An Evening With Najua

I once admitted that I produce my usual best in blogging when I write with emotion. But I refrain from doing that this time around because I want to be very sure how I felt about what happened last Thursday evening. Yes, the date with Najua.

As you may have guessed, things have gotten a bit awry that night. It was too bad, really, because it had started off so promisingly. Let me tell you what happened.

The venue was Secret Recipe, Ampwalk. The time agreed was 8.40 pm. It was strange actually because I had asked for a drink and the time was suggested by Najua. I was anticipating along the lines of 6.30 or 7, maybe. But 8.40 at night? Some people even call this dinner time. Anyway, I, somehow, quite unintentionally, managed to arrive slightly earlier than her. As I sat at one of the small tables overlooking Jalan Ampang, the waitress was probably thinking what a sad and lonely life this fellow is leading. Having cake and coffee all alone at this deserted place at this time. I say this because I noticed the surprise look on her face, almost amazement, when a stunner like Najua came to join me. I have to admit I felt pretty smug.

As she took a seat beside me I just couldn’t believe how I’ve managed to arrive at that moment. I was actually having a date with Najua. It felt like a fantasy come true. Well, my fantasy involves a little bit more than just cakes and coffee but let’s not get into that now.

We began to talk. She just came back from dropping her brother at his school, Victoria Institution (VI) which would explain the exhaustive look on her face and the slight delay of her arrival. It turned out she was familiar with this place. She usually comes with her friends whenever they feel like having Secret Recipe cakes. They never went to any other outlets. I didn’t ask why. She also told me that she no longer will be pursuing ACCA but instead will be taking a course in shipping which is more relevant to her job, according to her boss. Well, there goes my hope of ever being her classmate again.

The night progressed pretty well. The place was quiet so it was perfect to have a decent conversation. Interrupted only by the occasional mat rempits.

As I said, everything was going pretty well. That is, until Paul came.

Paul is this late 30s Caucasian male who once reside in London. He’s a family friend to Najua’s family and even now, works for Najua’s uncle who owns an oil & gas company located at, voila, Ampwalk, just upstairs. Najua even explained that both the Quattroporte and red Diablo parked at the front of the complex, which I had eyed enviously the whole evening, belongs to her uncle. Well, it’s under the company’s name but, y’know, kind of meant the same.

Anyway, Paul was working late, and he was coming down to get a fresh pack of cigarettes. He wouldn’t have noticed us when he passed by if Najua hadn’t called out his name out loud. He acknowledged, went on to buy his pack of ciggies and promised to come back and join us. A few moments later there he was – all 6 feet of him – at the table. Well, you know what they say. It takes two to tango and three’s a crowd. Unavoidably, Najua’s focus is now on Paul. She had known him for years. Even Ity and Sandra talked to him on the phone while Najua took a morning shower during her time at UTP. Plainly put, Paul and Najua are pretty close. She even described his apartment at Seri Maya at Jalan Jelatek as her refuge during the weekends. And being British he couldn’t help but have this sarcastic comment about everything. Probably the only thing I like about him. I know I sound like I don’t like the guy but you know what? There’s nothing wrong with Paul. He is a nice bloke, really. A bit of a generation gap there but otherwise quite okay. It was Najua who I was worried about. I was now slowly drifted into the shadows. I had become unimportant by the minute. Even the plates on the table garnered more attention than I did. Najua was suddenly turning ga-ga, and sadly not to me.

Paul stayed with us for quite awhile and had to leave to finish things up at the office. Probably the best thing about that encounter was that he took care of the bill. He pulled out RM30 like some loose change. When Paul left it was unavoidable that we spoke about him. And the fact that it was near closing time didn’t help. I tried to salvage the last few moments by diverting away from the subject but with little success.

As we walked out as the last people to leave Secret Recipe, I thought, well, at least now I have her all to myself. But I assumed too soon. At the main steps of Ampwalk, without even giving me a glance, she scurried over to this parked Silver Audi by the road. It was a mature lady at the wheels and judging by the way Najua’s reaction she’s probably family. I thought it was just a quick hello and how-do-you-do? So I just stood there studying the curves of the huge Italian supercar in front me, waiting. Then I realized they were now chatting for quite some time. Now I felt rather guilty for not going there and introduce myself. But when Najua finally came back to me I felt a little relieved. That is, until she spoke.
“You balik dulu lah. I nak cakap dgn auntie I sebab dah lame tak jumpe,”
I was suddenly left speechless. She was blowing me off, yet again. This wasn’t happening. But, then again, what am I supposed to say? Screw your auntie and stay with me then? I did what was expected – I bid goodbye. We shook hands and that was it. While I couldn’t believe how the night had awkwardly ended, Najua on the other hand couldn’t wait to get back to her aunt. As I walked back to the car I noticed even Paul had come down and joined the chat. Looking back, I felt like an outsider who was never welcomed in the first place. I tell you, the scenario bothered me more than I thought it could, but it did.

I drove home with lots of questions on my mind. I even turned the stereo off just to think. Just what the bloody hell happened? The matter of fact was I went out a date with Najua and that was supposed to make me feel happy, thrilled, proud like fuckin’ peacock but yet, it didn’t. I felt something was amiss. Something went wrong. It wasn’t a disaster. It wasn’t perfect either. Clearly something didn’t go according to plan.

I thought about this for a few days and I came to the conclusion that I was disappointed. I think it was M. Night Shyamalan who said that you can have a bad beginning and a bad middle but you’ll always have the ending. I guess it’s true too when you turn it around. You can have a good start, a good middle but a bad ending, will leave a sour taste in your mouth.

As much as I hate to admit and I once even thought was quite impossible to happen but the truth is, I was disappointed with Najua. It wasn’t really her fault actually. It was all circumstantial. Too bad for me, I guess. It was a bittersweet experience. I could finally add Najua’s name to the list of women I went out with but in terms of fun or was-it-worth-it?, I couldn’t rank her that high up. I even had a better time when I went out with Ara a while back. Wait, that was last year. Oh sod it.

Now I’m actually having second thoughts about asking Najua out again. I even contemplated asking Eiwa out ahead of schedule just to mellow my disappointment. But I know better not to. Eiwa is a whole different chapter.

It’ll probably take me some time to even consider having another go with Najua. Should that happen you can bet that I’ll be taking her somewhere far from Ampwalk, that’s for sure. Oh how it could’ve gone so wrong? It should’ve been awesome. Everything was perfect. The night was perfect, Najua was perfect but the place, oh, the place. What an ambush that was. It was a shame, really. You see, Najua is like Cameron Diaz in There’s Something About Mary. She has this vibe which garners so much attention from the people around her that it can be very frustrating for a man to get close to her. I’m sorry to say this but if this one of the things that drove her ex-boyfriend nuts, then it’s understandable. But asking her to change is like trying to change what makes Najua her and no one has the right to that but Najua alone. Besides, changing that would change the Najua we all know and, well, love.

I’ll end here by saying this – it would be very, very difficult to get Najua. By ‘get’ I mean tackle, ngurat, adjust, whatever. It’ll take a very brave and patient man to sweep her off her feet. Will it be me? Well, I have to come up with a thought out game plan first if I plan to proceed. Najua has now become a delicate issue. It has to be handled with care. In the meantime, however, as the saying goes – there are plenty other fishes in the sea.