in praise of the vulnerable mak, pt. II

SEVEN.

Nikki set her phone down on the table after calling her boyfriend. As the other two perused the menu in search of a worthwhile meal, she asked her male companion, "So how are you? What's new? What's going on? What's happening?"

Momentarily stopping from what he’s doing, Mak looked towards Nikki and nonchalantly shrugged. "I have a new job. I have a dog. Oh, and I worked at Starbucks!" He exclaimed the last part as if it were the single most interesting thing that happened to him these past years.

"Yeah! G told me all about it. So how was it?" She replied seemingly enthused.

"It felt a whole lot different from office work, I could tell you that. But it was fun. Tiring." He went on narrating things that occurred during the span of time that the two didn’t meet. Meanwhile, Gracie called on the waiter to order. As she enumerated several dishes, most of which were appetizers, Mak interrupted and told his best friend, "Order something with fries on the side, pleeeeeease" before resuming his chat with Nikki. Like school children, the three engaged themselves in an animated discussion regarding college, work, old friends, love life or the lack of it, and some other things that shouldn’t leave the confines of Friday's.

Their talk was briefly interrupted when the food they ordered was served. After the multitude of dishes was set on the table, the three began feasting on the appetizers – a plate of calamari, several cubes of mozzarella, chicken fingers and a handful of fries. Mak frowned when he saw the latter. He thought that the restaurant serves a generous amount of fries. Obviously, he was mistaken as there were no more than thirty fries lying on the side of the chicken. He was craving for some French fries. That's why he suggested they go to Fish & Co. but no, Gracie chose to be stingy that night, of all nights. Like Friday's is any less costly.

Then a really huge guy carrying a couple of shopping bags and wearing a goofy smile joined them at the table. Even before he could sit down he tactlessly asked, "Who's he?" pointing his finger at Mak.

Seriously. Mak thought deflecting the larger man's ignorance. The two have been introduced to each other by Gracie long before he even decided to get serious with his girlfriend Nikki. They've been to parties and gimmicks together and now he'd ask that silly question. The younger guy was short of being annoyed.

"He's a friend from the college paper," his girlfriend answered like this was the first time they've met.

"Wow. So I'm with a group of artistic people." He said with what seems to be an attempt for humor. "So what did you do there? What did you write? Nikki here writes poetic stuff well.”

"I was her editor," Mak sternly answered, putting an emphasis on the last word. "Hence, I should know how to write all kinds of stuff, well."

Silence ensued.

Gracie saw this as an opportunity to start another conversation. "So Mak, do you have any plans of having a kid?" Her sister-in-law is due to give birth by late January and she couldn’t help but to be secretly excited over her being an aunt.

I glared at her for having the nerve to ask that question. "Sure, sure. As soon as…"

"I want to be like Angelina. She's my idol,” She cut him off in mid-sentence.

"You're going to marry Brad Pitt?" Nikki asked before serving a fork load of the pasta's tomato bits to her boyfriend.

"As if," Mak said. "Brad's not her type. She prefers a male version of herself."

"No! I want kids," She beamed as she recollected past events involving kids, most of which were outreach programs sponsored by the organization. "Kids are fun. Remember that one time that Nikki and I were carrying a baby and you guys were standing in the far corner drinking Pepsi?"

But Mak couldn't recall said incident. "All I remember was playing patintero during one outreach program. Besides, I don't drink Pepsi so you must be mistaken."

"No you were there! You were disgusted kaya." Both girls said in unison.

"Ah? Of course not." He reacted defensively. "Anyway, aren't you supposed to have a husband, or a boyfriend at the very least, before jumping to the baby part? You'll need a guy to make one, you know."

Gracie rolled her eyes and said, "Look who's talking."

"I know!" He grumbled. "That's why I'm thinking Himalayan whistle kids. Brangelina doesn't have one yet, right?"

On the other side of the table, Nikki and the boyfriend were still busy making sure that we get every centavo's worth of our bill.

TO BE CONTINUED.