Habang Buhay

4

Hi DeeDee

Wow nagparamdam ka bigla

Thought you've forgotten about me na

Of course not

I'm in Manila

Rhian said you're shooting at the studio

Wanna grab a drink after? Usual place?

Won't finish until 9 or 10

I can wait

Ok, I'll see you. Got lots of kwento

Pam doesn't reply after that and Michelle gets caught up in shooting her scenes. They finish a little before 10 and Michelle has her make-up removed and changes into her clothes from earlier before leaving the studio.

Anntonia was probably already asleep since she was up since early, early morning doing something for work but Michelle sends her a message saying she was done for the day. She does this after every shoot or taping, sometimes Anntonia replies or sometimes she'd get a call. She prefers the latter since, of course, there was nothing she wants more than hearing Anntonia's voice at the end of a tiring day.

She goes to the bar a block away from the studio, a place she and Pam used to frequent. There was a time that they would have been considered regulars here, the bartender already knowing each of their chosen poisons and even had a booth at the back part of the bar that they've claimed as their own. That was where she found Pam. 

"Hey, DeeDee," Pam greets. 

Michelle smiles at the sight of her friend and she slides into the same side of the booth Pam was occupying. Just like old times, she reaches over and gives Pam a hug. "Hey, stranger." 

She prolongs the hug, making up for the time that they've been apart. Pam was a constant in her life before but  it's been more than a year that she's actually seen her. Michelle still didn't really know the exact reason she decided to stay in Davao, but she really just did stay there and cut off all contact with her and their other friends. 

"Looks like you've already drank enough for the both of us. How much have you had?" she asks as she looks at the half empty glass in front of Pam when they've disentangled and were just sitting side by side.

"Not enough," Pam replies, as she picks up the glass and twirls it around.

"Sooo..." Michelle starts. "How've you been?"

"Your girlfriend's cute," Pam says, ignoring Michelle's question.

"Oh yeah, I forgot we're still mutuals in IG, thought you erased my existence from your world," she teases. Since 'hard launching' Anntonia 3 weeks ago, Michelle has only posted Anntonia again once on her IG stories, just a clip of her walking down the grocery aisle her back to Michelle, pushing a shopping cart,  with a text caption 'It's the little things with you.' Because even being able to go out in public and do things they weren't able to before really was a big deal. "Her name's Anntonia, by the way."

"Yeah, I know her name," Pam speaks in a tone that Michelle couldn't really decipher, Pam still had her eyes on the glass that she's twirling around in her hand. 

"I'd love for you to meet her if you're staying longer here in Manila."

"Not really interested in that."

"What?" Michelle asks, making sure she heard what she just heard right. Pam couldn't have said what Michelle thought she just heard.

"I said I'm not really interested in meeting your girlfriend, Deedee," Pam says and confirms what Michelle thought she did hear the first time.