I peek down the cubicle aisle. Two guys from the production look like they would rather be stuck in a Hari Raya balik kampung jam for five hours with a crying infant than stand in front of the Gross Excuse as he purges all his complaints onto them.
I stare at the stack of documents in my hands. It's gonna take a longer time to coax him into signing the papers than usual. Sigh.
Now he's staring at the computer screen, intentionally creating an awkward silent treatment for the two guys. At least he stopped talking. I approach his desk. "Suimasen..."
He remains silent for a good five seconds before he grunts in response. Reluctantly, as if he's terribly inconvenienced by my interrupting him but still willing to give up his time for the survival of this company.
Excuse me while I curb the urge to bow down and kiss your shoes in gratitude.
"I need your signature for these..." I placed the folder in front of him, the word "URGENT" promptly typed across it.
He looks through the documents one by one, painstakingly checking every detail, grunting as if in deep thought from time to time. I caught the eye of one of the guys who have been standing in front of the Gross Excuse for over half an hour, and rolled my eyes dramatically. His apprehensive face broke into a knowing grin in spite of the situation. Everyone knows the Gross Excuse can't read half of the document contents - most of them are written in English.
A sound of displeasure drag my attention back to him. "What is this?? This cannot be correct!"
I try to explain, but he cuts me off irritably. "No! Call the people in charge now and confirm with them." He thrust his flashy Nokia phone to me. I dutifully call the people up, one by one.
The explanation is the same. And I tell him so. He stood up and grab the documents in one quick motion. I took a few steps back instinctively.
"This is rubbish! I'm going up there right now and talk to them face to face!" He storms off, almost knocking me over as he leaves a trace of bad garlic breath.
I shrug at the two guys and tell them to take a seat. "It's gonna take a while." I walk back to my desk. Ooh, someone's messaging me on MSN.
Gross Excuse comes to my desk 20 minutes later, documents signed and approved completely.
"Arigatou gozaimasu," I say as I reach out to get the documents from him. He retracts the folder just out of my reach and peers wonderingly at me. "Are you angry?"
I stare at him. Is he serious? "No sir, I'm really not the one who's angry." I reply as politely as I can.
He places the folder in my hands, seemingly satisfied. "I love you Cindy." He winks at me.
"Thank you sir." I give him a small, strained smile. If I can get 100yen for everytime he says that, I can fly to Tokyo on business class by now.
I turn my eyes back to the computer screen. Sometimes when I look busy he'll leave me alone. Ohh, mommy's online.
"So are you free for dinner tomorrow night?" He leans across the cubicle separator, a lewd grin on his face.
I keep my eyes on the screen. "No sir, I don't think it's possible." Ever.
He pauses, probably debating whether to push on or not. I start typing a reply to my mom on MSN.
He decides against it and leaves. Two minutes later, everyone in the office hears him slamming the table and yelling at the two guys earlier.
