5 Work or Marriage?

It was a hot Sunday afternoon in Mayne City in the middle of August. The streets were bustling with tourists and locals, killing their time and spending their moolahs over anything that could help alleviate the heatwave. Most of them enjoyed the outdoors, while some enjoyed being cooped up inside their home caves like hermits—no offense to hermits.

Angela was a hermit. A hermitess?

She embraced her love for staying indoors. While she finds traveling or visiting other places fun, what she really enjoyed the most was a quiet time—which is all the time.

Just like now, Angela wanted to stay in her workroom where she spends hours just writing. It was one of her safe havens in the house where she lived alone—though her brother could freely walk in and out of her house because he was overprotective of her.

Her workroom was a small space with minimal furniture. The minimalistic beige wooden desk faced the window so she could see the view outside and of the sky from her 40th-floor condominium unit — it helped her to have a clear head whenever she writes. With a laptop, some small table plants and her notebook, she kept the space clean and tidy. Compared to her bedroom and living room, Angela's workroom was the tidiest.

Angela planned to spend the entire afternoon scribbling her thoughts, hoping that inspiration would just magically kick in. Ha! If it were that easy but who knows?

Just when she was about to sit down on her chair in the workroom, her phone rang and she picked it up as soon as she saw her best friend Nina calling her.

"Antonina!" she squealed as soon as she pressed the green call button on her phone screen.

"Oh my god! Stop calling me that!" Nina huffed on the other end of the line.

"What? It's your name!"

"Old name! Emphasis on old, please?" Nina didn't like her old name. When her parents divorced, she convinced them to change her legal name to just simply 'Nina'. But Angela calls her that from time to time to annoy her.

"Whatever you say, Antonina. Are you coming back yet?" Angela sat on her chair and played with the pen in her hand.

"Actually… I just got back. I'm heading to your place right now, that's why I'm calling."

"I hate Mexico now. I mean I love it but… I broke up with James yesterday. Now I have bad memories of Cabo. So stupid."

Angela opened the door and saw Nina walking towards her with her phone in her ear. "Why did you break up with James?" she asked, her phone was still on her ear and the call was still ongoing even though there were only several feet away.

"He cheated on me. I don't wanna talk about it." Nina dismissed it right away, not wanting to relive what she just went through yesterday. "Hey, babe," she hugged and kissed Angela's cheeks when she reached her.

"Are you okay? Tell me where he is and I'll kick his ass to the sun." Angela didn't let go of the hug so fast. Breakups sucked.

"I already did that. I broke his neck and left him in a ditch somewhere."

Angela pulled away and looked at Nina strangely as though she was questioning the truth in her words. The wide grin on her best friend's face just told her she was kidding, making her laugh. "You know, you could have called me if you killed him, I'd be happy to change into my dirty jumpsuit and help you bury his body in the middle of nowhere."

"I know you would." Nina's genuine smile brightened her face. "Let's go out, I want to sulk in somewhere crowded."

…

Busy Bean Café

"How's your book?" Nina took a small piece of the cheesecake that she was sharing with Angela and put it in her mouth.

Angela let out a sigh, shaking her head as she told her best friend what she had been doing for the past couple of days. She had even thought of giving up the plot but she already started it and didn't want to call herself a quitter.

"Why don't we travel? Go someplace and see some new things with me?" Angela sipped on her cappuccino, smiling after she appreciated the smell that wafted in her nose and tasting the creaminess of it in her mouth. She could drink it all day!

"You just told me your father forced you to work in the company. When will you be able to travel?"

"Ugh. You're right." Angela clicked her tongue and groaned, reminded of her father's new project: 'You either work here or get married!' were her father's words—not exactly what he said but it was somewhere along those lines. She was certainly not going to get married just to get out of working in the company!

She did want to get married someday but she wasn't in a hurry at all. She wanted to enjoy her single life. A hopeless romantic who was taking her time to fall in love.

'You're almost thirty! If you don't get married now, when can you have kids?!' — her father's words rang in her ears, making her lip twitch.

For god's sake! She was only twenty-eight. Her father made it sound like she was on a deadline or something. Like she was dying of an incurable not-yet-married-don't-have-kids disease.

Brushing her unpleasant thoughts aside, she faced Nina and told her, "What about a weekend getaway?"

"Where do you wanna go?"

"I don't know… some… Island or a beach somewhere."

"Babe, we're literally near the coast. It's like a half an hour ride from here. What else are you looking for?"

"I don't mean here. Someplace else… a little further… a plane ride if possible."

"Wow, you want a weekend getaway and a plane ride. How long do you plan to stay in that place? Six hours?"

Angela knitted her brows at her best friend Nina who just rolled her eyes. "Come on. Humor me."

Setting her dessert fork down, Nina faced Angela and nodded. "Okay, fine. I'll go wherever you want to go. It's actually not a bad idea to go somewhere. Maybe that will help you with your writer's block…"

"It's not a block... I don't know what it is…"

"You just need some inspiration. Let's plan that getaway. Who knows? You might meet a hottie while we're there. Maybe that will give you the push." Nina wiggled her brows.

Angela chuckled and took another sip of her cappuccino. She tucked her hair behind her ear, flicking it out of habit. She didn't know what it was but she was suddenly feeling a bit weird about the thought of that getaway.