CHAPTER 1 – IMAGINATION AND REALITY

A single word, it may change everything… You think, but can’t act… You act but don’t think it may cause ripples… Instances, a second or a minute that is all it takes. PJ was walking aimlessly in Central Station while having these random thoughts in his head.

He was a deep thinker, someone whose imagination can create and recreate ideas in his head every second when he is awake, and even at times while dreaming at 

night. A dreamer, some might call him.

You wouldn’t consider PJ as good-looking, he was an average looking guy. He had a good set of black unruly hair which always resisted any kind of styling, a high nose not typically seen among those who had Asian blood in their veins, a deep but sad looking slanted hazel eyes and a pair of dimples which makes his smile more of welcoming, rather than charming. He was on his way to work, and wore a black suit with a pink dress shirt underneath showing his unique style even while wearing formal clothes.

Considering his thin build, it would rarely attract attention. But because of his pensive look, he had an air of mystery which can captivate a bystander if they would notice him. From afar, you could see him almost bumping into people who were rushing to work; it was 7 in the morning which is normally peak time for travel during weekdays.

But PJ didn’t mind his surroundings, he was deep in thought. He was on his way to the city riding the train when he noticed along the way, a black and white coloured graffiti painting with 2 figures sitting on the beach side looking at the horizon. The painting had one word written together with it, Serendipity. It was this word which has preoccupied PJ for almost an hour.

Memories flashed in his mind, the word reminded him of a missed opportunity; that single moment in time when he made a mistake and pushed away a chance of a lifetime. He was deliberating why he acted that way, he was too caught up in the moment and forgot to catch himself. And now, it is too late, the only thing he could do is regret. Why did he do it and now has to live with his decision. But what made PJ think of these thoughts when Serendipity means “a pleasant surprise” or “fortunate happenstance”. It was all because it was out of pure luck, a moment in time when everything just came to place and he met her, but then it all slipped away.

Bang

PJ bumps into the ticket barrier bringing back his thoughts to Earth. He rubs his thighs a bit feeling confused, he looks around and sees the station guard looking at him; while commuters try to get pass him. He realises what happened, and thinks about the pain on his thigh. Thinks about how pain always brings us back to reality, it can come in different forms but it always does it.

He takes a deep breath and tries to bring his thoughts back to what he needs to do, and realises he was bothering people by going into a deep trance while walking; delaying people around who were in a rush. He gets his act together, walks and takes note of where he is and reaches his office building.

It was a decrepit building built in the 1970’s and had been constantly renovated, it was a weird shade of red with lots of windows making it stand out in a sea of new office buildings with shiny and sleek designs. The office was located along the corner of George and Pitt street.

He was standing near the entrance of the building, and was about to enter.  When he suddenly hears someone shouting his name and turns around…

‘Goodmorning PJ!’ PJ recognises the person calling him was actually Ivan.

Ivan is one of PJ’s close friends and an officemate. He used to be a classmate back in the day when they were in University and ended up working together at Budgewell and Co., a small but long-running accounting firm.

Ivan, was an easy going guy, someone who was outgoing and outspoken. He had the charms of a lady’s man, but was so easy going which makes him more amiable. He had brown curly hair and a smile which has helped him charm his way out of trouble so many times, which sometimes annoys PJ since he gets dragged into his crazy antics.

PJ smiles, ‘Goodmorning Ivan’.

Ivan looks at his friend, thinks something is amiss but can’t quite figure it out. He wants to ask PJ but catches himself, he knows PJ rarely talks about things unless he is ready to share whatever is on his mind.

‘How was your weekend?’  He asks

PJ gives him a shrug but remembers the graffiti, and animatedly tells Ivan about it.

‘I saw this amazing graffiti on the wall, the artist looked like a girl’

‘I kind of saw partly how she looked since she was still making the finishing touches on the graffiti, but I’d love to meet her and ask her about her work’

Ivan laughs, and says: ‘And how do you think you will meet her?’

PJ just shrugs and laughs it off, ‘just saying man, it was really amazing I hope you get to see it.’

‘Anyway, time to get to work don’t you think? ‘Come on let’s clock in’ says Ivan

While at work, the graffiti keeps on popping into PJ’s head. And his thoughts wander about. It may be places he’s seen, food he ate and scents he smelled but one constant factor which was always there in his recollections was a face of a girl, the girl he met.

Crash

His thoughts are interrupted by a loud sound and he looks behind him and realises Ivan fell down from his chair. He was clowning around now since it’s half past 3 already and there was barely anything else left to do at work. Their office was a cubicle shared among 4 associates. Ivan was trying to get up, while their other workmates Jason and Lizzy were both laughing.

Jason is the most senior in their group but was just like Ivan who was carefree. He has this aura of a serious person but is actually a notorious prankster who loves to keep everyone on their toes; you’d want to be or you might suddenly find yourself getting a fart bag under your seat or lose some of your things.

He was a tall guy but very fit, sports a massive beard and an awkward smile, but what makes him memorable is his weird sense of style. Today, he decided to sport a polka-dot shirt under his blue suit. One of the brave ones who defies the conservative dress code of corporate work. 

PJ reaches out to Ivan to help him up and notices Lizzy from the corner of his eye, and he catches her staring at Ivan. She was currently dating Jason but PJ feels she was actually interested in Ivan. He always finds her staring or glancing at Ivan, but he presumes she is too scared to let him know she likes him.

She was actually quite a beautiful girl, wearing square glasses and barely uses makeup. She had an air of sophistication you’d rarely see from girls her age. She loved to wear plain coloured blouse with her pencil-cut skirts.  She was the newest member of the team, and just recently finished her university degree finishing top of her class. She loved to tie her hair in a ponytail but PJ guesses she would be gorgeous without it. 

By the time Ivan was up, Lizzy had already looked away. PJ just smiles knowingly but Ivan doesn’t miss this and asks PJ.

‘What are you smiling about? You’ve got that mischievous look that Jason usually 

has when he has planted a prank on one of us.’

Lizzy laughs at this reference while Jason’s eyebrows crunch together and acts innocent.

‘Hey! That’s below the belt Ivan, I don’t have a mischievous smile’ say Jason trying to act like an angel. But everyone only laughs at his pretend innocence.

While everyone is joking around, PJ is still thinking about what he saw and somehow has decided to find a way to look for the girl who painted the graffiti. He is curious behind the story of why she painted it, and maybe he can find the answer he has been looking for. He doesn’t know why, but it just felt the graffiti was somehow connected to “her”.  

‘Earth to PJ!!!’ Lizzy calls on PJ, and he realises he was spacing out again.

‘Did you hear us?’

PJ looks at them with a confused stare and asks,

‘Sorry, didn’t hear you. What did you say?’

Lizzy rolls her eyes but answers.

‘We are going to the pub to grab some dinner and beer, are you coming with us?’

PJ looks around their cubicle seeing the messy cluttered desks of Jason and Ivan, comparing it to Lizzy’s immaculately organised desk and glances at his own which was somewhere in the middle of an organised clutter. Having some papers strewn here and there, a few photos of places he has been and wants to visit posted on a corkboard above his desk. He was thinking of staying for a while to do some work, although he highly doubts it considering his mind has been floating in the clouds since this morning.

‘Okay, I’ll go with you guys’

PJ decides to go with them instead, thinking it might help keep his mind from wandering around.

The group decided to go to a local pub named Taylor’s Rooftop Bar it was located 

close to their office along Pitt street. It had a great ambience bringing a mixed crowd of corporate suits trying to relax after work, young university students catching up after classes and a few couples having a date while lounging on the couches.

When they entered the pub, there was a healthy buzz of chatter which can be heard over the music playing in the background, it sounded like a love song. PJ could hear the lyrics of the song “Your eyes, windows heaven… Your laugh, steels my attention… You’re everything, that I’ve been searching for…”, putting him into his usual daydreaming. But before he could start reminiscing, his attention returns to his friends. They were pulling him along, laughing at his sheepish smile when he realises they were trying to usher him along since he was standing in the middle of the doorway of the pub.

‘What’s going on PJ? You’ve been somewhat out of it since this morning’

Ivan finally asks. He could no longer hold it in, and had to ask his friend. He had this look of concern on his face, worried about his friend. They have known each other for quite a long time but has never seen him this distraught about something which could keep him distracted for a whole day.

Jason and Lizzy was sitting side-by-side on a couch while Ivan was sitting on an armchair when he asked this question. PJ was still standing and realises this, sits down as well. He tries to smile to his friends, but somehow he needed to get his thoughts together. He tries to ponder if telling his friends would help or not. In some cases, against his better judgement he shared some crazy ideas or thoughts, to find Ivan and Jason just laughing it off. 

But some random cases they would try to understand him. Lizzy on the other hand, might empathise with him which isn’t what he actually needed. What his heart and mind needed right now to try to understand what went wrong, but most of all what he wanted was just to see her again.