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How the Best Friend Met the One

May 17

I remember that cold April morning. It was already seven o'clock and Tricia was not ready. She's panicking because of it. Big time. Her closet looked like it barfed out all her clothes—at least the formal wear. Her hair was still a wet mess. And she's just pacing around the apartment like crazy, blazers in hand.

"Mia, get over here and help me! I just don't think any of these plain blazers are going to cut it! What if they don't like me? What if I get so nervous I stutter? You know first impressions lasts, right? What if I mess up the whole thing? Wha—"

"Tricia!" I had to stop her before she gets a heart attack. "Just sit down and I'm gonna make you some tea, okay? I'm gonna lend you my navy blue polka dot blazer. That would work, right?" I asked, heading straight to my room to grab the blazer.

"I guess that'll work." I heard her mutter from behind me.

"Of course it will!" I gave her the blazer and went straight to the kitchen to put the croissant I bought and a coke bottle in a lunch bag and make her some chamomile tea. That's one of the few things that we have in common—chamomile tea makes us feel very calm. "And Tricia, your hair is still wet. Just blow dry it in 5 mins. You'll be fine."

"Okay."

After five minutes, she comes out of the washroom and her hair looks five hundred times better than her hair five minutes ago. She looked so gorgeous in wearing my blazer. I guess that's another perk of having a girl best friend: you can borrow each other's clothes. Not the shoes though. My feet are incredibly tiny. Size 5.

Anyway, I give her the tea and for a minute there, she seemed like she was calming down. But then, she looked at the clock and started panicking again.

"Geez! It's eight o'clock! I'm gonna be late!!" She hurriedly said, as she wedged her feet in her black stilettos.

Grabbing the lunch bag I packed for her, I said, "You can do it, Tricia. I have a really good feeling about this."

She gave me a thankful smile and closed the door behind her.

While waiting for her name to be called in the waiting room, she told me how hard it was for her to sit still without doing something or talking to someone. But she held it in, munching on the croissant I packed for her. Things just went from pleasant to disastrous when she started to open her Coke bottle. Several times, she tried to twist the cap open and it wouldn't budge. All the other applicants started to stare at her. And of course, Tricia being Tricia just kept trying to open the stubborn bottle until she felt her fingers start to have blisters. At this point, she was already imagining what the other applicants were thinking, how she was such a weakling and how she can't open something as easy to open as a Coke bottle. She was getting really, really frustrated when somebody—or should I say, a really nice guy—offered to open it for her.

"You need some help with that, miss?" He asked her politely, showing off that 'Christian smile' as Tricia would say.

"Yes, please. I just really want to drink!" At this point, Tricia must be pleading. She didn't tell me she was. I just know.

They weren't aiming for the same job. That would be really awkward. That is why they were both really happy for each other when they found out that they both got the jobs they wanted. And even went out to dinner to celebrate. That was their first date! Cute, right?

After that, they were just inseparable. They had lunch together and even afternoon coffee. Sometimes, they'd go out for dinner, asking me to tag along with them but 1) I'd be writing, 2) I'm pretty sure they were just being polite, 3) I don't want to be a third wheel, and 4) I shipped them so hard I wanted them to have a proper date.

You might be thinking that I could be jealous. There's a big possibility. I mean, this guy could be snatching my best friend away from me. But I'm not. In fact, even before Tricia told me that she liked him, I was already playing match maker and trying to set them up. Leaving the room for an hour. Making up an excuse to ditch dinner when we already planned to go to this really good resto. I shipped them a lot. And I'm really happy for my best friend. She found someone she could count on. Somebody who's actually very decent and very nice. It makes me wish I had someone like that in my life too. <3