The first two weeks were the best. I easily got acquainted with my fellow trainees. Befriending them let me view things a bit differently. At that time I thought I've seen much of this world but reality slapped me hard on the face. Different people, different circumstances in life...
It seemed that I'd been underestimating the real world from the tiny box where I spent most of my time. I guessed I was just another frog in the bottom of the well.
I thought that I was the most 'mature' in that new group of friends, it turned out that I was actually a fledgling when compared to everyone. Most of them looked really young. Actually, Roland the runt of our group just surpassed my shoulder height by a tiny bit. We initially thought that he was the youngest but guess what, he's five years older than most of all us. Another shocking discovery was that he was already a father of three at that time and their family was expecting another baby. Looks can really be deceiving I guess.
Half of our group already had a family of their own. As for the reasons why we ended up together on that same job, it's a scramble of various personal circumstances if I must say.
Lemuel, a tall skinny guy got a fight with her mom. He already had a child and had no job, his mother was the one supporting their family of three. She remarried a guy from U.S. and had been sending financial support to them. Lemuel was really pissed off when we talked about it on our drinking sessions. Always referring to her mom as 'That old hag', he always trash talked her when he was under the influence of alcohol. I really didn't agree with him but didn't voice it out, after all I'm not really much better. Who was I to criticize? Another thing, I was free loading them be it alcohol, cigarettes and sometimes even lunch.
I was so broke that it came to a point that my moral compass was already being affected.
There was also this girl named Kim. Simping aside, she's the flower of the group. We usually drank alcohol at her place. Those drinking sessions were just to let our frustrations out... something to let someone hear us out even for just a while. There was never a debaucherous air... there were alot of puking though.
Although Kim entertained us really well as guest she never drank with us.
"Hey, Kim is really nice. She's very accommodating to us, a pity we never shared a glass." Arwin, a guy with glasses said. He's like me (single and unemployed) but to tell you the truth I didn't like him. I mean there was something different about him, I thought he was hiding something.
"Do you think a pregnant woman would drink alcohol? Are you out of your mind?" Roland snickered.
I guess being a father of three was not for show. While most of us were admiring how pretty and considerate Kim was, Roland already unveiled one of her secrets.
"Why would someone wear sweaters all the time in this kind of weather?" he added.
It turned out that the reason why Kim was always wearing loose sweaters even in hot and humid weather was because she's lactating. Roland described how his wife had the same experience.
"If she wear something tight it would put pressure on her chest and it'd be wet", he stated like a science teacher explaining the water cycle.
I didn't know if that was something gentlemen had to talk about so I suggested that we end the conversation. The short break was already over and we were to come back in the office but none of us noticed the glint in Arwin's eye...
To be continued...
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Image is from Pixabay
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