[quick author's note: Hey guys! Later in this chapter there will be a mention of a recipe. PLEASE DO NOT FOLLOW IT. I came up with the recipe and I have ABSOLUTELY NO EXPERIENCE IN COOKING. PLEASE DO NOT USE THE RECIPE MENTIONED LATER! You have been warned- DON'T TRY IT OR SUE ME if you have food poisoning! Also, please take care of yourself during these dark times. 

Stay safe, stay home if you are able to, and practice personal hygiene!] 

"JOAQUIM, WE have to talk. We need to do more than talk actually. We need to have a contingency plan."

"What do you mean by a 'contingency plan'? Iri, I know you think highly of us, but we're not a government organisation you know. There's no war ahead of us, so why the need for such a preposterous plan?" 

Oh, you guileless man. Looking at my boyfriend's innocent face, I can't help but remember a quote from the Irish writer James Joyce's Ulysses 'Upon love's bitter mystery'. It is indeed a bitter mystery for me now as I am suffering from paranoia with regards to our relationship while my boyfriend is at his most serene and currently lackadaisical as he has no idea what's going on in my wacky mind.

The phantasmal creatures of my own lack of confidence is causing this imaginary rift between us, Joaquim. I am so sorry about that and that's why I need this contingency plan. These are words that I want to say to him, but I am terrified of his reaction.

I am terrified that he will think I have no faith in him, no trust in him when the truth is the polar opposite: I have no faith or trust in myself. 

Just do it. Talk to him.

"Joaq. You and I... this is my first real relationship okay? And I actually care about people other than myself now. I don't want Libby's Bath to totter down because of us. Don't you know that a workplace relationship is an irresponsible thing to do? If things get hostile between us, it could negatively affect Libby's business."

"I'm your first real relationship?" A genuinely startled Joaquim sat up straight at that and stared at me with his mouth agape. "Seriously?"

"Seriously. I dated two guys before you, but they were both meaningless. This is why I'm treating this in such an earnest manner. The world doesn't just revolve around us, and I don't want to-"

"Mess this up." Once again, Joaq finished my sentence. "You don't want to mess this up, you don't want to cause damage to Libby's business either. I get it. But breaking up is not an option, okay?" Joaq looked me square in the eye and told me, "We will make this work. We will cross whatever hurdles and obstacles are thrown in our path. We can do this."

Can we really though?

My eyes must have echoed my inner doubts, for Joaq nodded his head. "Repeat after me, Irina. We can do this."

"We can do this." I muttered timidly.

"Louder."

"We can do this." This time, there was a slight change in my intonation- it was a little louder than before.

"Come on, Iri. We can do this."

"We can do this!" I shouted it like a battle cry, and maybe it was. "We can do this." I glanced at my boyfriend who was beaming pridefully at me.

We can do this. Nothing will get in our way.

Everything will be fine.

___

AFTER THE pep talk, Joaquim and I successfully came up with a well-planned contingency plan as per my request and we were both rather satisfied by it.

Our plan consisted of mainly 3 things: the first would be that we must notify Libby about the current status of our relationship as we felt that it was unfair for her- as both our close friend and boss- to only know about it via word of mouth. In order to prevent her feeling ostracised or offended, we would inform of this new development tonight.

The second being that, when we fought, we must make up by the next day. If the root of the problem is still left unresolved by then, one of us must request Libby to assign us tasks that we can do separately and do not require us seeing each other.

Last but not least was that if we were to break-up in the future, it must be on amiable terms. However, if either of us commits a grave crime which makes even a platonic friendship unachievable, we cannot even remain as friends and will go our separate ways forever. 

Obviously, breaking up was the last thing either of us wanted but we decided to plan it thoroughly and do it in a way so that Libby will not be affected by it, at least not business-wise.

"I am so drained from all of these," I yawned and began to stretch my arms. Just the mere thought of leaving Joaq sends shivers down my spine. The ever sensitive Joaq apparently sensed the shift in my mood, for he gave me a sudden back hug.

The two of us remained in that manner in a wordless, soothing silence. In that moment, all was right with the world and our lives were at its most serene.

___

How am I still surprised by Libby even though I've literally known her for a year?

I told Libby that it was a casual event and that Joaq and I had something to say to her. Maybe it was my fault and 'event' was too strong of a word, which was probably why I found a statuesque lady sitting dandily with her soft curved propped up against her chin. 

The lady was dressed in a form of a tuxedo- well, technically, it was more of a black tuxedo jacket placed on top of a cream, long-sleeved shirt and it was evident that it was clearly tailored to fit her willowy build. Truthfully, the tux jacket and shirt acted as more of a top then part of a set of a suit and the lady's tailored chinos contrasted the as it was quite the stylistic melange. The exotic patterns of her chinos definitely portrayed the rich variety in terms of design and I was astonished to see such someone who looked like they walked out of a cover of a high-end fashion magazine sitting on my Ikea stool.

Irina Pan, you must be hallucinating. Are you dreaming again? Stop watching fashion shows, girl. Just blink and all of these will be gone in a matter of a seconds.

Come back to me, reality.

I blinked.

The lady was still there.

I blinked again.

Yep, definitely not dreaming.

"Do you have some kind of an eye condition, Iri? Is this what you wanted to talk to me about? Medical benefits? Does Joaq have this problem too?" 

It was then when I remembered who I had invited into my house. My friend and boss, Libby. Of course she will be so dramatically dressed even though her friend told her it was casual. 

Note to self: never use the word 'casual' so loosely when it comes to Libby.

"What's with your outfit?"

"You said casual. This," she gestured to her expensive outfit, "is casual. Never go to a friend's house wearing sweats and sandals. Ew. The mere thought of... sweats... oh, the horror."

You drama queen. Rolling my eyes, I handed Libby a glass of champagne, to which she accepted immediately with a bright smile. 

"You know me so well, carina ('darling' in Spanish)."

"God bless your liver," I replied by way of response. Some people habitually drink beverages like coffee or tea, but not Libby. The Libby who always lived extravagantly drinks the finest wines regardless of the time of the day. 

As expected of someone who can pay their employees a significant wage.

"Hey, Lib- what are you wearing? Are we holding a party of some kind that I am not aware of?" Joaquim scrutinises Libby's smart attire sharply and looks at his own clothes- a simple plain navy tee paired with forest green pants. The only item that shows off his wealth would be the opulent Rolex watch on his left wrist.

I clear my throat and Joaq refocuses on the issue at hand. "By the way," he begins, "Irina and I would like you to know that we're dating. Essentially, since we are your workers too, it'd be a workplace romance. We were concerned- well, frankly, Iri was, not me- that our budding romance will become a disturbance to you, therefore we want to assure you we have made contingency plans to ensure that our relationship will not become a detriment to Libby's Bath."

A tad too specific, almost close to being TMI, but I bet Libby got the gist of what we were planning to say. Thank you, Joaq.

After hearing Joaq's informative speech, Libby lowered her head and touched the wineglass gingerly. She didn't even look up when she swished the remaining wine around the glass and sipped it. After two more gulps of the wine, she finally looked up, and looked directly into my eyes. Putting the wineglass safely on top of the table, she walked towards me and enveloped me into a hug. It was a stiff yet heartfelt one, which implied to me that this level of touchy-feeliness was not something she usually did.

She soon pulled away from me shortly and opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but couldn't. She didn't need to though- her eyes were brimming with the gratitude that told me she wanted to thank me but couldn't find the right words to. 

Her azure blue eyes seemed to say, Thank you for this. None of my other employees had ever displayed such a level of thoughtfulness before. This business means a great deal to me, so thank you. Truly.

Sometimes, a wordless exchange between two good friends speaks volumes about one's friendship. Sometimes, showing your affection to your beloved one only requires action instead of words.

This is the true beauty of friendship. 

___

Three scoops of cubed avocados.

Drops of basil oil drizzled on the toast.

A dollop of mustard squeezed on the avocado and spread evenly around with the spoon.

The finishing touch: place the other toasted bread on top of the toast, and you're done.

I know it sounds like an inedible recipe, but trust me, when you try out this combination, the toast that you used to know will be nothing compared to Joaq's and my recipe.

The #irim recipe.

The origin of our ship name is actually quite an embarrassing story. Like everyone else, all things embarrassing ultimately have to do with a close sibling or close friend. For my case, it will always be Pat. 

Remember when I first unknowingly let my sincere feelings slip out to Pat? It was when Pat and I had made up after our unnecessary fight and met up during one of my lunch breaks. We met up after Joaq finally asked me out and that was when I realised the true extent of my feelings for him.

It doesn't matter if you don't though. 

Anyways, after that discovery, Pat seized the opportunity to tease me incessantly by combining my and Joaq's names. She came up with some real awful ones like Irquim, Irjoa, Irium and even Jorina, Joari.

Needless to say, none of them caught my fancy until she began taking it seriously. The best ones she came up with were Iroa and Irim. 

We went with Irim instead as Iroa... well, the name's meaning was a bit too risque for my liking and centered around the idea of love and lust. Irim complemented Joaq and I best as the name's meaning was workaholic, intense, compassionate and empathetic.

Joaq already had three of these traits- he's compassionate, empathetic and a workaholic.

On the other hand, I had two of the aforementioned traits: I am an intense person and a workaholic too. Empathy and compassion was something that I am working on, and thus for these reasons Pat and I decided that #Irim befitted us best. 

Joaq didn't let me live it down when he found out that the two of us had been childishly coming up with ship names. He had been merciless with his tickles and peppered me with kisses too, and even joked that we Pat and I were as puerile as toddlers.

This life, this silly, romantical, utopian-like life that I am currently living and lapping up is the best. With everything settled, with every petty argument resolved, life was perfect.

I feel like I'm flying high above the sky, and can never crash down.

I'm flying now, and I will only keep on ascending and never fall.

HAHA yep there is now a #irim recipe... the things my mind makes up surprises me sometimes too. I wanted to show some lovey-dovey moments between the two and hope I achieved that.

Being stuck in self-quarantine is really tiring. I'm so bored, and Netflix, Youtube and gaming takes up about 60% of my day. (when you try not to procrastinate...) 20% goes to writing on Wattpad, 15% to chatting with my friends and fam. The last 5% goes to me catching up on sleep.

What's your life now like due to covid19? What has changed/remained the same?

Stay safe guys!! We can beat covid19!