"Till the World Ends": Episode 1

Myolie was scampering around the apartment trying to make everything perfect for the special day as her friends Kate, Fala, Ella, and Ron watched in amusement from the couch.  She came over and started yelling at them.  "Why are you just sitting there!  Get up and help prepare!" she cried.

Her roommate and best friend Kate looked at her and replied, "There's nothing left to do.  Just sit down and relax until Raymond gets here".  Myolie, a perfectionist that didn't know how to sit still, did not look satisfied with that answer.

"Go clean!" she told her.

Kate glanced around the apartment and wrinkled her eyebrows.  "Myo, are you kidding me?  You cleaned this whole place spotless before I could even find the broom!" she joked.

Myolie faked a laugh.  "Hahaha, when'd you get so funny?" she asked, sarcastically. Kate shrugged and gave her a taunting smile.

Bosco, Myolie's boyfriend of seven years, walked into the room and started massaging her shoulders.  "Sweetie, Kate's right.  It's time for you to sit down and take a breather", he said gently with a smile.  Myolie could act so antsy sometimes.

"But Raymond's finally back from his tour in the US!  It'll be the first time us friends will all be together in almost two months!" Myolie said, anxiously.

"Yes, and if I didn't know any better, the way you're acting would make me think Raymond is your boyfriend", Bosco playfully replied as he finally got her to sit down.

"There you go. Breathe in, breathe out", Ron teased her from the recliner chair. Myolie made a face at him.

The door bell rang, and Myolie shot back up from the couch and ran over to the door.  "Raymond!" she cried, happily.  Edwin stood at the door, surprised.

"It's just you!  What were you doing?" Myolie interrogated him.  He held up a bag.  "You told me to go buy hot sauce..." he answered.

"Oh, I forgot...thanks, just put it on the counter", she replied.

"Hello to you too", Edwin laughed as he obeyed her. These large dinners with the whole gang never occurred without a Myolie scurrying around.


Edwin came to join everyone else, and plopped down next to his "big sister" Kate on the couch. "She overexcited again?" he asked.

"Mhm", she replied.

Ron leaned down in his chair to get right next to Fala, who was sitting on the ground near him typing away on her laptop and working on an article, completely oblivious.  "Hi", he simply said into her ear, which was enough to make her jump.

Fala whacked him on the head, and he made a funny face exaggerating the pain.  "You ruined my concentration!" she said.

"Ray's about to come, stop working!" he replied.  With an annoyed face, she shut off her laptop.

He looked over at Ella, who was also busy drawing a sketch in her notebook.  "You too, pretty girl.  Time to put away all work", he said in a mock tone of authority.

Ella looked up, smiled shyly, and obliged the request.  Fala rolled her eyes in amusement.  "You know when to stop working, but not when to stop playing", she smirked.  To her displeasure, Ron ruffled her hair in response.

The door bell rang again, and this time everybody ran over to the door.  Bosco peered through the peep hole to make sure it was Raymond.  Sure enough, their old friend was standing there.  Bosco opened the door and everyone erupted into greetings like "Welcome back!" and "We missed you!" as each person gave Raymond a big hug.

"Good to see you guys again", he said, smiling widely.  He was ecstatic to be reunited with his favorite people in the world.

"How was your first US tour?" Ella asked as she gave him a hug.  Raymond could feel himself blushing a bit at seeing his pretty and sweet friend again.

"It was great, a lot of fun" he replied.

"Hey, did you get me the phone numbers of any pretty fan girls?" Ron asked, playfully.

"You rascal!  Why would I do that, the girls would be so disappointed to see who called them!" Raymond teased him as he whacked him on the head.  Fala burst out laughing.

Bosco tapped Raymond on the shoulder.  "By the way, I think you and I were unknowingly sharing a girlfriend just now", he whispered jokingly, and Raymond gave him a confused look.  Myolie punched her real boyfriend, and shoo-ed everybody over to the dining table for the big hot pot dinner she prepared.

The eight friends sat down and dug into the hot pot feast as everyone broke into chatter.  "Everybody, I have great news", Raymond announced as they settled down.  Everybody quieted down and stared at him intently.

"Did you get a 'gwai mui' girlfriend?" Ron, who was sitting next to Fala, asked.  He quickly put up his hands in self defense before Fala could take another whack at him.

"No, I...", Raymond trailed off.  He turned to Fala and asked "I thought you're supposed to keep him under control?"

"This is Ron under control, my friend", Fala said to him.

"Anyway...my manager gave me a call this morning, and she told me...I'm going to be performing at the HK Colesium!" he announced, excitedly.  Everybody started cheering and congratulating him.

"That's amazing news, we're so happy for you!" Ella exclaimed.

"You've made it, Ray!" Edwin said.  Everybody started applauding.  Raymond felt flattered.  His friends, no matter how dysfunctional at times, never failed to support him in his music career.

After all the congratulations were over, they started bombarding Raymond with questions.  "Will we get tickets?" Fala asked.

"I will try my best to get you all tickets", Raymond answered.  Fala pumped her first into the air.  "Yes, tickets to see Hong Kong's rising superstar!  I'll get to exclusively cover it!" the journalist said eagerly.

 "Hey...HK Colesium concerts usually have some bold and outrageous costumes.  Are you worried what they're going to give you to wear?" Bosco asked with curiosity.

"I haven't thought about that", he answered.

"They're going to make you wear something that will make girls go crazy over you", Ron teased.

Everybody continued happily chatting and catching up until way past dinner, and it wasn't until after midnight that everyone went home.

***************

It was Monday again, and that meant the start of another work week.  Myolie and Kate went to work at their PR firm like always.  Myolie was still feeling bubbly and content from the weekend get together.  Whoever tried to upset her good mood ways going to pay.

"Wu!  What are you smiling about?" her boss, Rachel, demanded.  Unless of course, that person was her boss.  Cold, stubborn, uptight, and unreasonable, Rachel was irritating and unpleasant to have as a boss.  Oh, and she seemed to hate smiling, laughter, and anything to do with happiness, much to Myolie and Kate's dismay.

"What, I can't smile, boss?" Myolie replied, cheekily.

Rachel glared at her.  "No, but the problem is you look like an idiot, like a stupid and naive little teenage girl in love", she replied.

Kate looked up from her desk after hearing Rachel's last remark.  The two were engaged in a dead lock stare with each other.  She froze.  This was not going to slide with Myo very well.

"Hey, what's going on here?" she asked casually as she came over and put her arms around the two women.  The two didn't seem to acknowledge her.

"You're calling me a stupid, naive little girl in love, eh?" Myolie answered, clearly ticked off, but trying to retain her composure.

Kate, still calm, tried to play the mediator.  "No, I'm sure she didn't mean that.  She just didn't want us to get distracted from our work", she stated.

Without even glancing at Kate, Rachel sneered at Myolie.  "Yes, that's what I'm calling you!" Rachel replied.

Kate looked up in annoyance.  Who was she to call her best friend a stupid little girl?  A little out if it at times, sure, but not stupid!  Kate was the more level headed girl of the group, but she wasn't going to let someone call Myolie stupid.  And from someone who's supposed to be a superior and professional figure no less, how immature!

"Oh, you're resorting to name calling now?" Kate asked Rachel, cooly.  "Well, I think that you're just someone who's lacking happiness in her own life, so she takes it out on her subordinates.  Is that really necessary though?  You could be so much more professional than that.  It's quite disappointing actually", she said in an aloof tone.

Rachel looked horrified at what her subordinate just said.  "Excuse me?" she asked.

Myolie looked at Kate in admiration.  She had managed to stand up to someone the whole firm had wanted to for the longest time, and without losing her composure for one second.  It was time for her to take a jab at her pinhead of a boss.  What was the perfect jab?  Next thing she knew, something very foolish slipped out of her mouth.

"You heard what she said, you pinhead of a boss!" she said.  As soon as the words came out, she froze.  What did she just do?!  At the same time, something about it felt very sweet.  Evilly sweet.

The office became dead silent.  Even Kate looked shocked at what Myolie said.  Rachel was furious.  "Pinhead?!" she raised her voice.  "That's it, you two are fired!" she screamed.

Myolie wasn't going to stop now, she was just getting started.  She felt an odd sense of satisfaction and relief.  "You want to fire us, fine!  You take pleasure out of people's misery and can't stand to see people enjoying life just the tiniest bit.  I'm tired of working for such a witch!  And you know what, I'm not going to anymore!  We quit!"

Rachel's eyes looked like they were about to bulge out of her head.  Kate stood there motionless, unable to comprehend what just happened.   Did she just lose her job?  Because her friend called their boss a pinhead?

Myolie, not quite realizing what she had just did, took Kate's hand and started pulling her away.  "See you suckers!" she yelled to everyone with a feeling of triumph.

"You know you can't quit after you've been fired right..", is all Kate managed to mutter to Myolie as they left the work building.  Oh well.  What just happened would sink into Myolie's head.  And when it did...it was going to be a disaster.

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Comments: First episode!  Rather long, since I wanted to introduce everybody and at least have them each say a couple lines.  As opposed to jumping straight into one individual's story, I wanted to have all the friends together and mix.  I hope Myolie doesn't seem crazy!  She's just supposed to be eccentric and slightly obsessive compulsive.  I can imagine her playing this character very well and being funny, as opposed to annoying.  Second episode coming soon!  Feedback please!  :)