another year for all of us posted by imani , Friday, January 30, 2009 at 4:21 PM, in Labels: freefall

So last January 24th, I took a vacation leave – the rest of The Femme Fetales had planned to convene for the occasion of Mumai’s and Louie’s birthday. In short – they, Mumai and Louie, planned to give themselves a surprise birthday party. Wahaha.

It was the first time it happened. I was late. I was fashionably late. What happened was that I took a nap, with all the intention of waking up at 7pm so I can travel back to Manila (I was in Clark at that time). I overslept. Like 4 hours. So I got to Cherry’s house at around 1225am. Louie and Edge weren’t there anymore but I made it a point to raise my shot glass for both of them.

By the time I got there, Mumai and Ara were already inebriated – but I promised Mumai that I’d drink as much (we were ‘chugging’ tequila) when I get there. So I did. I wasn’t able to finish the pasta that Mumai served me because I wanted to drink right away. Wahahah.

It was a very interesting night. Aside from it being a Femme Fetales reunion, two of the people whose blogs I have been reading the past few months were also there – Kristine and VInz. It’s nice to finally be able to put a face to the name.

As usual, when I get ‘shocked’ or when I get too enthusiastic about a particular event, I couldn’t write right away. So I had to wait a few days and let everything we have discussed sink in before making an attempt to translate all the things that I have heard, discovered and contemplated upon into words.

We listened all night to Sarah McLachlan (for the most part) – which sort of made the atmosphere a little…gloomy…but of course Josane and Ara were there to keep everyone entertained with their antics.

Being with the girls – Mumai, Ara, Josane and Tin (an honorary member of The Femme Fetales) and boy – Vinz – made me realize how much I miss hanging out with people who allow others to just be themselves.

I stayed up late. Really late. Mumai took a nap, Ara took a nap, Josane took a nap – they all woke up and I was still alive and kicking. I suppose that was my way of ‘catching up’ with my friends – or with anyone who’s lucid and would like to talk to me at that time. Wahaha.

What came as a surprise was that despite the fact that I have known all 3 of them (Mumski, Josane, Ara) for over 9 years – we never seem to run out of things to talk about – regardless if one or all of us were half-awake. That, I know, is one of the trademarks of a lasting friendship. For some reason we never got tired of telling each other stories (some of which have been repeated in different occasions the last few years), drinking the same brand of tequila, eating whatever is available (take note: in between tequila shots, I munched on Lays, rocky road ice cream and drank RC cola), using kalamansi as substitute to lemon or lime, we never got exhausted of laughing at the same jokes – stuff then happened back in college – and most of all, they never ceased to amaze me. Cherry wasn’t there but she did make a ‘phone patch’ that morning to check how everyone was. Well…everyone was…either drunk or still in bed. Wahaha.

Kristine and Vinz were also very candid – which I think is an understatement. Well – they are their blogs – they are what they write. It’s so nice to be in the company of people who are driven (to write) by the same insane things – love lost, relationships that fade without any caution, people who baffle and consume others. And I know, yeah, sometimes in the middle of our conversation, one of us would realize that too much information has been given and…well…we sort of just let each other be.

Thank you guys! Looking forward to another session – drinking, coffee, food, pot, tattoo session – you name it. I’ll be there.

I did sign the ‘covenant’ to be there this May, right?