Tuesday, February 21, 2017

Moment

Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakaatuh,

I touched down at Qatar HIA at ~4.45 am. Next flight boarding at 6.05 am. There's still time for quick Suboh and a tea break, but first things first, I need to locate where is the next gate, quick check on the information board, gate B1. Quickly made my way to gate B. The musolla and toilet is located very close to the gate.

Having had completed my solat, I was contemplating where should I head on for tea break. No PAUL like cafe in HIA, so to the lounge it is. After a cup of tea and some pastries it was already 5 mins to 6 am. Gathered my things, made my way to the gate, but made a temporary stop at WH Smith. Picked up 4 books, about to fall into the marketing trick of buy 3 free 1 when the better sense in me says I can get the whole lot cheaper via MPH online, or bookexcess. Hehe. Put it back on the shelves, and this time I really head on to the gate. No more distraction.

Queued behind few locals and after the airport crew scanned my boarding pass, I stepped into the waiting area. I was looking for a non crowded place and all of the sudden there he was. He walked towards me, greeted me, we both said hello and he escorted me to where he is seated. We both knew that we would be on the same flight, and I guess he was looking forward to meet me. The feeling is mutual. He began talking about his trip, and he sounds really excited about it. He did mentioned that he can imagine living in KL.. aaww...So sweet!

The other passenger started boarding the flight and we were the only 2 left. He's on business class and I was on economy. We didn't see each other throughout the whole flight. The moment the flight touched down Lagos, I did what I always did, I rushed to the immigration counter. Got inline at the immigration counter and managed to fill up the form while at it. I could no longer see him. Being seated in 2A, I think he was probably the first one to board off the plane.

I was a bit nervous at the immigration counter because on the way out of Nigeria, they made a living hell out of me, picking on the tiny little details on my passport and make a mountains of issues about it. So when the immigration officer handed over my passport and green card, it was such a relief. Made my way to the conveyor belt, the bags has started to come. I spotted him on the other side of the belt. He already has a trolley with him and offered for us to share. His bag came out way earlier than mine. I was already getting really nervous, for fear that my bag is somehow stuck in Doha. He waited anyway. It took quite a while. Alhamdulillah I managed to get both of my bags and we both went through the customs check together. As usual the customs officer were on fishing trip. He did most of the talking, I just stand by his side, giving the impression that we are together and he made it clear to the custom that we ARE together. (Makin caiyaq dah waktu ni..hehehe). We were let go without much fuss and later while waiting for the bus to pick us up, he did mentioned he did intended to give the impression that we are a couple, maybe to speed things up. Whatever his reason is, I still could not stop smiling :)

We boarded the bus, he fills up the form for me and told the driver where we were heading. I got off at the local airport, heading back to PHC with 3.15 pm flight, while he will still be in Lagos for few days due to his project workshop. I will only see him later this week, maybe at a farewell party if he decided to go.

It might not be anything, but these small moments with him that I will treasure. I know very little chance that whatever we have between us is going anywhere, so please let me enjoy this. A brief moment in my life that I don't think I will ever get to experience again. It felt so good to be taken care of. Be it just pushing the trolley with my bag on, talking to the customs officer, and filling up my name in the bus sheet. Having being independent and all alone all this while, I really appreciate those little gesture, maybe small to other people but pretty huge deal for me, because all of that done by him.

I know what we have is special, I visited Norway and he visited Malaysia while we both know each other. Kalau orang tak tau status, memang dah jadi scandal dah.. hehe. No scandal, just a brief exciting episode in my otherwise ordinary life, and I'm thankful for it.

This year's KPI of having a photo with him has not materialize yet. (Ohh.. yearly KPI ek? hehe). As I am counting down the days left in this country, I am also dreading the day I will say farewell to him. As special as our relationship may seem, I don't put high hope for us to keep in touch after we both returned back to Malaysia and Norway respectively upon finishing this assignment. He's just not that kind to keep in touch. He said that himself, so its OK, whatever we have for the past 3 years is fine with me. Its enough.

Until next time.. wassalam..