Today’s Co–Star said:
Stay up all night on the phone with a good friend.
And underneath that:
Someone in your circle wants to talk—really talk. Stop editing yourself for their comfort. Let the conversation go where it needs to go, even if it gets uncomfortable or takes all night.
Funny enough, I woke up and realised Kak Nana had called me last night.
Of course I was asleep.
Kak Nana isn’t actually my sister by blood.
Somewhere along the way though, “friend” stopped feeling like the right word.
We consider each other family now.
I even have her location on my phone, and she has mine.
She’s back in Malaysia at the moment, and it has been a long time since we’ve had a proper conversation.
So if I see that she’s home tonight, maybe I’ll call her.
Maybe Co–Star is being suspiciously specific again.
Although apparently I had already spent most of last night with another companion.
Kirito.
I woke up around 10 this morning feeling exhausted because I had basically pulled an all-nighter reading Sword Art Online.
I can’t wait for the next season of the anime, so I decided to read the novels to find out what happens next.
Big mistake.
The story got too interesting.
One chapter became another.
Then another.
Then suddenly sleep had become optional.
Today’s floor training was supposed to start at 3 PM, but I had already planned to get to Rosie’s much earlier.
I needed to print the slides.
Prepare the space.
Order some food.
Make everything comfortable.
Only five people were coming, so putting the presentation up on the TV and standing in front of everyone felt unnecessarily formal.
I would rather sit with them.
Go through the material together.
Give them something they could write on.
Actually talk.
My plan was to get there around noon.
But it was only 10.
The trains come every fifteen minutes.
Plenty of time.
So naturally, I went back to sleep.
I woke up again around 11:30.
Still tired.
But now the training session was properly sitting in the back of my head, so I finally dragged myself up.
Shower.
Comfortable clothes.
And then came one of the most important management decisions of the afternoon:
perfume.
I didn’t want to smell too authoritative.
I’m not trying to be the intimidating manager standing at the front of a room making everyone nervous.
I am the goofy manager.
I want my staff to feel comfortable enough to tell me when something is wrong.
Ask me questions.
Raise concerns.
Tell me if they don’t understand something.
So naturally I started mentally interviewing my entire fragrance collection.
Dior Sauvage + Ralph Lauren The Ralph’s Club?
Too friendly.
Slightly too romantic.
Versace Eau Fraîche Extreme?
Too strong.
Versace Eros Flame?
Too playful.
Giorgio Armani Stronger With You?
Too authoritative.
Giorgio Armani I Will?
Definitely too romantic.
Eventually I landed on Paco Rabanne One Million Black.
Sweet enough to feel approachable.
Still strong enough to say:
please be comfortable around me, but also don’t take the piss.
Then came the outfit.
Maroon Tommy Hilfiger wool sweater.
Warm enough for the cold weather.
Soft enough to hopefully make me look approachable.
Oversized grey Hallensteins jeans.
Partly because I didn’t want anything restricting my movement.
Partly because I wanted to project:
hey, look, I’m the cool manager.
And then simple black UGGs.
Comfortable.
Slightly ugly.
Somehow still cool.
Perfect.
While I was packing everything into my bag, I finally texted Kak Nana.
Apparently the reason she called me last night was because she had been trying to find my Instagram.
She wanted to show her friends what I looked like.
Except:
my Instagram no longer exists.
And apparently I completely forgot to warn my sister that I had disappeared from social media.
To be fair, when I deleted everything, I wasn’t exactly in the best place.
Explaining my disappearance to everybody wasn’t exactly high on the priority list.
So instead, I sent her a mirror selfie.
There.
Proof of life.
And once we started texting, we just kept going.
While I packed.
While I left the apartment.
All the way toward the train station.
It had been a long time since Kak Nana and I properly talked, so even that little stream of messages felt nice.
Maybe tonight we would finally get that phone call.
Although I wasn’t promising Co–Star the all night part.
I had already made that mistake with Sword Art Online.
When I arrived at Waitematā, there was one obvious priority.
Starbucks.
Immediately.
I made the mistake before of going into a meeting without coffee and becoming the crankiest version of myself.
I was not repeating that.
And I think I have finally discovered the true purpose of the giant Starbucks tumbler I bought while my finances were absolutely not interested in unnecessary purchases.
Apparently giant tumbler means giant coffee.
Which means it was never an impulse purchase.
It was an investment.
Return on investment, baby.
Then I got to Rosie’s.
Said hi to everyone on shift.
And went straight into preparation mode.
I edited the PowerPoint so it could be printed more like a workbook.
Something everyone could actually write on.
Take notes.
Add questions.
Make it feel less like me talking at them and more like something we were working through together.
I printed my own version with notes underneath too so I had everything I wanted to cover in front of me.
Then I prepared the space.
Chairs.
Papers.
Making sure everyone would be comfortable.
By the time everything was ready, I still had about thirty minutes before training started.
So naturally:
burger.
I ordered myself some food and waited for everyone to show up.
We started around 3:10.
In my head, this was supposed to be a two-hour session.
Go through the slides.
Answer a few questions.
Eat some food.
Done.
Except everybody had something to say.
Questions.
Concerns.
Opinions.
And most importantly:
nobody seemed afraid to say any of it to me.
Honestly, that made me proud.
Because that was exactly why I wanted to do the training in the first place.
Not just to tell everybody how things should be done.
I wanted them to have a space where they could ask why.
Tell me what wasn’t working.
Bring up something they were unsure about.
Disagree if they needed to.
And they did.
They actually used the space.
Maybe that means I’m doing something right as a manager.
I’ve always wanted to be approachable enough that my staff can actually talk to me.
Not the kind of manager where everybody nods during a meeting and then waits until I leave the room to say what they actually think.
Today, when they were given the opportunity to speak, they spoke.
And I was able to answer their questions.
Address their concerns.
Explain why certain things are done the way they are.
Sometimes even listen and realise they had a point.
That felt cool.
Not because I had every answer.
But because they trusted me enough to ask the questions.
The session finally wrapped up around 5:45.
Definitely longer than planned.
But honestly, I didn’t mind.
If the extra time came from people actually engaging, then I would rather let it run.
At one point, one of my friends tried to video call me while I was still in the session.
I ignored it.
Not because I didn’t care.
I just wanted my attention to stay with my staff while I was there.
He only called once, so I knew it probably wasn’t an emergency.
I texted him afterwards.
Turns out he just wanted to hang out and get some food.
Easy.
I told him to come to Rosie’s.
He is also good friends with Dylan anyway, so it made even more sense.
Then another friend messaged me.
He had come over from Malaysia for his graduation and wanted to pick up some things he had left with me.
He was staying at a hotel nearby.
So:
come to Rosie’s.
Suddenly everything was lining up perfectly.
And because I felt like I had actually done a good job today, I decided I deserved a reward.
The new dessert from our menu:
Piña Fiesta Sundae.
Consider it a pat on the back.
Also, unfortunately for every other dessert on the menu:
I think I’ve found my new favourite.
When my friend from Malaysia arrived, he brought food from home with him.
The second I saw it, I was already excited to get back and eat.
So around 9 PM, I said goodbye to everyone and headed off.
Joseph, one of the staff who came to training today and also one of my good friends, was staying at mine tonight, so we walked toward the train station together.
Our train home was twenty-five minutes away.
Personally?
Not a problem.
I had my Kindle.
A train station.
Twenty-five uninterrupted minutes.
Sounds perfect.
Joseph strongly disagreed.
Apparently waiting twenty-five minutes was unacceptable.
So he jumped onto another train that would only take him part of the way, with the plan to grab a scooter from there and make his own way to my apartment.
Honestly?
That sounded like far too much effort.
I was comfortable.
I was chilling.
I had Sword Art Online.
So I let him go.
He could optimise the journey.
I could optimise the waiting.
And I disappeared into another chapter.
When I finally got home, the first thing I did was check on Lucas.
He had been to the doctor today, so while he told me the whole story of his little medical adventure, I started unpacking some of the food my friend had brought from Malaysia.
I opened one of the packs.
The smell?
Damn.
Immediate hunger.
Tonight’s dinner:
chicken curry with potatoes.
Proper comfort food.
Only one problem.
Chicken curry obviously wants rice.
Unfortunately, rice requires cooking.
And then waiting.
At least fifteen whole minutes.
Absolutely not.
I had already waited twenty-five minutes for a train tonight.
I had reached my patience quota.
So I looked at the instant noodles.
Instant.
The clue is literally in the name.
Chicken curry with potatoes + instant noodles it is.
Traditional?
Probably not.
Efficient?
Extremely.
And honestly?
It worked.
Now I’ve finished eating.
My water bottle is full.
My tumbler is full.
Both are sitting beside my bed so I have absolutely no reason to move again.
And now I’m just going to read.
Rest.
Maybe accidentally pull another all-nighter disappearing into chapter after chapter of Sword Art Online.
Maybe stay awake long enough for Kak Nana to get home so we can finally talk.
Maybe fall asleep waiting.
And looking back at today’s Co–Star:
Stay up all night on the phone with a good friend.
Maybe the point wasn’t necessarily the phone call.
Today was full of people talking to me.
Staff trusting me with their questions.
Friends wanting to come see me.
Someone returning from Malaysia and bringing a little bit of home with him.
Kak Nana appearing again after we hadn’t properly talked in a while.
Maybe connection doesn’t always arrive through one dramatic conversation.
Sometimes it is five people sitting around a table and feeling comfortable enough to speak honestly.
Sometimes it is a friend calling because they want food and company.
Sometimes it is someone bringing curry halfway across the world.
Sometimes it is sending your sister a selfie because she just wanted to show her friends what you look like.
And maybe tonight it will actually be a phone call.
Or maybe I’ll fall asleep with my Kindle in my hand.
Either way, I think today gave me enough.
I’m going to stop writing here.
The rest can belong to tomorrow.