Dahan-dahang kong ibinaba ang 8 x 4-inch pan at nilagay ang aking bagong lutong banana bread sa ibabaw ng lamesa. Agad na sinalubong ako ng mabangong amoy nito na siyang nagpatakam sa akin.

"Oops! Alam ko yang itsurang yan!" My best friend and co-owner, Erich Galvez, woke me up from my senses and was in front of me before I knew it. "Naku, naku, besh! Pangbenta natin ito ha! Hindi pang-dessert o merienda!"

I removed my oven mittens, chuckled and made thick slices of the banana bread for our customer's satisfaction. Tinawan ko si Regina Delos Santos, isa sa mga staff para ilagay ito sa isa sa tatllong display cases namin na agad naman niyang sinunod bago bumalik sa kanyang pwesto sa pagkakahera ngayong araw.

Ang kasama niyang si Willow Ada Benitez ay nagpatuloy sa paglalagay ng mga natapos na cake sa kabilang display case namin. Isa rin siya sa mga bakers dito at talaga namang magaling siya sa larangang ito.

"Hindi ka pa ba magla-lunch? Wala kang lakad ngayong hapon?" Sunod-sunod na tanong sa akin ni Erich at ako'y natawa na lang.

"Bakit feeling ko pinagtatabuyan mo na ako, best?" I looked at her with feigned shocked expression and dramatically wiped my imaginary tears at the corner of my eyes.

"Ang shala mo, best! Hindi bagay!" She chortled and we went to the table at the left side of the bakeshop.

I smiled to myself as I began to admire our small business.

I have graduated with a degree in Baking and Arts at Lindon University in Metro Manila and is now applying what I learned after a year. Me and Erich are the best of friends and even started our own bakeshop.

Our shop's name is Rich Love Bakeshop.

Dapat talaga Rich In Love kaso it's too long for a store's name so we decided to have it that way.

How did we get this lot?

Well, thankfully, may pinamana ang lolo ni Erich sa kanya na certain amount of money and she consulted her parents about her plan. Since they are supportive of her dreams in life, she was given the money and the business we dreamt to have materialized in a span of one year.

Minabuti ko na ring lakarin lahat noon pa para matuloy ang aming business venture na ito.

We really want this to happen ever since we were in college so we made the necessary arrangements including the documents such as business permits and others as soon as we graduated.

My mother who was a great cook at Geneva Suites which has a branch abroad where she works at supported my decision and even thought me a lot of great dishes para raw if ever, gusto naming dagdagan ng meals ang aming store, I can freely do so.

Well, we are open for any suggestions so her opinions are noted in my journal.

"Layo na naman ng isip nito, oh!" Enzo, her brother, sat with us with food from one of our favorite fastfood chain.

"Oy! Andito ka pala!" I exclaimed and rolled my eyes at him. "Wow! Salamuch, beshy! Nag-abala ka pa!"

"Sagutin mo na kasi! Para sister in-law na kita! Yieee!" Erich teased as she started eating her burger steak while I opened my fave juicy chicken joy from the red bee. A sundae was also waiting for me to be taken in.

Oo nga pala.

Her brother, Lorenzo or Enzo has been courting me since college kahit ilang beses ko na siyang ni-reject.

According to him, maghihintay siya and wag ko raw isiping nanliligaw siya. Be casual daw, kumbaga. Para walang ilangan.

Yeah, right.

"Uy, fries!" I acknowledged the large fries sitting in front of us and I saw how Enzo shook his head while smiling. I dipped it into the ketchup and brought it to my mouth.

"So, kita mo na latest vlog ni idol mo?" Enzo asked and my eyes widened.

"Hala! Meron na ulit?" I asked and he nodded.

True enough, when I opened my wifi connection, a notification popped on my feed.

Divina Uytingco has indeed posted her new vlog.

"Mamaya na yan." Erich said and I smiled sheepishly at her and kept my phone inside my jeans pocket.

"Yes, Mom." I said and continued eating.

As the siblings became engrossed with their conversation, my thoughts began to fly away as I ate.
Then, my eyes rested to our cakes and recalled how low our sales were this quarter.

And I thought of a great idea.

Why not!

Geez!

Excited na akoo!