All's Fair in Blog and War (NOVELLA EXCERPT)

#HowDoYouWakeUpOnTheWrongSideOfTheBedIfYouHaven'tSleptYet

FRESH AS A DAISY. COMPOSED AND SELF-ASSURED. Smart—make that brilliant—career woman. There are many ways to describe the people who go through the sparkling glass doors of The Milena Grand. None of which, however, were appropriate for me.

Of course, none of it was my fault. I wanted to make a smashing first impression on our hosts. Five Cuevas, confident world-traveler. Unfortunately, things rarely go as expected. My work shift, which was supposed to end at seven am, went on extreme overtime as a DDOS attack on one of our client's web servers had me fretting for solutions. So that nap I was planning to take before leaving the house for the Macau briefing? Plan aborted!

Instead, I found myself rushing to the bathroom for a quick shower then dashing out of the house as soon as I can. I had an outfit all picked out—a tailored dress shirt, black skinny jeans and my favorite mid-length boots—but after realizing that my shirt needed to be ironed and the boots had to be cleaned, I ended up with a casual t-shirt, jeans and sneakers. Not exactly the image I wanted to project—I looked 18 in this outfit, a good seven years off the mark—but better that than late to the meeting, right?

Of course, my tale of woe didn't end there. Lacking sleep and outfitted in a less than spectacular fashion, the taxis all decide to avoid me. Did they get a Let's-Not-Give-Five-A-Ride memo or something? And when I finally did get a cab (a decrepit early 90s model that had a native anahaw fan wired to a motor for air conditioning), it broke down in the middle of traffic three blocks away from the hotel. Manong was apologetic enough, but it was the sort of distance that was too close for a new cab, yet too far for a comfortable walk. I end up walking during the lunch rush under the baking sun. So yeah, Five's first step inside the glitzy new hotel? Pathetic.

"The Camellia conference room is on the second floor," the concierge told me when I inquired. "Just turn right after you exit the elevator." I head on to the elevators after I thanked the concierge. For once, the universe seemed to be in my favor as I saw an available one.

"Hold, please!" I shouted when I saw it begin to close. I sighed with relief when the guy inside, a tall, cute guy with smiling eyes, jumped to attention and hurriedly jabbed at the elevator's controls—only to have the elevator doors close even faster. Much to my shock.

'Did that guy just close the doors on me? Even after I asked politely? THE NERVE!' I thought to myself. The next elevator took ages to come, allowing me to fume even more. By the time I got to the Camellia room, most of my anger had petered out, replaced by worry.

"Five Cuevas? We finally meet!" A pleasant looking girl in corporate clothes smiled at me. She looked just as relieved as I was, as she gathered a folder on her small make-shift desk. "Come, they started already, but just barely. I'm sure you haven't missed much. Gail Chua." She offered her hand.

"I'm so sorry Gail. You wouldn't believe my morning," I explained, but she stopped me with an understanding flick of her wrist.

"Don't worry, don't worry. It's not a problem." She opened the doors for me then directed me to an empty seat. A slide show presentation was primed on the front of the room, flashing the words Macau Familiarization Tour. I smiled apologetically at the presenter and she smiled back, nodding to acknowledge me without breaking her pace. I gratefully sunk into my seat, glad that she didn't stop to announce my late arrival. My smile, however, quickly dissolved when I looked around the room and spotted a familiar face. A face that was studiously avoiding meeting my gaze. One, that just moments ago, closed the elevator doors on me.

After a short overview of the day's briefing, Miss Dorie, our host, announced that we should begin with introductions. Aside from Miss Dorie and Gail, there were three other people in the room. Simon, a call center agent who specialized in all things geek; Meghan, a sexy PR exec slash occasional mow-del who definitely knows she's hot; and Mr. I'll-pretend-to-hold-the-elevator-door-open-but-close-it-on-you.