The Night The Clock Hit 12:07 12 Episode 11: Excuse Me?

The sound of the bustling street echoes through the city. Traffic littered the roads as the beeping of horns honked continuously. The horns almost masked the sound of people chatter while they make their way to their 9 to 5 jobs. A set of heels in unison attract pa.s.sers-by attention. The crowd parted in two to let the two high cla.s.s looking women to the front of the crosswalk as everyone wait for the orange figure of the screen switch to white; indicating that pedestrians may cross. One woman was wearing a orange b.u.t.ton-down s.h.i.+rt that was tucked into her black pencil skirt. The other was wearing a white b.u.t.ton-down s.h.i.+rt tucked into a black pencil skirt. Both women looked seductive as they both had their top two b.u.t.tons loose.

When they pa.s.sed me, the strong smell of expensive perfume clouded my nose.

As I look at them, I look down at myself. I'm wearing a slightly over sized green tee s.h.i.+rt with the words "Loco Taco" on it. And a pair of dark blue jeans with 3 rips in them. A sigh escapes my mouth.

Is this jealousy?

Why can't I be like them? The sense of fas.h.i.+on they have. The way everyone look at them in admiration. The way they walk with such confidence in every stride.

I don't think I have the confidence to wear those types of pencil skirts and leave my b.u.t.ton down s.h.i.+rt loose for everyone to see. My family would have a heart attack if they ever caught me wearing such things.

But part of me want to break out of my sh.e.l.l. I want to have the confidence as them. I want people to admire me and part ways in the street as I pa.s.s by them.

I snap back to reality and look up at the figure of the screen which just turned white, indicating that pedestrians may pa.s.s. I start to walk across the street, in each step, I pick up the pace. I want to ask the two women questions. I'm not sure what kind of questions I want to ask them but all I know is I need to get to them fast.

I try to say words but nothing is audible. My mouth moves but nothing comes out. I try again, over and over again, but to no prevail. But I am determined. I won't give up. I keep running after the two women but the gap seems to get larger with each attempt.

I can't stay quiet forever, no, I won't stay quiet!

"Excuse me!", the words finally escapes my mouth but the sound of chatter and the sound of the cars pa.s.sing by masks my words.

"Excuse me! Ms.!", the gap between us are within arms reach. I try to grab one of the lady's arm and I succeed.

The woman I grab stops and soon after the other woman stops in her tracks too. They both look behind them slowly before looking at one another in confusion.

"May I help you?", she looks me up and down with a slight sense of disgust. As if me touching her arm will make her dirty, she s.n.a.t.c.hes her arm out of my grasp.

"I didn't mean to make you- you upset, I just want to ask you a question.", I ask the sn.o.bby woman while trying to catch my breath.

"Well speak", she looks me up and down again

"I just want to know...", What do I want to know? There's so many things that I want to say that I can't even say one of them. Should I just leave and live with the embarra.s.sment? There's no point in turning back now, might as well go for it.

Both women sit in silence staring me and sometimes glancing at one another occasionally.

I take a deep breath, "Okay...You two are really beautiful and confident and awesome and I want to be just like you." Jeez Launie you sound like a child.

Silence spread across the area and it seemed as if everyone stopped talking and the cars stopped honking to watch me embarra.s.s myself.

The two women sat there in place and just stared at me in silence. Should I say something? Say I was just joking?

Right when the words was about to come out of my mouth, one of the women grabbed my arm and told me to follow them. The sound of their heels tapping against the pavement attracted more attention. I try to speed up to their pace. Even with tennis shoes on, I can

't keep up with them in their heels.

After speed walking for what it seems like forever, we finally reached a tall building; "Xian Enterprise".

Now that I think about it, nothing in the area looks familiar. I thought maybe I couldn't make out what the people on the streets were saying because of the cars pa.s.sing and honking but in actuality it was because they are speaking a different language.

Why am I here? How did I get here? If I can't understand the people on the street, then the two women I'm following cannot understand me either.

The woman in the white still have my arm in her hand while the other women pushes a b.u.t.ton on the wall. Soon the elevator we are standing in front of opens, exposing a see-through back wall in which the garden of the building can be seen.

I reluctantly entered the elevator with these two mysterious ladies. Because of their heels, they are about 4 inches taller than me even though I'm 5'7. I stand in between the two women, some times taking a glance at them but their gazes never left me.

I hate being in the center of attention. I hate being stared at. I hate being talked about or being the center of conversations. I hate my acne. I hate me round face. I hate my unmanageable hair. I hate my huge forehead. I hate my scars. I just hate my appearance so please stop staring at me.

I can't tell what type of stare they are giving me. It's just a blank stare.

We finally reach the top floor and the woman in orange nudges me to get out the elevator first. But I can't move; my feet won't move. In front of me is something I've never seen before. Something I've only read about in novels.

There is a huge crescent shaped desk facing the elevators with one woman sitting on the phone. She takes a glance at us, waves, and smiles but it quickly turned into a confusing frown as she sees me. The two women give the lady at the desk a quick nod and they start heading towards 2 gigantic doors.

Is it too late to turn back now? I am getting a really uneasy feeling from whatever or whoever is behind those doors.

The woman in white knocked on the door twice. Without an answer, the woman said, "Sir, we found miss as you ordered." No one answered.

"As you ordered?", I asked in confusion. Who are these people? Who is the person who 'ordered' me? Wait...how can I understand these two women but I can't understand the people we walked by in the streets? Where am I?

Both women glanced at me and didn't say anything. One even let out a slight smirk like she knew something I didn't know. The woman in white didn't seem sure if to knock again or to open the door. She contemplated for a minute and decided to open the door. It swung open with ease and there sitting at a desk in the middle of the floor was a dark figure.