Working as a creative in one of the leading ad agencies entails working overtime and in some cases, overnights, brainstorming until your brain cells are fried, undergoing intense pressure and sometimes, tough competition within your co-workers and your rival companies.

Tonight was not an exception. A was working so hard that he hardly had anytime to answer me in yahoo messenger. Since I just got my car back from the shop (why it was in the shop is another blog entry), I decided to give him a surprise visit with our favorite milkshakes in tow.

I tried calling him just to make sure he didn't leave the office yet. I texted him only to realize he didn't have any credit for replying so I had to send him load. As I parked behind his building at 10pm, I received a message from him. "CRB." CRBs or Creative Review Boards usually take hours! (For those who don't know, a CRB is when all the creatives assigned to a certain account present their ideas to the big boss. He/She (It, in some cases) picks one to three studies to present to the client. Damnit! Of course something had to screw up my plan. Why me? Why me? I can't believe that the one sweet gesture I've decided to do in such a long time isn't going according to plan. Worse, my car didn't have a stereo! I had to take it out before bringing my car for repairs. So there I was, sitting in the middle of an empty parking lot, alone without any music to keep me company, two strawberry milkshakes melting on the seat beside me. S-A-D! Hoping that he'd get out soon, I decided to stay and pass the time. I called up my high school bestfriend, Glady, and told her about my dilemma. Since she came back from the US, this was the only time I got to talk to her. So what did I tell her? Blogging! She said she had one but it's empty. What?! Why???

And then A texts me that I could call him now. So I did. When he picked up, he sounded so tired. I asked him how the CRB went (not well. all of them were assigned to think of more ideas before they present to the client tomorrow. yikes!), if he was going home na (in a while. which, in his terms, could take hours!) and then I asked him to guess where I was. I told him I was at the parking lot behind his building. "Really?!" he said, no longer tired, you'd think that the boulder on his shoulders were lifted and suddenly he was Mary Sunshine. I could imagine him smiling widely that even I had to smile. Then I said, "I hope you're craving for milkshakes." He quickly replied, "I'll be there in a while. I'm going down."

When he rode my car five minutes later, I handed him his milkshake and he said, "Wow!" You could tell from his eyes that he's kilig. We talked about his work while he smoked a couple of sticks. 15 minutes later, I had to leave and be home "early." (At 10:45pm, going home at that time still is early.) Since my sisters, 2 maids and I were left home alone. Everyone else was at my grandma's place/ resort, where the company my mom works for was having a planning seminar.

When I got home, I received a message from A saying thank you and that it was such a sweet gesture. I simply replied, "You needed it."