Chapter 3: Guess who??

My head was beginning to throb a little where I had hit it and putting my fingers against the hurt area, I could feel the beginnings of a large spongy bruise forming,

It was going to be a bother for a while and I was considering whether to head to the nearby MacDonald's to get an ice pack when the shrill electronic beeping of my mobile jolted me out of my reverie as I got onto the escalator going up from the underpass. I scrabbled hurriedly among the messy insides of my bag to locate the device. From experience, I knew it had to be ensconced somewhere between the main pouch and my wallet and voila!

"Girlfriend! Where the hec are you? Everyone's here except for you!"

Oh s***!!

Steph's  exasperated voice hit my eardrums hard as my mind whirled through another train and remembered that today was Friday. the 13th...which meant Girls' Night Out with my bunch of old schoolmates at Prime Society, where they served the best beef steaks, something I had been looking forward to for the longest time....how could I have totally forgotten???

"Awww Steph!!! I'm so sorry!!! The past few days have been just crazy! I just finished work...it was another madhouse day and the...."

I stopped short at telling her what had just happened in the underpass.

My friend had clearly made no bones of the fact that she found my obsession with the King of Mandopop simply over-the-top and that I really ought to have better taste in music or my head examined, her oft-heard remark to me being:

"Why do you like him so much? He sings terribly! I can never make out what he's saying!"

Any protests I made to the contrary held no water with her; I had long since given up on trying to explain to her about Jay's unique singing style, which to me, just emphasised how good his actual music was.

I quickly did my best to mollify her:

"Look...you girls go ahead and start; I'm just walking to my car now. With any luck, I'll be there in about half an hour, depending on the traffic. Okay, sweetie?"

She sounded resigned now:

"Fine, fine. Would you like us to order for you?"

"Hmm...that might be a good idea. Yes, please just get me whatever you're having. I'm so hungry I could eat a horse...or a cow..haha..."

Steph sighed at my feeble cliche (and I could so visualise her rolling her eyes) and closed off the conversation with a "Drive carefully now."

Walking up the escalator, I zig-zagged my way past the inconsiderate occupiers who had not thought to leave one side free for people in a hurry like me. Muttering one "Excuse me" after another and hitting more than one irate person with my lovely Coach bag, I finally reached the road level and semi-jogged into the mall where my car was.

The shopping centre seemed a little more crowded than usual this evening, but I put it down to the fact that it was a Friday and thought no more about it, as I almost ran to the exit door leading to the fourth storey carpark, where a family of four, complete with baby, toddler and stroller were just coming in.

Fumbling in my bag again for my car key, which was buried right at the bottom, I strode purposefully to my beloved pink Ford Festiva with the Hello Kitty dolls on the dashboard which was parked in an alcove, containing a singular lot. (I loved lots like that; it ensured a lesser probability of other car doors scratching mine by careless passengers.)

With a click on the key remote, the Ford's indicator lights blinked as I walked to the driver's side with a sigh of relief. I was just reaching for the door handle when I heard a soft groan.

I whirled around to see where that sound had come from, as there had not been anyone else in the carpark when I entered. Visions of being mugged and drugged or worse flashed across my mind, even as I kept my fists balled, one hand gripping the car key with its length sticking out in case I needed to impale an assailant with it (I had read about this in some self-defence article).

Another groan reached me and with my heart in my mouth, I went cautiously around the front of the car to the passenger side. In the dim light , I saw a man sitting on the ground, leaning against the back door, his face contorted in pain with his right hand cradling his left wrist.