Sitting in the traffic was a girl who drove an old red car. She looked behind at the long queue of vehicles which extended over the bridge farther than the eye could see. “I’m seriously done for!”

She wasn’t normally late. It varied on the days and whether or not she got caught in peak hour. It was a job that had different hours; shift work is the normal term for it. She’d been working there for just over four years.

Tapping her fingers on the steering wheel she wondered how late she would be. Genglin, her friend would surely laugh at her bad luck. Today was an important day for them. Her arrival would make or break the time she’d already spent there.

When the cars finally started to edge forward slowly she lightly hit the accelerator but the vehicle stalled. With a sigh she turned the ignition and after three attempts it started up again.

Once she had parked in the work’s car park she pulled out her uniform, her bag and ran down the end to the lifts. Since it was vacant she slipped on her polo shirt over the top of her singlet and managed to swap shoes to sneakers before they hit the bottom floor.

“Jian Huifang!” Her boss’s voice was far from welcoming as she came in. “You are fifteen minutes late! Did you forget what today was?!”

“I’m sorry sir,” she bowed and then bowed again. “I promise that I will be on time from now on.”

“That’s what you said the last time.” He sighed and put a hand against his forehead. “I’ll speak to you after the presentation. Just get ready.”

She bowed again and hurried to prepare with the rest of the team. Today they would possibly secure an advertisement on television for their range of donuts.

Yes she was a donut girl.

The two men from the television studio looked ready to fall asleep as they sat in the small conference room. Huifang came in with one guy and another girl all wearing their matching uniform, carrying a box of their products.

They were about to begin when their boss cleared his throat. “Yes sir?” The guy asked.

“You’re missing the hats.”

The three glanced at each other. Their boss stood their impatiently. With sighs or signs of resignation they left the room and came back wearing black hats all with a donut on top of each.

*

Huifang got the dreaded meeting at the end of the work day. Even though she waved her co-workers farewell for the night she had a sense of dread at what was yet to come.

Her boss was sharp and precisely on point. “Ms Jian, I don’t think this is working.” She swallowed hard. “You’re a diligent worker however…” He paused for a moment. “I don’t think this line of work is suited for you.”

Huifang’s throat tightened as she tried to speak. “But… It’s been…”

“And you being late regularly has also contributed to me making this decision.” He loosened his tie. “Return your uniform by tomorrow and you’ll receive your final pay slip.”

As much as she wanted to cry Huifang knew it would not be appropriate. She pushed her chair out, bowed to her boss and then left bowing her head down.

The drive home was agonising. She had to exhale hard to calm herself down. The last thing she needed was to head or tail end the car behind or in front of her. Once she was home she could then do whatever she felt was needed.

Returning her uniform including the dreaded donut cap brought a strange feeling as though she was having an outer body experience. The boss gave her the final slip and she left before anyone even noticed that she wasn’t there.

She slammed the glass down against the bar, letting out a strange burp that almost brought up some bile. Reaching for the bottle with a quivering hand she poured more into her glass managing to spill a little bit.

As she started to drink her phone chimed signalling she had received a message. Huifang reached for her phone but her head spun and she rested it against the bar.

Sometime later the doors of the place opened with a guy wearing a black scoop neck shirt, grey cardigan and dark jeans. He had his fringe leaning towards the right of his forehead with dark brown hair.

Turning his head he glanced around the area before going over to the bar and sitting next to Huifang. Raising a hand he gestured to the bar tender. “A beer thanks.” The bar tender made a brief nod and grabbed a glass for him.

While he waited for his drink he looked at Huifang. Reaching over her he picked up the bottle and read it. A smile with a laugh came across his face.

“Ah really Jian Huifang that is too strong for you.” She lifted her head as she heard her name. “This would take longer for your small body to break up than something lighter.”

“What do you know Wu Genglin?” She said with a bit of a slur. “I lost my job, my job of four years.”

He nodded, “yes, I read the message.”

“What message?” She didn’t seem to remember much.

“The one you sent telling me how life wasn’t fair and that you wanted to die.” Her face changed as she recalled it and he laughed. “I knew how to find you based on where we would go when one of us needed to drink away our problems. We came here when I was dumped by Chuhua.”

She pointed her finger. “Wrong, you were dumped but you’re back together again. So it was a waste of our money in the first place.”

“I might bite that if you aren’t careful,” he tried to nip it but she moved it away. His beer arrived and he had a drink. “Don’t be sad. Things will work out in the end.”

She gave him a look to say he was being ridiculous. “Things worked out for you, not me. We graduated from the same college but you got a job in the area we were looking for. And you have a flipping talented girlfriend who is able to sing and—“

“—will be leaving in two days.” She stopped. Genglin placed his glass down. “She’s going to try and make it there with her music. She’s leaving on Sunday morning.”

Huifang started to feel guilty. “Genglin, I didn’t…”

“It is fine,” he made a small smile. “I’m really happy for her. But at the same time I wish she wasn’t going.”

Huifang struggled to find something reassuring to say. She didn’t know how to cheer him up. “Genglin, you can always stay…” Her phone rang and she groaned. “Hold on,” taking it out she saw it was her father. “Hi dad what is it?”

“You need to come home straight away,” he sounded almost in awe. “You will not believe what happened.”

“I’ll be there soon I have to catch a taxi because I’m too—“

“—I’ll drive her home Mr Jian.”

“Is that you Genglin?” Her father sounded relieved to hear him speak. “Thank you for that. See you soon Huifang.”

Huifang hung up. “What happened?” Genglin asked curiously. “Did something happen?”

She nodded. “Something did happen. But what I don’t know.”


 

*

Wu Genglin = Aaron Yan