Love Business

"Thank God I managed to enroll at the InterTech!" Pan voice out her relief at Sofia. Right now, they were packing Pan's bags at Sofia's house. She will leaving to the campus from there.

After a long consideration, Shu decided to live with Mei. So, before Pan left, she dropped her daughter to Mei's house.

"Too bad Shu wanna stay with Mei..."

"Don't sulk, you can always meet her while dropping Win at his daycare,"

Still, her best friend pouts like a girl losing her candy. Pan chuckles as she pats her shoulder a bit.

"Shu doesn't wanna bother you. She knows you and Dan need to go to work. At least, she can't skip kindergarten if she stays with Mei," Pan explains things to Sofia so she will feel less hurt.

Sofia, Mei, and Pan have been best friends since junior high. Both of them knew Pan's background and her history. When she ran away from home and lived with Zee, she kept in touch with them. They even help her with her studies, lending her notes from school and even help Pan with her university entrance exam as well.

"Thank God we have a friend who owns a kindergarten!" says Sofia with a huge grin. They look at a picture of Mei, their other friend.

Mei is a graduate of Early Education and Child Psychology from a different college. She's a genius who enrolled early and graduated even before Sofia, a Food Science major graduate.

"Come to think of it, I feel like destiny follows the flow smoothly. If all of us are still in college, who wants to take care of Shu and Win?" Sofia nods.

"Mei graduated first so she can take care of our kids. Meanwhile, you established our shop with me and Dan while we struggled with college and provided us with a stable future. Then, when both of us graduate, having Win, and landing a job, everything is ready for you to enroll back to college..." Sofia winks at Pan.

"Among us three, you are the lucky one..."

"Why?"

"You have a lawyer husband..."

"You call that lucky? Wait until you have one! You will take those claims back!" Sofia playfully smacks Pan's back. She can see her friend's eyes roll up, indicating the hard life as the lawyer's partner.

"Fia, I wanna thank you for always supporting me. I don't know what would happen to me and Shu if it wasn't for you..."

"Pan, we are friends! Friends look up to each other. Besides, I learned a lot from you too! When I found out that I got pregnant with Win, you are my role model on how not to give up in life," Sofia grabs her hand while throwing a sweet but overwhelmed smile.

During the last semester, Sofia found out that she was pregnant with her son. At that time, her relationship with Dan was straining. The man was in a pressure to graduate and pass his bar exam. Sofia, on the other hand, not only she had a final exam, her family almost disowned her for being pregnant out of marriage. She had nowhere to go for a while before Pan finally stepped up, gathered everyone so they could have a proper talk on how to solve the problem.

Lucky for Sofia, everyone played their part well until she gave birth to a baby boy, months after she graduate. Dan passed his bar exam with flying colors and landed a job in a well known law firm, securing a bright future for his family.

"You are lucky. At least, Dan held a responsibility as a father to Win. And your family accepts him as a part of them," says Pan. She is trying to hide her bitter emotion, but it visible in the eyes of her best friend who knew her for a decade.

"I think Zee will do the same if he finds out that you're pregnant..." Sofia's words shred Pan's heart deeper. With a bitter smile, Pan shakes her head, scoffs can be hear in between.

"I doubt it. He can't even take care of himself," Pan throws her sweatshirt into the bag, the last pieces to pack.

"You never know. I mean, you even blocked him..." Sofia murmurs, but loud enough for Pan to hear it.

"Fia, I'm not mindless person who reached out their ex after being pregnant just for a child support..."

"I'm not saying that, okay... It's just..."

"Forget it, Fia. Besides, I have a doubt about that. I mean, Zee couldn't take care of himself, let alone a child," her skeptical mind speaks up.

"Some people said, that when you have kids, you will change in total."

Pan chuckles, more like sneezing at Sofia's words.

"Not Zee. I can read him like a magazine..."

"Oi, Mother Tay Tay's spirit has possessed you, girl!"

We both laugh and exchange high five. It's fun to have a good friend like Sofia around. Even a serious conversation can turn into comical. She knew how to turn the whole upside down in the most casual way.

***

"So... Are you sure you wanna ride that oldie?" Sofia frowns when she looks at the ride that Pan parks in front of her gate.

"Hello... Mr Redding is not that old, okay!" Pan gives her a sharp glare, protesting the claim to be untrue.

"Pan, it's an old-"

Again, Pan shot a dead glare to Sofia.

"Fine... Fine! That antic bike can break down anytime! I told you to take the car. Yet, you insist on riding this... Uncle Redding-"

"Mr. Redding. Please pay some respect to him..." her friend scoffs, thumping her feet on the ground a bit.

"Jeez! Okay... Forgive me, Mister Redding..." Sofia claps both of her hands in front of Pan's beloved bike. Her cute action makes Pan chuckles and later they laugh about it.

"Okay, it's time..." Pan checks her watch before she puts the helmet on the bike. They smile while staring at each other. Sofia gives Pan a proud look while spreading her hands, demanding for a hug.

"Take care. Don't forget to call, okay?" says Sofia before she pulls Pan into a big hug. They squeeze each other for a while, combat those tears that almost falling from each other's eyes.

"You too. Please take care of Shu for me..."

"Don't worry about that! Just... Go and grab your dreams, Pan! Remember one thing; we always proud of you!"

Pan can't hold her tears, ends up she cries so much. It's hard to be away from her family. But, for her future, she has to make this sacrifice. Pan knows Shu is looking up to her right now. So, she wants to do her best to make everyone proud of her.

"You can always come home and visit us..."

"I'm so gonna do that!" Pan's response makes the air fun again. Sofia wipes her tears and playfully smack Pan's head, making her friend whines painfully.

After a while, the two part away and laugh before she starts the bike and leave the house, towards the dream that is waiting for her.

***

"Welcome to all BBA freshmen! Fill out this form before you enter the orientation's venue at the Auditorium 3!"

The registration counter is swarming with freshmen from the whole country. It's easy to identify them in a crowd. Every freshman wears a white shirt and dark corporate blue bottoms; either a skirt or pants. They also bring along a personal file in their hands.

"Welcome to BBA... Please fill out the form and submit it at the entrance of the Auditorium 3..." a soft-spoken girl hands out forms at the entrance of the Faculty of Business Administration.

Pan takes the form after greeting the girl with respect. Judging by her tag and her corporate blue-black shirt, she must be a senior. That's their dress code according to the flyers that she got when she first came during the registration day.

After a brief observation, Pan slowly enters the faculty building and stretches her neck to find the counter to fill out the form. She manages to secures a spot for her. And wait patiently for her turn.

As she begins to fill out the form, she notices a girl who sits next to her is rummaging the small bag that she holds. The girl seems like looking for something. Pan glares at her empty form on table.

She must be looking for a pen... She silently makes an assumption.

"Would you like to borrow mine?" Pan hands her the pen that she holds. Without a second thought, the girl nods in tiny. She takes the pen with both of her hands and fills the form in a hurry. After a while, she hands it back with a smile on her face.

"Thank you. I don't know where I put my pen just now," the girl thanked her in such a good manner.

"Maybe it got stolen..." Pan teases her subtly.

"There is no way someone steals a cheap pen!" The girl lets out an awkward laugh.

"Believe me, it's possible," Pan roses up from the chair. "If it's the reason to get to know you, they might even steal your shoes..." she smirks, again teasing the girl.

"How did you know?" the girl asks Pan. She smiles, shaking her head a bit. She is now on her feet, slowly follows Pan's footsteps and leaves the table.

Her clueless eyes make Pan shakes her head in disbelief. This girl is one hella innocent! She murmurs in silent.

"Believe me, I know..." Pan snickers a bit.

"I guess, I should stick with you. I feel safe all of a sudden!" The girl widen her eyes and scoot closer to Pan. Her cute gestures make Pan laughs even more.

"I'm Yara..." the girl introduces herself after a while.

"Pandora. You can call me Pan," they exchange a handshake.

"I think it's enough of the chit-chat. We should move now before these seniors grill our ass!" Pan drags Yara towards the Auditorium 3.

"Your vocab is... Interesting..."

Pan chuckles with Yara's words as they enter the Auditorium 3 for the freshmen's first briefing.