Sunbathe Under The Thunderstorm

Chapter 7: Happy birthday

SMILES WELCOMED me as I joined our video call in the group chat with Honey and Patch, my best friends. "Happy birthday, Athena!" they said in unison. They were just using Honey's account. Magkasama sila ngayon sa unit ni Patch at parehas silang may suot na birthday hat.

Patch was holding an ice cream cake with a small smile of her face, so I raised a brow looking at her. "Hindi naman aabot sa akin ang cake na 'yan!" I objected.

"It's the thought that counts, saka may regalo naman ako sa 'yo. Hawak lang ni Honey," Patch explained. She placed the cake on the table and nudged the person sitting next to her.

My eyes diverted to the one who was holding a birthday present where the wrapper matched to the bow in her hair. "So anong regalo mo?" I teased her.

Ibinaba ni Honey ang hawak niyang regalo sa gilid niya at inayos ang kanyang bow na parang galing mismo sa wrapper ng regalo ni Patch. Then she gave me a grin and spoke, "I'm the present! My presence is enough! Ako na ito, ayaw mo pa!"

My arms crossed after hearing her explanation. Kaya naman sinegundahan niya ang mga sinabi niya dahil napansin niyang parang hindi ako nakikipagbiruan. "Ito naman! Hindi lang ako nakabili dahil masyadong busy!" paliwanag niya.

"Says the girl who can just buy anything at the duty free. Don't tell me, ikaw na ang nagpapatakbo ngayon ng mga eroplano sa airport?" panunukso ko. Of course, I didn't mind receiving nothing. I was well aware that just their presence and any small effort would be more than enough these days.

We agreed to have a low maintenance friendship and to be fair, they told me last time that it's hard to buy what I wanted if they would really buy something for me.

Guess what, I was. . . Kinda. . . High-maintenance. . .

"Kakapasok ko lang. Nagpapa-bibo pa ako sa mga seniors," sabi naman ni Honey habang nakanguso pa.

I smiled at her. "Anyway, congratulations! Hindi ba iyan talaga yung dream airline mo?" I tried starting a conversation about us.

"Yes!" Honey gladly responded.

"Pero hesitant ka last time?" Patch intervened.

"Kasi naman. Ang daming sinasabing hindi maganda noong pinanggalingan ko. It turns out, okay naman pala! So ayun, sana magtuloy-tuloy na ako rito. Magaan kasama ang mga tao. Kaya super happy talaga akong nandito na ako," Honey claimed.

"Well, kasi naman, sinabi ko na sa 'yo na huwag kang maniniwala roon sa mga kasama mo dati. I could sense na may iba sa kanila at base na rin sa kwento mo, I smell toxicity. Ikaw dapat mismo ang nakakakita bago mo husgahan ang isang bagay. Kailangan mo munang makita yung other side of the story. Tingnan mo ngayon, sumugal ka, walang pagsisisi tapos masaya ka pa."

I just bobbed my head upon hearing Patch's preach for our friend. Then my eyes shifted to her. "Yung isang may special someone dyan, masaya ba?" Curiosity was obvious from my voice.

Patch gazed upon me with her teasing eyes. "Oo naman no!" She even chuckled. "Especially with my career as an author and content creator. Stable yung pagiging content creator dahil tinaasan ko na ang rates at hindi pa ako nawawalan ng clients. I might also launch a new book aside from the stories that I was planning to publish for personal copies. Kinukulit ng mga readers yung publishing company na naglalabas ng libro ko e," she discussed.

"Paano naman yung sa Sororitea?" Honey asked.

"Baka mag-resign na ako next summer. Tapos magtatayo ako ng sariling milktea shop kasama yung kaibigan ko," Patch answered, sounding as if she's at her peak of passion and grit.