Plot Twist: It Rained

It was raining last Friday night, and it sucked.

After days of reviewing countless Corporate Income Tax Returns (since it was nearly the end of April, as required by regulation here in Indonesia), I was looking forward to an exciting Friday night. My boyfriend said he'd pick me up at six, and promised to take me somewhere relaxing so we could wind down together.

With that incentive in mind, I started packing my bag before six. But then—oh my, oh my!—he told me it had suddenly started raining heavily. We decided to wait for ten minutes, but the rain didn't let up.

It was official then: our plan was ruined. Worried I might get drenched, he suggested I either order a car ride home or head to the nearby bus stop while he put on his raincoat before going home on his bike. 

For about fifteen minutes, I sat in the office lobby, pondering what to do. It was Friday night, and I really, really didn't want to spend it alone. On a spur-of-the-moment whim, I decided to order a car ride to his place. I was pretty sure that traffic would be bad, but based on my estimate, I would probably arrive by seven-thirty at the latest.

So I waited.

And waited.

But the car ride I ordered kept moving farther and farther away from me. By then, twenty minutes had passed, and I still hadn't heard from the driver. I decided to just cancel it. Since it had mostly stopped raining by the time I checked outside, I ordered a bike ride. It arrived in under five minutes.

A part of me thought what happened was like the famous burnt-toast theory: my car ride not showing up (a seemingly inconvenient event) turned out to be a good thing, because the traffic jam was getting worse, and it would have taken me more than an hour and a half if I had gone by car (a setup for something positive). During the bike ride to my boyfriend's place, I felt very grateful that I had chosen this transportation mode. I didn't get stuck on the road. What a relief!

But the trip wasn't as smooth as I had hoped. I still had to deal with another inconvenience: the sporadic rain.

If it seemed like the rain had stopped near the office, it definitely hadn't on the road. A few kilometers later, the rain seemed to stop again—until it didn't.

Girl, it was so confusing! I told the driver I didn't want to wear a raincoat, but if he did, we could stop so he could put one on. "I don't want to use it either. The rain is so patchy, it's hard to tell whether we need a raincoat or not," he replied.

So, I just did what I had to do: protect my Emma Rua Rua Zoo plush keychain from the rain...

... and surprised my boyfriend, who said, “If you were going by bike, why not with me???”

I asked him to document me getting a little drenched for the blog. I'm not even sure why I wanted to share this with all of you here.

P.S. Still, I wouldn't really recommend doing this. As much as I love the rain, getting drenched and not showering right after that can still make us sick. And I did—I called in sick today because I caught a fever.