Fixed #5

Serdang, 25 March 2002

The weather was a cloudy one, calm, with no signs of thunderstorm. A good omen, perhaps. Sitting on the couch anxiously, she could understand the nervous look in her coursemates, shuttling endlessly in front of her. They were all there for the same reason - external examination. An oral examination, where the foreign examiners were at their respective free will to shoot any kind of question, just as long as it was related to the veterinary field. She had heard from her seniors that some examiners had thrown Year-1 questions, year-2, right to the future in fact. What a small scope to cover, she sighed. She was 5th in line.

"Ken, hey.. Kenneth! do you remember wat's the answer for.."
"Pls, pls.. leave me alone, watever.. not now."
"c'mon.. can u pls quiet down?" Came another voice.
"Shut up won't u?!" Another voice.
"Block-head." Another.

Fretful people walking up and down in front of her. She closed her eyes gently, wrapping her cold palms together. Empty.. emptiness.. is all I need now.

"What d'u mean, too long?" Jack' s voice echoed softly in the emptiness. "It was only 15 months."
"Still too long. I can't stand it! I told you, I could die." She remembered every single word she had retorted.
"Tess... I.. I.." Silence. "I'm sorry."
"Why don't u stop your night-checking calls?" She was shocked. What am I talkin?
"Wat?!"
"I.. i.. well.. maybe.. u should stop these calls.. I'm tired. Er..well.. bored actually."
Being blunt was just Tess, but being this cruel? "Oh.. i should have known." He remembered well everything Bill had told him abt Tess. "Hey y'noe, the first time i held her hand, she smiled! omg.. it was so.. sweet y'noe man.." Bill was his housemate in the states, Tess's Mr. Supervisor.
"What do you mean you should have.."
"It's ok. Bye. Miss you, forever will." He had not wanted to believe everything Bill said, but what Tess just said shook his faith.

And that was it, the last time she had heard of Jack. She had been spending the following 6 months asking God to persuade Jack to call her again. She regretted everything she had said.

But Jack never called. I was cruel, stupid. God punished me right.

He should be back to Malaysia by now.

"You're next, Tess."