Departure...

Today is Sunday and I woke up early again. It feels like ages I haven been sleeping for more than 8 hours per day which I used to when I was young. Haha, guess my biological clock had set itself up permanently or issit I’m getting old?

These few days had been tiring and exasperating. Lucky I took my replacement leaves this week till Friday, y’ know, to get rid of my weariness and most importantly to absorb the facts regarding bout wat happened 3 days ago…

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J woke up with a terrible feeling. It was about her dream. A terribly sad dream tat seemed so vivid, so real tat she felt emotional. She looked at the clock and it was time for her to get ready and get to work. Reluctantly, she got out of bed with a heavy heart.

J dragged her feet to the bus station, still worried. She has had dreams tat happened in reality before. Therefore sometimes she felt as if she could predict the near future from them. She truly prayed tat the dream last nite was just any other dreams with no meanings and no indications. She knew she should dismiss it but then she couldn’t help but had this nagging feeling inside her…

* * *

A entered the lab on a typical Thursday morning. As usual, she found J starting up the machines, running calibrations and QCs and as usual T would be at the computer checking his morning mails. The only thing left missing was her manager. She felt a bit weird coz he was always the early bird in the lab. She tot maybe he went out for b/fast or had a meeting elsewhere so he would be in late.

Moments later “ppl” from LC informed the lab tat some VIPs would be there to visit so they had to “try” to clean up. Duh! A rolled her eyes at J who shrugged as well. Well, since J and T could handle the incoming samples and patients, why not? So A started the cleaning job, she didn’t know why she had the mood for wiping and clearing up things tat morning, she just felt good.

J walked up to A with a solemn face and told A about the dream she had last nite. A just smiled and shrugged while looking at J’s worried face. She assured J even though her mood dropped a bit after hearing about her dream.

Their lab manager finally walked in with casual clothing. He sat down and went clicking away to surf the net which he normally does. A saw J relaxed a bit but A sensed something was wrong. They continued to proceed with the samples and A approached her manager. She saw he wasn’t surfing the net instead he was printing out documents frantically. Her sixth sense got stronger. Something was definitely wrong.

“W, got slides for you.”

Her manager looked at her, a bit surprised, “I’m not working anymore. Nobody told you bout this?”

A got shocked as if she was splashed by a bucket of cold water. Then her manager continued, “I was fired yday.” He smiled sheepishly. Another bucket of cold water toppled on top of A. WHAT??

She couldn’t utter a single word for a minute. She just stood there staring at him disbelievingly as he started packing up his belongings. Both hands in her lab coat pockets she walked towards J with heavy steps. “He’s leaving today.”

J glared at A with tat bewildered look as well. “Oh no, I told u! My dream is happening again!” They both went silent for a moment and then A signed heavily. They watched in grief at their manager who was busy packing. Both their minds were spinning the same question. What are they going to do now?

A and J continued with their work, none of them dared to approached the manager as none of them knew wat to say to him. The lab suddenly became hostile. A knew it would happen sooner or later but she never would have thought tat it happened like lightning slicing thru the sky. No notifications. No preparations.

A’s mortify turned anguish then turned fury. Politics are always cruel. Ppl exterminate each other in order to gain control and show their power no matter how much the other had contributed. At times W may be too bold and bit offensive. Never would imagine that such stubbornness could cost him his job. He was even one the shareholders, dammit! Tat bastard got no mercy at all.

J and A went out with him for their last lunch together as colleagues. It was the longest lunch they had. Half an hour waiting for the tables, half an hour waiting for the food and another half eating. The other LC colleagues said he is finally off the hook and it’s a release to him. W also told them bout his planning for his new lab which is gonna be more high tech.

Back to the lab, W continued to pack all his stuffs into boxes. Books, catalogues, apparatus, reagents and some consumables, only now they realized tat he had supplied so much to the lab. There were more than 5 boxes of his possessions. One by one he placed them in a trolley and rolled out the lab. He looked around the lab and there was a glint of sorrow in his eyes. For 2 years, he spent all his time and energy to set up the whole place and a black- and- white was wat he received in return.

After he took out his final box, he said goodbye to his ex-colleagues. Almost everyone felt the lost and their hearts were as heavy as metal. They’re gonna miss his voice, his laughter, his humor and his kindness.

A had so much things to tell him but she couldn’t bring herself to say it at tat moment. She wanted to thank him for all the things he’d taught her, she wanted to thank him for defending her when she did something wrong, she wanted to thank him for sticking around when she wanted to leave early, she wanted to thank him for fighting for the welfare of his staff, she wanted to thank him for trusting her in troubleshooting, she wanted to thank him for the lunches he’d treated her, she wanted to thank him for being a good listener when she had problems. Most of all, she wanted to thank him for being a good teacher and a true friend.

A looked at J beside her. J looked like she’d been hit by the flood. A signed again and J said, “Tat’s not the last of him, he’ll be back.” A nodded in agreement.

Take care, our dear guru.