Silence hangs between us. I’m stunned and confused. Should I tell her that we’ve met each other a long time ago? Khun Sam may remember my mother, but not me, a fourth grade girl. Tiger, you need to help me! Please help me again. Should I tell her or not?

Say it.

Don’t.

While I’m still deciding whether to tell her about Tiger so that she can remember me, she speaks before I can begin to answer.

“Forget it. It’s not important.”

The pitch of her voice is loud, but I remain silent. Isn’t it actually very important?

Why did she ask for my background and why did she call for me?

“I didn’t like the way you treated me.”

“Excuse me?”

“I don’t know why you were so nice to me. I feel uncomfortable.” She crosses her arms and looks at me seriously. “You bought me medicine and took me home. It doesn’t mean we’re close. Please understand this.”

“Understood.”

“Don’t tell anyone about my migraines. That is all.”

I am so hurt and disappointed. It seems like what I did wasn’t good. But as I turn to leave the room...

“Hang on.”

”…"

“Last night, I told you to let me know when you got home. Why did you not call me?”

“I didn’t dare call you."

I answered truthfully. She looks at me blankly.

“Why?”

“I was afraid you were going to complain about me acting too friendly with you.”

“…”

“Can I leave, boss?"

I’m in a bad mood all day. Work that was always full of joy has been replaced by complete sadness. Today, I don’t even dare look at the freezing room anymore. When the end of the day comes, I hurry to leave and I don’t care if anyone in that room is sick or not.

But there’s another surprise today.

“Hey!”

“Nop.”

Nop is waiting for me in front of the office. He waves to greet me. I look at my childhood friend in amazement. His smile brightens up my gray day.

“What is wrong with you? Why are you looking so sad?”

“I’m just annoyed.”

“Did something happen at work?”

“Perhaps yes.” I look at the smiling young man in front of me and ask a strange question. “Why are you here? Did you leave work early?”

“I had to meet some clients around here. My boss let me go me after I was done. Since it’s close to your office, I decided to visit you. It's my first time seeing this building. It’s huge and classy.”

“There are so many offices for rent in here. My office is not the whole building.”

“It’s still fancy.”

“Yes, definitely. The fanciest thing is the office, not me. I need to take the bus and pay rent for home as usual.”

“But today will not be the same. Because you’ll have a friend riding the bus home with you. Me!”

It wasn’t a bad day at all. At least I won’t have to listen to music on my phone and go home alone. Today Nop talks to me on the way, to ease my loneliness. On the bus, during rush hour, it’s so hard to keep calm. Horn sounds everywhere show that people are full of anger and are stressed out about being trapped in their cars on the road.

“Yesterday you were so happy. Why is it different today? Want to eat Chinese cake? That famous one, I bought it for you.”

He’s still so kind to me, as always. He hands me a box of Chinese cake and opens it for me. He’s so considerate.

“It is delicious.”

“I know you feel better when you eat something yummy. So I bought it for you.”

“How did you know I’m in a bad mood?”

“I was thinking the traffic would get to you.”

“You are so thoughtful.”

Nop is still the same since when we were students, he always took care of me. He knows what I like and what I don’t. He is like rain in the summer.

“She scolded me today.”

“What for?”

“Ah…” How should I tell him? It was for a shocking reason. If I tell him, he might not like Khun Sam. “I made a mistake at work.”

“You deserved it then. It’s not strange for her to blame you. It is her duty to do so.”

“Hm.”

I nod in agreement with what he said. I look out the window to rest my eyes. The dark sky contrasts with the car headlights, which look like disco lights.

“That yellow car is so cool. A Ford Mustang, it’s my dream car. It looks like Bumblebee.”

“Hm?” I look for a yellow car across the lane.

“It stands out so much. Does it transform?”

“I wish. So cool and expensive. If I had more money, I would take you on a trip.”

“You are so kind."

I continue to look at the car with interest. Shortly after, the car decelerates and the window slowly rolls down, revealing that the driver is looking at me.

Of course, I know the person very well.

“The steering wheel is imported.”

Nop, who doesn’t know anything, continues to admire and talk about the car, while I look away before she can accuse me of being nosy, even though we are in different vehicles.

“Stop looking at the car, she won’t like it.”

“She should be proud. If I could drive that car, I would brag too… I can see how pretty she is from here.”

Yes, she is beautiful. Not just beautiful, but much more than that. Gods! There are so many cars on this road, why did I stare at that car? And then looked at her?

We just had an argument this morning and now my friend and I are staring and talking about her car. She won’t like this at all.

My phone rings, it’s a message. I shudder and strain my eyes to read.

Boss: Are you talking about me?

Boss: Are you a nosy girl?

Boss: Look over here now.

When she orders me in her text, I look towards the driver of the yellow car, nod, and give her a fake smile. Nop, who saw what I did, asks me in surprise.

“Who did you nod to?”

“Khun Sam.”

“Where? Where is she?” Nop looks for her. “Where is she? In the bus?”

“She's in that car. The car we were talking about.”

“For real?”

Nop looks at the car and waves his hand in greeting. Khun Sam doesn’t answer, she just looks at us as she closes the window. At the same moment, the red traffic light changes to green.

She’s gone.

“So cool. Her idol drives Bumblebee, is beautiful, rich and smart. How dare men flirt with a perfect girl like that?”

“She has a fiancé.”

“Then, he must be perfect too.”

“Hm.”

That’s right! A perfect woman like Khun Sam must date a perfect guy. In my case, I’m just a mere intern. Even if I tried to treat her well, she’ll blame me for trying to befriend her.

Let her just be your idol and you, an outsider. It will be better this way.

However.

Things don't go the way I imagined. In the middle of the night, my phone vibrates as I receive a message. I turn to adjust my pillow and the light from the smartphone hits my eyes.

Boss: Sticker

Boss: Sticker

I am half asleep and half awake when I pick up my smartphone to read. Am I dreaming now? I see the messages were sent by Khun Sam.

Boss: Sticker

When I can finally see clearly, I sit down to properly read. Why is it full of stickers? I look at them without understanding anything, because I don’t know how to answer it.

Weird.

What should I do?

Doraemon: Khun Sam

Yes, those were the only words I managed to send. I waited for her to read. I don’t know what she’s going to do.

Boss: Sticker

What? I don’t know what she wants!

Is she having a migraine again? She can’t write and so she’s sending me stickers? I get worried and I decide to call her even though it is now 1 am. She answers my call.

[What is it? It’s so late now.]

“Ah.” I’m stunned for a moment. “I saw you sent me stickers, so I was worried you might need some help.”

[Why would I need your help?]

“Because you sent me a bunch of stickers.” I said quietly. I’m honestly disappointed I called. Help, what should I do? Why am I so worried about her?

[Then you should have sent me stickers back. Why did you call me? See, you even saved my number without my permission. Are you trying to be my friend?]

I immediately hang up the call and almost throw my phone at the wall. Soon after, my smartphone is ringing. It’s Khun Sam.

What should I do?

“Hello?”

[Why did you hang up on me?]

“I was afraid I was bothering you.”

[Yes, you bothered me at this late hour. Please remember that.]

“I will remember.”

[Why do you accept critics so easily?]

“What can I do? What I did wasn’t right. Even though I was worried about you, I was wrong.”

I said without thinking. Now I’m going to cry and she’ll know from hearing my voice.

[Why are you crying? I still haven’t blamed you.]

“Khun Sam, you’re trying to blame me for being friendly with you, right? I thought you had such a bad headache that you chose to send stickers instead of typing a message. I’m not trying to be your friend. I helped with your migraine last time and what I received in return was blame and guilt instead of thanks. Why are you like this?”

I start to cry. It's so much pressure today, I can’t handle it anymore. I don’t know what she wants. She is silent for a while before she answers curtly, which makes me chuckle in confusion.

[Goodnight.]

And she hangs up the call…

I need to wake up early, but I stay up until 3 am, utterly confused about the woman who sent me stickers, made me cry, and then told me “goodnight”.

Do women like that really exist?