favour
Saturday, September 15
Things were tense in the office. The ominous warning from the 2LTs at the start of the day --- "Better be careful, he's not in a very good mood today..." --- too accurately foreshadowed the things to come. I had previously heard the stories of his moody displays of angst, but had yet to witness it for myself. Needless to say though, it wasn't something I was looking forward to.
Throughout the afternoon, he breathed down my colleagues' necks, "Marc Jacobs, where's my such-and-such?!", "Tiffany & Co., why are you guys taking so long to do this-and-that?!?!", "Charles & Keith, what the **** are you writing?!?!?!" Even the Officers whom he rarely reprimands weren't spared, albeit receiving very much watered down hosing downs.
It certainly didn't help that I was feeling particularly sleepy that day. True, I hadn't had my turn under his fire even till mid-afternoon, but I was certain I'd be joining the growing list of lucky winners. An entire week of hard work, coupled with frequent night activities throughout (sending Ding off and 2 driving lessons on consecutive nights), had taken its toll, and I was struggling to stay awake.
I did everything I could to remain conscious --- because it's terribly rude to be sleeping in the office, whether voluntarily or not. I spun my chair, rocked my chair (both of which, I came to realise, actually
induce sleep rather than counter it), sipped on green tea, popped a couple of friends into my mouth (that is, if I consider myself a fisherman), and tried to keep my eyes open by sheer force of will (which only resulted in closed eyelids with
very raised eyebrows), but to no avail.
By the afternoon, I couldn't take it any longer. No coherent thought was getting in, nor any coming out. In a semi-conscious state, I carried the shell of my body to the adjacent storeroom, plopped myself onto the couch and set my alarm for a 10-minute nap, intending to pass off my absence as a long egesting expedition. But the time passed all too quickly, and my phone began to buzz. With a sigh, I turned off the alarm and lay back, disgruntled, wishing for more time to nap.
But as they always say, "Be careful what you wish for."
Before I knew it, another 50 minutes had passed by the time I next opened my eyes. Flustered, I stumbled back to the office in a sleepy stupor and slid back into my chair, casting sheepish sideways glances like a convict waiting to be apprehended. Yet, to my surprise, he smiled at me warmly and asked, "Clement you okay? You look quite sick!" Not only did I not get a scolding, but I was getting warmth? Wow.
While booking out, I got the full version of the story --- what I had heard for myself was apparently only the tip of the iceberg. While I had been gone, my boss had asked, "Eh where's Clement ah? Sleeping ah? Okay lah let him sleep, he look so tired, poor thing." Like seriously, mind blown. I mean, amidst an entire day of angst, I had received leniency? It can only be the grace of God, granting me favour with man (: So, so honoured and touched (:
Smiling stupidly to myself :D
AMEN;
11:08 pm
