There Will Be Trouble

We were supposed to have an overnight swimming party in Laguna last Saturday, October 5th. The press release was as follows: Rey, who joined our company the Monday right after we had our team building weekend, felt a bit left out when he heard all the fun stories that his team mates and I shared during our smoke breaks; therefore, he wanted to host his own team building event that didn't really include any of the tedious and forgettable stuff that we had to experience. But the truth is, the guys and I were going to spend for it— at least, initially— just because we wanted to get out and unwind and, I suppose, get to know ourselves a lot better.

The place that we were considering had the essentials: a large enough space to host around 50 persons, including a small band setup (Rey wanted to jam, play the drums, sing a little); a billiard table; and a videoke machine for use when we were all tired playing. I've enlisted Jewel and Dino for that affair because we didn't know who among our workmates can actually play. The two committed to this as early as mid-August. It was supposed to be an awesome weekend.

Rey had recently lost his job before this all went down— in a very sudden and sad manner— and everything fell through.

I suppose it was partly fortunate for us (Dino, Jewel, and I) that that happened; because over the last few weeks, each of us has had something that needed dealing with. And there was a lot to talk about in the company of one's closest friends. We weren't going to let anything ruin our weekend plans.

We didn't know where to go at first— we never do. On Wednesday, after an event that triggered the emotions that I wrote about last time, we decided that we were going up North for a day out. Paul came with because he also had shit to talk about, which we already know but needed listening to just because it needed to be told again. We went to Pampanga, to a place where Jewel thought none of us had ever been to before but turned out to be a place that wasn't really new. That's not important. The company was.

I am not at liberty to say what was spoken about because it is going to hurt a lot of other people. I know that I'd previously written about not keep shit to myself any more but a lot of the stories that were exchanged had nothing to do with me. But if there are any realisations that we had that I can share, they are that: a small pot of rice is all we need to have our fill, iPhones are genuinely waterproof, Karma is real, there will be trouble, and we will survive anything.

We didn't plan on spending the night away from home. Jewel had a morning ride the following day, Dino had to help out with the kids' homework, Paul had a scheduled recording session (I think), and I had football in the afternoon. I was home by 17:30 and was asleep by 19:00. I slept for 17 hours.

And again, I had the dreams that I keep on having.