The Experiment 2: The Journey

The Rink

"Hi there, you're the new Online Marketing Manager, right?" A young woman, who's definitely a Filipina too, asked as she sat in front of her in the cafeteria. She was cute and had a friendly smile, and she looked about five years older than Dei.

It was Dei's fifth day at Hearst and since she had been too preoccupied in learning her new tasks, she mostly stayed in her office even during breaks. This was the first time that she had actually gone out to eat at the office cafeteria. She was sitting alone beside the window of the building, exchanging text messages with RJ, before the woman approached her.

Dei's face brightened, pleasantly surprised and happy to finally see a fellow Filipina. "Hi, yes. I'm Dei," she said, smiling at her while extending her hand.

"I know," the woman said, smiling giddily as she took her hand. "Dei Mendoza right? I mean, Dei Mendoza - Faulkerson."

Dei laughed awkwardly. "You don't happen to be a follower of The Experiment too... are you?" she asked.

"As a matter of fact I am. I'm one of the many people who were so happy when you guys got married. I'm a DeiJay fan!" she exclaimed. "Oh, and I'm Marby, by the way," she added, smiling at her adoringly.

"Hi! Wow. This is unbelievable," Dei said, smiling shyly while pressing her fingers on her temples. "I still find it weird that people actually know us here too."

"It was my sister who first told me about you," Marby said. "She's in the Philippines and she knows that I had applied in TrendBuzz before. So when DeiJay got so huge there she immediately told me about it and I got curious. I started watching your saved videos, reading your articles about the project and following updates about you. You and RJ are so adorable."

"Umm... thanks," Dei said, biting her lip, still feeling a bit awkward. "Well, I'm really glad to finally see a familiar face around. I mean, a fellow Filipina. I'm still trying to adjust to this whole moving-to-a-new-country thing."

"Well, I'll be happy to be your friend," Marby said with a huge smile. "And I promise not to act like a crazy fan... well, starting now," she said and she wiped off the crazy grin off her face at once, and stared at Dei with a serious expression.

Dei let out a small giggle. "You're funny," she said. "What department are you in?"

"Oh, I'm in the Print Media Marketing so technically we're in the same department, just handling different processes. I'm the manager there too," Marby answered. "We're on the same floor, so it'll be easier for us to catch up. I've been waiting for you to leave your office, you know... not that I'm stalking, but I was wondering if you need a friend."

"I do. So much. I'm still finding it hard to adjust here and this is the first time I've been this far away from my family and friends," Dei said as she grabbed the stale garlic stick on her plate and took a bite.

"You wouldn't like that," Marby said, wincing as Dei tried to chew on the bread. "I know you love breadsticks but that's nothing compared to the ones you love."

"You can say that," Dei said as she tried hard to swallow the bread. She dropped it back on the plate at once.

"You know what, next week we can start eating outside. The food here isn't always great," Marby suggested.

"That's a good idea," Dei agreed, still grimacing at the after taste of the bread.

They went back to their respective offices half an hour later, after exchanging phone numbers. Dei spent the second half of the day creating marketing materials and going over the ones that were sent to her for review. She was so focused on her work that she didn't notice that her shift was already over.