[[*Endless Road_______Endless Journey]]*

Tuesday, March 08, 2005

[[The Last Chapter XVII]]

It was a busy afternoon at the restuarant as usual. Customers were coming in non-stop since lunchtime and it was not until 4pm when the restuarant started to quieten down. Jaime, who finishes work at 5, was busy preparing stuff for the restuarant for dinnertime.

Everything was almost done. There was about twenty minutes before Jaime knock off. Jaime was praying that he wouldn't be given any last minute work to do.

"Jaime, help me chop these chillies before you go?"

Obviously, he didn't pray hard enough. Twenty minutes to finish chopping a bad of chilli padi. Given his level of skill, it would be really tough. Chilli padi weren't exactly the easiest items to chop too, given their small size.

Jaime tried to chop as fast as he could. It took him about fifteen minutes to finish half a bag. He knew he had to go faster. Something bad was bound to happen due to his carelessness.

"Ouch..."

Jaime accidentally hit his left index fingernail with the knife. He was starting to bleed a little from the wound, not to mention a cracked nail. Jaime could only blame himself for his careless nature.

Finally, he managed to finish the task. It was already ten minutes past five. He changed out of his working tee and apron very quickly and rushed off for home without having his dinner.

~~~

"Damn. Not a traffic pile-up at this time..."

Jaime's cab had reached the road just outside the shopping mall. But the cab was not able to move into the drop-off point because of heavy traffic.

"Boy, why don't I drop you here? It will take a long time for the other cars to clear," suggested the cab driver.

"Oh, that's great. Thanks a lot, uncle."

Jaime paid the fare and ran across the road towards the shopping mall. It was 7pm. He still had 30 minutes. It was just nice to do a little walking around. Jaime passed by a VCD shop and bought a VCD. A few minutes later, his handphone message ringtone sounded.

"Hi there. Where are you now?"

Celine was off from work. She met up with Jaime, and they sat themselves at a fast-food restuarant. Jaime bought his dinner while Celine got a drink. They chatted as he ate.

"What happened to your finger?"

Celine was surprised to see Jaime's finger injured.

"Erm...just a little careless during work just now and cut it."

"You are so careless all the time. Next time, be more careful ok?"

Though it was only a few words of concern, it meant so much to Jaime. So long as those words came from Celine. The stupid guy once had a dumb thought of injuring himself more often. It was a good thing he wasn't childish enough to take up that thought.

Both spent about two hours talking about anything and everything. It was getting late, so Jaime walked Celine home. While walking Celine home, both found time to look at stars in the night sky.

"Isn't the sky tonight so beautiful? Look at those stars..."

As Celine gazed dreamily at the star-littered sky, Jaime couldn't help but get lost looking at Celine. There was such a sparkle in her eyes and smile. Something Jaime never found in anyone else. To him, there was only one beautiful star that night.

"I'm home now. Thanks so much for walking with me. Have a safe journey home ok?"

Though they walked slower than they normally would, Jaime couldn't help but feel that the seconds passed by so much faster than usual. He watched, with a heavy heart, at Celine taking the lift to her apartment and slowly walked back to the train station. Within minutes from walking from her home, Jaime got a message.

"Hmm...why can't I see you from my window?"

Jaime turned back and looked up the flat. He could hardly see anyone behind any windows. Celine, too, couldn't catch a sight of Jaime anywhere at the carpark. Though not able to see each other, they continued to message each other for more than an hour.

That was the last time Jaime had the chance to walk Celine home.

~~~

*could you be that missing piece*

[[Walking Alone On This Endless Road]]*|8:42 pm|