Carpe Diem

With a shaking and angry voice “I want to start my life here and be independent, I’m 21!” said Gabe.
Every time Gabe’s dad calls her here in the Philippines this has always been the scenario. Her father is always persuading her to go with them and to settle down in Europe after her graduation since all of her brothers are already there, but Gabe doesn’t want to and have decided to stay in the Philippines and work here.
Being the youngest of four and an only daughter, Gabe’s parents wanted her to stay with them and work in their own publication house in Spain. Going to Europe is one of Gabe’s plans but her only intention is to visit her dad and her brothers since her mom is still living with her.
At this point, Gabe is already in her last semester in college and is about to graduate with a degree in creative writing. Coming from a prestigious school like the Ateneo, Gabe has been receiving calls from different companies but turned most of it down because she really wanted to start from scratch and learn from there.
Aside from wanting to stay here in the Philippines, Gabe’s reason why she turned her parents down is that she wanted to make a name for herself and not live up to her family’s name and reputation.
Knowing that Gabe really wants to stay here and be independent, Gabe’s mother respected her daughter’s decision and just supported it.
After that semester, Gabe graduated with Latin honors. Her whole family was there watching her walk up the stage to get her diploma and awards. Gabe was overwhelmed with the support that her family is giving her. On her mind she was saying “I could never ask for more.”
Reality has finally arrived. It was time for Gabe to complete her requirements for her to be able to apply for a job.
Three days after Gabe’s graduation her dad and her 3 brothers went back to Europe together with her mom, leaving Gabe here in the Philippines alone.
Alongside her passion for writing she also has flair in music.
After two and a half months of waiting for call-backs from different companies that she applied to, she finally received a call from MTV Philippines, the biggest music channel in the Philippines. Being a fresh graduate, she was given an all around job. She was really satisfied with the job that was given to her and she is willing to start right away.
She immediately called her Family in Europe to let them hear the good news. Her dad told her that her job was okay, but from the tone of his voice Gabe had instil in her mind that her dad is still not satisfied.
She was very excited for her first day. She felt the warm welcome of her colleagues.
The first job that was assigned to her is to interview the new Filipino breakout artist, Kaizer.
She found the interview really fun! She was the first newbie that was able to interview people with big names. Her job was extremely fun, as she refer to it.

After the interview Kaizer and Gabe exchanged number in case they needed something from one another or just want to keep in touch.
Since Gabe already works at a music channel, she takes it as a big step towards her dream to be a musician as well. As an aspiring musician and writer she was very fortunate to have this kind of job.
She started to compose songs, just for fun! And whenever she has free time and the recording studio of MTV is vacant, they try to record it and it actually sounds pretty good.
After a month filled with work and happiness she received her very first pay check, the numbers written on her pay check was really not what she was expecting, it was higher than what she expected.
She then decided to move to a condominium close to where she is working. She moved there along with her three other friends to share all the bills with.
All is well for Gabe, until one day her dad called her up because he found out that she moved out of their house.
“What’s wrong with you?” asked Gabe’s dad.
“I told you even before, I want to be independent!” Gabe answered back.
“Why don’t you just go here and work for our publication house?” asked Gabe’s dad.
“I’m going there if I want to, but right now I don’t.” Gabe told her dad.
“As you wish!” Her dad told her.
It was really heart breaking for Gabe’s dad to see his little girl grow up and do things without asking permission from her parents.
One morning, Gabe went to a coffee shop and grabbed something to drink when all of a sudden she stumbled upon Kaizer who’s trying to write a new song.
They had a normal chat and Gabe even let Kaizer listen to the songs that she and her colleagues have recorded. Kaizer thinks it was really good and he wasn’t even kidding. He then asked Gabe to drop by his place sometime and try to record something with him in the future, just for fun. Gabe agreed to his offer.
From that moment on, Kaizer and Gabe started to text and call each other for updates on what they are going to do. It was nothing serious for both of them, but it’s really getting into Kaizer’s manager, Con’s, nerve. He isn’t really focused on what he was writing but he sure looks inspired.
It came into a point that Kaizer hired Gabe to be his personal assistant so that they could spend time together to make music and just hang-out in general. Kaizer also needed help with his errands and since they were really good friends Gabe volunteered herself to be Kaizer’s assistant. Kaizer didn’t want people to think that he is taking advantage of Gabe that’s why they’ve agreed to call this thing as Gabe’s part time job.
Gabe was really having fun with what’s happening in her life. She is already a “regular” at MTV and she’s really having fun hanging out and doing errands for Kaizer.
Early in the morning, Gabe’s dad called to ask her if there is by any chance she can go to Europe because they really needed help in the publication company. Gabe was really hesitant but still she said yes to her dad, “after all he is still my father”.
That same day, Kaizer called Gabe and asked her to drop by his house after work because he wanted to show her the duet he has written for them to record. He also wanted pizza for dinner that’s why he called her up.
Gabe kept her upcoming trip to Europe to herself, and before she files the leave of absence she wanted to get things done.
It was really hard for Gabe to leave because she wanted to attend MTV Philippines’ Mid-year music festival and the like, then again she already said yes to her dad.
What she didn’t know is that being a celebrity means having a lot of connections, and Kaizer already know that she is going to Europe next month. But Kaizer didn’t tell her.
As soon as Gabe arrived in Kaizer’s house with a box of pizza, they started recording right away.
Gabe suddenly felt that there was something bothering her friend.
“What’s wrong, Kaizer?” asked Gabe.
“Nothing.” Kaizer replied.
“Tell me!” Gabe insisted.
“You! You’re going to Europe and you’re not telling me.” Kaizer said.
“It’s a family matter. Don’t worry, I’ll be back soon.” Gabe said.
“It’s not that, Gabe. I’m used to having you around and being with you. Gabe, we’re more than friends and you know that. You can feel that.” Kaizer said.
“I know, I didn’t want to leave but my family needs me. You know how important my family is to me.” Gabe cried.
“Just forget what I said, okay. Let’s get this done. This duet is going to be included in my next album.” Kaizer said.
Gabe smiled.
On her way home, Gabe was about to take a cab but Kaizer offered her a ride home. They talked about the future like they were in a movie. Then it became official, that they’re already together and dating.
As Gabe entered their condominium her smile is really different and her room mates noticed it. She told them all about it. The same night, she also told them about her leaving for Europe for a couple of months but she then promised to be back.
Next morning, she already filed a leave of absence from her work and said her goodbyes to her colleagues. She even cried!
The day before her flight Kaizer, asked her to go to his place because he needed help with his files. Con and him cannot do it by themselves. When they were done with the compiling and organizing of files it was time of Gabe to go home but Kaizer can’t drive her home because he has this album launching and he is already running late, so he gave her a car key to drive herself home.
Con is already fine about Kaizer and Gabe’s relationship because whenever Gabe is around, Kaizer is at his best.
On her way home, Gabe got into a car accident and was severely injured. Her friends, her colleagues, Con, and Kaizer rushed into the hospital once the news broke out.
Kaizer really felt bad about letting Gabe drive herself home, he thinks it was all his fault.
She was in the intensive care unit of the hospital. As soon as her parents heard of the news, they immediately booked a flight to the Philippines.
As soon as they arrived here in the Philippines they rushed to the hospital. Kaizer, Con and her three roommates was outside the ICU. Due to the fact that she was severely injured there is a 50 percent chance that she’ll survive and the other 50 percent says otherwise.
Her parents were crying and blaming themselves for the accident.
A quarter past twelve in the Morning, the doctor came out of the ICU and told them the really good news that Gabe is already okay and that she can already be transferred to a regular room. Her parents cried with tears of joy once they heard the good news and so did Kaizer, Con, and her roommates.
After the month-long stay in the hospital, everything was back to normal and Gabe’s decision to stay in the Philippines was respected by her parents. Gabe finally introduced Kaizer to her family. She was also given an offer to work with Kaizer on another album. She no longer works for Kaizer as an assistant anymore. She went back to MTV to work on the script of a new show with Kaizer being the host. And she still lives with her three best friends in the condominium.
Everything went great for Gabe! She is living the life she wanted with no regrets. She has learned to seize every moment in her life and from what she have experienced she treated everyday as if it was her last. She has learned to be “magis”, meaning to be more and did not settle for anything less.