moirai

club

Rj arrived at the Palace Pool Club at exactly 11pm.  He was dressed in casual party wear of jeans and a short sleeved polo shirt.  He gave Jose, his driver, some money and told him to park nearby as he got off from the vehicle.  He stood on the curb for a few seconds to straighten his shirt as music from the club could be heard.  He was looking around the place for familiar faces when Steven approached him.

"Dude! You're here!" Steven greeted him with a hug. He then looked at his watch and exclaimed, "And on time!! Wow!"

"Gago!" Rj said as he squeezed Steven's shoulder while his arm was still on his friend's shoulder after their hug.

"Let's wait lang for a while. Sina Pauleen are just parking."

"Pauleen?"

"Remember my friend who we bumped into at Amici the other day? She's with her friend, Maine..."

"Maine." Rj tried hard not to smile or act excited upon hearing that name.

A few minutes later, the 2 girls, dressed is short flowy dresses, were approaching Steven and Rj.  Steven immediately saw Pauleen and gave a big smile and waved at them.

"Steven!" Pauleen said and gave Steven a buzz on the cheek. "Remember my friend, Maine?..."Maine, Steven and...."

"Steven" Steven shook Maine's hand.

"Rj! Hi! I'm Rj!" Rj extended his hand to Pauleen then to Maine for a handshake.

"HI!" Maine smiled at the boys.

"Let's go?" Steven invited the group to go inside the club.

The boys let the girls go ahead as they walked up the steps to the entrance.  The music was even louder than what they were hearing from the outside.  Steven talked to the receptionist who brought their group to a small room inside the club.  Inside were a group of about 20 other people, mostly Ryan's friends.

"Uy! The man of the hour! Ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce Mr. Rj Faulkerson!" Ryan announced as soon as he saw the group enter the room.

This made Rj blush. He hated the attention.  His friends always teased him for being late to their gimmicks and nights out so this wasn't supposed to be a new thing to him but it still bothered him.

"Dude! Happy Birthday! O, I'm here ha! Not late!" Rj said

"Anong not late? Dude, it's 11:30pm na! Late!" Ryan replied, looking at his watch and making a face at Rj.

"Hey! I got here at 11. Ask Steven over here..."

Steven was busy entertaining the girls when he heard his name.  "Yep! Rj got here at 11pm. I met him outside....by the way guys, these are our new friends, Pauleen and Maine"

"Hello!" "Hi!" everyone buzzed and introduced themselves to the 2.  The girls tried their best to remember the names of the people in the room. Then Maine said, "Happy Birthday!" to Ryan followed by Pauleen.

"Hello! Welcome! Come, join us!" Ryan invited and moved to sit back at his spot on their long table.   The rest of the guests moved to accommodate the 4.  The 2 girls sat in between the 2 boys, one on each side. Steven sat to the left of Pauleen while Rj sat by Maine's right side.

They tried to talk over the loud music, having to almost shout into each other's ears so that they could understand each other. The group danced and partied and had a great time.  They moved to the outdoor deck just beside the room and got to talk a little more.

"So, how did you two meet?" Rj asked Maine, almost repeating what he had already asked while they were still inside the room and the music was playing loud.

"Pau was my classmate since high school. She's my bestfriend"

"Really? Steven and I are also high school buddies! What's even more amazing is that his dad and my dad were friends from college."

Rj continued, "Uhmm...where's Ruby? Weren't there 3 of you that day at Amici?"

"She had an asthma attack earlier so she stayed home nalang...wait, why do you know Ruby?" Maine asked.

"Ah...she was my ex's org mate back in college."

"Oh" she nodded.

"So, Pauleen says  you like baking?" Steven asked as he and Pauleen joined the 2 on the deck.

"Uh..yeah...i sell cupcakes at the weekend market in Salcedo sometimes..." Maine explained.

"Ahh talaga? Steven said and fhen looked at Rj, "Dude! Let's go nga one weekend. Juancho's been talking about this burger he's tried there daw..."

"Those must be those super big burgers they sell there. It's really yummy but the lines are pretty long!" Pauleen shared.

"Really? Juancho's one of the guys inside. The one in the green shirt. He's a chef.." Rj explained to the 2 who looked confused when fhe topic about burgers came about upon the mention of the Salcedo Market.  "Will you be selling your cupcakes next weekend?"

"Yes..."

"Oh, there Pare, let"s go!" Steven said to Rj with a "knowing" raise of his eyebrows.

Rj juat smiled and tried to hide his kilig at the thought of seeing Maine again.

At a little past 2am, both girls decided to call it a night.  They went back inside the room to look for Ryan.  They thanked hin for having them over although he seemed to be a little drunk already as he was all red and had a goofy smile plastered on his face.  Steven and Rj brought the girls to Pauleen's car before deciding to call it a night themselves.