Annual department party in a resort where Anum sat, bored, surrounded by colleagues as the emcee tried to entertain them and failed miserably. Now, he was doing crowd-work. With a sigh, Anum got up. She could be somewhere else for this one. Another glass of water would certainly help.
“Look, who we have here,” the emcee said in a sing-song voice. To Anum’s horror, the emcee was stood next to her with an overenthusiastic smile. Some of Anum’s colleagues chuckled, one or two clapped. “Mind if I ask you a question?” the emcee asked.
“Yes, I mind,” Anum said coldly.
The message was lost on the emcee as he asked, “If you were on a deserted island, which colleague will you pick as your buddy?”
“I’ll run to the ocean and drown myself in water,” Anum said. The crowd cheered. Anum briskly walked towards the snack counter. She needed water.
Shabana Mukhtar