- Auguste Escoffier

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*Bing!*

The sound of an email notification coming in made Delilah jumped in surprise.

In one of the offices at the Kang Company, sounds of typing and little chatters of people talking in soft and small voices can be heard throughout the area. People can be seen coming in and out of the room, handing out and gathering files of reports. A couple of young office ladies can also be seen near the vending machine at the corner of the room, laughing and talking as they gossiped about the recent daily news.

Delilah sighed in frustration as she glanced up at the wall clock in front of her. Her area of work is at one of the ten cubicles, five cubicles facing each other, in the middle of the room, occupying at the near end, near the exit. They are located on the second floor of the office building where the Human Resource Department is located and she is one of the employees in that department.

Delilah had been too engrossed in trying to finish up her reports when numerous emails kept coming in. It was already 11 o'clock in the morning and she is still working on her third report. Piles of folders piled up on the left of her.

She grabbed her cup and sipped her coffee. 'Ugh,' she thought with a grimace. The coffee had already gone cold. She hates drinking coffee that had gone cold.

She put her cup down and continued on with her work. As she was working, she sneaked a peek at the cubicle next to her.

Her colleague, Firah, was fiddling with her mobile phone, a chocolate stick on her lips. Firah, who felt someone was looking at her, turned around at Delilah and raised an eyebrow in question.

Delilah shook her head. She placed her chin on the palm of her hand, with her elbow on her table and asked Firah, "Why do you seem so free?"

Firah shrugged, turning back to her phone. Looking at her phone, it can be seen that she was playing a puzzle game. "I'm just waiting for lunch."

Delilah narrowed her dark brown eyes at her and asked again, "Have you finish your work?"

Firah finished off her chocolate stick and said, "Nope!" making a popping sound on the 'p'. She then added, "Besides, I'm also waiting for your work. Didn't you hear an email coming in? That's from me."

Delilah groaned inwardly as she ruffled her hair in frustration. She woke up late this morning so she did not have the chance to make or eat breakfast. She had to wait few minutes for her car to start up before she could even drive. Not to mention, she had spent 40 minutes in a traffic jam near her home before she could go to a lane that will bring her to her office building.

Speaking of breakfast, that reminds her, she thought with a goofy smile on her face. Luckily, she did managed to reheat her sandwich that she bought last night after work. It was a double decker kind of sandwich, stuffed with olives, little cherry tomatoes, succulent beef slices, crunchy lettuces, melted cheese and secret sauce. It was the secret sauce that made her drool. It was spicy yet sweet with the tangy kind of taste, giving you a kick in the taste-buds. She giggled softly at herself, getting all excited at the thought of finally taking a bite of her sandwich.

She had spent weeks trying to order the sandwich from a sandwich shop at a place just 30 minutes away from her home. But many times she had been there, the sandwich was either sold out or the shop was closed for a private event.

And unfortunately, the shop does not allow advanced booking as they practice the concept of 'First Come, First Serve' basis. To solve the problem, or so she thought, she decided to follow the social media page and even turned on the notifications for that page, just in case there is any news or updates about it.

It was yesterday, an hour before her time to go home when there was a notification on her phone, informing that they have extra sandwiches up for grabs. She literally had to begged one of her colleagues to help check out for her because she made up a white lie that she have an emergency to go to. Well, it really was an emergency. A sandwich is at stake here!

So, after agreeing to do some of the works for her colleague, she quickly went to the shop and managed to grab one of the sandwiches. She was so happy that night, she literally skipped to her car, with the sandwich in her hand.

When she had arrived home, she had just remembered that she already have a 'Nasi Lemak' for dinner. The 'Nasi Lemak' was given by one of her supervisors who had asked her to give it a try since she loves spicy foods as well. Worried that the 'Nasi Lemak' may go bad due to the coconut milk in the rice, Delilah decided to eat it, instead of the sandwich.

The 'Nasi Lemak' was really delicious. The rice was cooked to perfection with coconut milk. The 'sambal' was blended superbly, with chili, shrimp paste, onions and so on. Blend all of those ingredients, it gives out a very flavoursome and spicy smell that tickles the nose-buds. Yes, she had a nice dinner last night.

Returning back to the present time, Delilah licked her lips in anticipation as she glanced up at the wall clock again. The clock reads 15 minutes to 12 o'clock. 'Oh yay!' she thought, rubbing both of her hands in glee. 'A few more minutes and I am freeeeee!' She laughed evilly in her mind, not noticing Firah giving her a weird look.

Delilah rubbed her stomach, which was grumbling in protest at that moment and whispered softly, "Soon..."

Just a couple of minutes until the clock reads 12 o'clock, there was a loud commotion at the entrance of the office. Delilah and Firah looked up to see one of their supervisors, Howard, greeting everyone loudly.

Delilah watched with dread as she saw him trying to look for someone. He then saw Delilah and she could see the 'Ah-ha!' look on his face. He walked toward towards her cubicle and gestured at Firah to move out of her chair. "You can go for your lunch now. I need to talk with Delilah here."

"Sure thing, sir!" said Firah with a smile.

Delilah's eyes widened and with a 'Don't leave me alone!' look on her face, she reached out her hand to Firah for help. A hand which Firah ignored and just left the room. Howard smacked her hand down and asked with a laugh, "Hahaha! What's with you?"

Delilah sighed sadly. "Nothing. So, what's up, Howard?"

Howard quickly shushed her. "Shhhh... Keep you voice down! I don't want Matt to know that I'm here!! He has been bugging me, trying to discuss some projects. I don't have the mood to entertain him," he said, as he leaned back against Firah's chair in a languid manner.

Delilah rolled her eyes inwardly. Who was the one who greeted everyone in a loud voice at the entrance?

She then forced a smile on her face and said, "Then, what are you doing here?"

"Ah... Nothing, just want to hang out here," he said, brushing his nails on his loud shirt. He was wearing a bright pink shirt with black pants.

Sometimes, Delilah does wonder. Not to be mean but really? Where does he get his fashion sense? Not saying that she is a perfect dresser herself. But bright pink shirt, black pants, white shoes and yellow socks? Please. Topped with that blonde dye in his hair, he looks like someone who walks on a street during night-time, with his bright colours serving as a headlight.

"Well, someone is getting ready for lunch, you know..." Delilah said slowly, hinting at him that she is about to go for her lunch.

Howard then scoffed in disdain. "Lunch? Who has time for lunch, anyway? Anyone can eat at any time here. Who cares about the timing?" He said.

Delilah seethed angrily in the inside. 'Well, not everyone is like you...' she thought, peeving.

He then leaned towards her and asked, "Hey, hey. Did you hear about some guy who got lost in this one country? Apparently, they said that he did not want to go home to his wife and wanted to stay there with a fairy or something. But no one knows the whole story..."

He continued on, "And then this guy.... After that.... Its funny how..." he droned on.

Delilah sighed inwardly. 'I don't even know these people! Why are you even telling me this?!?' she thought angrily as she played with her phone in her hand.

Delilah looked up at the clock and groaned inwardly. The clock now reads half past one. She sneaked a look at the entrance and it seems like Firah has not come back from her lunch yet, ignoring the talkative Howard in front of her.

A few minutes later, a hand dropped on Howard's shoulder, making him jumped in surprise. He turned around and his eyes widened.

Matt's eyes crinkled at the corner as he smiled. "Hello there, Howard. Finally found you." He nodded his hello at Delilah, who nodded back.

Howard laughed awkwardly and said, "Yeah, hhha... Been busy lately. Didn't check my phone nowadays. You know how it is, right, Matt?"

Matt laughed, putting his hands on his hips. "I sure do!" He then walked towards one of the private office at the back of the room and said to Howard, "Now that you are here, come and lets have a discussion!"

With Howard slowly following behind him, slouching, Matt suddenly stopped in his path and turned to Delilah. "Ah, Delilah. You can have the rest of the day off, just leave your work for tomorrow and I'll check on them tomorrow as well. Thanks!"

Delilah jumped up from her seat, grinning. "Thank you, sir!" She immediately packed her things up. Luckily, she already had the initiative to finish off her colleague's work first so the work would not be delayed. So, its only her work that is left for tomorrow.

Delilah hummed happily to herself as she carried her work bag and her lunch bag out of the office. She decided to eat at the office cafeteria since it was still early for the after-work traffic.

She sat down at one of the empty tables, placing her lunch bag and mobile phone on the table and her work bag on a chair next to her. She then unwrapped her sandwich with a satisfied smile on her face. The waft of the secret sauce reached her nose. She licked her lips and bite down on her sandwich. As she bite and eat her sandwich, she thought to herself, 'Good food is the basis of true happiness, inDEEd'.

If one could sneak a peek on the message on her phone, it reads, 'Hello Matt! Just a heads up here! I'm currently meeting with Howard at my cubicle here and was wondering whether you are free today so I can give you the reports of the employees' appraisal. Thank you!'