Chapter 107 - Easy
Layla texted me Sunday morning.
At 9:12.
A respectable hour.
Layla:
good morning lola
I stared at my phone.
One dinner.
One evening of messages.
And apparently my reputation had already been destroyed.
Lia:
please stop calling me that
Layla:
okay
Wonderful.
A reasonable woman.
Then another message came.
Layla:
good morning grandma
I closed my eyes.
Never mind.
Lia:
i'm blocking you
Layla:
before or after breakfast?
I looked at my coffee.
Lia:
after
Layla:
good. eat something
I laughed.
Fine.
Apparently Chloe had successfully contaminated another person.
I made breakfast.
Two eggs, toast, coffee.
Then, because I had several lifetimes of bad habits, I opened the operations group chat.
Production schedule posted.
Monday materials confirmed.
Pending orders assigned.
One customer revision had already been handled by admin.
No emergency.
No one asking me what to do.
Nothing on fire.
Suspicious.
I closed the app.
Progress.
I was becoming an adult.
Again.
By Monday, the business had apparently decided to become disrespectfully successful.
Two corporate clients confirmed repeat orders.
A packaging client wanted higher monthly volume.
Three smaller businesses accepted quotations.
Another client sent a referral.
Revenue was climbing.
Collections were actually keeping pace.
Margins were healthy.
And somehow no one had sacrificed their sleep, marriage, spine, or firstborn child to make it happen.
I stared at the report.
"Why is everything selling?"
My operations lead blinked.
"Ma'am?"
"Nothing."
She placed another document in front of me.
"Recommendation po namin."
Temporary additional production hours.
Volunteer list.
Cost estimate.
Projected output.
Delivery commitments.
Contingency if materials arrived late.
I looked at her.
"You made this?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Without asking me first?"
Her face changed.
"Should we have asked?"
"No."
I smiled.
"That's the beautiful part."
She relaxed.
I reviewed the numbers.
"Don't promise the added volume until purchasing confirms the materials. Overtime gets paid properly. Nobody's schedule gets stupid."
"Yes, ma'am."
"Otherwise, approved."
She nodded and left.
That was it.
No heroic intervention.
No founder standing in the middle of production solving problems no one else was allowed to solve.
Just competent people doing their jobs.
I leaned back in my expensive ergonomic chair.
My beautiful chair.
My strategic investment.
"Fuck."
I was happy.
Terrible.
I asked Layla out that afternoon.
Directly.
No Chloe.
No fake business reason.
No complicated setup.
Lia:
are you free friday evening?
She replied twelve minutes later.
Layla:
i think so. why?
I typed.
Deleted.
Typed again.
Stop.
This was not procurement.
Lia:
i'd like to take you out
Layla:
like a date?
Lia:
yes
Three dots.
Then:
Layla:
okay :)
I smiled.
Layla:
where?
Right.
Apparently dating required logistics.
Lia:
i know a restaurant in malolos
Layla:
what kind?
Lia:
good food. reasonable portions. actual fries instead of house-cut potatoes
Layla:
sold
Friday.
Seven.
Done.
Simple.
I waited for the complication.
Nothing happened.
Very suspicious.
The business was still booming by Friday.
Annoyingly.
We had enough confirmed work to make the next month's production calendar healthy without making everyone miserable.
My accountant sent the cash flow forecast.
I liked it.
That was rare.
Sales were one thing.
Money actually arriving was another.
This time, larger custom orders required deposits before production.
Credit terms existed only for approved repeat clients.
Purchasing followed confirmed demand instead of optimism.
Nobody was buying three months of stock because a customer said, Probably marami next month.
Beautiful.
At 5:15, my operations lead knocked.
"Ma'am, may question lang po for tomorrow's schedule."
I answered.
She nodded.
"Until what time po kayo?"
"Five-thirty."
She checked the clock.
"Okay po."
That was all.
No surprise.
No concern that the company would collapse because I was leaving before dinner.
At 5:30, I walked out.
The business continued existing behind me.
Imagine that.
Layla arrived four minutes before seven.
I was already seated.
She looked at me.
"You're early."
"People keep saying that."
"Maybe you're changing."
"Don't spread rumors."
She laughed and sat across from me.
Dark blouse.
Hair down.
Small earrings.
She looked nice.
I noticed.
And instead of performing a complete compatibility assessment in my head, I simply said it.
"You look nice."
She smiled.
"Thank you. You too."
Compliment exchanged.
Nobody died.
Excellent.
We ordered.
Actual fries.
Important.
Layla took one.
"These are fries."
"Correct."
"Not house-cut potatoes."
"Exactly."
"Remarkable."
"I know."
Dinner was easy.
That word again.
Easy.
She told me about a client who wanted a presentation to look more exciting but rejected every design change.
"So what did they want?"
"Apparently the exact same presentation, but blue."
I stared.
"Did you make it blue?"
"Of course."
"Experienced."
"Unfortunately."
I told her about a customer asking for a rush quotation without knowing the size, quantity, design, or material.
"So what exactly were you quoting?"
"Possibility."
She laughed.
"Did you give them a price?"
"No. I gave them a form."
Her face brightened.
"A form?"
"Dimensions. Quantity. Material. Deadline. Artwork requirements."
"Beautiful."
I stared at her.
"You're appreciating the form?"
"Of course."
I placed a hand against my chest.
"Finally. Someone understands me."
She laughed again.
I liked making her laugh.
Not because it meant anything profound.
I said something.
She found it funny.
Nice.
She asked about the business.
Not how much it made.
Not how big it was.
"Are you enjoying it?"
I paused.
"Yeah."
"What changed?"
"Better systems."
She nodded.
"And I stopped personally solving every problem."
"That probably helps more."
I laughed.
"Unfortunately, yes."
We talked about weekends.
Books.
Movies.
Travel.
Her apartment.
Her family.
My family.
She remembered Ate Bianca, Kuya Nathan, Ate Vivian, and Sofia without needing me to repeat them three times.
Very competent.
At one point she caught me looking at her.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"There's a face."
"What face?"
"Thinking."
"Terrible habit."
She smiled.
"What are you thinking?"
I could have lied.
No reason.
"I like talking to you."
Her expression softened.
"Good."
"Good?"
"I like talking to you too."
I nodded.
"Okay."
She laughed.
"Very expressive."
"I'm working on it."
"Take your time."
There it was again.
No pressure.
Just space.
I liked that too.
At the end of the night, near the parking area, she said:
"I had fun."
"Me too."
"Do you want to do this again?"
Direct.
Excellent.
"Yeah."
"Good."
We scheduled the next weekend.
No games.
No strategic delay.
No waiting three days to avoid looking interested.
I was interested.
She was interested.
Apparently adults could simply communicate.
Revolutionary.
The second date was a bookstore.
Layla suggested it.
I found myself in the business section.
Of course.
She appeared beside me.
"Please tell me you're not working."
"I'm browsing."
She looked at the book in my hand.
"Business Process Improvement."
"Recreational reading."
She stared.
I stared back.
"Don't judge my hobbies."
She laughed and showed me a novel.
I bought it because the premise sounded good.
Not because she liked it.
Not because I needed to manufacture shared interests.
I simply wanted the book.
Another strangely healthy event.
Afterward, we had coffee.
She told me more about her family.
I told her more about mine.
Nothing dramatic.
By the third week, we had developed something resembling a routine.
Messages.
Occasional calls.
Dinner when schedules matched.
Coffee.
A movie.
Sometimes she was busy.
Sometimes I was busy.
Nothing collapsed.
One evening she had a work dinner and I had a supplier meeting.
We simply met another day.
No one interpreted scheduling conflicts as emotional abandonment.
Very advanced.
Meanwhile, the business kept growing.
Repeat orders.
Referrals.
Higher production utilization.
Healthy collections.
One corporate client requested an expanded service package covering printing, packaging, and customization.
During the meeting, I asked:
"Capacity?"
My operations lead showed me the forecast.
"We can handle initial volume. If it increases beyond this, temporary outsourcing muna while we evaluate another machine."
"Quality?"
"Same inspection process."
"Cash?"
My accountant answered.
"Deposit covers materials. Remaining collection according to contract."
I waited.
There had to be something.
Nothing.
No hidden disaster.
No mysterious assumption.
No reason for me to sleep in the office.
"Okay."
Everyone looked at me.
I realized they were waiting.
"Approved."
Meeting finished.
I sat there afterward.
My business was growing.
And it wasn't eating me alive.
I opened my notebook.
Wrote:
GROWTH DOES NOT REQUIRE SUFFERING.
Then underneath:
Apparently.
Layla noticed my problem on our fourth date.
We had watched a movie and were eating afterward.
My phone buzzed.
Operations update.
A production adjustment.
Already handled.
For information only.
I read it.
Put the phone down.
Then checked again.
Nothing new.
Layla watched me.
"Lia."
"Hmm?"
"Are you waiting for something?"
I looked up.
"What?"
"You keep checking your phone."
"Oh."
I turned it face-down.
"Sorry."
"I'm not complaining."
She took a drink.
"Is something wrong?"
"No."
She waited.
I thought.
"Maybe."
"Okay."
I looked down at the table.
"Everything's going well."
She smiled.
"That sounds terrible."
"Right?"
"Business?"
"Very."
"Family?"
"Fine."
"Friends?"
"Unfortunately alive."