five-day express (days four and five)

december 19. back to work on the last indie project.

had to submit some backlog paperwork at the office. met the tribe leader again. and the ex-missus. and everybody.

there was to be a "thank you" dinner sponsored by a supplier that night, and we all came. i was just glad enough to be around him. trying to hold a decent conversation with him. hearing him try to speak in the native language. seeing him laughing.

when he learned that The Puller was going to join us for dinner, i saw the whole demeanor change. it wasn't an evident change, but palpable for me, nonetheless. i knew he was dreading having The Puller there. maybe he was scared of a Wrap Party Scene part two.

well, nothing of the sort happened. the Ex Missus and The Puller were careful not to be physically blatant this time. personally, i was glad that i got to chat up Tribe Leader somehow. glad enough that i got to know from him that he was going to spend Christmas with his pinoy relatives in town.

pinoy, ikaw, pinoy...ipakita sa mundo...!

sigh. but time will come that he'll have to go back to where he grew up. and it's gonna be bye, bye mr. american pie.

the night ended early for all of us. at the end he started hugging, beso-ing, thanking everyone within reach. he does that at the end of each packup day and i'd always managed to stay away. i've always felt awkward about his besos and thank yous. i don't know why.

so this time around wasn't any different. when i sensed that he was coming near my direction i turned away, discreetly as i could. i just couldn't. awkward, torpe schoolgirl me. haha.

december 20.

the only free day that i had in days. i was online the entire day--after 48 hours of having been too busy to get online, the cyberaddict in me had felt deprived! i logged on feeling guilty because there were still so many things to do. transcriptions. translations. production calendars. etc.

i wish i'm in my element right now to get down to the dreary details of the last two days. but the last three entries had been so long, naubos na ang lakas ko. haha.

right now i just can't believe that it's christmas again. lights blinking all over the city again.

merry christmas, tribe leader. hope to see you again before you leave.