to balance.

This is the last of the memories of that MNC that I have. Mister used to work in Penang, for those who don’t know. He was there for about 2 years. Those 2 years were probably some of the worst and best times of our relationship.

When he was there, he came to visit me at the frequency of 4 – 6 weeks once. He hitched a ride with anyone he could and took the flight and bus when he just had no other way. He drove during public holidays. It was tough and most people wouldn’t have been able to do it. But we did. We always emerge from a tragedy stronger, so it seems.

When he was working there, his pay was very little. But his perks, I tell you. Even I got a little big bite of the pie. Tempias, orang kata. He received regular bonuses and vouchers, gifts and monetary incentives whenever his working group did a good job.

And trust me, they did a good job pretty often. Which explains why I was so spoilt back then. I mean, as vain as Mister can be, he doesn’t use Body Shop products and won’t drink Coffee Bean alone and well, of course, he gives his Body Shop vouchers to me and only uses his Coffee Bean vouchers when we’re out on a date. Most of the hantaran money was collected when he was working there. My birthday treats were aplenty and well, in other words, back then, we were pretty much mewah.

I think Mister loved his previous job and colleagues, but he hated his boss. I think he enjoyed entertaining clients, but if it went to the extent of compromising his integrity as a person and his faith as a Muslim, he knew at some point, it had to stop. I think he enjoyed Penang food and Penang in general, but his family wasn’t there.

So, given his surrounding circumstances and one incident (involving his job), which became the straw that broke the camel’s back, he left his job. He landed himself a new job, came back to central Malaysia, proposed to marry me, I said yes, and here we are today.

Nothing’s quite the same as it used to be. No doubt, the job now pays more, but that’s about all it pays. Increments are a thing people make jokes of. I mean, our annual increment will disappear into thin air as soon as we fill in our car fuel. Yeah, that’s how little. I know this because I earn more or less the same. No more perks, no more regular bonuses, no more spoilt little girl.

But here's the catch -HE'S HERE.

We can spend a weekend together without thinking about what time the bus or flight is leaving and without having to take into consideration all that travelling time. We can pretty much decide to have lunch dates as and when we please, because given our previous circumstances, apa la sangat 15 kilometers away from each other’s offices, right? And the list of things we can freely do now continues.

He’s happier because he can decide to go back to his hometown whenever he feels like it and all his friends are here. In general, we are all happier. Even if the job isn’t as satisfying as his previous one (I know this because I know him well enough to just sense it) and even if with such meager pay, we’re both just barely making it from month to month, with all the wedding preparations and all, I think we’re all generally happier.

Point is, we can’t have it all. At least not yet. I think we just have to accept that for the moment because rezeki masing-masing, lain-lain.

We win some and learn some.

And sometimes, I think he still likes to spoil me because I'm a little spoilt like that ;)

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