moirai

bestfriends

"Pau, pinabibigay ni Ms. Lori" Maine said as she gave Pauleen a folded piece of paper which was handed to her as she made her way back to their cubicle from the pantry.

"Ano 'to?"

"I dunno. She just handed it to me..."

Pauleen read the note then stood up from her desk and left the cubicle. Maine sat back at her desk and continued to work.

After a long while, Pauleen came back. She didn't sit down right away. She looked at Maine then went to her chair and put her hands on its backrest. Maine turned and looked at her.

"What?" Maine asked.

Pauleen fidgeted a bit. She slumped her shoulders then sat down and turned her chair towards Maine.

"What?!" Maine asked again, a bit irritated by Pauleen's demeanor. She knew that her bestfriend was bothered by something.

"Uhmm..."

"Ano?....Pau! Tell me...!"

"Mr. Tuviera called for me...."

"Oh....and?"

"He wants me to work in the office in Bacolod..."

Maine didn't quite understand Pauleen for about 2 minutes.

"Wait....what? Ulit!" Maine looked at Pauleen and put her hands on Pauleen's arms

"He wants me to work in the Bacolod office..."

"Bacolod? As in....Bacolod?"

"Uh-huh...Bacolod...dun sa inyo..."

Maine was dumbfounded by this news. They knew of the Bacolod office. She was sent there once during her first year with the company. Although the work environment was generally the same, she liked the vibe of the Manila office more.

"So, when ka lilipat?" Maine finally asked after a long pause.

"Next Friday na daw ako aalis...Para I can start work the following Monday, the first of the month."

Maine held on to Pau's arms with both hands. She squeezed them and sighed.

"I'm happy for you..." although a general sadness was now brewing within her and was slowly creeping into her facial expression. "Diba yun naman yung gusto mo? Yung ibang office naman...."

Pauleen nodded.

"I don't think the work will be that different naman e..."

"Well....mas maraming field work ata dun...."

"Kaya mo yan! Ikaw pa! You like being out of the office naman diba?...besides, ang ganda ng views dun...remember the haciendas and fields we used to visit when we'd go there?" Maine said trying to cheer Pauleen up.

"But this is the first time I'll be away for a while from everyone....everything...." Pauleen said quietly which was a bit uncharacteristic of her because she was the more outgoing and energetic friend.

"Sus! Bacolod lang yan....ang lapit lang e...."

"Sabagay..."

They both went back to work. But unbeknownst to Pauleen, Maine was feeling bad for having to be separated from Pau, her bestfriend for almost a decade.

They met on their first day of 8th grade. Pauleen was a transferee to the school and looked obviously lost while searching for her classroom. Maine, who was standing with some classmates in the hall outside the rooms approached the girl with pigtails looking up at the plaques above the doors.