Will I ever find one like him again? (Part 3)

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Read Part 2

I have a dream

Eye heb a dream! Bakit sila lang ba? Eye heb this gram plam na magkaron nang red carpet party sa balay ko. Pasasalamat sa aking ilang taong pango-ngopya sa business school. Matatapos na rin ako. Pasasalamat din sa aking mga nauto at pinag-aral uli ako.

Balak kong hakutin at imbitahin ang boung management team, the CEO, Mike’s wife and parents, my officemates, my close family, my friends and my sawako. Magyayabang ka din lang eh di gawin mo nang bigtime? Me reklamo?!

Merong pang isang importanteng tao sa aking trabaho life. Sya yong dati kong kong boss. He too was super-bait. Dyitims sya. Gradweyt ng Harvard, magna-cum-laude and a lawyer. Senior partner sya nang isang pagkalaki-laking law firm dito sa Philly. Sya and Mike ang nagbigay nang bumubulaklak na recommendation sa future school ko. Bow ako sa kanya. Kelangan, pagmayabangan ko rin sya.

House remodelling

So, ngayon – binaliktad ko balay ko. Sinalansan ko mga kwarto. Yong mga bulaklak sa wall? Sinunog ko. Yong pink na kulay? Pinalitan ko nang crayola. Tinupak talaga ako! Ginagawa ko to habang nasa paaralan ako.

Madami pa akong ka-artehan. Hardwood floors, new kitchen, tiles, finish the basement, I want a deck, bagong pridyidir, I want Ethan Allen, haluan nang Storehouse, and tapon ang Bombay’s, feel ko contemporary. Yong arinola sa banyo, ayoko nyan. Delete the word banyo, comes “powder room”?.

Yong palayan sa harap nang bahay ko, ginawa kong Shinto Garden. Shinto-shinto kasi ang itsura nang mga naitanim. Ok, tingnan nyo mga kaulolan ko. Look:

Family room: Storehouse

Kitchen: Crate & Barrell

Dining Room: Ethan Allen

Living Room: Ethan Allen

Living Room: Ethan Allen

Family Room: Ethan Allen

Hirap maging social climber. Daing rekisitos! Pero, halos tapos na lahat nang pagsa-salansan ko nang aking balay. Tamang tama, sisimulan ko na ang mga invites. Me na-order na nga akong bagong biz card. Idinag-dag ko na ang aba-kada sa dulo nang pangalan ko. Gusto ko, feel nang boss ko na sulit na sulit ang ginawa nila sakin. Yan ang aking Eye Heb a Drim.

Golf Outing

Eye lurrvvee going to school! Trulili! Mga klasmeyts ko are one fine breed of intelligent (siguro umaarte lang) and upper-class management people (magaling ding sumipsip gaya ko). Ako lang talaga ang dating magsasaka, nakapayong habang nag-aararo nang palayan namin. Truly, sincerely and honestly. But do they know? Na ako’y Cinderella sa Putikan? Muse nang asosasyon nang mga nag-aararong kalabaw?? Hindi. Yan ang aking sekretong ipinasok ko sa isang small bamboo tree na ginawang haligi nang tatay ko. Artista ako. Araw araw, gina-praktis ko ang script ko. Ang galing-galing ng lola ninyo!

I remember one time

Classmate ? So, Reynz ? do you golf?

R ? Sure, I do. Why?

Classmate ? You gotta join us!

R ? *umandar ang ere ko* Well you see, back in the Philippines, there’s a golf course behind my house.

[Chuva ? Reynz, palayan at taniman nang kamote yon.]

[R ? Huh? Eh golp kurs ang tawag nang tatay ko non eh!]

[Chuva ? Imahinasyon lang yon nang tatay mo, tanga!]

Come Friday in school, I was doing a catwalk when I saw my name in this big banner! Golf Outing. Eeeeekkkkkkkk!!! ‘Nyeta! Eh nagbibiro lang po ako ah! Mamaa! Paki-erase nga hu nang pangalan ko dyan! Di daw pede! Peste talaga! Nataranta akoooo!!! Wa ako choice. Pasubo na naman ako! ?Nyeta alaga!!

Saturday, I drove around Jersey. Naghanap nang driving range! Shit! Ammahal! $250 per hour! Drive me to Pennsylvania! Gan-un din! Finally! Going home, I saw Bensalem Country Club. Pinagtyagaan ko si Lolo at $95 per hour. Den, I shopped for golf clubs! Damn! Ano ba tong pinasukan ko!!! Bought one at Walmart! Pede na to!

Following Friday, ready na ang lola nyo. Gather tugider muna kami sa clubhouse. Tumigok mi nang vodka! Shock ang aking classmates! Vodka?!

Classmate: Wat tyu doin dudette?! Were golfing!

Reynz: No worries, ok?! Dat alcohol is gonna evaporeyts!

Tira time!

Heck! Ako pala una! Ennnnggggg! Yung bola ko kumakaliwa! Kumakanan! Naka-navigation? ata tong mga bolang to!!! Applause nang applause sila! Pero me halong ibang decibel na halakhak!

Classmate: Hey reynz! Don’t stay too long in the woods!

Reynz: Kk mong blue! Mahal tong mga bolang to no?!

Piktapos nung kahihiyang inabot ko, wala na talaga sa listahan kong i-career ang golf. Binura’t bli-nak ko IP address nang golf sa dicksyunaryu ko.

Mga kaklase ko

Lahat sila came from named pharmaceuticals, fortune 500 companies and well-known companies. Me mga senior vice-presidents, senior managers, managers, directors? Ako lang talaga ang… well… ahh… ummm… kwan, CFO/Controller-Cassava Dissiceyshun Operashuns. Not bad. But my company is not in their league. So, it’s not really comparable. Maliit lang ako. Kakapirangot.

Finals na! Hectic na sked nang lola nyo! Den, daming networking event. No, hindi to yong magtitinda ka nang magic arinola. I love networking! Eh kasi, puro alak na naman eh! Tsaka dami mong matsi-tsika. Eh ako kasi I love meeting people! As a matter of fact, some of the most important people in my life, na-meet ko lahat sa ilalim nang tulay.

Well, this one too. This is where I met Kaz, yong Hapon kong kebigan. Dito ko na-meet si Vlad, na tiga Moldova, pero nag-aral sa Budapest who’s been inviting me to go to St. Petersburg. Sa ilalim din nang tulay na to na meet ko Fabrizio, ang pinakagwapong Italyanong naging kebigan ko, and now the Country Manager of China for a well-known company. Eh kahit na nga yung una kong syota, nakilala ko lang sa lansagan nang Drexel University eh. Pero, in fairness!, anakis sya nang ambassador to East Germany at that time who lost the job when Germany merged.

Gradweyshun

After almost 2 and a half years of MBA work, ready na akong rumampa and get my diploma. Di ko sinabi sa lahat na ngayon ang aking graduation. Only a couple of people knew. Eh, lungkot na lungkot ako. Kudrado talaga muka ko. Eye even have to wear sunglasses at one point sa mala tsunami kong hikbi. No, not of happiness. Of shit man. Just how could you lose nang tarbahu na isang utot na lang eh me diplomatics na ako? At mga? classmates ko? Promotions galore! Punyeta nilaaaa!!! Waaa! Prsss! Paul tapped my back. He’s the Controller of a Fortune 100 company. It’s gonna be ok?. He too, was laid off last week. Kaso sa kanila, di awayan.

Masaya party namin pero malungkot talaga ako. I became very close pa naman sa lahat ng mga kolokoy na to! Ung isa balik na sya nang London. Ung isa accepted the Sr. VP position of one of the biggest pharmaceutical company in India. Ung isa inilipat sa Shanghai and became the operations head. Another one was promoted to Sr. VP for one of the biggest trucking company in the US. One is going back to Iraq. He’s a soldier. Puro ganun. Ako?! Pooonyeeta! “Could I have another Kettel One and tonic, please? Pour some vodka, gasolina and a little bit of muriatic acid on the rocks”. Marunong lumangoy ang lungkot ko. Nalasing ako.

Au revoir!

Nag-mistulang scene sa Miss Saigon ang drama ko. “Yu wil be hu yu wan tu beee yuuuuu!”, kaso anlayo sa drama ko! So, I washed my car. I want it to be sparklingly clean. I have a lot of memories in this car. Dai palang shit and junks hidden in every armpit in my car. Pero hindi to! It’s a picture of Mike! then another one with his wife and kids. I also found a CD that was given to me by the VP-Technology the other week.

There was not going to be any party in my house, after all. So, I shipped my furniture to Pasig. They’re all brand new. Mahal ko talga bahay ko. Dami kong mga bisita dito. Umaga, hapon, gabi – pero yong mga madaling araw na bisita ang gusto ko. Binenta ko bahay ko.

Ga-kwento ko wid my close friends about my plan. Ang di nila alam, everything were already in place.

I told Chris. This was his reaction: !@#$%^&* nababaliw ka ba?

And then, one after the other found out! So,? I got a lot of !@#$%^&* tanga ka talaga! !@#$%^&* nag-m-menopoause ka na ano? !@#$%^&* anong gagawin mo ron? !@#$%^&* tanga tanga mo! estupidita! !@#$%^&* makinig ka mariang makiling! !@#$%^&* babalik ka rin! !@#$%^&* ulol! %^&*(@ tado ka talaga!!

Go First Class

“Business Class passengers may now board the aircraft!” as the announcement goes. Andito ako sa eroporto. Yeap, pekealam ko sa munco! I flew first class. Ewan. I guess, sa galit ko. I never flew first class. Di ko kasi alam kung me mga seremonyas bago ka mapunta ron eh. But I could hear Mike:

• Act like one and you’ll be one!

• Will you stop dressing like you’re going to a rock concert?

• Give me a smile, else go home and get laid. Darn sure you’ll come back with a smile.

• You invite what you think.

• You should dance!

It’s nice flying first class. Feel ko talaga Reyna ako. Uuwi na ako. Ayoko na sa bayan nang mga apples, oranges at snow. Mag-sasaka na lang uli ako. Na-alala ko yong kanta. Alam ko pambata to. Pero, bata na rin isip ko. Pede na to.

I hope you never lose your sense of wonder!

May you never take one single breathe for granted.

I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean.

Whenever one door closes, another one opens.

Promise me that you’ll give faith a fighting chance.

Never settle for the path of least resistance.

Living might mean taking chances but they’re worth taking.

Loving might be a mistake but it’s worth making.

Give the heavens above more than just a passing glance.

And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance? I hope you dance.

Sapalaran uli! Let me see kung ano meron dito sa pinas. Sipain man ako’t palayasin, kaya ko buhay ko. Pati na mga kaartehan ko. Yes, whenever I get the chance, I will dance. Di ako risk taker in my life, evah, pero si Mike was such a big influence on me, I now take risks na pagtatawanan ninyo.

Kaya tuloy I wonder kung meron syang clone and will I ever find one like him?!

Here’s the song:

Tagged as: Boss, Mike, Music & Videos