00.00
It goes blank. Oh, such a catastrophe! I have a deadline, this isn’t supposed to happen!
I try to restart my silly notebook, hoping it will go just fine, at least temporarily working. It’s enough, I don’t ask for more!
It still goes blank. My vein starts to pop out any minute now, but I don’t even have time for it. I need to work out the solution immediately. Only 5 hours until morning and I should go to work, to give some presentations to a bald man, a man with wig, a woman with heavy make up and the vein which is even bigger than what I have now.
And they hold the biggest fate of me in their smooth palm of hand. If I don’t come up with a magnificent work tomorrow, or any lousy one at all, they will fire me!
It’s not a joke, and my notebook has the worst timing of all!
“Come on, Honey, I need you, I need you right now,” oh, deep down in my soul I just believe that he can hear me. Or else, he will not act this way in this moment. He must arrange this just to mess me up.
1 a.m.
And the minute’s hand keep slowly scrolling to his left. Leave me hanging all miserable here.
Call someone! The waiting tone rings. Puh! It rings again. Many times now.
And the waiting results at voicemail. The voice over the speaker sounds timid yet friendly. It gives me such a guilt to yell at her nice voice, but what do you expect, really?
I release the biggest sigh in my life, try to calm myself down. Usually, it always works to clear up my mind.
Browse for solution mostly works well for me, so I open google in my smartphone. Lists of sites and blogs come up, offering various solutions.
I’m not an expert, so meeting my inner organ of my notebook, even if I would be so pleased, definitely not a choice.
I try to reset BIOS or whatever you call them. Well, it’s almost impossible as the notebook won’t even turn on. Not even a slight chance of ray of light shines from the light indicator.
I should come up with plan B. Rewriting everything manually and retyping it in another notebook. Or PC, I can’t really be picky in this kind of situation. How can I do it?
Simple, bang some doors at the very early morning and ignore their constant curse they throw at me.
Why, I’m used to it already. My bosses and colleagues are already experts at cursing me. And I mean, every single day.
2 a.m.
I screamed.
“It’s done!” I see the imperfect presentation scheme, but it’s still quite good. Pretty well done, me!
Not a minute I will waste anymore. My step is bigger than ever, faster than any other. The online cab is few minutes left, but there it is!
2.15 a.m.
“You can sleep, I’ll just use your laptop! Oh, such a friend! My job is in jeopardy!”
I tell so once. Then I tell it again. Again for the third. No one feels even a bit of sympathy. I’m alone.
Yet, I’m wandering around the city so dark. She blinks by flares of the jewel shines of every house and skyscraper building rather far away.
The city never sleeps. But, she is still sleepy, wraps each people in the lazy mood. One and two cars pass by through my cab. Sometimes, I can see one or two guys, whether they haven’t slept or just awake to sip a bit of freshness of the night sky.
I lay down my head, absorbing the peaceful of night, the calmness of sleepy city. I see the scheme, so dull on the piece of paper, so beautiful with colorful diagrams and few figures, the only few I can extract out of my forgetful mind.
And the colorful light outside. Glancing as they shyly greet me. The calm I almost lost. I miss them so. Yet, I…
“Oh thanks Heaven! You are the hundredth person I called, thank you. It’s okay if it’s a bit far. With this really empty traffic, I’ll get there by half an hour or so. Yes, Jakarta is quite small actually.”
Yet, I…
8 a.m.
“I’ll touch up a bit more and I’ll be perfect for the presentation! Thank you a thousand times! I’ll pay you! I promise!”
I ran. I might be a little late, but it’s not the time to be perfect. It’s always easy, I’ll just make up the perfect reason, lying but perfect.
That’s all what they want, to hear something perfect, even if it’s a perfect lie.
“Where have you been? Five minutes late, you better have a perfect lie, uhm, I mean reason,” the secretary winks. I just smile, because I literally am out of breathe.
I calm myself for a little minute more, yet the secretary tap impatiently at her watch. I nod a little, then walk confidently to the door.
I open the door and give all the board of directors and my boss the sweetest smile I have. It always works. Yet…
It goes blank. Oh, such an irony!