From Acquaintances to Instant Friends

Supposedly, I had just arranged a meetup to return the jacket I borrowed from the previous dinner with the gang. I took the advantage of the time that this friend have spared for this date because I know that we will be both busy after that and it's rare to have her around. She has work and reviewing for her board exams while I also have classes during weekdays. Life have given us a mountain pile of tasks for us to get always occupied by our own business and only have rare free time to catch up with our other friends. It's why when we could be both free, I'll try my best to catch up with them and talked about anything as much as we wanted.

Imagine this, we were best friends since high school but after the graduation, it was just the third time that we had meet each other. We never had seen each other for four years! Now that we're all living again in the same city, we still have barely got time to accompany one another.

Here, meet my friends...

So, here's Kim!

She's one of the closest friends I have since high school, and we have this beautiful kind of friendship for 8 years now and counting.

I set a coffee date with her in a cafe near both in our places but we're living in both ends of the city, so we settled in a cafe where our friend is working somewhere in the middle of the city. From the previous meetups, we couldn't talked to each other that much since all of our friends were eager to catch up with each other. As expected, we still have more stories up in our sleeves to tell and an hour of talking straight wasn't enough for that. We ordered sandwiches and coffee, so we could compensate for our long stay even a little.

A few minutes passed an hour of staying there, someone familiar caught our eyes to be fixed on him until he saw us and confirmed the acquaintanceship.

While we were so immersed in the topics we're discussing, these two boys were also working and talking at the next to us and transfer to our table as soon as they found us. They were our schoolmates but not that close. Since they are friends of a friend, it's not possible for us not to encounter each other and just say Hi over the years.

They also shared a glimpse of their college life and some instances that they remembered that we had an encounter with them in highschool. They shared their food and joke with us. We had fun until we said goodbyes.

Kim and I had other things to do at the mall, that's why we went out first. Unfortunately, it was cancelled in last minute even though we have reached the location. We were ready to go home but the boys messaged us to invite us for a Sundae at the newly opened branch of McDonalds around Megaworld Bacolod.

We thought that it was just the two of them again, so we agreed to meet them there. It turns out, they were not alone. They coincidentally meet their other friends, which is also acquainted to us but some are totally strangers. It was a bit awkward since they have brought dinner and had a picnic on a grassy space beside McDonalds. The two boys ordered inside the food chain for our foods, and to our surprise, it's free!

Their friends were fun to be with, so the awkwardness somehow fades as we talked. After that picnic night, we instantly got closer and they have formed as another circle of friends. They even created a group chat for the few of us to update one another if we're all free for a coffee date or outing.

They wanted dinner, I want coffee...

I have just arrived at our meetup point when it started pouring. They were stucked in their offices anyway because of the rain, so it's not a problem waiting here for the rain to slacken off. But, it seems that the rain also wanted to join our date that it didn't want to stop pouring or just slow down a bit. Thankfully, Kim's boyfriend have a car to fetch me there and they already had checked the first cafe we agreed to meetup. It was full!

We went to another place, The Sneakerhead coffee shop. I ordered a doubleshot americano as soon the others arrived. I was already trembling from the cold though I was wearing a hoodie jacket.

And here's my brewed coffee before anything else, just perfect for the cold weather. Since it was past 6pm already, they suggested to have dinner instead of snacks. They had a limited rice meals, so I went with what the other ordered and they also added a large plate of Tacos for everyone.

We were this cold and hungry that we didn't mind taking photos before we ate. I also just snapped a few and continued. There were some friends that we nearby, so they also invited them to have dinner with us. We found out later that two of them are currently working in government offices, at the Department of Trade and PHILVOCS. Good for them. I'm actually happy listening to their success stories and also motivated to pursue my own dreams after hearing their hardwork to be where they are right now. Kudos!

The discussions took some time again and I felt chill. When they asked if we want another glass of refreshment, I ordered another cup of brewed coffee again. I'm refreshed if I'm warm. Just looked at those two cups, those were just mine alone. They all just looked at me in disbelief with how much coffee intake I can handle without palpitating, then started recommending some good variety of coffee beans.

After that, we all parted with a smile and a promise that we'll have another date again if they can have free time. Now, we're even closer and they're updating on the chat from time to time. Thanks to a coincidence, I made another circle of friends that's worth to be with.