The End of First Day

"Finally!" Mandy declared as she put down the last sorted document. Her neck ached from looking down. Her shoulders were sore, too. She stretched out her arms in the air, above her head, and bent slightly backwards. She let out a yawn. She was so tired.

"Oops, excuse me," Mandy said to Josh when she realized she had yawned.

"No worries. I would yawn too but you beat me to it. Let's get out of here." Josh stood up.

Mandy arranged the papers and put them neatly inside her desk drawers. She silently prayed they will still be there the following morning as she closed back the drawer. She checked if there was some way to lock it but she didn't see any. She took one of the new folders from her desk, opened the drawer again and placed the folder on top of the documents. She closed the drawer again, picked up her bag and joined Josh who was already standing by the door, waiting for her, so that he can turn off the lights.

Mandy checked her watch. It was close to 8 o'clock. They walked down the long hallway to the elevators. Josh and Mandy simultaneously pressed the button going down. Their fingers touched for a brief second. Mandy quickly pulled her hand back and let Josh press the button. Josh smiled at her. There was an awkward silence for a while.

"Wow, I didn't realize it was so late!" Mandy tried to break the silence. Her voice echoed in the hallway walls. "Your family might be waiting for you to come home already. Sorry I kept you here."

"Will you please stop apologizing? I stayed because I wanted to help you. And besides," Josh leaned towards her, cupping a hand to his mouth, near her right ear as if he was going to whisper, "I don't want you working alone here at this hour. Who knows what you might see here."

"'See here?' You mean like ghosts? Forget it, I don't believe in ghosts." Mandy looked straight ahead to her blurred reflection on the elevator doors.

"I'm just kidding. There aren't any ghosts here. At least none that I know of." Josh ran his fingers through his hair and chuckled.

"He has got to stop doing that," Mandy thought. "It's starting to get to me."

The elevator finally opened and they both went inside. Josh went to the back while Mandy stood in front. The elevator had mirrors so Mandy could see Josh's reflection. He was leaning against the wall, hands in his pocket. His head also leaned back, and his eyes were closed. He looked tired but even then, he still looked handsome.

Josh suddenly opened his eyes and caught Mandy's as she stared at him. Mandy quickly looked away. Josh straightened up.

"Where do you live?" Josh asked Mandy. "Maybe I can take you home. It's kind of late…"

The elevator opened and they stepped out. The lobby was almost empty, except for the security for the night. The lights were also dimmer compared to when they went out for coffee.

"Oh, no, it's okay! It's not that late. Besides, I drive my car so…"

"You have a car?" Josh was surprised.

"Uhm, yeah, yeah. It was, uhm, a gift, you know, for graduation." Mandy tried to explain as briefly as possible.

"Wow, really? I wish somebody gifted me a car for my graduation. What kind of car?"

"It's… an… old… BMW." Mandy could hardly let the words out. She didn't want to tell Josh but she didn't want to lie about it either.

"A BMW? You have a BMW?" Josh said loudly, in amazement.

They stepped out of the building. The street was empty already. Most people had gone home. There were some cars passing by. The convenience stores were the only ones open now.

"An OLD BMW. Old as in really old. My parents paid for the down but I'm paying for the rest of it. That's why I'm working." Mandy prayed it would convince Josh.

"I see. Okay, then. I'll walk you to your car. Where are you parked? You must be parked outside the building. They only allow those with a car pass to park in the basement."

"Yeah, I'm parked outside but there is really no need to walk me there. Besides, it's late and your family must be worried about you."

Josh looked her in the eye, as if he was thinking of something to say, or maybe not to say. He was weighing his thoughts carefully.

"Okay, if you say so. Where do you live again?"

"I live nearby, just a couple of blocks from here. I'm renting an apartment."

"Oh, you live near here. That's why you're not bothered about staying late at work," Josh said as he looked around, trying to figure out where Mandy must be staying. He doesn't remember any apartment nearby.

"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow, then."

"Okay, see you." Mandy turned towards the parking lot where her car was.

"Wait!" Josh called out just before Mandy crossed the street. The wind was starting to pick up. She regretted not bringing anything to keep her warm. Mandy stopped and looked back. Josh was jogging towards her.

"What is it?" Mandy asked, hoping he wasn't going to ask about her personal life again.

"I just uhm… I just… I mean, may I have your number? You know, for emergency or something…" Josh handed her his mobile phone. She noticed his hands were shaking.

"Oh… sure." Mandy smiled as she took his phone. She typed in her name and number. "Here you go. Just send me a message so I can save your number." She gave him back his phone. Her hands were shaking, too, but Mandy didn't know if it was because she was cold or she was nervous.

"I sure will." Josh smiled. Mandy's heart raced. She could feel her heartbeat through her chest. She thought Josh might hear how fast her heart was beating.

"I should go." Mandy said as she turned around again. Although part of her wanted to stay longer.

"I should go, too." Josh started walking backwards, watching and waiting for Mandy to safely cross the street.

Mandy looked back as soon as she was across the street. Josh was still looking at her. She waved goodbye at him, like a little girl waving goodbye to her friend from the playground. Josh placed his two fingers, the forefinger and middle finger, to his eyebrow and made a short salute before turning about towards his way home.

Mandy continued to watch him walk away. The street was dark except for the lamp posts that lighted the way for the pedestrians. She watched Josh, hands in his pockets again. The passing cars silhouetted his tall and slim but buffed figure. He wasn't wearing jacket despite the chilly evening. His gait was slow but steady, like he was walking automatically, as if running on a computer program where his steps are calculated. He looked so attractive. Mandy felt her heart race again.

"I should stop doing this before it gets out of hand." Mandy said to herself. She turned about again and started walking to the parking lot where she left her car.

The wind started to blow again. She crossed her arms to her chest, hoping it will help her keep warm. She thought she had parked close but she had been walking a couple of minutes now but she still hadn't reached the parking lot. Suddenly, she realized she was walking in the wrong direction.

"Oh, Mandy, why are you so stupid today?" She said to herself, stopping to figure out where the parking lot was. She remembered it was on the opposite direction she was going. So she turned around and started to walk towards the direction of the parking lot.

She was looking at her shoes as she walked. She noticed a stain on her shoe which wasn't there that morning. She tried to recall how the stain got there.

She was in deep thought as she walked. Then, her phone rang.

She fished for her mobile phone from her bag and looked at the screen to see who was calling. It only showed a number.

Mandy hesitated to answer but the caller wasn't dropping the call.

She tapped on the "Answer" button.

"Hello?"

"Amanda, Josh here. Just wanted to check if you're already in your car." Josh's deep voice answered back.

Mandy couldn't believe it. It hasn't been thirty minutes since they separated and he was already calling her.

"Oh, Josh, hi! I didn't think you'd be calling too soon." Mandy said the words before she could stop herself. "I mean, yeah, I'm almost to my car."

"Really? Then why do I see you walking back here?"

Mandy was surprised. Josh could see her but she couldn't see anybody. She stopped walking and looked around, still holding her phone to her ear.

"Where are you, Josh?"

"Turn around." Mandy turned around too fast that she lost her balance because of the heel of her shoe. As she fell backwards, she felt an arm around her waist.

"Whoa, careful there," Josh said, his face was so close to Mandy's that she could feel his breath on her cheek. She quickly wriggled away from his arms. She almost dropped her phone as she did so.

"Hey, easy, it's just me." Josh said as he raised both hands, like he was surrendering.

"Josh! You scared me! I thought you already went home?"

"Yeah, I did but I stopped by that store to buy something to eat while I walked." Mandy looked at the direction where Josh pointed and true enough, there was a convenience store there.

"Where's the food?" Mandy asked.

"Is this an interrogation?" Josh was quick to answer.

"No, of course not. I was just… curious."

"Well if you must know, I already finished eating it. And why are you walking in this direction?" It was Josh's turn to ask.

"Is this an interrogation?"

"No, of course not, Amanda. I was just curious."

"Well if you must know… This is gonna sound stupid but I just remembered my car was parked HERE not THERE. Okay, I should really go."

"Yeah, it's getting late. May I walk you to your car now? You know, since we're walking in the same direction now."

Mandy hesitated. She doesn't want Josh to see her car because she lied about it being old but then she doesn't have any excuse why he shouldn't.

"Only to the parking lot. I don't want to hold you back from going home. Your wife must be waiting for you already." Mandy turned to walk again, her steps quick, not waiting for Josh.

Josh caught up with her. "I don't have a wife. Well, at least not yet."

Mandy ignored his statement. She doesn't want any conversations to start again since they were so close to the parking lot already. But she let out a soft sigh. For some reason, she was glad he wasn't married.