A HARD DAY

"Hello" Erika said with pressing the answer button on the cellphone by placing it to her ear so that she could clearly hear the voice on the other side of the phone.

"Erika, this is Soffi." Erika knew that if her assistant spoke with a whisper, something must be happened in the office. And that's definitely something big. "You'd better get back to office. Everything is a mess here. And, no one seems to know exactly what happened."

Erika immediately realized that her boss wasn't there. Automatically, the office is just an empty building with no person in charge at that place. "What happened?"

"Well, there's a guy here who's furious. He asks everyone here, noisily, where is the boss. And, why was the office left empty without anyone in charge of this office he could ask."

"I'll be right back in the office."

"Where are you?"

"I'm at customs office now."

"Should I send someone to pick you up? It's already lunch time. The streets will definitely-----"

"No necessary." interrupted Erika. "Soffi, can you try to calm down that guy? If needed, take him to my room."

"Okay."

The air in the harbor today is very hot and dusty. Erika came out from the cold customs service office. That office is so cold because the air conditioner in the room was deliberately set to the lowest number. Hoping, it can be compensate of the wheatear outside. The heat in August really stifled her chest as she walked towards the motorbike parking lot.

Erika rushed to ride her motorbike by overtaking several other riders. She passed the guard post at the fourth gate of Tanjung Emas Harbor by overtaking between motorcycle and cars which is lining up to get out of the port.

It take more than thirty minutes of normal time to arrive at the office with very congested road conditions creeping up at lunchtime like this. Erika increased the speed of her motorbike, splitting the busy highway. She swerved her motorbike through the main road to turn looking for a shortcut to be able to take her quickly to the office.

In less than an hour, Erika arrived at the office. She parked his motorbike into the parking area which is provided for employees. When she will enter the waiting room, Soffi was already there waiting for her with a worried face.

"Finally you come."

"How's the situation?"

"That man-----" Soffi turned her head into the office with a flick of her head, she said, "He is not a patient person. And he doesn't want to wait in your room."

"Then where is he waiting for?"

Soffi swallowed the saliva that felt very lumpy in her throat. "He is in the boss' room." The woman answered in a whisper. "I tried to prevent it, but-----"

"Let me take over from here." Erika said with a reassuring smile. When she was tried to reach the stairs to the waiting room, her hand was pulled by her assistant.

"There's more any problem."

Erika turned around and showed her forced smile that could be seen on her face. "What's that?"

"Representatives of PT. Grasia Food is here."

"Who's that?"

"Mr. Suroso."

"Did he say what he needed?"

"No. He just wants to meet the Boss. But, you know she-----"

"Okay. Take him to my room first." Cut Erika calmly. "I'll be following soon." She added as she turned towards the side street of the office that led to the pantry room and also the toilet.

Erika goes into the toilet. Inside, she took the time to tidy up her wrinkled work clothes. She also washed her face which was full of sweat and street dust. She took some makeup tools that she always carried in her bag. Such as powder, eyebrow pencil, mascara, eyeliner, and lip gloss. She tried to touch up her makeup, which had faded from the water had washed on her face, using powder which she had taken from her bag.

Erika had finished dressing and tidying herself up. She looked much fresher than before. She checked a last time in the toilet mirror. Today, she is wearing her blue cotton shirt with the office name logo sewn above the shirt pocket. Just to the left of the pocket was written of her name which is made from plastic, where the shirt was already damp with sweat. In a very hot weather, luckily she tied her hair today. Otherwise, her curly shoulder-length black hair would look untidy in this scorching heat.

She saw the white skirt she was wearing. She had made the right decision by not wearing trousers which made her body even hotter. And as always, the flat-shoes are perfect and practical to wear where the road is uneven, like in the harbor earlier.

When everything felt that it was appropriate to the portion and not too much, Erika put the things she had used to tidy up back into her bag. She looked at herself in the mirror thinking about who's the guest she should meet first. Based on the urgency of the emergency it caused. After a moment of silence, she made up her mind.

Erika walked out of the toilet and entered through the door which connected the finance department to the computer room. While greeting several employees who were there, she gave a friendly smile that tugged on her lips. Erika tried to hide her confused thoughts. A stranger broke into the boss's room? Who's he? What does he mean to come here? Even though she was in a hurry, she still had time to help an employee who had difficulty using a computer. Finally, she arrived at the export-import documents section.

"Soffi," Erika called while patting the woman's shoulder, to relieve her anxiety that radiated from the woman's eyes. "Where is that man?"

"Which one do you mean?" Soffi asked nervously, holding her own hand. "The grump's one with handsome face or the man representing PT. Grasia Foods?" He repeated in a whisper.

"The representatives' one. I'll see him first."

"W-Wait a minute."

"What is it?"

"What about that man?" The woman's pointed her finger to the boss room. "It would be better if you met him first, right?"

"You hold him first, and try makes him to calm down. Explain to him that I will meet him as soon as I finish my business with representatives from PT. Grasia." Obviously Erika patted the back of Soffi's hand calming her down. "After all, PT. Grasia is one of the priority clients in this company. So, we have to put that first."

"But that man-----"

"We don't know who that man is yet? And, what is the purpose? It could be, he is one of the family or acquaintance of the Boss. Hence, he dared to wait in the Boss room." Erika added looking at her watch. "Alright, time for work." Erika cheered her assistant with a wink as she stepped into her room where her guest was waiting for her.