Shark Attack

Mum, Uncle Lucio, Tita Ludy and Uncle George wanted to go for dinner last night.

Let's see what you're upto when you drink, Mum said.

So ok, I came along. I wasn't gona pass up an opportunity to drink.

I'll drink with you, Uncle Lucio said.

So ok, I'll drink with him, I thought. I wasn't gona pass up an opportunity to get my incredible stepdad drunk.

We'll dance, I want to see how you dance, Tita Ludy said.

So ok, I'll dance, I thought. I wasn't gona pass up an opportunity to dance.

Once there, we had buffet. The food was good. It didn't even occur to me to take photos because I was so hungry I just went straight for it.

We had cold meats, potato salad, sweet and sour pork, baked potato with melted cheese, roasted meats, pasta, salads, sticky date, ice creams, dim sims, fried rice, honey chicken and pepsi max - yum!

While eating, they bombarded me with questions. Since I haven't really been eating dinner with my family [come to think of it, I think I only had dinner with them three times in three months], it was the perfect time and place to ask me questions that I usually don't answer.

I heard you have a boyfriend, Tita Ludy said.

Which one, I joked.

Is there more than one, she asked.

I date, I don't really commit right now, I replied.

So tell me about him, she prodded.

Well, he's a bit older than me. But he's really nice. He's very patient, I said.

Are you in love, she asked.

I don't think I am. But if yeah, I'll let you know, I said with a wink.

So what about this other guy? Tell me about him, she said.

Well, he's really funny and really smart and really thoughtful and we've been on/off for a year now, it's really complicated so I think I'm not gona go there, I said.

Funnily enough, when I was telling Tita Ludy that I'm not planning to go anywhere with Mark, my heart sank.

So it's definitely the older guy then, she asked.

Umm.. I don't know. He's the sensible choice but I'm not sure. I'm still young, tita, I don't want to get tied down, I replied.

That's true, you're young. You have plenty of time, she said.

Exactly, I grinned. I love Tita Ludy. She understands me.

Mum, listening to the exchange said, Well, I think Johnson is the right choice for Nikki. The man likes her so much he's willing to wait for her to grow up.

Moving on, I said. I knew what was coming up and I wasn't gona let her abuse Mark.

How's your job, Uncle George asked.

It's doing really well, I like it there. I think I'm used to it, it's not bad at all, I said.

That's good, he replied.

I know, at first I was a bit nervous but you'll get the hang of it and by the end it's just like second nature to you, I said.

The conversation went on and on about the kind of people I deal with at work. The kind of people I meet in bars. The kind of people I socialise at uni.

It was about me.

I was getting bored. Because if I wanted to talk about me, I would've just sat down in front of a computer and blogged away.

But I love them and I willed myself to sit through dinner.

After, we moved to the lounge. We were full and we didn't want to move.

How about that drink, Uncle Lucio asked.

Yeah, how about that drink, I said standing up straight away and headed towards the bar.

At the bar, I ordered two Pina Colada Daquiri, one strawberry daquiri and a vodka cruiser.

I went to get mum a drink too. A mango daquiri for the lady.

How many of these do you drink before you get drunk, Tita Ludy asked.

Huh? Daquiri is weak. It doesn't do me anything, I drink Vodka, I replied with a grin.

Then get one, she urged.

I was about to but I saw the daggers my mother was sending my way so I just opted for a daquiri.

Four of these and still nothing, Mum asked.

I think my alcohol tolerance level had gone up over the months, I said with a laugh.

She didn't find it funny. Uncle was happily sipping his drink and feeling incredibly important that he was drinking with me.

I don't know, for some reason they really wanted to see what I'm upto everytime I go out.

Is it their way of relating with me? I'll never know. But I like it.

I was at the bar going for second round when a guy approached me.

Having a good night, he asked.

Umm.. yeah, I said.

I just have a quick question. Since they swipe your card through everytime you buy drinks, is it their way of keeping tabs on how much you drink a night and when they realise that you drink a lot they send you an AA [alcoholic anonymous] newsletter, he asked.

Umm.. I don't think so, that's a bit freaky, I replied.

Am I that obvious to the world that I drink a lot?

We chatted for a while and we ended up swapping numbers. He seems keen.

Anyway, Uncle George wasn't drinking alcohol because he was driving so he just drank water. Boring but oh-so-wise.

Mum played keno. She always does everytime she goes to these kinds of places.

Of course, she didn't win any.

I got bored with my drink so I ordered a beer. I haven't drank beer since I was in Manila. It was a good change.

Mum was looking at me wearily so I had to give her a hug and I had to be sweet towards her just so she'd cut me some slack.

It worked. She wanted me to go get her another drink.

So I obliged.

Since I wanted to get another drink, I did the trick again.

One more.

But it backfired on me. She didn't want me to drink anymore.

Instead she asked me to take a group photo of the four of them.

Bummer.

But surprisingly, I ended up having a good night.

You can't, Nikki

Bernie told me.

You can't keep on fucking them around, Amber said.

You need to make a choice, Bernie said.

In the end, they'll both be, "fuck this shit, Nikki, I'm outta here", Amber said.

Be with someone you want to be with, Bernie said.

You need to make a decision, Amber said.

It's either Mark or Johnson, Bernie said.

Or clean slate, Nikki, Amber said.

Them two are giving me a headache. But they're right, as always. It's either I make a choice or just fuck them both and start with a clean slate.

I don't know.

I just wish everything goes back to the way they were before.

Back when I thought guys have cooties.