"Hi, are you Fui? I'm Sharon. The seniors are looking for you."
Those were the first words she said to me. I could still remember. I was in the library. She was a newly joined staff as well. Since both of us were new and knew practically no one in a new environment, we clicked and hit it off right away. We became real close as colleagues. She's a chatterbox. She talks a real lot. So, I had to talk along with her. In the end, we knew alot about each other. We became more than colleagues. She's my best friend at work. We go every where and do everything together. We were known as the "twins".
We stayed rather near to each other, hence, during the first few months of work, we would car pool quite often. Once we were both posted to a Banting job and we tried out every route possible to get there fast and cheap. That's how we got lost on the Kajang Silk highway. We still car pool now, but not for work, for outings with friends. And during those days that we were actually in office, we would book a place for each other. So that we could sit near and talk. Working with her has never been dull cause she would always come up with something to make things lively. Our lunches together have never been short. And I remembered one incident where we talked too long that it got raining, we couldn't get back to office so we chatted some more. In the end, we were late 2 hours.
Then there were all the trips we had together. She was always my room mate. "Who are you room-ing with?", someone asked. "Aiya, no need to ask la. Sure with Sharon.", someone else answered. The Bangkok trip, the Lumut trip, the Penang trip. And she would always be the one to wake me up and get things ready. She's a more organised kind of person la. So she usually gets things done and worked out everything clearly. I don't have to worry about anything with her. Don't have to worry about losing track of time. Don't have to worry about getting lost. Nothing.
They don't call us "twins" for nothing. We were always together. Even for outings : from dinners to rides to watching fireworks to shopping to movies to annual dinners to everything. If both of us attended, then we will definitely be together. We arrive together. We sit together. We walk together. We leave together. We get each other's opinions. People use to say, "Where ever you see Fui, you'll see Sharon." Or when people see me without her, they'll ask, "Where's your other half?"
It's been a year and a half. And next week, she would be leaving the firm for another job that suits her more. No doubt, I will definitely miss her. It's natural to feel sad when your best friends leaves you know. After all, she's been in my life for some time. I'm too used to having her around. She will no longer be there in office to greet when ever I get back. Neither will I bump into her again at the car park every morning. Nor can I slack with her during office hours to gossip. It's like losing a part of your life. Losing something that you owned all these while. And for the time being, it could be pretty hard to bear.
Things get worst when people ask, "Hey, your best friend is leaving wor. When's your turn?" Or "Hey, I heard Sharon's leaving. How are you holding up?" Drill down my motivation man. I'd lost all mood to work on the day she told me she tendered. Well, people come people go right? Someone told me to learn to let go and get over it.
If the friendship is a deep one, how does one let go? There are too many memories with her to keep. All of them happy ones. We'd been to so many places. Did so many things. Too many to describe it all here. All that I would cherish. I am glad to have known her. She has brought some differences. She brought me new friends. She brought me to a different perspective of life. You never knew you were that important huh?
Well, Pinkie, farewell. All the best in your future endeavours. You've been a real great friend. Thanks for coming into my life. Miss you.
