is overseas for a short trip. I’m guessing Jason is with her?
Me: Oh. Cos I see you’ve got a lot of food.
S: Yeah… hope there’s space in my freezer after this.
R: I wanna get fucked by that piece of meat.
S: Rebecca!
Kate and I laughed.
Me: Sure. Ask him yourself if you want.
R: You don’t regret hor.
Me: Why would I?
Rebecca didn’t reply but simply grabbed the Moscato from the table, opened it, and drank straight from the bottle.
I pulled Shirlyn aside.
Me: What’s up with her?
S: Another FWB dumped her I think.
Me: Shouldn’t she be used to it by now?
S: Who knows. She has so many to choose from yet I wonder why it affects her so much.
A: Hi everyone!
Alicia had strolled through the gate, surprisingly with Tom. I glared at him.
Me: Oi! I thought you said you were busy?
A: His schedule freed up.
T: Yeah…
I rolled my eyes at him. At least he was still fucking me weekly in between diablo sessions with Mike.
Tom went to join Mike at the pit where the fire seemed to be starting, and they began to put some food on the grill. I could see Rebecca following their movements like a predator waiting to pounce on its prey.
Me: Sorry, could I use your bathroom.
S: Sure. Follow me.
I followed Shirlyn into the house and up the stairs.
Me: On the left, right? Haha.
I swear I saw her blush.
S: Wish you didn’t read the story.
Me: Hahahaha. I thought it was cool that you just took what you wanted.
S: Erm.
Me: I probably could have with Mark too but I didn’t.
S: Maybe it’s best you didn’t. I’m still hurting from my choices.
I sort of gave her a nod as acknowledgement and entered the bathroom.
We headed back out when I was done and what a surprise. EoS had turned up, dressed in office attire.
E: Hi! Where can I change?
Shirlyn led him into the house. I wondered if I should follow them just to see if she’d jump him or anything. But I decided against it, although it would have been rather interesting.
I sat next to Kate and watched as Rebecca downed cup after cup of whatever alcohol she could get her hands on.
Me: She’s really going at it.
K: Yeah…
Me: And you haven’t eaten yet.
K: Nope.
Me: This is going to be an interesting night.
K: Why do you say so?
Me: Shirlyn just entered the house with EoS.
K: Haha! She’s not going to do anything la!
Me: I guess we’ll find out later.
However, it was like she suddenly became an angel and EoS reappeared unscathed, and joined Mike and Tom at the pit. I don’t know what it was about guys, but they all loved wearing singlets and berms to BBQs. I guess my choice of a dress was probably a weird one then. Rebecca was wearing shorts and singlet, Kate was wearing shorts and t-shirt, only I was the weirdo who chose a halter-top sundress.
I decided to wait for the food before starting to drink. I didn’t even know how much I could drink, in case Mike decided to go fuck around and I had to go home myself. Although if he decided to go fuck around, I probably should as well, except the only choice I had there currently would be EoS, and we all know that nothing would happen at all.
The first round of food appeared and we ate, before I allowed myself a cup of Moscato. It tasted weird. Perhaps it was in the fridge for too long. For some reason EoS had joined us at the table to eat, leaving Mike and Tom to cook more food. I wondered why the food was disappearing so fast then I realized that they were cooking and eating at the same time, before sending us the leftovers.
Shirlyn was sitting next to EoS, and was trying to strike a conversation with him. Kate was still on her phone, I wondered what game was so exciting. Rebecca looked like she was going to fall asleep any moment but she still attempted to eat a hot dog sexily. I kind of sniggered to myself, as if EoS would be interested.
I dragged my chair over.
Me: So free today?
E: Nah. Free food. Helping to eat.
Me: Anything else you feel like eating? It’s likely free too.
Without missing a beat, EoS rebutted me.
E: Oysters? Nah, don’t enjoy those.
Me: Fine. How’s work though?
E: Work is normal, stressed.
Me: We can help you destress.
E: Haha. Please.
I looked to Shirlyn for some support but it didn’t look like it was coming.
Surprisingly, we managed to finish most of the food like satay and otah. The leftover chicken wings and other meats went straight back to the freezer.
Unsurprisingly, Rebecca was knocked out on Shirlyn’s sofa at the end of the BBQ.
Alicia, Nat and Darren didn’t show up so we all headed home after that, me obviously with Mike and Tom while EoS sent Kate back. We just left Rebecca lying on Shirlyn’s sofa.
National day came and went, the parade was normal. I had tons of sex with Mike and Tom, and none of us went to work on Monday as we all were down with respiratory symptoms.
In fact, I spent the entire week in bed with what seemed like the flu, coupled with an intermittent high fever.
I checked in with Shirlyn and the rest in case we had infected them as well but everyone else was fine.
Looking at the positives, I had a super long break from work after the holiday, even though my work was mostly done at home.
So obviously I had a super long weekend since I was down with the flu. Hilariously, Tom stayed over as well and we just kept passing whatever virus back and forth between the 3 of us.
Working from home 80% of the time was actually pretty boring, a far cry from when I had my WFH day in the middle of the week. I found myself staring blankly at the screen for hours, only stopping for meals, and the occasional fucking by Mike and Tom who didn’t go to work the entire week due to whatever virus we had.
When I did return to the office on the next Monday though, I was treated to a slight shock as half the office had been partitioned off, and we were now a co-working space of sorts.
I did my weekly update to my GM and he sort of thanked me again for carrying nearly the entire department. I tried to probe if my job was in trouble but he reassured me that nothing was going to change, not until the end of the year at least.
I decided to head to the hawker centre for the vegetarian chicken rice again, and I bumped into Nick in the queue right in front of me. I didn’t want to tap on his shoulder as it was 7th month so I just leaned forward to say hello.
Me: Hi Nick!
I don’t know why he was so jumpy but it felt like he practically jumped out of his skin when he turned around. If he was any shorter, he might have gotten a face full of boob, not that I might mind, it would have been hilarious.
N: Oh hi June.
Me: Tapau? Or eating here?
N: Oh I’m actually with Rebecca.
Me: And the rest?
N: Somewhere else I guess? Do you want to join us?
Me: Sure!
Nick had gotten two sets, one “steamed” and one “roasted” while I decided to try their Thai sauce chicken rice. To be honest, it looked like any other fried chicken cutlet with Thai sauce. But I really wasn’t there for the “chicken”, but rather their amazing rice and chilli. I joined them at their table and sat next to Rebecca.
R: Wah. Such a coincidence.
Me: I’m in the office on Mondays. Didn’t know you liked vegetarian food.
R: Aiyah. It’s good to cut down on meat. I’ve been having a lot of meat recently.
I noticed Nick shifting slightly uncomfortably across Rebecca.
Me: You still don’t strike me as a vegetarian type. Besides, this is hardly healthy. I’m still wondering how they made the rice so flavourful. And the “roasted” chicken, it’s like the deep-fried tofu skin thing.
R: Who cares. It’s food. It’s tasty. It’s really tasty for fake meat. I like all meats…
Nick was still curiously uncomfortable. I wasn’t 100% sure why but decided to try my luck anyway.
Me: True… Oh my god. You two are fucking.
Nick nearly choked. He looked at me.
N: Please don’t tell Shirlyn.
Me: Hahaha. Don’t you think she already knows?
N: What???
R: She doesn’t. Yet. Besides, you still haven’t sent your husband or fuck buddy my way.
Nick’s eyes widened.
N: You slept with her husband? And fuck buddy?
Me: Erm…
Rebecca leaned over.
R: Nick’s got a really nice cock. Thick and veiny.
Me: Glad you’re enjoying it.
R: It’s smaller than your husband’s though.
Nick choked again. I laughed.
N: Could we not discuss this?
R: Why? Are you shy?
N: Sort of?
R: Oh don’t worry. June doesn’t judge. Right?
Me: Nope. I don’t. But it’s been like what.. a month?
R: Can’t help it if he’s so desirable right?
I looked at Nick. To be fair, he was rather good-looking. Sharp features, double eyelids, very clear skin, much better than mine probably. If he was a head or so taller, and perhaps a little more muscular, he probably could be a model.
Me: To each his own I guess.
R: You wanna fuck him?
It was my turn to choke. Obviously Nick choked too and turned a few shades redder.
Me: Say what?
R: Do you wanna fuck him?
Me: No?
R: Good. He’s all mine then. But still, send your husband and fuck buddy my way.
Me: Urgh.
R: I’m serious. This guy can’t satisfy me daily. But when I do get him… wow.
Me: I’m surprised you’re the HR manager.
R: Why? Shirlyn fucked Mark. She’s now the GM. You know I’m like this what. So what’s the issue? Maybe I’m the next GM.
Me: And I wonder why there’s so few guys in your office.
R: Yeah. Would be good to have more around though.
Me: Nick, are you ok with this?
N: Huh? Oh. Yeah. She just wanted a fuck buddy. I’m down for that.
Me: Interesting…
R: So refreshing to have a young guy every now and then.
Me: Erm.
R: Nick, how old do you think June is?
Me: Hey…
N: Early 30s like you?
R: Hahahahahaha! Guess again.
N: Late 30s?
Me: Very late 30s.
N: Oh. Can’t tell.
R: She’s damn hot right? Look at her boobs. So much bigger than mine.
N: Erm…
R: But I bet her pussy’s looser than mine though. The cocks she has are huge.
Me: Oi. Enough hor.
N: I don’t think size has anything to do with looseness.
R: Ya. I’m still quite tight thank god. Even after the abortion.
N: Again I don’t think.. wait what?
R: Ya la. I had an abortion. Didn’t know whose kid it was so better abort.
N: And we’ve been doing it raw??? And you let me cum inside?
R: I’ll try to remember not to miss my pill.
N: This isn’t good…
Me: Chill Nick. I’m on the pill as well. It’s really not that easy to get pregnant.
R: Talking about pregnancies…
N: You’re not pregnant right?
R: Hahahaha! Do you think you have some super sperm or what? I mean you have a nice cock and relatively decent at sex but no la. Like June said, not so easy. In fact, please cum inside all you want. I don’t get it with her husband and fuck buddy cos they always use condoms.
I rolled my eyes at her and decided to try to change the topic.
Me: You were saying something about pregnancy?
R: Oh ya.
I guess the gossip bitch was still hanging around.
R: Did you hear?
Me: No?
R: Jasmine lost the baby.
Me: Huh? Isn’t it the second trimester already? Or third?
R: Ya lor. I heard second trimester still safe. But when they went for the scan, couldn’t find a heartbeat.
Me: Oh no.
R: Ya man. I actually felt sorry for her.
Me: Er.
R: I mean we don’t really like each other, but recently we’ve gotten better.
Me: She must be devastated.
R: I guess so. I probed Shirlyn about why they didn’t come for the bbq, then she told me.
Me: Oh.
R: Aiyah. She can get pregnant again. Haha.
Me: Right.
I think Nick felt kind of left out from the conversation so he just ate in silence. In any case, the conversation did get really awkward, but at least now I knew that something had happened.
After lunch we all headed back to our own offices. For some reason, I was alone. Everyone else had left for the day. I did whatever work I could before leaving on the dot. I was going to head home but diverted to a shopping mall first to get some stuff and then drove over to Jasmine’s place.
I honestly didn’t know what I was doing there or what I was going to say but I felt maybe Alicia and Mark aside, Jasmine might need someone else to talk to.
After I parked the car, somebody had conveniently left the access gate open so I simply strolled in and took the lift up to her place.
Switching the absurdly large bag of groceries over my arm, I rang the doorbell.
I heard footsteps and the door opened.
A: June? What are you doing here?
I shrugged.
Me: Care package?
Alicia peered into the bag of fruits, chicken essence and birds nest.
A: Wow.
I heard Jasmine call out from inside.
J: Let her in. I’m fine.
Alicia took the bag and I entered. Jasmine was sitting at the dining table and I went over to give her a hug.
J: Thanks.
Me: How are you feeling?
J: I don’t know. Sad? Upset? Disappointed?
Me: Oh.
J: I’ll be fine. It’s Mark-
A: Yeah. It’s Mark.
Me: What happened to Mark?
J: It’s my fault. He tried to comfort me and I sort of snapped at him. Told him to get out and don’t come back.
Me: Eh?
A: She was just being hormonal. But some of the stuff she said might have triggered him.
Me: Ah.
J: I’m stupid ok?
Me: Didn’t you text or call him after?
A: He’s not replying to any of us.
Me: Ask Nat? Darren? Shirlyn?
J: Nah. Just leave it. It’s my fault. I caused this.
A: You don’t deserve him.
J: I know. Stop reminding me.
I don’t know what gave Alicia the right to speak to Jasmine that way but perhaps what she said to Mark must have been really bad.
Now I felt bad that I didn’t bother to check up on him all this while.
I stayed and chatted with them a little while longer before taking my leave. It seemed like Alicia was doing a pretty good job of taking care of Jasmine and chiding her at the same time.
I sat in my car and dropped Mark a text, letting him know he could look for me if he needed to talk. I wasn’t expecting him to reply so I drove home and found Mike and Tom playing Diablo again. I went to shower then headed straight to bed.
I didn’t have a very good feeling about the whole situation. But since Mark decided to disappear off the face of the earth for now, I probably should just let him be.
Maybe he’d text me tomorrow or some time over the next few days.
Mark didn’t reply me the entire week. I felt it was best not to press the issue anyway. I had let him know I would be there for him if he needed me. I was sure he would reach out if he wanted to.
Life sort of went back to normal for me, other than working from home for 4 days a week. I was seriously bored whenever I was alone. Mike and Tom obviously were back at work after we all recovered from whatever virus that was afflicting us. My daily routine was to clear emails, attend Zoom meetings when required and watch lots of shows on whatever streaming service I had subscribed to, and of course amazing sex with my two guys whenever they weren’t killing monsters.
Another week passed. Still no response from Mark. Not to be morbid, but I actually wondered if he was still alive. I texted Alicia but she told me he probably just entered his cave and would come out when he was ready.
By the time it hit the 3rd week of September, I was getting pretty worried. Even though I did bump into Shirlyn and Rebecca sometimes during lunch on Mondays during the past few weeks, we never actually talked about Mark, or Jasmine for that matter.
Since I was working from home, or to be more precise, remotely, I decided to head out on Wednesday as I didn’t really have much to do anyway.
I popped by Jasmine’s place, bought them lunch, and we chatted for awhile as I sneaked in queries about Mark. However, as expected, he still wasn’t replying to them.
My next best bet was Darren and Nat. I tried to figure out where their block was as the daytime view was totally different from the night. As luck would have it, I spotted a heavily tattooed female sun tanning by the pool.
Me: Hey Nat!
She sat up and removed her sunglasses.
N: June? What are you doing here?
Me: I came to see Jasmine and Alicia.
N: Oh. Yeah. It’s quite sad.
Me: She looks fine though. Cheery in fact.
N: Well… maybe it wasn’t meant to be?
Me: I wanted to ask about Mark.
N: What about him?
Me: Have you heard anything from him?
N: Nope? Should I?
Me: Oh. I thought you’d still be fucking.
N: Haha! I wish. He stopped when they announced the pregnancy. Jason’s been trying to pick up the slack but…
Me: Right. So you didn’t contact him? Or he didn’t contact you?
N: Not really. I did text him to ask if he’s ok, but he didn’t reply.
Me: Oh. Aren’t you concerned at all?
N: Nope? Should I be?
Me: He’s your friend right?
N: I guess so? But it’s more of his cock that I want.
Me: Didn’t you guys have heart to heart talks?
N: We did. But at the end of the day, it’s still the sex for me.
Me: Right.
N: I’m sure he’ll turn up somewhere la. Don’t think so much. Jasmine and Alicia aren’t even this worried.
Me: I don’t know how to explain this.
N: Is it because you never got to sleep with him? Hahaha.
Me: Of course not!
N: Just kidding. But you’re like the only one among us who hasn’t slept with him.
Me: What the.
N: Kidding again. But still, don’t worry so much ya? He’ll be fine.
Me: I hope so.
N: Anyway, since you’re so free, why don’t you join me for a tan?
Me: In the nude? I don’t have a swim suit.
N: I bet there’ll be a queue forming if you’re in the nude.
Me: Funny.
N: Go home and grab one?
Me: If I go home, I doubt I’ll wanna come out again. Just in case there’s another storm like yesterday.
N: Oh yeah. That storm was madness. I went to buy food and got stuck at the hawker centre. I’ve never seen anything like it before. Darren couldn’t even come and pick me cos he was in a jam.
Me: Yeah. I stupidly went out shopping at Orchard and I drove. Was stuck on the CTE for like an hour on the way back.
N: Yeah. Darren told me a tree fell or something. At Yio Chu Kang exit.
Me: 2 trees actually. From what I saw.
N: No wonder.
Me: Anyway, I guess I’ll head off first.
N: All right.
Me: Let me know if Mark contacts you?
N: Sure.
I left and headed back home. Thank goodness the Sumatran squall decided to leave us alone and I got home without incident. I guess had one other person to check with. So I texted EoS. For some reason, he left me on 1 tick so I went about my day. Couple of hours later, it became 2 ticks but he didn’t reply.
Just as I was about to turn in for the night, my phone buzzed.
E: Yeah. He did contact me.
I almost jumped out of bed.
Me: How is he? Is he ok?
E: No.
EoS’s single word reply really didn’t help much.
Me: Huh? Oh no! What’s going on?
No reply.
Me: Hello? Anyone there?
E: Was showering. About to go to bed. Text you tomorrow to tell you more if you want.
Me: Of course I do. Just text me anytime. Please?
E: Ok.
Me: Thanks EoS. Good night.
Thinking about it, I guess it did make some sense that Mark would go to EoS, after all, he did seek him out for advice previously. And if I recall correctly, EoS did have some experience with a miscarriage.
I guess I wasn’t going to be able to sleep well worrying about Mark until I found out more from EoS.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
junior_cannibal
For Mark to be more caved in than Jasmine about the miscarriage ain’t surprise at all. Judging by his behaviour in the past.
Pregnancy for an older woman is usually complicated and miscarriage is fairly common. I had a ex colleague who had at least two, grew out it, persevere and now a mother of two lovely kids.
Not easy for the woman. It’s time her man should be by her side and not go into denial or hiding. Otherwise, she will not have the courage to be impregnated ever again with this man.
Strangely, Jasmine seems more than fine. And EoS still hasn’t told me how Mark is.
I had definitely mentioned it before. About Mark keeping everything inside until he finally exploded.
I thought that Jasmine getting pregnant and Mark being with her would actually be the catalyst for them to finally have a proper relationship.
I guess the miscarriage threw those plans into disarray.
I waited the entire Friday, then the weekend, for EoS to update me about what he knew was going on with Mark. For some reason or another, he didn’t.
I contemplated bombarding his phone to try to get a reply but decided against it. I wasn’t a psycho. Perhaps Mark was reading the thread and told him not to say anything, or perhaps EoS was busy with his own life and would update me in due time.
In any case, Mark suddenly disappearing was still a cause for concern, and surprisingly, the people who were supposed to be more concerned about him, like Jasmine, Alicia, and perhaps even Shirlyn, didn’t seem bothered at all.
I headed to the hawker centre to tapau lunch early on Monday, obviously hoping to catch somebody to see if they knew anything. As luck would have it, I spotted Shirlyn walking along the sheltered walkway towards the hawker centre. I walked faster to try to catch up with her but for some reason, she was too fast for me.
I was still intent on catching up to her so I followed as she walked along the outer corridor of the hawker centre towards the shophouses along Amoy Street. I really wondered where she was going.
I gave up chasing halfway through as the humidity wasn’t helping me and texted her instead.
Me: Hey, thought I saw you at Amoy.
S: Oh! Didn’t see you. Going to meet a friend for lunch. What’s up?
Me: Wanted to ask about Mark.
S: What about him?
Me: He’s disappeared?
S: And?
Me: You’re not worried?
S: Jas said not to worry and let him be.
Me: Right.
S: He’s not some vulnerable young boy please.
Me: None of you know what he is going through.
S: Yeah. But I trust Jas and Alicia. Maybe you should too?
Me: Right.
I guessed Shirlyn was off to meet her secret lover or something so I headed to tapau my lunch instead, deciding to join the absurdly long queue of the nasi lemak stall that I’d never ever joined before. Hilariously, I spotted Rebecca and Nick at one of the side tables, her bare foot was stroking his calf. I tried to see if he was getting hard under his tailored pants but obviously I was too far away.
Someone tapped my arm and distracted me from that scene.
K: Hey… can help me tapau? Haha.
Me: Oh hi Kate. Sure.
She stood next to me in the queue.
Me: Have you heard from Mark?
K: Nope.
Me: Ah.
K: I, erm… sort of have been seeing Jas again.
Me: Huh???
K: You know we were together right? Then she resigned again. Then we stopped seeing each other. Then she got pregnant.
Me: Yeah.
I didn’t really know what to say in response to that but deep inside I felt an uncomfortable feeling rising.
Mark disappeared and Jasmine has supposedly moved on already? That didn’t feel right at all. But who was I to judge? Perhaps she sought comfort in a familiar person. But wasn’t Alicia someone familiar to her as well? Thinking about Alicia somehow made me shudder a little as I recalled our times in bed.
Anyway, inner thoughts aside, we reached the front of the queue and placed our order. I passed Kate hers as we went our separate ways back to our offices.
I sat at my desk to eat the nasi lemak. The long queue really didn’t mean anything. The rice and sambal was good, but the chicken was average at best. It looked good on the outside, but once I hit the inside, all I tasted was bland meat, with some portions looking pinkish and undercooked. I finished the rice and sambal and threw everything else away. I wasn’t going to risk getting salmonella.
Towards the end of the day I dropped EoS another text to “remind” him that he was supposed to update me but I was left on a single tick again.
On hindsight, I probably could have gotten Mark’s address and paid him a visit. But what if he wasn’t home and what if his parents were unaware of his current situation? I surely didn’t want to cause them any undue worry.
I got fucked by Mike and Tom as usual just before bed, after they had finished their nightly gaming session. Oh, did I mention that Tom had actually moved in? He said it was only temporary while he and his wife worked things out somehow. Selfish me told him he could stay as long as he wanted to as that meant easier access to his cock. Sadly, he wasn’t able to work from home as much as I was at the moment.
Just before I went to bed my phone buzzed.
E: Sorry. Had a very busy weekend. I’m at Northpoint this Wednesday for work. Perhaps we could grab a coffee or something?
Me: Wah. You finally replied. Actually I do need to see a dentist. How much is it at your clinic?
He told me the prices and I got a shock.
Me: You’re kidding right? That’s nearly double what I usually pay.
E: No company insurance? MNC right?
Me: Ours is flexi-benefits. I don’t think I want to spend that much on dental claims.
E: I can speak to the dentist to give a discount.
Me: Errr… that’s not really nice.
E: You’re really troublesome.
Me: Haha. I just feel I shouldn’t be paying so much la.
E: Then you go find those newly opened clinics, they usually have opening promos.
Me: Safe or not?
E: Huh? They’re all professionally trained dentists? What do you mean by safe or not?
Me: I mean… never mind.
E: Let me know if you wanna meet on Wednesday.
Me: Of course I do.
E: Coffee only. Nothing else.
Me: Hahahahaha. I thought you said coffee or something? But like where in Northpoint can I drag you to?
E: I wouldn’t know. And I’d rather not.
Me: You’re such an ass.
E: See you on Wednesday.
I was eagerly anticipating the meet up. At the most I’d just bring my laptop and find a Starbucks or somewhere with wifi and just work there till he showed up.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
junior_cannibal
In the whole world, you are the only one that is super concerned about Mark. If he’s reading the thread or is still in this forum, he should feel touched to have a friend like you.
Some of the things he said to me before and from what I observed, can tell he’s just keeping everything inside, only needed a trigger for it to explode. I guess this was the trigger?
So anyway EoS texted me the day before to meet him at around 2pm at the Starbucks at Northpoint. I reached slightly after 130pm and ordered a drink before settling in a relatively quiet corner with my laptop. I really was intending on getting some work done while waiting. I let him know approximately where I was seated and waited patiently for him.
At 230pm he texted that he was stuck in the clinic. I shrugged and got another drink, letting him know that I’d still be here.
At 3pm, he still had not appeared. I was half-tempted to head to the clinic and book an appointment, but decided against it.
He finally showed up at 330pm.
E: Sorry about that. Had some stuff to settle.
Me: You really know how to make a girl wait. In more ways than one.
E: Well.. yeah.
Me: So what’s the story?
E: Mark’s back with Ann.
Me: Huh???
E: I mean, he’s staying there now.
Me: For real?
E: I think so? His car was there when I went over last weekend.
Me: Come again? Why go there?
E: He’s the legal guardian of Ann’s kids if anything happens to her.
Me: Did something happen?
E: Nope. Not that he said anything.
Me: Does Alicia know?
E: He isn’t exactly talking to anyone these days.
Me: So what is he doing there?
E: Smoking and drinking?
Me: Are you being serious right now?
E: Yup.
Me: What exactly did Jasmine say that was so bad? Besides asking him to leave.
E: This is coming from him, so it’s one-sided, and I’m not about to go find her to clarify.
Me: Well? What was it?
E: He said he tried to comfort her, telling her they can try again. Stuff like that.
Me: And?
E: She said no way, leave me alone, stop caring about me, you don’t even know if it’s yours. Get lost.
Me: What???
E: I’m sure she didn’t mean it that way. I hope.
Me: That must have really hurt.
E: I guess it was the first few days after the procedure. She probably wasn’t in the right state of mind?
Me: How would you know that?
E: Did you even read my story properly?
I tried to recall what he might be referring to.
Me: Oh yeah. Your godsis had a miscarriage. When did it happen though? They didn’t come for Shirlyn’s BBQ.
E: I don’t know la. One night he just texted me and asked if I was free for a coffee. But he wasn’t drinking coffee.
Me: Then?
E: We had a long talk and he confided in me then I sent him home? He obviously couldn’t drive.
Me: Where is it?
E: Where is what?
Me: His home.
E: Oh. You mean Ann’s house. It’s in Siglap.
Me: He told you to send him there?
E: I wanted to send him back to Jasmine so they could talk or something. He said no. Just take him home. He wasn’t very coherent but once he gave the address I more or less figured it’s Ann’s house. Then I saw the house and more or less confirmed it’s Ann’s house.
Me: She just let him in?
E: She wasn’t there. The son let him in.
Me: And he’s smoking and drinking only?
E: When I was there la. I’m sure he eats, sleeps, shits and whatever.
Me: What’s your take on this?
E: Erm. I guess he’ll be fine eventually? Hard to tell.
Me: Are you going over again?
E: If I’m free yeah.
Me: Can I go?
E: Why are you asking me? You should ask him.
Me: He’s not replying. At all.
E: Hmm… oh ya. He did say something about you.
Me: What?
E: It’s probably nothing, just his drunk self talking.
Me: What did he say?
E: He said he doesn’t feel worthy to be your friend. He feels he let you down somehow. And that he probably should have just fucked whenever you guys had the chance.
Me: Really?
E: Something to that effect la. But he was trying to just be with Jasmine only, and everyone else just complicated matters.
Me: Yet he still slept with others.
E: At Jasmine’s insistence apparently. If you wanna believe that.
Me: You don’t?
E: I believe we’re responsible for our own choices. The decisions we make have consequences.
Me: That sounds awfully familiar.
E: Something I learnt from someone a long time ago.
Me: Eh wait. So is he ok or not? And why isn’t he replying to me?
E: I don’t know. He’s just drinking and smoking a lot. Nobody will know what he’s feeling on the inside unless he tells us. But I think he looked rather normal when I was there? Not his usual cheery self though.
Me: Do you want to go and check on him?
E: Now?
Me: Can you?
E: I’m working. You wanna go yourself?
Me: Errr. Not so nice right? Since I’m not supposed to know where he is.
E: Give him a call first?
Me: If he even answers.
I swear he was rolling his eyes at me.
He took out his phone.
E: Hey. June wants to visit you. You cool with that?
He wasn’t on speakerphone so I didn’t know what Mark’s reply was.
He hung up.
E: Ok. I’ll text you the address. But don’t go today, or tomorrow. Maybe the weekend. Let him know before you head over.
Me: Ok.
E: He also said since you’re probably gonna write about it, everyone’s gonna find out.
Me: Oh.
E: Just go talk to him, don’t do anything else ok? I’ve gotta go back to work.
Me: Ok. Thanks for letting me know.
E: Really. I believe he’ll be fine eventually. It’s just when. And I’m serious. Just talk. Don’t have sex with him.
Me: Err… what if he wants to have sex with me?
E: Oh. Then it’s up to you. But I wouldn’t encourage it. He just needs a listening ear right now.
Me: Ok fine.
He got up and left
E: See ya.
Oh well. Just a couple more days to go before I go check on Mark. I hope it goes well.
As I had nothing better to do after EoS went back to work, I quickly cleared a couple more emails before wandering around the mall. It wasn’t as if I had never been to Northpoint before, but I’ve never had a reason to actually walk around leisurely. Honestly there really wasn’t much shopping to be done, most of my clothes were bought online, but I did spot a shop where I could sell my old clothes? And also this shop in the middle of nowhere that sold all the nostalgic snacks from my childhood. Obviously I didn’t buy much, otherwise I’d need to bring my entire wardrobe to that shop to sell. I even walked past the clinic where EoS worked but didn’t see him, guess he was somewhere inside.
It was still too early for dinner by the time I finished roaming around the mall.
As I got into my car, I texted EoS.
Me: Hey. Could I get the address?
E: You’re going now? He said weekend.
Me: I’m just gonna drive by. Maybe eat around there. Drop some food off for him?
E: Oh. You better text him first then. If you’re dropping by today.
Me: I will. But why do you make it seem like he isn’t actually there?
E: Huh?
Me: I mean… you emphasized I should be going on the weekend.
E: Hahaha. Give him time to prepare to be more presentable?
Me: What do you mean?
E: Well, when I went over, let’s just say he looked like he was living on the streets.
Me: Messy? Untidy?
E: Something like that.
Me: And how does that bother me?
E: Give him some face la.
Me: He’s in a bad place in his life, I should be giving him more than some face.
E: Hope there’s no double meaning there.
Me: There isn’t. You wanna come with me then?
E: I end at 730.
Me: So late?
E: Start late, end late.
Me: I see. You don’t have flexible working hours I guess?
E: Not really.
Me: I always thought operations had to do everything everywhere.
E: Well, certain days I’m here, certain days I’m elsewhere. Or if there’s any urgent things that need to be done at the other clinic.
Me: I think your clinic in Siglap needs some help.
E: Funny. There’s no clinic in Siglap.
Me: I know. Just trolling you.
E: You don’t dare to go see him?
Me: It’s not that.
E: Then?
Me: You said he feels he doesn’t deserve my friendship and he let me down? Well, I feel the same way. I didn’t constantly check up on him, or find out how he’s doing.
E: Neither did I. What’s the issue?
Me: I don’t know. I guess I was so happy with the things we were doing that I didn’t seriously consider how he was really coping with everything that was going on?
E: Whatever you guys did, it wouldn’t have happened if he didn’t want it to.
Me: But how he’s running away from everything.
E: And yet he’s still ok for you to go over.
Me: I think I let him down too.
E: Stop overthinking this. If you wanna go over now, just let him know. Worst case, he doesn’t let you in and you made a wasted trip. Best case, he lets you in and you get lung cancer years later from the second hand smoke.
Me: Hmm. He’s smoking inside the house?
E: Well I only went into the master bedroom, it smelt like those billiard saloons I used to go to in my youth.
Me: Oh. Haha. Wonder how Ann will react.
E: Who knows. She isn’t around.
Me: So it’s only him and the son in the whole house?
E: I guess so? Didn’t see anyone else..
Me: I see.
E: Eh… I really need to get back to work. Just text him and go over or something.
Me: Ok. I should stop bothering you. Time is money right?
E: Well, you can let me book an appointment for you to see a dentist.
Me: That’s too much money.
E: I don’t control the prices here.
Me: Too bad.
E: Though you look like you need a clean and maybe orthodontic treatment.
Me: What the fuck? My teeth are relatively straight. And I don’t think I can blow well with braces.
E: Some guys have that fetish. But there’s other options.
Me: Ass. You like blowjobs with braces right? I’m pretty sure I read that in your story.
E: Haha. We’re digressing.
Me: So if I get braces you’ll let me blow you?
E: Totally digressing.
Me: Ya. You started it.
E: I could tell you all the benefits of having straighter teeth. But I’m not a dentist. So yeah, if you’re keen, let me know and I’ll help you book an appointment.
Me: This is the weirdest sales pitch I’ve ever heard in my life.
E: Business is bad. Need more patients.
Me: Ok ok. I better stop disturbing you then.
E: Drive safely.
Me: Remember to text me the address.
E: Yeah.
I waited awhile longer for him to text the address before keying it into my GPS and sat there pondering if I should really head down or not.
I dropped Mark a text and started driving. Even if he didn’t reply, I guess I could try to figure out where those food places he wrote about was.
Mark didn’t reply, but I still headed to the area anyway, trying to see where I could park when I dropped by on the weekend.
I spotted his car in the driveway, so I guess he was probably home, but likely wasn’t ready to see me.
I drove around that part of the east rather aimlessly after that, trying to find something that I probably could tapau back for an early dinner, and somehow ended up somewhere else instead.
I don’t know what possessed me but I drove straight to the church at Tanjong Katong Road, and sat in my car just staring at the grotto. I probably should have gotten out and maybe said a prayer or something but I didn’t really move at all, just silently offering up a few words.
I suddenly wasn’t feeling very hungry so I merely headed home and hoped to beat what ever heavy traffic lay ahead on the route.
Mark still hadn’t replied when I reached home so I just let it be and took a shower, waited for Mike/Tom to come home before we headed out to the coffeeshop for dinner.
As usual, they were gaming after dinner and I let them be. They tried to initiate sex when they took a break but somehow I wasn’t interested, preferring to just lie in bed and read Mark’s thread from the beginning again to see if there was any further indication/explanation as to why he would react this way but there really wasn’t much that I could decipher.
I contemplated confronting Jas about what she said, but then again it really wasn’t any of my business. Besides, her words could have been misconstrued or perhaps Mark had exaggerated the severity? But still, really none of my business.
By the time Mike came to bed it was nearly midnight and I was still browsing the thread. He told me not to think so much about it and just be there for Mark in my own capacity.
Me: What if he desires sexual comfort?
M: Well, you’re an adult. You can decide for yourself. And honestly I’m still surprised you two haven’t had sex yet.
Me: Well… I don’t know. I don’t want to confuse or upset him.
M: Whatever it is, just be safe. I can go with you if you want.
Me: Nah. I’ll be fine. Mark won’t hurt me. Intentionally at least.
M: I’d be more concerned if he hurts you unintentionally. I think that would be worse for him.
Me: Good point. So I shouldn’t go find him?
M: That’s really up to you.
Me: I guess I’ll sleep on it.
He kissed me goodnight.
I really had nothing to do the next day as I was working from home. All I did was clear emails and eat, and reject sex from Mike and Tom, which I gotta admit, kind of surprised them a little.
Mark still had not replied and I was beginning to wonder if EoS was actually pulling a fast one one me.
I was contemplating calling him as advised by EoS, but part of me also wanted to give Mark a little space, especially if he was potentially preparing himself mentally for meeting me on the weekend.
Friday was no different. I got so bored that I actually took a nap during lunch and woke up at dinner. In those 6 odd hours, there were no incoming emails, no calls, no texts. I actually wondered if I still had a job.
Mike was going to be late due to a company event so I was left with Tom for dinner. We headed to the coffeeshop.
T: Hey… I’m … erm… going out later.
Me: Who are you fucking this time?
T: Alicia.
Me: Uh huh.
T: Do you want supper or anything?
Me: Nope.
T: Are you feeling ok?
Me: Yeah.
T: You don’t sound ok.
Me: I’m just frustrated.
T: About what?
Me: Myself? I don’t know.
T: Why are you frustrated?
Me: I really can’t explain it. It’s just… I feel like a friend is in trouble and there’s nothing I can do.
T: Ah.
Me: Do you think I should be seeing him tomorrow?
T: Did he ask to see you?
Me: I’m not sure. EoS was the one who called him.
T: So you don’t actually know if he wants to see you.
Me: Nope.
T: Do you want to?
Me: I guess so. I don’t know. I just wanna see that he’s doing fine.
T: It takes time to get over it. Don’t rush it.
Me: Am I rushing it?
T: Who knows. Have you called him to ask?
Me: Nope.
T: What are you waiting for?
Me: I’m afraid he won’t answer.
T: Er. So because you’re afraid you don’t try?
Me: Yeah.
T: But if you don’t try, you won’t know?
Me: That’s true.
T: So you need to try first right?
Me: Yeah.
T: Well, I don’t know what you’re afraid of. Just do it. Then deal with whatever the outcome is.
Me: I’ll do it tomorrow.
We didn’t really have anything else to talk about so we ate in silence before he sent me back up.
Mike was going to be late so I watched some Netflix, took a shower and started rolling around first, trying to figure out what I should say to Mark tomorrow when I called, or when I met him physically.
At midnight I was still wide awake.
If I didn’t sleep soon, I’d definitely be suffering the next day.