Of (Heart)Beats and Bylines [Completed]

Chapter 18- Epiphany

The scowl on RJ's face was becoming more pronounced. "I've never taken advantage of the attention from females. Or from anyone else's for that matter. Not my thing. But to each is own, I guess."

"Yeah. To each is own," John agreed. Mercifully, he did not say anything more.

I cleared my throat to ease the thick tension in the air. Quick Maine, divert the conversation to another topic. "RJ, are you all set for the ASEAN Summit trip?" I asked, uttering each word rather hurriedly.

He turned to look at me and his face softened a little. "There are still so many things to take care of."

"It seems that everybody's going out of the country these days," said one of RJs friends, Ryan.

Thank you for picking up on the topic, Ryan.

I expounded the subject. "Seems like it. Emily here just got back from Australia, and Zoe, from Spain."

Most people at the table have never been to either of the two countries, so they expressed curiosity in touring both. Everyone in the group has traveled abroad at least once, and we all raved about the virtues of traveling. Not only does it widen our perspectives, it makes us appreciate better the beauty of the Philippines.

Whew. I breathed a sigh of relief. At least the edgy atmosphere eased significantly. Mali 'to. Dapat hindi ko na lang siya sinama.

Pero, teka. Bakit parang ako pa yung mali? Shouldn't we all try to get along with our dates' friends? At least this early, I'm seeing the side of John that he's never shown in the four corners of the Chronicle.

Mayabang siya. And he behaved properly in our office likely because we are his clients.

I craned my neck to catch a glimpse of the stage. I saw Ethan checking the band's set-up. He caught me looking and he waved from where he stood. I waved back.

What was it that Chrissy said during dinner? That she hopes RJ doesn't play tonight? Well, I pray he does, lest John says something cocky again.

After tonight, it has become clearer to me what my next step should be.

~~~~~

Ethan's girlfriend Jen was with us that night and being a fashionista herself, Zoe's profession greatly interested her.

"What's it like to be a fashion merchandiser?" she asked.

"As expected, it can be glamorous. But behind the bright lights is also work that involves multi-tasking and long hours. We have to balance fashion with its business side. It's never boring because the tasks can vary greatly. You start from conceptualization to actually seeing your ideas come to life inside a store," Zoe shared with a twinkle in her eye. She really loves her job.

"I can imagine being a hotelier is exciting too. Lots of events and tourists involved. I love meeting people of different nationalities," mentioned Zoe.

"Yes, and there are lots of food involved too," Jen said with a giggle. "How about you John? What do you do for a living?"

John paused to take a swig of his nth beer then answered. "I'm CEO. You know, Chief of Everything Officer because I run my own business. I own an IT company. In this era, IT is the way to go. I'm an IT supplier for the Chronicle. That's how I met Maine."

He went on and on about the perks of being the boss and being the business owner at the same time.

"That's why if I were you, I'd put up my own business." He directed his self-praise more towards RJ. "'Cause this newspaper thing, it's a dying industry.