400th post: A series of unfortunate events.

Atiq jogged halfway across the road to a mini triangle and stopped there because the pedestrian light turned red. She barely stood there when she felt it; fat droplets of rain thumping on her headscarf. She was wearing a light white cardigan over a dress, and a pair of dark blue Levi's she's been wearing all year long. She shifted her leather brown bag under her arm and took a deep breath in when the rain began to pour on her. The cars sped on mercilessly. She was stuck on the little triangle in the middle of the busy O'Dennehy's Cross with nowhere to run to because the lights were still red.

She ran across the road at the first glimpse of green amidst the downpour. There was a coffee house right there on the junction, and she pushed its door in a hurry, seeking shelter. The atmosphere was warm, it smelled of coffee, and there were only two other people. Ladies. Chatting away at the corner. She smiled at the girl behind the counter and ordered a glass of hot chocolate and a white chocolate and macadamian nut cookie.

She walked towards the bar stool facing the traffic lights outside. Threw her bag on the table and slumped on the tall stool, rubbing her forehead. She stared hopelessly at the glass window, patterned with droplets of rain. She took out her handphone and slowly typed a text;

'Salam wbt...dukacita dimaklumkan acara mengutip barang hr ni xdpt dijalankn krn i was stood up by the car rental company =( we'll try n figure sthg out,will try n cllect the items 2moro,kay? Sorry!'

Her fingers played on the blue Motorola KRZR, and she scrolled down the phonebook, ticking all the relevant names and sent the message. She then erased the whole text and typed a new one;

'Today is stupid. Sigh. Watcha up 2 sistah?'

It was for Opie. She sat there, eating the giant cookie and drinking her hot chocolate. At least the food didn't dissapoint her. She waited for about 20 minutes before giving up and decided to walk the 20 minute distance back home through the pouring rain. It was the perfect ending to her miserable day. Then she got a text;

'Skype la beb.tgh serabut palo.'

She let out a small sigh, hugged herself and walked back home in her dripping wet blue canvas shoes.