The Wizard

Part II. The Tour

Wearing white short shorts, baby pink shirt and white strappy sandals, Yum giddily walked towards her waiting friends at the lounge area of the airport.

"Wow!," Santi exclaimed when he saw her. "At long last! You have graced us with your presence, Madamme." He smiled mockingly.

"I was caught up in a traffic. The cab driver decided to take another route and unfortunately it's a long winding road. I'm sorry guys," explained Yum shrugging her shoulders. She knows her friends can entertain themselves. They can talk anything under the sun and will always find reasons to tease one another.

"And it seems that Yum forgot that Japan still had its freezing temperature at night although slightly warmer in the morning," teased Ilyn. "You've dressed suitably for that," she added wiggling her eyebrows looking at her short shorts exposing her long slender legs.

A roar of laughter from her friends erupted. Their eyes danced in mirth. Yum rolled her eyes.

"Great! I'm the topic now." she murmured to herself.

"Well, if in case you forgot there's a comfort room here. So I can change clothes before boarding on a plane." Her explanation earned another grin from their faces. They are teasing her.

" Late comer should treat us a frappe," Mary said smiling mischievously.

"Yeah!" The group chorused giving high five to one another. "And a slice of carrot cake perhaps?" Elle agreed suggestively.

"Wow! Sweet toothy!" Joy poked Elle in her side.

"Not for a diet girl, Ms. Model," replied Elle eyeing Joy's slim waist with a smirk.

"Quiet! Yum is thinking. The accountant's head is now working," said Santi. " You will pay for your frappe if you keep on teasing her," he added. Altogether, they closed their mouth but their eyes make secret signals full of mischief.

"Alright! Let's order," Yum agreed and proceeded to the counter.

While sipping her taro-favored frappe, she silently observed her friends- hard headed friends. She told herself.

As usual, Santi is busy taking selfies.He is a part time actor in a television show. He loves acting and photography. He has thousands of twitter followers now.

Elle, the novelist, scans her newsfeed in facebook. As a feature writer in a magazine company, she's always out of town due to the different assignments that she's working. She regularly features the wonders of some scenic spots in her column.

Joy, the fashion model, meticulously checks her purple colored fingernails. Violet is her favorite color. She looks regal in her all black outfit accentuated with a purple scarf. She's a big hit in a fashion runway now. She draws attention from the nearby tables of customers. But she's oblivious to these admiring stares.

Mary, the preschool teacher, sipped her strawberry flavored frappe demurely. Others oftenly looked at her as timid but the group knows her too well that they just laughed at her cunning ways. She has a face with soft features which lead the others to believe that she's a homey type of woman.

Ilyn, the office girl, wore her blond hair short and boyish-like. She has a creamy white skin and a slender figure that make other girls feel envious. She's the head of the procurement department of AC Corporation, a real state company, which developed the famous villas and scapes in some exclusive subdivisions.

Pearl, the computer programmer, laughs loudly when Ilyn cracked a joke. She is really loud and carefree. She didn't even care when a lady customer occupying the table next to them glared at her.

Ooppss!! Ilyn hide her smile in her hands when she saw the woman's reaction.

"Librarian?" said Pearl making an innocent face but the merriment in her eyes are visible enough to see that she's mocking.

They all laughed together.

Some customers stared at them with awe. Boys admired the girls who are like rain and sunshine. They have different traits physically and the varied attitudes are also noticeable but they form a group of attractive and irresistable ladies. While Santi on the other hand is the object of fantasy of young teens from the table at the back. They are ogling at him wearing a heart in their sleeves.

"Shhh," said Yum putting her point finger in her lip as a signal to be quiet. " We're drawing an attention, guys."

"We always get the attentions of some people when we are together," replied Mary.

"Of course,with Santi's look, surely they will always look back," teased Ilyn. She knew Santi is vain and loves attention from his fans.

"Ha! Ha! Ha!," laughed Santi. "You got it right, Ilyn. That's why your my favorite." He said grinning.

" Some women today don't know how to act properly hmmpff!," said the lady when she passed by their table and went to her car outside.

Yum mortified eyes look at the others.

"Pearl, she's really disgusted," Joy said dryly.

"Oh well, we can't please all of them. Can we?," Pearl shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly.

"It's just a laugh. We can't be charged as criminals," Elle laughed.

" Ha!Ha!Ha!. Absolutely!," Santi smirked.

" I'm excited to stroll the parks of Japan with you guys," Joy changed the topic and beamed.

"Me too." Yum replied smiling widely.

" Good evening passengers. This is the pre-boarding announcement for flight 79B to Nagoya, Japan. We are now inviting those passengers with small, and any passenger requiring special assistance, to begin boarding at this time. Please have your boarding pass and identification ready. Regular boarding will begin in approximately ten minutes time. Thank you."

" I'll change my clothes in a minute," Yum grabbed her bag and went to the comfort room.

* * *

She can hear the whirring and bumping noises from hydraulics and the thump of the landing gear retracting when the airplane took off.

Yum loves travelling abroad but she hates taking and landing of planes.

" Never get used to it, I see," Ilyn noticed her distressed. While she is enjoying the ride, Yum seems to be holding her breath and she gripped the arm rest firmly.

Yum didn't answer. She can feel the fluttering of butterflies in her stomach making her nerves trembling. She's on the edge of her seat as she feels the plane climbing too steeply.

" Inhale, exhale," encouraged Ilyn and smiled when they heard the captain's voice indicating that they are already settled in.

" Oh! Heavens!" Yum exhaled and began relaxing .

" You're still alive, Yum," said Ilyn teasingly. "Still on earth," she chuckled.

She pinched her friend in her arm.
" Quit on teasing, Manilyn. I really hate plane's take off," Yum smirked when Ilyn's mood soured when she heard her full name.

Ilyn made a sound and pouted. " I hate that name too as you hate the take off of planes."

"Quits, then." Yum laughed heartily while Ilyn sulked at her seat still pouting.