John looked up from his mobile phone and started when he found a woman standing in front of him. They were face to face at the corner of a dead-end corridor.
“Heeey... Jane, how arrr youuu? I… uh… I haven’t seen you for ages,” John’s voice faltered.
“Oh really? That's weird cause I have seen you all the time. The moment I was about to approach you, however, you seemed to disappear.”
“Me? Disappear? Nonsense! Why would I disappear when I saw you coming?” John laughed nervously.
“And that’s not all. I’ve called, texted, and left several messages on your phone and you had returned none of them.” Jane spoke uncomfortably slowly and gave John a look that made him shudder.
“Oh, ah, have you? Uh, I didn’t know that,” John belatedly tried to hide his phone.
“Now, you are checking your phone?” asked Jane sarcastically.
“Sorry Jane. I was so busy. You know, what with Thor Project being launched and everyone working under crazy work schedules. I barely have time for lunch these days.” John sighed theatrically.
"You have forgotten,” began Jane with a sigh, “I am working at HR. My job is to check all the holiday requests submitted by the individual employees,”
“For a fact," continued Jane, "I know Thor Project was finished long ago. That’s why Kevin from your team is now on a one-month holiday, isn’t he? To set off his Himalayan travel! He sounded so excited about fulfilling his bucket list. According to Kevin, your department won’t be busy for a while. Not until the next quarterly project is prepared for you lot anyway.”
John remained silent.
“Please do not avoid me, John. We need to talk. It’s very urgent. You know your sister…”
“Amy kept saying she was so happy to have you as a flatmate. You should know that,” John chanted in a raised voice.
“You haven’t talked to her for weeks. I know that too,” rebuffed Jane.
John felt an urge to disagree with her but nothing came out of his mouth.
“You haven’t even visited her since I moved in. Despite your offer of help, all you had done for weeks was avoiding me at all costs.”
Under the bright florescent lights, Jane looked tired. Huge dark circles were visible underneath her green eyes.
“Sorry for not keeping words, Jane. What is it you want to tell me about?” John said in a reserved manner.
“I didn’t tell this to Amy lest I hurt her feeling, but I am thinking of leaving her flat,” confided Jane without meeting John's eyes.
“Are you…” started John, trying not to sound too hopeful.
“I know it’s mean of me,” continued Jane without letting John interrupt her, “to leave her alone again in that lonely place. Amy has been so kind to me. But…” Jane seemed to struggle with her words.
“I may be wrong, perfectly wrong, you know. But Amy has,” Jane sighed and didn’t speak for a while.
“Amy has what?” asked John impatiently.
“Amy has… Don’t get me wrong, John, whatever I say to you now. Amy seems to have a multiple personality disorder,” said Jane determinedly.
“A multiple personality disorder?” cried John incredulously.
