At the end of the rope...

"Pp, dia telah menikah dengan perempuan tu! Pls be on line, I need to chat!" I received an sms from Aini, a mother of four and an old friend from previous employment.

Spontaneously I punched a reply. Just before pressing the 'send' button, I paused. Instead, I decided to take my morning shower. The warm water from the 'rain' shower-head soaked my hair and seaped onto my scalp. Refreshing! I hummed a few lyrics from 'Singing in the rain', at the same time applying the 'Kings & Queens, George III Lime' shower gel on to my skin. I let the rich lather foamed over my chest, took a handful of it and brought to my face. The energetic & fresh lime scent reminded me of my recent trip to London. It was there that I bought one bottle of the gel at one of the Waitrose outlets. I should have got more, its scent was simply rejuvenating !

As I was toweling myself, my Blackberry buzzed with another text message. A quick glance told me, it was a message from my wife. "Good morning, luv u!" I broke into a smile. A good morning greeting from my wife always made me happy, no matter where I was.

I opened the fridge looking for fresh milk for a breakfast of cereal. None! I settled for two slices of brown bread toast instead. I have forgotten all about Aini's sms . It was then that another text message came in, and a more urgent one too.
"I want to ask for a divorce! Pls, I need to talk!"

I glanced at my watch, it was 8.20am. I have a meeting already scheduled at 9.30am. Impossible! A thought of calling her crossed my mind. Idea aborted. What if her husband was around. I didn't want to intrude. Why didn't she call me? I decided to reply her text message, "So sorry to hear. Also so very sorry am bz now, will let u know when free"

While driving to the office, I reflected on Aini's problem. For nearly one year she had been confiding with me about her suspicion of her husband's infidelity.
"I think she is seeing another woman!" She once told me.
"What make you think so?" I asked. A question she had expected me to ask for she replied instantly.
"I read a text message on his mobile, and it says 'I am going to sleep with your picture under my pillow'!"
I wanted to say, "Think no more! He definitely is!" but instead I said, "Ermm, could be from his sister!"
I knew what I said was dumb. She left me with no doubt that I was indeed dumb, she replied, "He is the only child lah Pp!"

On and off, for the last few months Aini and I had chatted about her marital problems. The husband increasingly was staying late finishing work at the office. More outstation business trips. She also noticed new brand of cologne. Once she found used tissue paper smeared with lipstick tucked inside the seat pocket of his Alfa Romeo. She never confronted him, having chosen to play a 'private detective' game.
"I need to collect evidence!" She argued when I asked her to confront her husband.
I scratched my head upon hearing the reply.
"Collecting what evidence??" I wanted to say. I didn't. Instead I murmured something stupid, "You are right. Better to have real evidence!"

By the time I entered the parking lot at the office, I concluded that I have not been a good friend to Aini. If I were a good friend, I should have said what I really wanted to say. Instead, I was too soft. Too much emphaty. I really should have insisted for her to confront. A pang of guilt hit me.
"Maybe, her husband would not have married the other woman if I was more assertive in asking her to confront her husband!" That thought played in my mind.

I entered the office, and immediately called my secretary.
"Please inform all staff, the meeting is postponed to 11am!" I gave new instruction, without a good morning greeting and without looking at him. Rude, I knew. I had to do what I needed to do. I wanted to log online, to save Aini's marriage.
"I can't let her down, not now. I must tell her what to do!" I myself was confused with the way my own mind worked.
"But what do I tell her?" I sat there, facing my laptop screen, looking at the screen opening the yahoo messenger page.

I stared at the screen. My fingers frozen a few milimetres above the keyboard.
"Oh Aini, I wish I know how to help. So sorry...I don't!" I could hear my own voice.

I called the secretary again.
"Call for the meeting to start in five minutes. We will go ahead!"

"Please be strong. Even when it seems like you're at the end of the rope, hang on!" I send a text message to Aini, the only thing I could do. Within a second, I received a reply, "I wish he'd said that to me!"

I felt really bad. No, I didn't want to sound like I was a better man than her husband. Not at all. I knew I was wrong in not trying to help, and at the moment, I was confused. Perhaps I was also not doing the right thing by showing that I cared.

The irony was. "I do care. She is a friend!"

I was jolted by another text message from my wife. "Bz ka, tak de call pun pagi ni?"
I inhaled deeply, and exhaled slowly.

I called. The secretary popped in, and gave a hand signal that everyone had gathered in the meeting room. I gave a hand signal reply, "Ask them to wait!"
More rejuvenating than the lime scent in the shower, was to listen to my wife's little laughter. That morning, I needed double dose of that!

(Except for my own character, this article is not about any one dead or alive! Any similarities are purely coincidental. But, you don't have to believe this disclaimer!)