Chap 37
Chapter 37: Icon
What would you do if you suddenly lost everything? How do you keep going? How do you keep yourself motivated? What would you do if you just realized that you are not sure what you want in life? What would you do if you just realized that for a long period of time you just focused on the happiness of others but not yours? But it is never too late to mend. Everyone needs an icon... a clearer picture of which peak they want to reach. It's important to know what you want in life. It's important to imagine success and to have focus. You imagine yourself having some well-known significance or qualities. It could be literal or figurative meaning. Personal icon. You work towards that. To achieve and materialize what you imagine in your head. Put your energy on it and seek the meaning of life out of it.************************ The honking sound from a bus almost made my heart dropped, when I was carried away by a content from Diana Sinclair's website. I was in the Southern Integrated Terminal, waiting for Eddie in which the bus he took was expected to arrive at 8 p.m. According to him, he went back to his previously-taught school to take a few certificates recently issued by the school. A few moments later, I saw Eddie waving to me from afar as soon as he could see me. It had been a while since we last met and I noticed he looked more handsome and interesting. "Hi Eddie!" I welcomed him joyously. He responded with such a huge smile. "Hey! Look who's picking me up today! Someone who has just made history in the magazine world!" "Oh shussssh! Stop embarrassing me!" "HEY Magazine Hits a Record Breaking Sales of Malaysian Publishing History," Eddie showed me the headline from Yahoo News. "So...how it feels like to be a part of a history? I bet you must be beyond happy and proud right?" "Mmm... Do I have a multiple choice answer for that question?" "Sure! A) Yes, B) Yes, and C)Yes," said Eddie while counting with his fingers. "What a pointless choice!" I laughed. "So how was it? Are you done with the old school?" I said, to change the topic. "Done and dusted!" said Eddie. He continued telling me a few things about it while we were heading out to the exit point. "You can't go home just yet Marina. No, no, no! Come let's have dinner with with me," said Eddie right after we stopped a taxi. "What? This is not fair! I didn't even say 'yes' yet." "Oh come on! Come give me a company please! I have been intending to treat you with something anyway, since the news broke," Eddie worked his charm. Sometimes, I did call him Eddie 'Persuady' because of this. "Are you sure about this?" I asked him back, for assurance. Somehow I always liked hearing that word 'Treat'. Not that I was being calculative on my own foods, but people said they taste even better when they were free. "Yes, Marina. My treat!" Eddie responded. He made a hand sign so that I would get into the waiting taxi quickly. "All right. All right. But where are we going to?" I asked him as I was getting into it. "Hi, sir. Can you take us to Dove Republic, please?" said Eddie to the driver. "Dove Republic? I never heard of that place before," I told Eddie. "Oh! This is a special one! The food is tip top!" mentioned Eddie, agreed by the taxi driver. "Hmm okay... I have nothing to lose anyway. It's your money! Let's go."***** "Oh wow! What a beautiful place!" I was mesmerised by the exterior of the restaurant as soon as I got off the taxi. "Hi, welcome! May I know your name, sir?" An usher greeted us. "Eddie." He checked on the list and after confirming, he took us in. "This way, sir" We followed that man and along the way, I could not help but to observe the surrounding and it blew me away. It was tastefully decorated, very spacious, cosy but very calm. In that darkness, I could still see the wonderful decoration in that restaurant with the help of candles, probably hundreds of them, scattered around the place. It was magical! We were taken to a private corner surrounded by bamboo trees. There was a big table with a full spread of mouth watering foods. "Oh wow! This is not a dinner! This is a party!" I said to Eddie, referring to the table spread that could feed the whole village. "Who's going to finish all this!?" "You of course!" Eddie replied. "Especially this cake." I looked at the cake and read what was written on it. "Eddie...what is this..." "Happy birthday Marina" Eddie smiled and wished me. He erected some candles on the cake and lit it up. "You should not have done this, Eddie" I told him with such a mixed feeling. He just smiled. "Come out guys!" Eddie suddenly shouted. "Happy birthday to you!" Gina, Ally, Michelle and some other friends who also knew Eddie came out of the darkness. "Thanks, everyone," I hugged Michelle and Gina. "Happy birthday, Marina," Gina wished me. "I can't believe it! I forgot my own birthday? Look how I have changed?" "Awh well.... Wasn't last month quite difficult for you, huh?" Gina said. "And we understand if there's short circuit happening somewhere in that brain that you are forgetting your your own birthday," said Michelle followed by laughters from the others. "Yes...but it's all worth it, right? And we are all here today not to just celebrate your birthday, but also we are celebrating a hero that has saved Hey magazine from the effect of a pandemic!" said Ally. "A job very well done Marina! We are so proud of you!" shouted Michelle. "Awh..." I lost for words. I did not know what to say to them to express my feeling at that time. I was beyond happy. "And Marina...Look who we have here tonight as well to celebrate you," Gina moved my shoulder and turned me around. "Daniel?" This surprised me to the core. I did not see it coming at all. "What's with that face? You don't like me here?" asked Daniel. He looked so elegant in all black that night. "Ah. No. I just did not expect it at all that you would be a part of their plan," I told Daniel. He laughed a little. "Guys! What are you waiting for. Let's cut the cake!" said Ally, passing me a pink cake knife. People said, two's a company, but three's a party! I could count the people in this celebration with just two hands. But it was still a great party to me. Nothing beats sharing a joyful moment with the people that you love. Ally and Michelle just could not stop with their story telling. Almost everything about me were spilled on the table. One minute the were sitting with me like a Dayang guarding a princess, another minute they were gone - stuffing their face with all the marvellous food. Nobody could interrupt them. After we were done with the desert, Daniel and Eddie strayed away from the table. They went to a corner and talked with each other. It was quite far from our table and I could not hear a single thing except for some times when they laughed out loud. This situation triggered my curiosity and I started to get paranoid with what was happening. My monologue was getting wild and my mind was starting to list down all the possible topics they were discussing. 'Hmmm... Maybe they are talking careers'- my first thought. 'Or maybe discussing the fluctuation of the gas price'- my second thought. 'Could it be they are talking football?' It was the only topic that could bring two strangers together, talking about it like they had known each others for years. 'But what if they are talking about...me? Oh no!' These monologues and that last assumption made me panic a little bit. ' I better stop doing this to myself! They are just talking regular guys' stuffs. Enough Marina! Stop butting in into the men zone,' my heart shouted to myself. I quickly got to Ally, Gina and Michelle who were so busy taking photos at that time. "Who's the mastermind behind all these, Ally?" I asked Ally who was deep into his favourite strawberry ice cream. "What?" Ally asked me back. He sounded as if the ice-cream in his mouth had somehow killed his hearing ability. "This celebration. Who planned it? Who's behind it?" I asked him again word by word to make sure he got what I was saying. "Who else...it's Eddie," Ally replied, mouthful. "Oh...Eddie..." I nodded and once again, here came the monologue. 'Maybe they are discussing who should pay for all this. Maybe Eddie is suggesting that Daniel cuts my salary next month!' "Hey, what are you thinking!?" Michelle suddenly asked me that question right in front of my face, waking me up from the fantasy. "I...ummm...I..." I was actually quite shocked by it and lost for words to explain it to Michelle. "Whatever it is, in your mind right now, stop it! Now, let's take some pictures together!" Michelle insisted. I went home with Gina after the celebration came to the end. But before all of us parted ways, Eddie handed me with something- a gift inside a blue box. As I reached home, I quickly unboxed it. It was a beautiful blue scarf. 'He's got great taste!" I said to myself as I was trying the scarf in front of a mirror. But there was a note that came with it and what the note said had made me a little bit unsettled. In the note, Eddie was trying to deliver a heart-deep message to me. In other words, he was confessing his feeling towards me and he was hoping that we both could change our status from being just a friend into being 'not just a friend'. "Well. Well. There he's done it! Eddie has taken his first step into your heart," said Gina after I shared with her the content of the note. "Sure he did," I replied after a long pause. "So...how is it Marina?" Gina just could not wait to hear it first hand. "I don't know. I really really don't know what to do now. He did send me a direct message on Facebook and asked me about this. But I have not replied it yet...." "But don't you think it's a bit funny, that he had it all handwritten to you? Like in the nineties you know and the early two thousands. So cute!" Gina added, followed by her laughter. "Yes. Maybe he wanted to be different. Or maybe he's just classic like that." "But personally, do you like him too?" Gina went straight to the point. I felt like I was being trapped with that question. 'Yes' or 'No', it would still be a hot seat for me. "Yes. But don't you feel like it's still too soon for us both to be getting into that direction?" I asked Gina back for her opinion. "I think you have to give him a chance. Eddie seems so perfect for you. Well, at least in my own eyes," Gina teased me. But in a few moments she was being all serious. "If you think you are not ready, you better let him know that Marina. Don't waste his time barking for a wrong tree. Let him know but in the safest words possible." "Safest words?" "Yes. Something safe for both parties." "Hmm... you are right," I replied briefly. I gave it a long thought. What Gina proposed to me would be much easier to do had I not agreed to meet with Norman a few days before that. I made it a point to hide about the meeting with Norman from her. Because if Gina had known about it, I believed she would have given me a whole lot different answer just now. "By the way, has Norman contacted you recently?" asked Gina. "Not that I know of," I replied straight and firm. Playing it cool when deep inside I felt like my heart was skipping a beat. It was weird she came up with that question, like she had already known my secret. "Hmmm...really?" she asked me again. "Yes..." I responded with a square face. Gina squinted her eyes and gave me a very naughty look. "Why? You don't believe me?" I asked her back, for giving me that naughty look. "I didn't say anything!" she served me with a cheeky smile this time. "Then, what's with the stare!" I pinched her arm. "Ouch! It hurts!" Gina did not answer me. But I was pretty sure she had got something under her belt and she tried to bait me into telling her about Norman. 'But it's not that easy Gina! Not. That. Easy,' I laughed in my heart.
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