anticipating…The GATHERING.

the call came as a welcome intrusion right smack into my chaotic piece of the afternoon.

in between grids. flight bookings. flight confirmations for the nth time. perpetual email exchange. Sinulog preparations.

Sir A. one of the few persons whom I sincerely respect in the profession I’ve been a practitioner for quite some time (and still do practice, in between PR calls) was at the other line. asking for Garduce’s presence in the upcoming PSA Awards Night.

apparently, they haven’t located the creature (hehehe) and so I’ve been sought. who am i to deny a request, especially if it came from the group whose comradeship i sorely missed (i still do and am still missing).

and the invite came along. not as an afterthought.
but moreso, because Sir A. expects me to come.

the thought overwhelms me, i must confess. not that i expect to be invited still. but to make me feel that i still belong despite being amiss of the major happenings in the sportswriting community.

D’s call came next. and the thread of conversation runs parallel. i was not yet sure if i could come. and then the line hit me…

“text me if you’re going to come. para alam namin kung saan kami nakalugar sa puso mo..”

wow! it struck a  nerve. it does did. and even if it was meant to be a joke, i was singed stung by the its sheer rawness of it  bluntness.

and it was unfair.

and i verbalized the injustice of the statement.

if i could, if i run my own office and if i own my time, people very close to me need not say it out loud twist my arm.

i am sure to come.

but i cannot make any confirmations on the spot.
my boss will be leaving a day earlier for the Sinulog and i’m suppose to do my long-overdued presentation for the regional meeting…until i learned that the joke was on me!

sheesh.

no regional meeting. no presentations to fret myself over.

the best part? Boss R gave me the go-signal.

looks like someone’s going to The GATHERING afterall.