Lady Misfortune

Deep Night - Sonny Clark

Today’s entry won’t be like everyday else’s. There won’t be a fancy pretentious opening statement, no pseudo-poetry or some kinda Quixotic phrasings ripped straight from the lyrics of a jazz standard (oh all right, I’m taking a shot at Murakami. Heh. His Wind-Up Bird Chronicle is riveting). I’m doing none of that, because I’m weary. Nay, that’s inadequate. It’s more like I’m punch-drunk with tandems of bad lucks that do not want to end.

Series of unfortunate events do have a beginning (heh). Mine began last Tuesday as I tried to finish the final book of Harry Potter within two nights. I succeeded in that, while also realizing that the book was a dud. Just imagine the stupidity.

Actually, my anger with the series’ denouement was the least of my troubles. Since I spent a week not getting enough sleep, I became groggier, until I contracted cold and fever. Makes sense - the Pottermania fever must pass after all.

I had planned to spend the weekend going out with someone. And by some weird whirlwind of events, it was my ex-crush who agreed to go out with me. The day came, and I met her, accompanied by two of our former classmates. One is actually her girl cousin, the other is a guy who's been their kith for a very long time. (For the sake of anonymity, I'm going to assign them pseudonyms. Trish is the ex-crush. Daisy is the cousin. Chad is the guy).

I haven't seen any of them in ages, so I was delighted that we could all meet up. I've never been a close friend of Trish, and I was happy that I was given this chance to reconnect with her. I no longer want to be her lover, but we can always be just friends, right? To be honest, everyone (including Daisy and Chad) from my school knew that I liked Trish. I courted her for two years, but was stymied by how aloof she was to me. We hardly talked to each other, and when we did, our exchanges rarely lasted for more than two minutes. Realizing the futility, I eventually quitted. This was back in the high-school days. Eventually, another guy (pseudonym: Kurt) ended up becoming her boyfriend.

It's been more than 7 years since.

The first hour of our meeting was okay. We were catching up. We updated each other on how we and few of our other classmates are. Although nowhere near as animated as an exchange between Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker, this was better than my “conversations” with Trish from way back.

Trish also frequently asked Chad about her ex-boyfriend, since they were close friends - she hasn't let go. This was also why she and Chad started doing something very annoying. They would whisper amongst themselves. And when that's impossible, they would refer to the ex as “ghost” (0f course this is about Kurt. What kind of dumbass do they take me for anyway?). It was clear that they were deliberately keeping me in the dark (I'm sure of it. Her cousin, Daisy, knew all about it herself, though she didn't participate in the discussion quite as much). Not wanting to pry into matters they clearly don't want me involved in, I had no choice but to play dumb and be quiet.

What I find bewildering is why they keep doing these today. I don't mind not knowing a secret but if they don't want to let me in on it, was talking about it on this very day so important? They see each other all the time, I haven't seen them in five years, so why should they keep doing that? Didn't they realize just how rude they were?

Did they also think that I was dense, that I couldn't figure out who this “ghost” is? Paris Hilton could've deduced their “secrets”!

I had better time with Daisy, who also wasn't my close friend. Unlike Trish, Daisy made conscious efforts to strike conversations with me, perhaps realizing that the rest of them were making me – and perhaps herself - out of place. She was fun and was more endearing than Trish. Ironically, we ended up splitting into two groups and traveling separately. Chad and Trish still talked about Kurt while the rest of us secretly schemed to get Trish her birthday gift - it was Daisy's idea and I didn't resist it. What's ridiculous is that I paid for a birthday cake and a gift. Talk about foolish sacrifice that don't amount to jack squat. See that, Trish, I'm totally caring for you while you and Chad douche around about Kurt! Ain't life grand?

We parted ways and I came away with few realizations. No matter what I do, Trish is one bridge that I can never never cross. I stopped courting her for precisely that reason, and what has she learned all these years, that it's still ok to treat me like a steaming pile of garbage? As for Chad, I'm disappointed at him. Chad and I actually saw each other 3 years ago, and it was very cool hanging out with him, which makes it baffling why became a royal jerk today. I didn't meet Kurt, but if this is the kind of Trish he ended the relationship with, I give him my congratulations. Now for Daisy, I am thankful for her attempts to prevent this outing from becoming a total disaster for me. It actually was, but like anodyne, Daisy made the pains more sufferable.

In retrospect, I really should have just gone out with Daisy alone, so that the rest of them can spend quality alone time worshipping Kurt.

Oh, so you think my tirades have ended? You're naïve.

After the outing, I felt iller. And so I spent the rest of the weekend lying on bed, recuperating.

And although I haven't fully recovered, I went to the office a while ago. Now this is like a normal Monday and everybody knows Monday is a worker's most dreaded day, so it may be pretty normal for everyone not to be in high spirits. That wasn't my problem.

My problem is our office's pest control, which blows, quite frankly. I am in no way exaggerating this, but throughout the day, over fifty tiny little roaches crawled on my table. My coworkers also had the same problem. And take note, we also used to have a watercooler that doubled as a swimming pool for these cute little critters. So I took the initiative to tell “the mistress” this problem. But instead of offering me any assistance, she was so willing to blindly defend my company's cleanliness by enlightening me with an “acerbically witty” (i.e. sarcastic) comment on how I'm not cleaning my table. Err, I hope she notices that I rarely put any food on my desk, and why she chose to scold me while ignoring the gluttonous bunch who eat during work is a mystery Stephen Hawking and Sherlock Holmes combined couldn't solve (well, actually they could. An infant could. Try “theory of favoritism”.) I'm not even asking her to become a house-maid and that she should wear aprons and wipe tables. All I'm doing is reporting to her, hoping that she would contact a Pest Control Service. So why did she have to resort to cheap retorts? Did I need that? If sarcasm is the lowest form of wit, hers is definitely the nadir of it. Would it kill her to actually do something while shutting her trap?

And this ends the short accounts of the last five days. Have my series of bad luck ended? I don't know, but nothing has been done about my table yet.