I Miss You Too...

I was deciding which kind of nuggets to purchase- the normal-with-breadcrumbs or the tempura-flour-coated - when someone gently tugged my left sleeve. I turned around. "Kak A.Z.!" she exclaimed and hugged me tight.

For one moment, I was speechless. I haven't seen this friend for many years and was very pleased to see her. She has changed - a bit more filled compared to the skinny girl I used to know in our university days. We hugged tightly - it didn't matter that other people around us were staring at the a'la 'jejak kasih' scene.

"Oh my - I'm so glad to see you. I miss you - everybody else too - so much!" She grasped my hand, almost as if she could not believe that she was seeing me in flesh and blood. I grinned.

We were rather close when both of us were studying in UK. She studied engineering in Loughborough, which was quite far from Leeds, where I used to stay. However we met during one of the many Malaysian students gatherings held all over UK during school breaks. We even shared the same tent during a two-week backpack tour around Europe in summer 1996.

She is now a full time homemaker, taking care of her three-year-old son and almost-two-year-old girl. She was in my neighbourhood visiting a family friend who was living across the supermarket I frequented. Her husband who was running on a quick errand saw me earlier and told her that she might be able to catch me at the supermarket if she hurried. She immediately made her excuses to her friend and rushed to the supermarket, hoping that she could get to talk to me...

I was doing some grocery shopping - and bought some extra stuff since my cousins from Kedah were visiting and staying with my family. Had I been alone at that time and not time-pressed to get home quickly, I would have been more than pleased to take her to the nearby cafe and have a longer chat. For a short while, she accompanied me while I went on picking up stuff. She chatted animatedly while I picked up a tub of ice cream, some packets of veggies and some frozen food. She seemed to understand that the timing was a bit off and after a while, promptly made an excuse to go back to her friend's place.

"I would like you to join me going to my friend's place... but I can see that you are busy now..." I assured her that it's okay. We changed phone numbers and promised to give each other a call. We hugged again one last time before she walked away.

I finally managed to give her a call a week after we met in the supermarket. We had quite a long chat - with some intervals, courtesy of her children who were playing with play-doh (and flour).

As we updated each other about the latest happenings in our respective lives as well as exchanging news of mutual friends, I felt like we had not been separated for long but had just been away for a while from each other.

The camaraderie, the easiness of just blurting out everything, the gladness in knowing that we were talking to someone who love and respect each other - all returned naturally the same way it did when we were younger.

She ended the call the same way she did back in our university days, "Take care Kak A.Z... I love you!"

I could hear the laughter in her voice. I almost replied "Avloo too" - the childish version of "I love you too" that we used frequently back then. However, I didn't realised how much I missed hearing that from someone who really mean it until she said it. I replied almost solemnly "I love you too Cik Ju."

And I miss you too, kiddo.