My Dearest Ella,

Earlier tonight, I was watching you smoke with Ric and it finally hit me: you’re leaving Branders!!! On the night of September 1st, I won’t hear your footsteps and your music between 8-9PM, and I won’t be able to see you in the mornings when I come in for work.

It feels weird, this feeling of having to say good-bye to you a second time after what, four years? And you know how much I suck at good-byes, and how I tend to lose communication after doing so.

Anyways, I don’t regret referring you to work at Branders at all. I can see how much you’ve learned over your tenure here, and how you have made valuable friendships within your Finance family, and that gives me a sense of fulfillment that somehow, I have been your indirect shepherdess of sorts. I’m only sorry that it wasn’t until recently that I had the luxury of being able to bond closely with you again and form our sisterhood with Shari.

I know you’re both excited and scared with life after Branders, but I know wherever you go, you’ll thrive because you adapt easily and even though you say you are weak, you are resilient enough to shield yourself from pain.

I know I’ve hurt you with my harsh words a few times — I hope you have forgiven me for being mean then, for not being able to trust you with your judgment when in reality, between the two of us, you’re actually the one who’s more mature. But again, you know I only said those things because I love you, right? :*

Thank you for giving me the chance to be your friend. From PeopleSupport to Branders (and all the shit in between), I have always felt your presence and you did what you could to stay in touch. You had a stoic exterior, you weren’t as expressive as I was, but you put up with me and my shallow ideosyncracies, and because of that, I know you love me as much as I love you.

Let’s show the world that not all good-byes are forever. If you need a drinking buddy, shopping buddy, eating buddy, movie buddy, et cetera, et cetera, I’m just here okay? And you still owe me a sleepover at our house.

Good luck, babe! I’ll keep my promise: I will drink lots of water, drink lots of water, drink lots of water, and I love you! :*

Got a secret, can I keep it?
Swore this one I’ll save
Better lock it in my pocket
I’m taking this one to the grave

If he showed me then he knows
I won’t tell what he said

I only want to help two people I love. But because of one secret, I can’t and it sucks! Uggggggh! Kill me now.

It was Mariel who first noticed the Japanese-looking server. I think he was taking our orders when she asked him if he was partly Jap (lame question for striking small talk, btw… Peace Mareng M! ). He says no.

I suddenly had this strong urge to take a picture of him for blogging purposes. Crazy Mariel does the harassing. I almost felt sorry for the poor guy – he wouldn’t let us, and out of sheer embarrassment, went into hiding.

Being the stubborn chit I have been all my life, I refused to leave without that one friggin’ picture I’ve been requesting. This made Honey panic — typical crush reaction. She made her hasty escape, which she regretted big-time later on.

Anxious to get this over with, Mariel asked for help from another server and also from what seemed to be like the branch manager.

Mariel: Sige na, isang picture lang. Promise, pagkatapos, di mo na kami makikita. Sa Greenbelt na kami kakain sa susunod.

And then we hear this –

Manager: Ma’am, pag napapayag po namin, balik po kayo dito!

Who are we to say no, right?

So I did get my picture, even more than what I bargained for.

Mareng Honey, inggit ka? ^^

I know, I know. With the blouse and the bangs, I look like Lottie. Stop it.

Oh, yeah. The guy looks like that guy from the Kdrama from Full House. No, not Rain. The other guy. Ahahaha…

One amazing discovery I stumbled upon: No matter how shy I am, pag hindi ko crush, hindi ako masyadong nahihiya. ^^

As expected, it was a major pig-out sesh. Joye has been rambling for the longest time on how much she wanted to learn to make a cheesecake, and it just so happened that Lorie was a friggin’ good cook (her concoctions are just orgasmic about the best) Lorie gave her pointers on making a basic but very scrumptious cheesecake. She also shared with me the recipe for making her salsa AND made carbonara with what they had at home.

It was a very hilarious scene, the three of us cooking in the wee hours of the morning, and then finally having the “gourmet dinner” we toiled over for only 2 hours at about 4AM-ish.

We ended up at Mario’s in Tiendesitas. I ordered a mile-high sandwich (with fries on the side) and drank Joye’s freshly brewed kapeng barako.

Which explains why I’m still awake at high noon.