In Memory of Alyssa

I was working in a call center for 5 months now and it seems like it is my second home since I spent most of my time there. I can still remember, it was raining cats and dogs outside and I felt very sleepy at work. It was our midnight break when my co-worker Alyssa (not her real name) invited me to go coffee with her.

Alyssa is a very talkative person and she always had a nice story for me to tell every time we went out to take our midnight break. But that night seems to be so different because she's very silent and looks like she has a problem but she cannot speak up. "Is there something wrong?" I asked her. "Nothing" she answers back and smile at me. But that smile was fake; I can sense loneliness through that smile but I just ignored it. May be she's not in the mood.

Her silence remains even at the nearest coffee shop and she never ordered her favorite food nor the coffee she used to drink. she just stare at me blankly, watching me eating, still in the dead silent. I know there is something bothering her so I ask her again and the answer is still the same.

Few more minutes, I finished my meal and she said nothing to me. Before we went back to work, she said she'll just go to the powder room. I said "Fine" and wait for her. 30 minutes had past but Alyssa never returned to our table. I just texted her that I'll go ahead of her because I still have more paper work left.

I saw the clock on the coffee shop and it was 1:30 in the morning. When I went back to my work, I saw Alyssa's handkerchief on the floor so I thought she went back already, ahead of me.

It was past 2 in the morning when our supervisor announced a news that made my hair stand on end; "I had a bad news for all of you guys," he said. "We lost a good friend of ours and I know it would be hard for us to accept that Alyssa's gone. She passed away at exactly 1:30 am at ----- Hospital." I can't belive it at first! I told our co-workers about the incident that I'm with her during those time! I even show them Alyssa's hanky.

As I think of that, all I could understand is may be Alyssa would like to say good bye to me and to remind me that it would be the last time we would be together.