moirai

pizza

"...and this will bring increased sales to our current market." Maine finished her proposal at their meeting.

"Thank you, Ms. Mendoza." Mr. Tuviera, the company president, acknowledged Maine and her work. "You and your team may now proceed with this project. Good luck!"

"Thank you, Sir." Maine replied and shook Mr. Tuviera's hand.  She and the other people at the meeting, her team and a few other people, left the conference room after Mr. Tuviera.

"Meng! Lunch tayo sa Triangle..." Pauleen invited.

"Saan naman dun?" she asked.

"Uhmm...Amici nalang para share-share tayo..."

"Sama ako!" Ruby invited herself.

"Hahahaha! Basta libre mo drinks natin..." Maine laughed and teased Ruby.

"Sige ba!" Ruby agreed.

The three girls went to their desks to get ready to go down for lunch.

Maine had been working at Mr. Tuviera's company along Ayala Avenue in Makati for almost 3 years.   She and Pauleen were friends at college and they met Ruby at the company. Maine and Ruby joined the company shortly after they graduated from college while Pauleen followed after 3 months. The three had been friends since.

The three chatted noisily and happily as they walked towards the park. This had been their lunchtime routine for a while now. Maine was craning her neck in search of a table as they reached the restaurant. The receptionist approached them and showed them to a table at the back. As they walked past other tables, they walked past the table where Steven and Rj were seated. Steven saw them approach and smiled. He was talking to Rj so naturally, Rj stopped talking and turned to look at where Steven was looking.

He saw the three ladies. He knew Ruby from college so he smiled at her. Pauleen was Steven's friend from a project they worked on together a month ago. Both guys didn't know who the third girl was. Maine smiled at them and walked to their table and sat down with her back to the boys.

As soon as they were seated, Steven came up to them and said hello to Pauleen. Pauleen stood up, gave him a buzz on the cheek, chit-chatted a little then introduced him to her friends. Steven extended his hand for a handshake to Ruby then to Maine. "Hello. I'm Steven. That's my friend, Rj, over there." he gestured with a nod to their table and Rj turned and smiled at the ladies when he heard his name. Before leaving the girls he said, "Hey Pau, don't forget, Ryan's party on Saturday..."

"Ahh...yeah! At the Palace, right?"

"Yup! You girls come na rin, ha?"

"Huh?"

"Yeah! It's okay...open bar...our friend's birthday..."

"Ah sige, we'll see...thanks" Maine replied a bit hesitantly.