m'day: the other b and s

It was an ordinary Wednesday night, seven days till the next pay day and yet Aveneto Pizzeria Ristorante (friggin' mouthful) was packed with its patrons.

I sat on the couch with my laptop neatly placed on the half-prepped table as I waited for my friend and his buddy. I was trying to come up with a blog entry, or at least pretending to tinker with characters and numbers, all the while observing the people around me.

It's one of my weird hobbies, observing people. That's why I asked a waiter if I may be seated at the table by the window side - it's more interesting to watch the dynamics of the "outside" world, make up tiny thought bubbles as strangers pass by and all that. Yep, strangers fascinate me.

There's a certain irony that I don't feel like a stranger when I'm with a bunch of people whom I barely know. Perhaps because each one of us feels exactly the same way that it becomes our commonality.

However, the waiter politely told me that unless I was with a certain Ophelia then the answer would be a "no". Fine.

So I settled for the one with couches. At least the three of us will be comfortable while we eat, make pleasantries and really catch up.

I felt the need to convince the other customers that I was really waiting for someone and that we would actually dine there so I ordered my drink. I had Coke. The non-light type. It was my birthday. I want to indulge.

After a minute or thirty, the two arrived carrying their pasalubong from some place far-North. Sweet. I swear I had a Post-It on my mirror reminding me to bring the keychain from Palawan for B.

And there was S, in the flesh. He's nice. A very pleasant person. Amiable. I like him for B. Not that B needed my approval. But I'm glad that they're together. He's happy and he deserves to be.

Anyway, our dinner consisted of french fries, a platter of sea food pasta and a medium-sized bacon something-something pizza. And we feasted as we talked about their spelunking experience, the difference between natives and locals, blogs and bloggers, my birthday, and other things that formed part of our segues. Everything was spontaneous and fun and real.

We just had to have coffee.

So off we walked to Greenbelt 3 but the coffee shops were already full. B suggested that we head to Coffee Bean Convergys instead. Dude's perception of space is way altered.

We decided to hang out at the Starbucks in Insular Life since it's much closer to the main avenue. We sat at the corner nook and resumed our talk. While B was in the counter, S grilled me about ****. Seriously.

"Wala naman. I'm sure alam mo naman na yun. Nakukuwento na sa'yo ni B yun," I said smiling. "Kaya nga nahihiya ako actually na i-meet ka kasi marami ka ng alam sa akin kahit hindi pa tayo nagkikita."

"Ako din naman," He said returning a smile.

Fair enough.

As I finished my tea, and marveled at how, for lack of a better word, cute the two was while they were talking - like they were in their own little world.

It was getting late so we bid our goodbyes. I hailed a cab and headed home. And before I slept, I sent a thank you message to them both for the fantastic night.

I've never felt more sure that I've found real, good friends in B and S.