As soon as Ali entered the staffroom, his nose caught the familiar yet heavenly aroma of coffee wafted from the pantry. He searched for the source of the smell and his eyes fell onto Mr Andi who was standing over his desk, reading from an exercise book laid open on the table.
Mr. Andi was holding a mug with Snoopy cartoons on the outside. Upon hearing Ali's footsteps, he looked up and remarked with a smile on his face: "Oh, hello Mr. Ali! Finished with class already?"
Out of habit, Ali immediately bowed and greeted the other with "Assalamualaikum Mr. Andi.". His sudden reply earned a sheepish grin and a whispered answer of 'Waalaikumussalam' from the other.
He did not mean to embarrass the other but since they were both Muslims, Ali who had used to give such a greeting rather than the general 'Hi' and 'Hello', unconsciously said it out of reflex.
To ease the other's embarrassment, Ali continued, "How about you? Did you finish your class early as well?". He said while walking towards his desk which is at the junior division which is located opposite to the senior division where Mr. Andi's cubicle is located.
The rest of the staff room was empty except for the two of them, allowing them to converse with each other comfortably. Ali looked down to the watch he had worn around his wrist.
The other teachers must have not yet finished with their classes. It was 12.30 a.m in the morning which means there was an hour left before the school session ended.
Mr. Andi snickered, amused by Ali's response. "I forgot you don't know much about me yet, haven't you?" He took a gulp of the coffee he had in hand before continuing flipping through the pages.
Ali's brows furrowed with confusion at such a sudden remark. Mr Andi is sure fond of giving out unpredictable answers.
Although feeling a bit confused, Ali tried to keep up with the little conversation and since he was just a new person trying to fit into a new workplace, he did not want to be the one ending the conversation.
"Yes. We only met each other two days ago after all." Ali answered, feeling his lips turning drier than dried dates, as Mr Andi suddenly abandoned his reading and started walking towards Ali's direction.
"I always finish my classes an hour early. There's not much to teach in art class, you know. Of course, the old dragon would have my head if she ever knew about this." He said with a sardonic smile at the end of the sentence.
He stopped once he reached Ali's cubicle and took another long sip of his black coffee with his side leaning onto the cubicle.
Ali titled his head quizzically upon hearing the other's answer. "Old dragon? That could not have been a person, could it?"
Shaking his head in disbelief, Mr Andi looked towards Ali with a disappointed look. His mind must have been fried from all the thinking he did for his class that he started imagining an actual dragon shooting out fire from its mouth. That could not have been that.
"You don't know who the old dragon is?" Ali shook his head right away and the other refused to easily give the answer.
"Want to take a guess? You know this person very well." Right after he finished his sentence, he started wiggling his eyebrows teasingly.
A look of puzzlement crossed Ali's face. He pondered for a bit. He had only been in the school for two days, thus not many people were familiar to him and Mr Andi revealed that it is her so it must be one of the women who he is familiar with.
His mind wandered to the school security guard who Ali had known since his high school years, but Ali could hardly see any harm if she was let known of Mr Andi's slacking at work.
At worst, she would just pass a judgmental look on her face considering that she took her job very seriously and certainly would not appreciate those who do not. At the same time, she was not the type who would not trouble herself interfering with someone else's lives unless they first interfered with her job. Thus, it was unlikely to be her.
Suddenly, a light bulb went on in Ali's head. Who else would incite such fear
Ali turned his head left to right, making sure no one else was around to hear what he was about to say. Once satisfied, Ali then answered hesitantly. "Is it Mrs Zhang? It isn't, isn't it?"
Mr Andi's eyes lit up with excitement with a proud look on his face. He clapped his hands although with a half filled mug in hand, almost causing the mug to spill its contents. "There …, you have it!" He exclaimed as if Ali had won a quiz whereas he was the show host.
However, Ali was not happy although his mind had already conjured up the image of the female principal spitting out fire from her mouth replacing the image of an actual dragon which he had pictured before.
Ali looked over to the man sipping on his coffee blissfully, his mind busily contemplating whether to ask or not to ask the questions that had been lingering on his mind.
His eyes darted towards the clock on his table, feeling wary of the sounds of the time ticking as it signifies that it was near to the end of school session which means that the teachers would start filling up the staffroom in no time.
Ali crumpled his hand into a fist, gathering his courage. It should be now or never.
"Mr Andi, may I ask you something?" Ali asked. When the other man raised his eyebrow in response, he quickly added, "You can totally say no if you don't want to."
"Sure. Why not? Ask. Ask." Mr Andi said good naturedly while his eyes were fixated on the mug in his hand.
Ali fixed his silver rimmed glasses that were slipping down his nose bridge with his heart beating loudly in his chest. Despite the man's friendly response, Ali was unconvinced of the man's nonchalant answer.
However, since the opportunity presents itself, why would he reject it?
"Why are there only a few male teachers in this school? Correct me if I'm wrong but I've not yet seen any male teachers other than you and me here… and Scott, of course. May I know why?" Ali said carefully, enunciating every single word hoping that none would offend the former.
Mr Andi who was previously sipping on his coffee with a blissful look on his face suddenly paused. He stole a glance towards Ali who had already had his inquisitive eyes fixated on him, eager for an answer.
Feeling pressure, Mr Andi downed the rest of his coffee in one swallow causing him to choke when the drink would not pass smoothly down his throat. Ali approached the man with a hand ready to pat the other man's back to soothe the choking, but stopped when the other held up his hand before he could do so.
While massaging his own throat to relieve the discomfort, Mr Andi asked coldly, "Why do you want to know?". His voice which was previously warm and welcoming changed into cold and emotionless.
Sensing the other's cold expression, Ali rubbed his hands together nervously, regretting for not listening to his instinct that the other might have said yes out of common courtesy and not out of his own willingness to satisfy the other's curiosity.
However, if the other is not willing, he should have said so from the start, Ali thought. He would not ask if the other did not want him to.
"She seemed to not like me and I want to know why. I want to ask someone and then I noticed that there's no other male teachers other than me and you … and Scott. So, I'm curious why that is the case too."
He sneered at Ali's answer. "You always want to know everything, don't you?" He remarked while glancing at Ali who could feel the heat rising to his face. Ali wanted to defend himself and told him that he was the type of person who usually would mind his own business and ensure himself that he was not in anyone's way.
However, he was stopped as the other continued, "Be careful, Mr Ali. Just like the idiom says, curiosity killed the cat, you know. Regardless, I'm going to answer your questions since I don't want to be the one keeping you awake at night." He ended his sentence with a teasing smirk.
"Don't worry. You won't." Ali answered, while trying to maintain a neutral expression and clasping his hands together behind his back to compose himself. He quietly moved away from the other, to increase more distance between them with the hope that it would not be noticeable to the other.
The man laughed. He seemed to find pleasure in making Ali feel uncomfortable and Ali would hate to let him feel such satisfaction. To the other man, it might be a harmless joke but to Ali who took all things seriously, he felt like he was being stepped on the head by the other.
Ali also found the other man's mood was quite similar to a stock chart. Too unpredictable. He could be smiling in one second and annoyed in the next. His change of expression could rival those of an actor, especially with the new actors in the present acting industry who seemed to be selected for their good looks rather than their abilities.
"Don't tell me you don't already know. From her actions and all? She doesn't like male teachers!" He exclaimed with a disdainful look on his face, as if Ali had disappointed him greatly for not noticing the most obvious thing to him.
Unfortunately, what is obvious to Mr Andi was not obvious to Ali. Ali sighed