A/N: Masyado akong naeexcite sa story na to kaya here's your update. I didn't proofread this much dahil ang goal ay mag stress writing. LOL. Enjoy~

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“Yum…” Karina nodded at herself in satisfaction as she was able to perfect her third attempt at making an omelet for dinner. Nasunog yung unang attempt niya, the second one was too salty and this third one was just right. She with a small portion muna para hindi sayang yung mga rejected attempts.

 

It’s already 7 pm and she usually eats at 6 pm without rice to take care of her body proportions. When her ex cheated on her, halos lahat ng insecurity niya sa katawan ay tumaas kaya naman she started caring about improving her face, body and overall confidence. Anyway, since nagbreak na sila nung gago, no one cooks for her anymore kahit 8 years na siyang independently na nakatira sa Manila. During college, her shared dormitory doesn’t allow cooking so wala talaga siyang attempts to cook. Her mom takes over the kusina in the province while she was always getting partners who are great cooks.

 

Ngayon lang siya nagkaroon ng drive to learn a new hobby because this time, she focused on herself. Narealize ni Karina na she had been a bit dependent on her previous partners pagdating sa chores so now she's learning them bit by bit.

 

She never realized how fun it was to clean the house, do the laundry, and do some decorating until she had the whole place to herself. Or siguro tumatanda na talaga siya that she finds mundane boring tasks like that exciting na.

 

Either way, she took a picture of her first success cooking and shared it with her Ate Catherine(SeoHyun), Ningning, and her mom. While she was busy munching the semi-cooled omelet with her sando top and shorts habang nakatayo sa kitchen island, her other hand was busy scrolling through her feed.

 

Karina took note of the interesting news from her hometown on Facebook. 

The high school couple na kaklase niya way back is getting married soon because the girl is pregnant. She shared their prenuptial couple shoots. Their classroom president announced that they are gathering funds for the high school’s 45th reunion coming soon. Magsesend na din daw ng official invite with the dates. 

Karina wondered if it was worth it to travel a few days to attend.

Her cousin is happy to share that she’s set to leave the Philippines to work in Japan soon. She shared a photo of her passport and her luggage. 

She wondered how her cousin’s family would accept that but it seems na masaya naman sila sa idea na mas malaki ang kita sa abroad.

 

Bago pa makapag-marites mode si Karina some more, her mom’s message popped up.

 

“Oh wow! Marunong ka na magluto anak. Di ka pa ba papasok?”

 

Karina smiled proudly and started typing a formal response na off niya sa work.

 

She hasn’t really told anyone else in her family about her writing career apart from her Ate Cath. Nothing against her parents naman, just that her parents weren’t very supportive of her love for literature growing up, and mas madaling sabihin sa kanila na may stable office job siya like her sister. Her parents are typical working people na naniniwala sa stability ng pagiging employee over artistic sidelines like writing. They'd think that her book being a best seller could be just a lucky one-hit wonder.

 

Karina is sure she’ll tell them very soon naman. Maybe when she gets a sizable amount of assets her parents will be proud of. For now, she liked her current status na hawak niya ang oras niya sa pagsusulat.

 

Hindi na din nagreply ang mom niya after her reply since she’s always busy din. Retired na ang parents niya and they are enjoying the quiet province life in the heritage her grandparents left her dad. Her parents are probably getting ready for bed.

 

Meanwhile, Ningning just asked her to cook for her next time. At naiinggit daw siya since her dinner was light while her friend was stuck with leftover Chinese dishes. Nireplyan niya lang ng :p na emoji. 

 

Last na nagreply si Ate Catherine, telling her she did a great job. Karina was happy with the validation na nakuha niya sa ate niya. Growing up, her Ate Catherine had been her role model. 3 years lang ang pagitan nila and they attended school together. Her sister was always part of the top students so it was inevitable that when the teachers heard her surname, they expected the very best of her. In a way, it also helped her perform very well in school. Though the pressure was always there.

 

Hindi naman siya naghinanakit sa ate niya even if she always comes out better than her in every way. How can she be mad when her Ate Catherine did her best to guide her growing up? Minsan, mas parang mommy niya pa nga ang ate niya with how much nurturing she provided to her.

 

Natigil ang pagrereminisce ni Karina when her phone beeped and it was her Ate Catherine calling. She quickly answered cause her ate was always busy and everywhere since she works as an Operations Manager for SM Corporations. Her ate is just that good that she has climbed the ladder of success so far and early in her career.

 

“Hi Ate…”

 

“How’s my favorite writer and apparently a budding cook na din?” pang-aasar nito sa kanya.

 

“Ate naman…” Karina whined like the bunso that she was. “But I’m enjoying the reaps of my hardwork.”

 

Tumawa lang nasa kabilang linya. “That’s great! I knew you’d be a great cook kahit prito pa yan.” 

 

“Ate!” Karina pouted like a kid. Ang hilig talaga mang-asar ng ate niya porke marunong siya magluto. She was another reason why she never learned chores dahil her Ate liked to spoil her when they lived together.

 

“Chill…chill…you should come over and cook for me sometime.”

 

“Para kang si Ningning…sabi mo nga prito pa lang to”

 

“Great minds think alike. Besides, that’s a start to your chef journey.”

 

“Heh…so why did you call pala?” 

 

“Aaaahhh…that.” she heard shuffling of papers on the other line. “May fun run activity ang company this weekend. I got extra complimentary tickets and since you like to do physical activity stuff na din, do you wanna go with me?”

 

“Depends…gano kalayo yung tatakbuhin and which area?” may nadinig na naman siyang shuffling ng papel. “Ate, don’t tell me nasa office ka pa.” she said disapprovingly. Sobrang workaholic naman kasi.

 

“Yeah…pauwi na din in a bit. May tinapos lang.” She heard some typing. “As for the length, up to you! I’ll send the official invite to your personal email. I can get any free ticket and merchandise I want. Gotta use my perks as Operations Manager, you know. I’m actually sending it right now.”

 

“Fine fine…sayang naman ang perks mo. I’ll check that in a bit and tatapusin ko lang food ko.” Karina stared at her half-eaten plate and then drank her luk