Things were not much clearer for Amy when she awoke the following morning with a dull headache. The bedside consultation saw the doctor giving Amy the all-clear, advising her to take some painkillers if the headache became unbearable.
Amy began packing her belongings, which took her all of 10 minutes as she had only had her handbag with her when she was admitted to the hospital. She called her mother to let her know that she would be discharged from hospital that morning, to set her mother's mind at ease. Her mother was pleased to hear from her, and promised to cook her favourite pork porridge for her lunch.
Amy then sat on the bed looking out of the window. A Javan myna's raucous call sounded lustily in the distance, breaking into Amy's thoughts, as if the bird was taunting her to make up her mind. After a period of deep thought, Amy took a deep breath and came to a decision.
Not long after noon, as promised, Maia arrived to help Amy with the discharge. Getting the hospital invoice from the nurse in charge of Amy's ward, Maia settled the discharge procedures and paid the invoice with the company credit card. When Amy protested, Maia held Amy's hand affectionately, saying, "You got into this predicament when you were carrying out official duties. Don't worry, we can claim for your hospital expenses under the company's insurance policy."
Soon, Maia and Amy were on the way to Amy's home in a taxi. Amy spent the journey with her head against the window, partly due to her headache which had not gone away fully, and partly because she was unsure of what to say to Maia. On her part, Maia looked over at Amy fondly periodically throughout the journey.
Standing at the front door of her apartment, Amy thanked Maia for helping at the hospital and for sending her home. Putting her arms on Amy's shoulders, Maia said, "Stop thanking me all the time. This is something that I want to do of my own accord." Maia was in the process of lifting a hand to caress Amy's cheek when the door opened.
"I heard voices," said Amy's mother, standing at the threshold. "Are you Amy's colleague?" asked Amy's mother, smiling at Maia. "Thank you for sending her home. It's your lunch time, right? I hope you won't be late returning to the office."
"It's okay, Auntie. We have a flexible arrangement for lunch time," Maia assured her. Turning to Amy, she said, "Have a good rest and see you in the office tomorrow. If you need to take another day to rest, just inform Matt. I'm sure he won't mind. If he dares to mind, I'll have a word with him."
"Thanks, Maia, for everything," said Amy.
As Maia left, she heard Amy's mother asking Amy who Maia was. "Is she your colleague? Very nice of her to help you with the discharge and send you home."
Amy replied, "She's..." but Maia couldn't catch the rest of Amy's answer as Amy's mother had closed the solid wooden front door. Shucks, thought Maia. She would have dearly wanted to know what Amy thought of her.
It was a wobbly Amy who turned up for work the next day. Matt came by her desk and told her to take it easy as it was her first day back at the office. Amy murmured her thanks and turned away, hoping that Matt didn't see her blush. She really must do something about her propensity to blush in Matt's vicinity.
Jane was kind as well, and said that she would help Amy to buy lunch so that Amy wouldn't need to brave the crowds at the food court. Gratefully, Amy fired up her laptop and started clearing the email that had piled up during her absence.
A few days later, Matt informed Amy that the agency was preparing for another short trip to the region. The trip for the rich women to Thailand had set off a flurry of enquiries, which pleased Larry. Matt was not so pleased as he foresaw that he would need to pamper more rich women.
"Eye candy duty again?" Amy teased Matt.
"Don't laugh about it," said Matt gloomily. "I know it's good business for the agency but I sometimes feel like I'm being used."
"Perhaps Larry can send someone else," suggested Amy.
"I had thought of that but I felt bad cos everyone's so busy in the office. I think I'll handle this upcoming trip since it came via a referral from the first trip. But after the upcoming trip, I would have served two tours of duty. Which I think is quite sufficient," Matt grinned. As he walked back to his own desk, he stopped and turned back to Amy, saying, "I'll need your help to make the logistics arrangements again, just like what you did for the first trip."
"No problem, I'll follow up," Amy promised.
The next few days saw Amy feverishly working on arrangements for the trip. On one night, Matt saw that she was still tapping away at her laptop after 7pm, and quietly slipped out of the office to buy her dinner.
Presenting it to her with a flourish, Matt said, "Room service, madam."
Amy giggled and took the dinner, which was packed in a Styrofoam box, from Matt's outstretched hand. "Thank you, boss," she said.
"I don't want you to collapse again," said Matt. "That won't look good on my appraisal at all."
Popping open the Styrofoam box, Amy's face, which had initially been full of anticipation, fell. "Err...there's curry all over the rice. I'm sorry but I can't take spicy food."
"Can't take spicy food? Are you Asian or not?" Matt was incredulous.
"Fine, fine, I'll try to eat it, since you went to the trouble of getting it for me," conceded Amy.
Matt, who had also bought dinner for himself, pulled his chair over to Amy's desk, and opened the box containing his dinner. Speaking between bites, he said sotto voce to Amy, "Eh, Maia also seems to be working late these few days. She never used to in the past. I wonder why the change in behaviour. Oh well, it's good for the company, I guess."
Looking up at Amy, Matt saw that she had some curry at the side of her mouth. Pointing at her mouth, he laughed and said, "You really can't eat spicy food, can't you? There's curry at the left side of your mouth."
Pulling a piece of tissue form the box that sat on her desk, Amy wiped her mouth at the right side of her mouth.
"No, your left side," reiterated Matt. "Here, let me do it."
Matt stopped eating and dabbed the tissue gently against Amy's mouth. "There, all gone."
Blushing profusely, Amy looked down at her food and mumbled her thanks.
Matt finished his dinner, stuffing the last few spoons of rice and meat into his mouth. He sealed the Styrofoam box and stood up. "Don't stay too late. We've still got a bit of time to prepare for the trip," he advised.
After Matt had left, along with a shouted reminder to Amy to "Go home soon!", Maia came over to Amy's desk. She pulled Jane's chair towards Amy's desk and sat down.
"Oh my goodness, I thought that man would never leave," Maia grumbled. "What were the two of you talking about for so long? And I couldn't see clearly, but did he put his hands on your face? What was that all about?"
"oh, we were just chit-chatting about this and that, nothing in particular. As for putting his hands on my face, it isn't at all the way you made it sound. I got some curry on my mouth and he was just helping me to clean it off. It's not a big deal," said Amy.
"Also, I don't like the thought of him buying dinner for you," Maia continued, undeterred. "I wonder what kind of intentions he has. If you had wanted dinner, you could have told me. I would have bought it for you in a shot."
"That's very kind of you, Maia, but I think Matt's being a good boss to his subordinates. There's nothing wrong with that," rebutted Amy.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Are you angry? I don't want to argue with you. Especially not over someone like Matt," said Maia. "Anyway, I came over to ask you. Do you need any help?"
"I'm almost done. I just have one more email to write to a hotel and then I'll be leaving," replied Amy.
Looking at Maia, Amy made her up her mind to tell the woman what she had decided. Besides, the office was empty so there wouldn't be anyone who might walk in inadvertently on them.
"Maia," stammered Amy as she was unsure of Maia's reception to what she was about to say.
"Yes?" asked Maia.
"I'm very grateful to all the help you've given me, here at work and especially at the hospital" Amy began.
"I sense a 'but' coming on," frowned Maia.
"This whole situation and the way you've been treating me. I'm sorry to say that I feel a little uncomfortable," confessed Amy.
"I'm sorry for rushing you," wailed Maia. "It's just that I feel that we can be good together, and I didn't want to waste any time. I'm already in my 30s. I'll wait for you to be ready, however long it takes. And now, don't say any more. I don't want to listen anymore."
"No, please let me finish. Please," said Amy, cutting in.
Taking a deep breath, Amy began, "Thank you again for being my friend, both at work and outside of the office. Working life hasn't been easy for me, especially at the beginning, and I'm really grateful for your friendship and support. However, I'm afraid I can't offer you anything beyond friendship. You're a good person and I hope one day, you'll find someone who loves you as much as you love her."
"You're so cute, you know that? Thank you for the sweet rejection," said Maia. "Arghh...and I really thought that this time, I would settle down and find a life partner," she moaned.
"I'm sorry," said Amy, lowering her head.
"It's okay. This is life," sighed Maia.
"So, since you don't like me, at least not in that way, do you have someone you like?" asked Maia.
Seeing the tell-tale blush that appeared over Amy's face, Maia pounced on her.
"There IS someone you like! Who is it? Tell me!" Maia squeaked. "Don't worry, I won't go after him or her with a carving knife." Maia laughed.
"Well, there is someone...," admitted Amy, "but I'm not sure how he feels."
"He," noted Maia despondently. "So I didn't stand a chance from the get-go, huh?"
"To me, love comes in different forms. The main thing is that my heart doesn't flutter when I'm with you. But when I'm with him, my heart beats super fast!"
"My heart is beating so fast now that I think I'm going to have a heart attack," complained Maia. "Please remember that I just got rejected by you. I think it's too soon for me to hear about your love life."
"You were the one who started asking me about it!" said Amy indignantly.
"True, and I'm paying for it now," said Maia. Standing up and putting Jane's chair back in its rightful place, Maia told Amy that she was making a move off. "I'm going to lick my wounds at home alone," Maia joked.
After bidding farewell to Maia, Amy heaved a sigh of relief. She was glad that she had finally made her decision and told the woman properly. It would not have been right to leave Maia hanging.
Turning back to her laptop, Amy finished up the email to the hotel. As she was packing up, she wondered what Matt thought of her, and whether things would ever progress between them.