Getting Over It

Dinner had just ended and we moved back to her living room for some after-dinner conversation. Superior urged us to seat and make ourselves -- myself and a friend -- comfortable. Someone asked for coffee, so I stood up, opened the cupboards, took down some mugs and prepared the coffee.

All too comfortable. And why shouldn't I be, when this house used to be our old apartment when I was a kid. From the door, I see the closed-off patio with a waist-high gate. Outside of which is the common area shared by three other houses, one on the right, and two others on the left. On the high wall near the compound gate, the over-reaching branches of the caimito tree provides a ruckus of rustling leaves, marking this idyllic night ripe for conversation.

What my former boss from the Great Place is doing on the house I spent my childhood in, I have no idea, but the conversation we were having then was friendly, amiable. There was none of the stress and veiled mixture of hostility and disappointment that we shared during our last encounter. I woke up and I realized that I'm finally over that unfortunate event. I'm pretty sure the dream was prompted with my talk that night with officemates.

----

Coffee and Cream, self-professed siblings of different parentage, invited me to coffee and just hang out. Cream had resigned some months prior, and filing for undertime from work was well worth it to catch up. From the stories I heard before Cream resigned, and the stories I heard that night, it was clear there was bad blood between worker and boss. It wasn't always the case, though, as the falling out seemed to have stemmed from Cream's decision to leave. Suddenly, the outstanding assistant became a lackey who did nothing and botched up the simplest of reports.

Accountabilities were turned over and signed off, but the clearance remains unsigned. And months after resigning, there's still no sign of the final pay getting released.

I can only imagine the amount of resentment building up, being finally rid of a thankless job, only to find out that your former boss wont release you. And mainly because the ones left still cannot make heads or tails of the job that was left behind.

A couple of days ago, while strolling around Megamall, Cream saw the bald head belonging to the former boss.  They know they saw each other, but neither gave any reaction, and just went about their own way.  Cream went inside a store and was promptly attacked by a case of the shivers.  There was a bit of laughter while this story was being told, but something was being withheld, something palpable and brooding just underneath the surface.

Clearly, Cream isn't over the ordeal with the former boss.  And from the actions and stories I see and hear, it would be long before anyone forgives and forgets.

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The night progressed and it started to rain and we took that as a sign to adjourn for the night.  Coffee was able to extract a promise from Cream to continue the story and meet us again the next day for lunch.  And with the promise given, we stood up and made the trek to where the buses will take us to our destinations.