Someday, I'll Find My Way Home

Axel brings the meat.

"Shit. I forgot the tongs," I mumbled as I drove in the expressway with Paula, Candace, and Marvin in my car.

The weather was as nice as my mood today. When I went home last night, I went to the supermarket and bought five kilos of liempo, onions, garlic, soy sauce, and more just for the marinade. The only thought that kept me sane for this week was that I was about to grill pork for my friends. I always had this dream of cooking to my friends in a barbeque party of some sort. And this could pass as one.

Then, before I went to bed, I did all the preparations and put it in my pots, since those were the only ones that could fit the pork.  I had two separate pots--one for the traditional soy sauce marinade, the other one is gochujang-based.

Good thing was we travelled during lunch-time, so I took my breakfast at Candace's condo, where she prepared her classic silog meals--hotdog, bacon, and tocino. We loaded all our stuff in the trunk of my car, including my marinated pork, Marvin's chickens to be grilled, Candace's famous Adobo, and Paula's hardcore drinks. 

Plus, this was the only day I got to wear sandals. Sweet.

"Nope. I brought one," Candace assured me. "I have brought my whole kitchen."

"That is not an exaggeration," Marvin agreed. "She almost brought our induction cooker and pans. I stopped her from falling into madness."

"I'm just so excited!" Candace clapped her hands. "It's been a while since we had these kind of gatherings."

"Agreed. I don't want to go in my co-worker's weddings, or baptisms, or fucking birthday parties!" Paula groaned, banging her feet on the chair. I shot a warning look at her. "I'm getting tired of my facade in the office as the nice, sweet girl that guards our servers."

Candace swooned and leaned closer to Paula. "OMG. Is this time for your company to see the real you?"

"Girl, I kept my facade even while drinking with them! Imagine the amount of tolerance I had just to keep it. I just need to do this until I get promoted."

"I'm excited for the party for that one," I commented. "How's it goin' on your promotion plan?"

"Let's not talk about that. It's boring," Paula emphasized. "Let's just share gossips with our orgmates and blocmates."

To my surprise, Marvin had the first input. "I have one."

 "And why haven't you said that to me?" Candace exclaimed.

"Jeez, we're sharing a life together soon. We have a lifetime to talk about these."

"Fair point." She waved her hands and shrugged it off. "Continue."

"Marc and Robin hit it off this year."

Paula jumped from her seat and looked back at Marvin. "Really? The same Robin? That Axel had a one-night stand?"

"Can we not mention that fact later in the reunion?" I glared at Paula, and she sat properly in her seat.

"Bitches, don't even get me started on Marc." She raised both her hands. "He's still an asshole as long as I live." She rolled her eyes, and Candace approved. "Anyway, continue."

Marvin coughed before he continued. "So, Marc resigned to his old company and started on a new one last year. I remember it was the 4th Quarter already," Marvin told us. Candace and Paula was all ears in the latest tea. I was half-listening, full-focused on driving instead. "And Robin helped him get in the company."

"Ooh. Connections. Spicy," Paula interjected.

"And then just in January, Alex told me that they saw the two dating in Megamall."