Kate opened her mouth to reiterate, but Edwin repeated for her instead. "Basically, Kate stood up to the wicked Rachel for Myolie. Myolie got overexcited, as if some supernatural force got into her, and decided to stand up to her as well. Rachel bursts, and fires the two on the spot", Edwin said, making hand motions as he said it to make it sound even more lively and exciting.
Kate nudged Edwin. "Don't forget, as we walked out, she turned back and yelled 'See you suckers!'" she said, with her fist in the air.
"You two sure had an interesting day", Bosco said. Of course he felt bad about what had happened...but the way it happened was rather amusing. His girlfriend would do such a thing. He turned to Kate.
"Getting fired may not be the worst thing in the world though. Now you don't have to work for that Rachel", he said.
"I know, but what if we end up working for a boss that's even worse? And now it'll follow us to any companies that we apply to", Kate replied.
"Also, if I'm worried about this, I can only imagine how hard Myolie's going to take this when it all sinks in", she said as she bit her lip.
"Speaking of which...where is she? I haven't seen her since we came up", he said. He and Kate looked around the apartment for her.
Edwin, who had gone to the kitchen for a glass of water, popped his head out from the other room. "No need to keep looking, I already found her", he told them.
Bosco and Kate came over, but didn't see her. "Wait, where?" they asked.
"Wait, she's about to come up", he said as he playfully shushed them.
Myolie popped up from under the kitchen counter with a large batch of cupcakes. "Has anyone seen my frosting utensils?" she cried.
Bosco and Kate looked around with widened eyes. Trays of cookies, cupcakes, and muffins lied on every surface in the kitchen. There was enough to feed a whole classroom of hungry kids with sweet tooth's. Myolie had cracked.
"What did I do? What did I DO?" Myolie wailed.
Bosco came over beside her and started to massage her shoulders. "You let out something that you've been keeping bottled up for a long time", he replied.
Myolie budged from Bosco's grasp and went to pull a kitchen knife from out of the drawer.
Edwin's eyes bulged. "Ahh!" he screamed when realized what Myolie had taken out. "Myolie Jeh, we know you're feeling frazzled right now but don't need to resort to this!" he said.
"I want to cut the brownies!" Myolie pointed at the fresh batch of brownies on the counter with the knife. She looked like she was more prone to passing out from the stress she was feeling at the moment than actually inflicting harm on herself.
Kate reached over and cautiously removed the knife from her friend's hand. "Let me do that for you...", she said.
Myolie failed to react to Kate taking the knife from her, and instead sank her face into her hands. "What am I going to do! How am I going to find a job in this economic state? And why did I have to pull you into this?" she said as she turned to Kate. She leaned down and buried her face in Kate's shoulder and started to sob.
Kate, Edwin, and Bosco all looked at each other. What were they going to do?
**********
Ron exited the elevator to enter the floor of Fala's work place with a bag in hand. He could see Fala diligently working at her computer through the glass door and smiled.
Opening the door, he tip toed across the room and put up a finger to his lips to shush the puzzled co-workers who caught sight of him from their desks.
Once at Fala's desk, he reached over from behind to cover her eyes.
In response, Fala started to scream. "Who's this?!" she yelled.
Ron burst out laughing, and Fala immediately recognized the sound of his laugh.
"Ugh, it's you!" she playfully scoffed. "What brings you here?" she asked in her normal voice.
"You've been so busy working on your story lately, I thought I'd visit you during your lunch hour and bring you food or you would totally forgot us humans need to eat", Ron replied, handing her the take out bag.
Fala peered into the bag and took out a hot sandwich and cup of soup from her favorite cafe. "My favorite!" she said happily. She reached up and cheerfully pat Ron on the head, who was leaning on her desk. "Thank you!"
Cindy, one of her co-workers and fellow reporters nudged Fala. "Your boyfriend?" she pointed at Ron. "Very handsome", she whispered to her, but not quietly enough so that Ron could still hear.
Ron started to break into a big smile at the compliment on his looks. "Why thank you", he said.
"Him? Yeah right", Fala laughed. Ron rolled his eyes.
He put his arm around her and said "This thing here is just my good, good, very good friend". He paused, and added "However, she is quite a handful".
Fala elbowed him in the chest lightly for that last remark, and Ron responded by mocking great pain. "Ow!" he mouthed.
"Could've fooled me", Vincent (Vincent Wong), another co-worker of Fala said with a laugh. "Bringing you your favorite lunch during your lunch hour, that's not something I ever did for even my own girlfriend, he said. "And did you notice her eyes perked right up when she saw it", he poked Fala's cheek.
"No wonder she dumped you", Fala joked and pushed his finger away.
Vincent pretended to take offense at the playful assault. "Aww..." he said, and went back to work.
"Yeah, and she can't go more than a few hours without food. Try starving her, it's like purposely inflicting pain on yourself because she becomes so irritated and irritating to the people around her", Ron said about Fala.
"That's not true!" Fala said.
"Aw, you two are like an old married couple", Cindy teased.
"Shouldn't you guys be taking your lunch break now?" Fala asked, in an effort to shoo them away.
"We still need to finish our stories too, no lunch for me today", Cindy replied.
"Then get working!", Fala said, and everyone turned back to their computer screens.
Ron turned to Fala again. "Are you going to the gym after work today? My last session ends at 5 but I still have to squeeze in a workout for myself too", he said, then poked her arm. "Looks like you should too, your muscle's going away!"
"It is?" Fala said and looked down and poked at her arms. "Aw man! Yeah, I'll be there, I should have this story done by the end of today", she said.
"Ok, see you then. Don't work too hard", Ron said. He patted her head then started to leave to go meet his first client of the day at the gym. As he left the office, from the corner of his eye he could see Vincent sneaking looks at Fala from his work station, then quickly looked back at his computer screen. Fala, of course, was oblivious.
As Fala finally started to turn her attention back to her story, a new distraction appeared.
"Ahh, he's so handsome!" "He makes me melt!" "He looks so good in that suit!" a group of girls huddled together in the office flipping through a magazine. Raymond was on the cover.
Fala raised her eyebrows as the girls fan girled over Raymond. She heard a lot of remarks on his looks and how "cool" and "hot" he is, but nothing about his talent. The fan girling continued, but no productive praise seemed to come out of it. She had a high appreciation of music as well as Raymond's. She saw him go through vocal training and work hard for so many years before getting where he was today. Did they not realize her friend Raymond was more than just a pretty face? He's an artist, not a glorified idol. Fala sighed. None of these girls seemed to really appreciate and like Raymond.
Ron started to break into a big smile at the compliment on his looks. "Why thank you", he said.
"Him? Yeah right", Fala laughed. Ron rolled his eyes.
He put his arm around her and said "This thing here is just my good, good, very good friend". He paused, and added "However, she is quite a handful".
Fala elbowed him in the chest lightly for that last remark, and Ron responded by mocking great pain. "Ow!" he mouthed.
"Could've fooled me", Vincent (Vincent Wong), another co-worker of Fala said with a laugh. "Bringing you your favorite lunch during your lunch hour, that's not something I ever did for even my own girlfriend, he said. "And did you notice her eyes perked right up when she saw it", he poked Fala's cheek.
"No wonder she dumped you", Fala joked and pushed his finger away.
Vincent pretended to take offense at the playful assault. "Aww..." he said, and went back to work.
"Yeah, and she can't go more than a few hours without food. Try starving her, it's like purposely inflicting pain on yourself because she becomes so irritated and irritating to the people around her", Ron said about Fala.
"That's not true!" Fala said.
"Aw, you two are like an old married couple", Cindy teased.
"Shouldn't you guys be taking your lunch break now?" Fala asked, in an effort to shoo them away.
"We still need to finish our stories too, no lunch for me today", Cindy replied.
"Then get working!", Fala said, and everyone turned back to their computer screens.
Ron turned to Fala again. "Are you going to the gym after work today? My last session ends at 5 but I still have to squeeze in a workout for myself too", he said, then poked her arm. "Looks like you should too, your muscle's going away!"
"It is?" Fala said and looked down and poked at her arms. "Aw man! Yeah, I'll be there, I should have this story done by the end of today", she said.
"Ok, see you then. Don't work too hard", Ron said. He patted her head then started to leave to go meet his first client of the day at the gym. As he left the office, from the corner of his eye he could see Vincent sneaking looks at Fala from his work station, then quickly looked back at his computer screen. Fala, of course, was oblivious.
As Fala finally started to turn her attention back to her story, a new distraction appeared.
"Ahh, he's so handsome!" "He makes me melt!" "He looks so good in that suit!" a group of girls huddled together in the office flipping through a magazine. Raymond was on the cover.
Fala raised her eyebrows as the girls fan girled over Raymond. She heard a lot of remarks on his looks and how "cool" and "hot" he is, but nothing about his talent. The fan girling continued, but no productive praise seemed to come out of it. She had a high appreciation of music as well as Raymond's. She saw him go through vocal training and work hard for so many years before getting where he was today. Did they not realize her friend Raymond was more than just a pretty face? He's an artist, not a glorified idol. Fala sighed. None of these girls seemed to really appreciate and like Raymond.
**********
Later that day, Fala and Ron ran on treadmills side by side at the gym. Fala was ranting to Ron about the girls at the office who were cooing over Raymond.
"There are so many more things to praise Raymond about! His voice and range, stage presence, work ethic, why do the girls only comment on his looks?" she pondered, annoyed.
"Well, not every girl is as thoughtful and observant as you", Ron replied.
"They're not teenage girls anymore, surely they can show more deep thinking than that", she said.
Ron shrugged and said "You'd be surprised. Not every adult is as bright as they should be."
"But you do have a point. Raymond spent years studying music, training his voice, and searching for opportunities to become a musician, not just the subject of ogling girls", he said seriously. Then, he thoughtfully added "Not that I would mind if girls wanted to fawn over me."
Fala stared at the suddenly daydreaming Ron. "You were doing so well being serious for once until that last part", she said.
He snapped out of his daydream and turned his face to look at her. "Hey, of I was serious all the time you wouldn't find me so fun to hang out with, would you?" he asked in his typical silly and playful tone.
Fala rolled her eyes. "I guess not, she said with a smile.
"And she finally smiles again!" Ron said, pumping his arms in the air as if he had achieved victory.
Fala laughed wholeheartedly at her silly friend. Life would be so less entertaining and fun without him.
**********
"So what are you going to do?" Ella asked Kate later that evening.
"Well, I got fired, I didn't resign. It's not like I can just go back and ask for my job back", Kate said.
It was dinner time of the same day, and the whole group sat in the living room eating instant noodles. While Myolie had downgraded from hysterical to just super worried and unsure of what to do next, she was still in no mood to cook. When everybody showed up ready for dinner, she handed each one of them a noodle cup.
"We'll probably be blacklisted by ever PR firm in the area once word gets out about how we were fired", Myolie said sadly.
"You have a decent amount of money saved up, you can just take a break then start applying to jobs again and go from there", Bosco said.
"I'd barely call that a plan", Myolie mumbled. She couldn't go with the flow the way Bosco did so well. She needed a structured plan she could carefully follow to feel at ease.
Edwin returned from the kitchen with a small plate piled with various baked goods from Myolie's baking spree earlier. "Myolie, these are delicious!" he said while chewing a brownie. "You should open your own bakery!"
Ella's eyes lit up. "Hey, that's actually not a bad idea!" she said.
Edwin looked up from his plate. "Wait, we were being serious?" he asked.
Bosco stood up straighter. "That actually is a good idea! Maybe not just a bakery, but a cafe too!" he replied. He turned to Myolie and Kate. "You two studied business in college and have experience", he said. He pointed at Myolie. "You're a great baker and love to bake and you're the most organized person I know", he stated.
Then, he pointed at Kate. "You work great with Myolie and you know how to deal with all types of people and customers well", he said.
"If nobody wants to hire you, become your own boss. You won't need to deal with unreasonable superiors anymore and you have all of us to help you out too. People love sweets and it could be a great place for all kinds of people to come relax at", he proposed.
Myolie's ears began to perk up and she started to get excited. "I can bake and decorate different pastries and create a serene atmosphere that will make people want to come and wind down", she said.
Kate nodded thoughtfully. "That does sound very nice", she replied.
"And I can help you with the money to start it up and go visit potential locations with you", Bosco said.
"I can help you design the look of the cafe!" Ella exclaimed.
"Oooh, and I can write the first review of the place!" Fala said.
"I can advertise it on the web and create a website for it", Edwin added.
"I can come to the grand opening of the place and attract more people to come", Raymond offered.
"I can..." Ron started. Unable to think of anything he could do for the cafe related to his job as a personal trainer, he said "I can try all the baked goods and give feedback!" Everyone laughed.
"I think Edwin has that job covered", Kate said as Edwin continued to indulge.
Myolie and Kate grew more excited and at ease with the idea that had just been born and their friend's support.
Bosco put his arm around Myolie. "Do we have a plan now?" he asked sweetly.
Myolie paused to think, and everyone waited intently for what she'd say.
"I guess we do!" she said, and kissed him on the cheek.
Everyone started to cheer happily for the great cafe that was about to be born. Ron picked up his cup of noodles. "A toast to new beginnings and the unnamed cafe of Myolie and Kate!", he said, goofily. The friends chuckled at the silliness of the action, but all obliged and touched their cups together. "Cheers!" they all said in unison.
======================================
Comments: After four months, I finally got the second episode done. Yay!!! I suddenly had the urge to start writing it again. I already had part of it done a while back and finally got a chance and the inspiration to finish it. I hope everyone enjoys it, that is if there are still people reading. While I feel like I probably created too many main characters, I love writing their interactions together and have plans for all of them (some more detailed than others). Fala and Ron's friendship was mainly set up here, and Fala is revealed to have a potential admirer. And of course, Myolie and Kate quickly found new opportunity. Next to come, Raymond will be going to the first costume fitting for his upcoming concert!
