Immersed myself in work and forsaking that bit of social freedom, as I took that as a personal punishment for that black mark in my life history. I dated some guys but never did I commit to them fearing for history to repeat. Men complained saying that the walls that I put up was too much for anyone to penetrate, don't even bother climbing, I should say.
Imagine the ratio of men to women in my working environment to be of 1 : 150. It was a male-dominated area and women really need to strive hard to even be recognised in the industry. Not for the wrong reasons but for our capabilities. Then will you even be considered of the same level as the mens in the company.
This puts a lot of pressure on me. The pressure to excel, to achieve and to prove to myself that I am better than what I was.
My scope includes meeting the "big guns" of these million-dollar making industry and to entertain them over business lunches or dinner. One have to be really of sound mind and be strong willed as these high-flyers thinks that Asian chicks are really meant to be put in their money-maker derriers. My superior taught me well. How to be as business-like at all formal meetings, how to carry ourself well and also how to divert the attention of the lewd remarks made by these mens, whom sadly, are aged, wealthy and married. To them, money makes the world goes round and make the girls bend down.
These happenings makes me hate going for the meetings and as far as I could, I will arrange for another colleague to attend. One meeting that I did not miss was a lunch meeting onboard a vessel in the yard. Put on the safety gears and equipments I did as I trudged along the dock and made my way up the steely steps with my Director. Once inside, we lunched and we answered enquiries on the contract signing and as I was about to wrap the whole meeting, came a cadet in uniform that approached me.
With a tinge of American accent,"Hi! I wonder if you have heard of China Black? I heard that's a cool club here." I nodded in agreement. Again, he continued, "Do you mind coming with us tonight to the club? Me and my mates are heading there." I declined politely and diverted my attention elsewhere. But in all honesty, he was a gorgeous chap! I continued chatting with some other subordinates and even informed the owner of the vessel of a good international soccer match that will take place that weekend. And if they are lucky, they might still be able to pull off some tickets since thousands of people are expected to turn up. Well, I was feeling patriotic for the country, of course! Chatted a bit more and finally we excused ourselves and made our way back to the main building office.
The cadet was then put at the back of my mind as I know for sure there was no way in hell that we will see each other again, seeing that we do not mingle with clients socially outside except for formal occasion. Not till an envelope addressed to my department attentioned to me reached. Opening the envelope, expecting some invoices, my eyes bulged at the tickets inside. All 15 pieces of tickets that entitle me to enter the stadium to watch the adrenaline-pumping soccer game! I froze in time and kept rereading my name, kept looking at the tickets and finally I found my voice which came out in a squeak. "Who bought this?"
The attendant just smiled and says it is a gift from the vessel. Can you imagine me doing a whoopsie in the office and as soon as I settled down, I quickly list the names of family members that I was going to invite to the match. And before I unwind myself from work, I wrote a thank-you note to be sent to the vessel, addressed to ALL, since I have no exact name to direct it to.
The Saturday I have been waiting for whizzed by and with strict instructions, the whole family donned red in support of the country. We elbowed our way through the crowd and settled our butts on the "comfy" wooden planks called seats. Since we had time to spare, I went for a quick puff and in that moment I was contributing to the depleting ozone layer, my eyes caught a face of a man that looked a tiny bit familiar. He smiled, he elbowed his way too and in minutes, he was right in my face. Mr Cadet! Can my luck get better than this?! How in the world were we to bump into each other amongst the many thousands of human beings? So, I asked, "Did you get the tickets sent to me?" He replied with a twinkle in his eye, "Cheers! So you made it."
I offered him to join my family for the game where he saw the raw side of me, cheering on for my country and getting into the mood. He got along well with the other family members, shouting in unison and participating in the "waves" and "stomping" of our feets. We laughed, we ate finger food, we hurled abuse at the game, all in the name of fun. Dreading the final whistle to go off, since that means the end of our "date". He offered to go for supper but seeing that I was with the whole army of family, I declined and we parted at the stadium door, not before exchanging our local numbers.
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