A Little Too Late

“At the end of yet another failed relationship... you have to wonder, what’s it all worth?” – Carrie Bradshaw

I have to admit, I never believed something could end even before it started. A hard realization that caught me offguard, entangling my inner core of wondering. Was I wrong? Was he? It doesn’t matter. What’s more important is the story that’s left behind. A tale, I daresay, worth telling.

Happy Pepé

He found me attractive in a pack of strangers. Honestly, I don’t consider myself unique-looking. But he thought of me as a fun-loving individual, full of life and energy. And when we talked, there were sparks, I have to say. So boom! Infatuation starts. We started dating. The cliché goes on... dinner and movies. Movies then dinner. And chocolates. Endless texting. Hugs and kisses. We were not official, but it feels like we were. How happy it is to consume love in all its simplicity! Oh did I mention “love”? Yes, I did. ‘Cause it’ll be a start of something struggling.

The Popoy-Basha Remake

Things have changed since the annunciation. What’s ironic is I never regretted saying it. It’s just what I feel. Problem is, he’s not happy anymore. There was a lot of talking. We argued, not for hate, but because we love each other. Conditions were laid out, thinking that compromising may be our best friend to solve this undeniable situation. I love the chase – it excites me. Makes me separate what is valuable from those that are trashy. However, this chase is different. You hope that the sun will come out after the storm, but deep inside, you know you’re in for a long rainy season.

A Little Too Late – not!

The sun peaked, for sure. But just for a moment. He didn’t let me suffer long enough before he made a decision. So it ended, just like that. Funny is, these all happened in two months. Felt like riding a rollercoaster on a whirlwind of romance, only to see yourself falling after the ride, singlehandedly. Everything was clear, except for his mind. Well, I couldn’t negate on that. For eight weeks I told him if he can wait, he agreed everytime. Sometimes, I question, if I had said the 3-word-8-letter a little earlier, would we still be together? Is the rollercoaster ride going to turn to a smooth-spaceship sailing to clouds of happiness? Or will the ride be as twice more bumpy and we end up hurt and deeply wounded?

Maybe the need for companionship is strong enough to overrule any other emotion. Life seems much blacker without someone to share it with. But living continues regardless, and I abide.

Go Big Time!

“Inside some of us is a thin person struggling to get out, but they can usually be sedated with a few pieces of chocolate cake.”

Korean Ramen

I see her standing next to me in this line of crowded applicants. All 5’5”, 160 lbs of her. Easily noticeable out of this pack of hungry vultures waiting for their fate in what we call as job-hunting. It has been 6 hours and I’m craving for anything to devour my gustatory senses. But even before I start to complain dying from starvation, I couldn’t help but wonder, if I’m extremely famish, how the hell is this girl holding up?

She’s like the queen of the ramen – Korean Ramen. Bland but tangy, I suppose. I don’t know but there’s something that wants to come out from her simplicity. How it would be easier if I just ask, but I’m not the kind of person who approach.

Until she said “Do you have a light?”, her eyes pointing at me.

Potato-chip Chocolate

I don’t consider myself as the typical chain smoker. In fact, I don’t consider myself a smoker at all. But you just couldn’t prevent those thought-provoking situations where you’re all alone and a 2½ inch cigarette stick is the only thing to accompany you on your moments of solidarity. Point is, I always have a lighter with me. This time, I’m puffing smoke with somebody else.

Everyone has their own excess baggage. But nothing can compare to this girl. When she started talking, I really didn’t even notice the details. At first, all I hear is blah-blah. But she is making sense. She gossiped about how she found about the job opening, how the interview went this morning, so on and so forth. She even went far from the sale in the nearest mall, how traffic sucks in Edsa and, when was the last time she met a celebrity.

Ordinarily, one can easily get annoyed to her type. When I was about to, she seems to posses this magical aura to change your disliking. She knows how to sugar-coat a junk. Exactly like a potato-chip chocolate, she can be addictive.

Paella Valenciana

To be honest, I am not a glutton. God, I barely weigh 120 lbs. I’d like to think observing satisfying cuisine is my way of devouring to all I dreamed of eating. Haven’t we all experienced desiring for a specific food at a certain point in time? What’s unexplainable is we just crave for it on a limited amount of time and when that time passes by, we crave no more.

Just when I thought I would never be surprised, this girl is a lot to handle. It has been hardly 10 minutes that we started chatting and she is opening about her family background. Quite unusual to ordinary people, her story is very typical to teleserye audience. Her dad left them for a mistress. Her mother, scorned as ever, wasn’t able to handle her 4 kids’ basic necessities. Some were given to relatives, others stayed with their mom. And this girl I’m talking with, left for Manila.

Despite all that, she remains family-oriented, much like the all-time Filipino winner Paella Valenciana. She went on and on how much she loves her mother. How she would do everything to her siblings. How everything doesn’t matter except family.

Her eyes now somewhat teary and voice a bit raspy. I must admit, her big built conveys strength.

French Parfait

More like the must-love French Parfait, she loves with no boundaries. As exaggeratingly as it sounds, she’s no holds-barred. Hearing her love story, it almost seems that guys are so disposable. She was heartbroken by many, lived in with two and, almost got married with one.

I, for one second, wondered if she gave up on love but no, she continues to be a hopeless-romantic. She still believes there’s one man destined to be with her no matter what. She could care less if she’s already in mid-thirties. Fate hits every age.

Twenty-minutes is all we've got before the next interview so we wasted it chatting. I came to love her, err not romantically but in pure platonic essence. I realized there's more to people than judging their appearance. Yes, her weight is as enormous as her personality but so what, I call it Flabulous.

Post-script

After the one-day process application, the results were shown. She got in, I did not. After all her rowdy noise, amidst her loud-color dress and, her irritatingly boisterous laugh, maybe it’s her vulnerability that struck the HR. Or probably it’s just the fats. Then I started to ponder, the next time I order a Mcdonalds meal, maybe I should “Go Big Time”.

Bitter, much?