"Have a good night ahead Ms. Penny! Don't stay out too late, there's a storm coming!" Robby said, as he got out of the office. I smiled and waved him goodbye.
I opened my drawer and took out a beautiful red rose, gazing at it. "You have a beautiful smile. From your secret admirer," it said. I smiled, blushing a little. Secret admirer, huh?
Robby was so sweet, trying to hide his identity. He didn't know that I handled the books for the flower shop where he bought the rose from. I knew the cashier personally. Of course, I called up to inquire and they described the man who bought it.
"Oh Robby," I thought with a smile.
The cashier said he wasn't very tall, only about 5'4" in height. While not obese, my secret admirer was "a bit fluffy but fit" Dark-complexioned with a milk chocolate skin. Baby-faced, well groomed with neatly-trimmed, short black hair, and an endearing smile. Plus, a scrumptious bubble butt. Yup, that was Robby.
His crush on me has always been obvious, and to be honest, I liked the attention. I was very flattered with the flower. It made me feel better about myself, 5 months after the breakup with my ex, Jeffrey. Robby made me feel desirable and pretty again. I took out my compact mirror and blew it a kiss, feeling like a schoolgirl getting some attention from a cute boy. I giggled and twirled my hair, pretending I was 14 years old all over again.
But I wasn't.
I was a 29 year old woman, the head senior associate of the accounting firm Pedron, Cheval and Tamante, due for junior partnership in the next coming months. And Robby was, unfortunately, the messenger clerk of the firm. It would be unseemly for me to entertain his romance. What would the people in the office say?
I applied more cherry red lip gloss and made cutesy faces at the compact mirror. To hell with being a career woman. I wanted to be a naive 14 year old girl just for tonight. I searched for my guilty pleasure song and played "Leave the Light On" by Belinda Carlisle. Laughing, I belted out along with the lyrics, and got up to dance with the music.
All alone in the office, I indulged my silliness. I twirled, not minding my austere business clothes. I took off the stuffy black blazer, and smushing my long brown hair. Laughing, I grooved to the guitar solo of the song, singing loudly "DARLING LEAVE THE LIGHT ON FOR ME!"
And my whole world became dark and silent. I squealed in fright.
My phone lit up and I received a txt message from the Disaster Prevention Agency. All citizens were informed that the city was shutting off power to the Heneral Luna district (where our office is) due to strong winds and rising floods. Then another message arrived. They were closing off all roads leading to the Maswati District, where my apartment was. I'm stuck in the office!
A bright white light suddenly struck against the window, then a loud, booming crack of thunder. I squealed, and huddled under the table. After a brief moment, I calmed myself down and thought of what to do. There were probably some flashlights in the office somewhere. The pantry had coffee, tea, condiments, mineral water, and instant noodles. There were some cookies in my room. It wasn't much but it would tide me over until the storm passed. My laptop was at full battery but my phone had only 5% left.
I felt stupid for staying in the office. Everybody had gone home earlier today but I had a deadline to beat in the week so I figured I could hurriedly finish it before the power gave out, and then catch a cab home. Of course, no cab would be running out in this weather. And all my friends and officemates would be safe at their homes, warm and with their families. Stupid, stupid, stupid!
With the precious few power left, I sent an SMS to the only single person in the office without any family in the area to take care of. "I'm stuck at the office and my batt is only 2%" I messaged to Robby.
Three minutes later, he immediately called me up.
"Miss Penny? Are you okay?" he asked. The thunder boomed again and I squealed. "I'm all alone in the office, Robby. I can't stay long in the office, and I don't have much power left. Please tell Boss that I'll sleep over for the night at his room. I can't go home because my streets are now flooded and they won't let anyone pass --" and with that, my phone died.
I sighed resignedly. With not much else to do, I walked over to the couch and took a nap.
-oOo-
I must have been asleep for some time when I felt a hand grasp my ankle. I screamed bloody murder.
"Miss Penny! Please don't be frightened, it's me, Robby!" a familiar face said. Out of instinct, I hugged him. "Oh Robby, what are you doing here? It's scary and dark!"
"Aww, it's okay Miss Penny," he said. Then he took a portable emergency light from his backpack and switch it on. A warm glow filled and lit up the room. "See, it's not so bad."
Robby was wearing a jacket and his usual jeans and sneakers. He was drenched from the pouring rain and the floods. "Robby, you're wet all over!" I told him.
"Yeah, it's crazy outside," he said, while taking out a few more items from his backpack. There was a small portable stove with a can of fuel. A small cooking pot. A packet of rice. Some cans of various breakfast meats. Instant noodles. And finally, a package of candles.
"Are you hungry?" he asked. Robby could have asked me to marry him right then and there and I would have said yes.
"Absolutely famished," I admitted, my stomach rumbling.
"Okay then let's have dinner," Robby said, setting up the stove and opening up the packets of food. I helped out with what I could.
"Robby, you didn't have to do this, you know," I told him. "I would have been fine, and you wouldn't have gotten wet," I said, noting that he was doing his best to suppress his sniffles.