Small World

I am taking off from Robin Van Persie's Wating Game Tsk! Such patience, my dear… :)

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"Daannnaaa!!! Puhleez! I. Am. Begging. You."

Dana pulled her cellphone away from her head as her friend's voice shrieked out from the receiver.

"Dana? You still there?"

Dana rolled her eyes, sighed. She placed her phone against her ear again.

"Jen, I told you! I'm busy tonight." She spoke to her former college roommate who called her up at lunch that Wednesday and had kept calling her every hour since then.

"Oh, c'mon, bitch! You spell busy with C-S-I!" Dana almost choked on her coffee at Jenny's retort. She stared at the remainders of her coffee while the voice on the phone continued. "I know you are not busy-busy because Aunt Estelle told me…"

I should get a new job, Dana thought.

"And I have work tomorrow as well, but I promise you we'll out by midnight…"

Dana rolled her eyes at the ceiling, thinking 'Yeah, right. Like Cinderella'

"…like Cinderella with our shoes on…" Jenny blabbed on. "So what do you say? Please… I won't take no for an answer."

Dana coughed a couple of times on the phone. "Jen, I'm sick…" she began to say.

"Bullshit!" Jenny's voice screamed cutting Dana off. "Cut the crap, Dana. I'm coming over to pick you up already."

"But Jen…" Dana looked down on herself. Since she was looking forward to a lazy Wednesday night, she was just wearing an old oversized t-shirt over her cut-off shorts. With her hair dishevelled from her nap, she knew she looked ratty. But Dana also knew that Mac Taylor won't mind.

Dana was about to launch another bout of excuses to her friend when she heard a loud banging against her apartment door.

"Hold on a sec, sis…" She said on the phone as she opened the door.

Standing at the threshold was her friend, Jenny, with a phone in her hand, her head cocked to the side and an eyebrow raised. "I told you, I won't take no for an answer. I will drag you out by the hair if I have to." Jenny said solemnly.

Dana sighed in resignation and followed her friend into the apartment. Jenny went straight to the refrigerator and helped herself to a glass of water. Dana almost slammed her cellphone on the kitchen counter, crossed her arms over her chest and glared at her friend.

"Okay, what's the big deal about this party?" Dana asked.

Jenny rummaged around the kitchen shelves and pulled out a pack of iced tea mix. She shrugged as she poured some powder into the glass. "It's not a party, just a get together, y'know… a kinda gimmick."

Dana pulled out the drawer next to her and took out a teaspoon which she handed over to her friend. "What's the big deal about it?"

Jenny shrugged but stirred on the glass in her hand naughtily. "Nothing much…just feeling a little adventurous."

Dana clapped her hands in triumph and smiled broadly at her friend. "Then I'm not going."

Jenny whined at Dana's back as the latter walked to the living room to slump sideways on the sofa. "Aww c'mon, friend…"

Dana covered her ears with a throw pillow. She's not feeling "adventurous" today. She's had enough adventure during the last weekend to last her a lifetime. It was the kind of adventure that was nice to reminisce but afraid to do all over again.

It's funny now that Jenny would probably want to have that same kind of adventure. Knowing each other since high school, Jenny and Dana are like sisters separated at birth. Though Jenny seem to have a knack for attracting the wrong kind of guys. The last guy that Jenny broke up with two months ago turned out to be gay. And the guy before that? He seemed to have kicks seeing Jenny with bruises on her face.

Come to think of it, it's probably Jenny's boy troubles since high school that made Dana very cautious about the guys she meet. Even with Rob.

But Rob seemed to be an exception. There was definitely something in him which pulled her to him. More than a sexual pull. The sex was fantastic. But there was definitely something more. But it might be something that she may not be able to handle. It scared Dana. Not because Rob may turn out to be a bad guy. But because it was with him that Dana threw all caution to the wind. But that same wind threw back caution and hit Dana right smack in the face. She had to get away from him.

Since the weekend, Dana refused to check her personal e-mail account. The one she uses to log-in on Facebook and other websites that needs e-mail registration. The one she rarely checks because it would be filled with spam and notifications. The one she gave Rob.

"Dana?"

Even with the pillow covering her face, Dana knew that Jenny is standing in front of her. She sighed again. She knows her friend needs to be rescued from herself.

"What time does this 'gimmick' start?" Dana asked, her voice muffled by the throw pillow.

"At eight."

Dana released another sigh. She peeked under her pillow to the wall clock across the room. 7:50pm.

Dana slowly stood up and headed for the bedroom. "Let me go change," she grumbled, ignoring Jenny's truimphant smirk.

"Oh, Dana?"

Dana stopped and turned to her friend. Jenny was holding up Dana's cordless phone with an open battery compartment.

"No wonder I can't reach you on your landline. Where's the battery?"

Dana simply shook her head and walked into the bedroom. "It's dead."

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Dana looked at her wrist watch. 9:00 pm. She sighed. She could be watching Mac Taylor by now.

She looked around the somewhat crowded living room wondering where else she can watch TV. Aside from Jenny, there are no familiar faces in the "gimmick" that they arrived at an hour ago.

The TV in the living room was showing a rerun of the Spurs-Heat game series. Most of the guys are sitting in front of the TV, loudly cheering practically at every shot of the ball. Cheering at both the hits and misses of the ball. There were a lot of people at the backyard, as well, mostly couples.

Dana looked at her watch again and sighed. Three hours to go before they do a Cinderella thing. She took a sip from the bottle of San Mig Light and placed it carefully on the sidetable . It was still the same bottle that was handed to her as soon as she entered the door. The bottle was still half-full.

She stood up from the arm chair and walked towards Jenny who was giggling to whatever was whispered to her ear by the guy standing next to her. Jenny introduced the guy earlier… Albert? Allen? Alex? Certainly, remembering names is not Dana's forte.

Dana cleared her throat. Jenny and the guy forced themselves to stop giggling. Jenny looked at her friend. "Uhm, Jenny, where is the bathroom?" Dana asked.

The guy briefly pointed to one direction. "Thanks," Dana mumbled as the two broke into fits of laughter again. Glad she's having a good time, Dana thought to herself.

Dana walked along a corridor of the bungalow. She opened a door closest to the living room and peeked in. The room was dimly lit with the lamps next to the bed. A couple was groping at each other on the bed.

"Hey!" The guy on the bed shouted.

"Oops! Sorry!" Dana quickly shut the door and moved to the next door which was, thankfully, the bathroom. Dana pulled aside the shower curtain to make sure there were no other people in there. Sighing with relief, she locked herself in the bathroom.

After flushing the toilet, Dana retouched her light make-up. She cursed Jenny for forcing her to wear make-up. For Dana, make-up is for special occassions -- family gatherings, weddings, baptisms, conferences that she attends, and a few special dates.

"This is definitely not a make-up occasion," Dana whisphered before reaching for her facial wash inside her bag.

After drying her face and hands, Dana ran a comb through her hair and tied it up in a ponytail. With her face void of any skin product, a black turtleneck long-sleeved shirt and bootleg jeans with, of course her, black boots with two-inch heels, she hoped that no guy would hit on her.

Dana chuckled as she remembered Jenny begging her to change outfits before they headed to the party. "You look like a fourth Charlie's angel, girl!" Jenny had said. That was the idea, Dana thought.

As soon as Dana opened the bathroom door, she heard a familiar voice.

"Hey, Alex!"

"Rob! Glad you could make it!"

Dana quickly shut the bathroom door again. No. Fucking. Way.

She leaned against the sink for support. It was as if the room is spinning.

She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. Then she stared at her reflection in the mirror.

"Small world, huh?" Dana told herself.

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This is a shout out to all the wonderful girl friends and sisters out there. Mga kunsintidor ng kung anu-ano. Mga karamay sa mga emo mode. Mga katabi sa foot spa parlor. Mga ka-berks sa mga mall sales. Mga kasama sa kape at kung anupaman. Every woman may not always need a man… but they need a sister or a best female ally as well.

And to my bestest female buds out there: I know that you know that you can only consider my suggestions about your lives -- not necessarily doing what I say (which is, as you know, frustrating and exasperating for me!)… I cannot run your lives for you. But IF or WHEN YOU DO run your lives down to the ground… I will not tell you, "I told you so." Oh, I'd probably frown at you for a while, drag you around by the hair a bit to get you out of your slump, but never nag at you. I promise you that. If you ever reach rock bottom, my dear friend, there's no place to go but up. I'll be here to pull you over the edge. :)

Pssst, Robin! I look forward to your next move. :D

Next: Running in Circles by Robin Van Persie