Highway to Happy

Yes, that’s right: Kopi and Teh. At least, according to the menu board in Toastbox.

The façade of the newly-opened Toastbox café/restaurant in Greenebelt 5 caught the attention of my officemates. So, one Friday night, after the tug of war between going and not going, we all agreed to give it a try.

Now, if you are dying to know just how good their Kaya toast or Iced Teh C is, I’ll tell you their food and drinks are amazing. But that is all you will ever get on the subject of food here. You are so wrong to think this is about a feast of flavors, because this actually delves on a feast that is friendship.

I have always believed on the promise of a Friday night until I actually started working. Friday night life isn’t always loud and sparkly. Sometimes, it is just boring and tiresome and extended work hours. Other times, though, it can be amazingly unplanned, comfortably unrehearsed and just purely unforgettable. Like the Friday night Toastbox dinner bonding we just had.

We were a group of 9. We started on nonsense talking and complaining and what not. Until now I can’t recall what started it, but at one point in between babbles, we just steered into the most intriguing topic of all: love. Actually, the other 6 officemates continued on their own “most intriguing topic”, which I wasn’t able to hear what about, but us, 3 girls, were left glued to that 4 letter word.

We chatted about first meetings, the highschool sweetheart phase, the era of picture messages, screen savers and ringtones. We dove into each subject with gleaming eyes and too many stories. We had different points of view but there wasn’t a time for argument. We were just talking. We were sharing our stories and not proving a point or asking any opinion. We never had to worry about the awkward silence or running out of words. Gulping for air, stories after stories, was more of the problem. We giggled about “proposals”, cursed people in our past, laughed at each other’s absurdities until it got too late we had to leave.

We left the restaurant, walked back to the office, knowing and understanding each other a lot more. I found the words forming in my head: It was some night, huh.

Work rants and salary babbles are nothing new on this blog. But this, this is a glimpse of how I manage to survive and actually enjoy a seemingly merciless job. I know one day I will surrender to the harsh reality that I’ve been using these people as a plastic strip to cover a hole in me only professional fulfillment can heal. On that day, I will move on to better opportunities and to a more manageable career. But I would never have to worry about missing these people. Our attachment certainly goes way beyond the confines of a 15 story building we call workplace. We have gone beyond being friends until the clock strikes 5:30 every afternoon. We are friends. Plain. Simple. Unforced. And I see many, many Friday nights like this one in our future, officemates or no longer. *Pinky promise*

# posted by Liana : 5:07 AM