Prologue

The scene starts in a meeting room with a long table at the center.

Astrid Yu sits on one side while her showbiz ex-boyfriend, Jerome Young, sits on the other. Astrid's mother, Vivien Yu, discusses with Jerome's lawyer the terms and conditions entailed in the Non-Disclosure Agreement. A result of the love team's break up.

Jerome’s lawyer talks about how this scandal would hurt not only the boy's career, but the studio as well. The executives only want to tie up loose ends before they start marketing Jerome's movie.

 However, Astrid is despondent to the situation. She doesn't speak or even look at anyone. Instead, she plays the scene of Jerome's betrayal in her head over and over.

Before they could successfully wrap up the meeting, Astrid finally speaks. She agrees to sign the agreement, but in return, Jerome never gets to speak about her. Not in interviews, not in F******k posts, nothing. It will be like she never existed.

Vivien is visibly startled but quickly composes herself. She asks her daughter if she's sure and Astrid simply nods herself before returning her gaze back to the table. Jerome agrees to her request, making an off-hand comment that it would save him a lot of trouble too.

They sign the contracts without another word.

As soon as the two men step out of the room, Vivien immediately goes on a tirade against Astrid, berating her for making such a ridiculous request. She emphasizes that any publicity is good publicity. And to add insult to injury, Vivien tells Astrid she should be thankful that Jerome managed to put her in the limelight and that she would've been nothing without him.

Astrid takes all of this quietly. She steels herself and reminds herself that as an actress, she should know how to control her tears.

---

A few months later, Astrid finishes up an audition that she bombs. Disappointed, she heads home and is surprised to find Dreia Rodriguez, her best friend from Cebu, in her condo unit's living room.

Dreia is a well-known video editor in Cebu's indie film scene and was a classmate of hers in high school. She lets Astrid know that she's there for a few days for some work in Manila.

They catch up, after not having seen each other in literal years, and Dreia lets slip that Lee is handling Brew Blends now, the coffee shop they used to frequent in high school.

("Really? What happened to Lola Elisa?"

"Oh, you haven't heard?"

"No. Lee, uh, he blocked me after the whole thing."

"Right. She, uhm, passed away a couple of years back. She had a stroke and never really recovered.")

Suddenly, Astrid's mother, Vivien, calls. Astrid steps out to the balcony to take the call. Vivien doesn't wait another moment to inform her that Astrid had lost all her roles to Audrey, the girl Jerome cheated with (and is co-starring with in his new movie, debuting their shiny new love team).

Vivien also tells her that the industry perceives her as a weak, non-marketable actress without Jerome and that the execs are not willing to invest in her with her current situation. Astrid wraps up the call and looks visibly upset.

As she steps back in, Astrid is greeted by a bottle of mojitos shoved to her chest. Dreia asks her how she really is and to drop the bullshit because it's written all over her face.

As they mix the drinks, Astrid opens up about how she's tired of feeling like a disappointment--to her mom especially. She talks about how it's starting to seem like Vivien will never be proud of her with the way things are going right now.

Dreia tells her that she needs to learn how to live by her terms and not by others. Astrid only rolls her eyes and tells her, "We work in mainstream media. Being a people-pleaser is a default personality trait."

As the night deepens, the two girls get a bright idea to start a Youtube channel wherein Astrid does a drunk make up tutorial--except she allows herself to get candid and drop a plethora of sarcastic, self-deprecating jokes.

Astrid ends the video with, "I'm going to sleep like this. Good night," and passes out in her bed.

Dreia stops filming and tucks the sleeping Astrid into bed. She then opens her laptop and spends the entire night editing Astrid's video. The next day, Astrid wakes up to Dreia gone and a text on her phone letting her know that her best friend had an early call time and to "stop being tita's doormat."

Vivien then steps into the room without even bothering to knock, catching Astrid off guard. She sees the make up on Astrid's face and berates her for being irresponsible with her skin.

("Your face is your main selling point. Without that, you're nothing.")

Astrid then interrupts her, asking Vivien why she never told her that Lola Elisa's gone. Vivien is quiet for a while, something Astrid's not used to. Finally, she tells Astrid that "what happens to those people are no longer any of your concern."

She then pulls out Astrid's suitcase from her closet. She proceeds to tell her that she's booked them a flight back to Cebu and that they weren't coming back for a while because they couldn't afford living in Manila anymore considering Astrid's situation. That, and that they were leaving in a week.

("Think of it as a good thing. You get to go home and breathe, maybe even reflect about your time here and start planning how you're going to come back stronger.")

Vivien doesn't give Astrid time to process what was going on and leaves the room. Astrid stares at the door before curling up into a ball and cries.

---

“I’m going on a social media cleanse,” was the last text she sent Dreia before she fell off the face of the Earth.

That was two weeks ago.

In those two weeks, Astrid had completely uprooted her life in Manila and moved back to Cebu. She didn’t contact anyone when she arrived—not her friends, family, or followers. It was like she disappeared altogether. But she didn’t.

In that time, Astrid simply gave herself time to breathe. She did so by watching all of the dramas N*****x had to offer. It was cathartic living someone else’s life, crying someone else’s tears, and pretending that one day, she’ll also have her happily ever after. She was about to go on her third week of complete radio silence, when suddenly she received a text from Dreia.

(“Girl, you’re a meme!”

“Hah? What are you talking about?”

Dreia quickly responds with a photo.

It looks like a meme template of a drunk girl sitting behind a table full of make-up. Astrid’s eyes widen, realizing it was that she was the girl in the photo.

“What the hell? Where did this come from?”

“You don’t know?”

“What are you—what do I not know?”

“Oh. Oh shit.”

“Dreia, I swear to god— “

Dreia then sends her a Youtube link. She quickly opens it to find her face, red as a peach, greeting everyone to her vlog.

“Get ready with me and I’ll tell you how to be a complete and utter disappointment to your mother!” Drunk Astrid exclaims with a laugh. Astrid, mortified, looks at the view count to see that it has over a hundred thousand views and thousands of comments.

“Dreia, what have you done?”

“Hey, you told me to post it!”

“I didn’t!”

“Yes, you did!”

Dreia then sends her a voice clip of their conversation.

“Hello!” Astrid’s voice blasts through the speakers as it giggles wildly through slurred speech, “I hereby declare my presidential decree— “

“What the hell are you talking about?” Dreia’s voice then comes on, followed by her laughter.

“No, no. Hear me out, okay. I hereby declare that you, Dreia Rodriguez, can post my video on Youtube. As long as you edit it, because I ain’t doing that shit.”

 “If you say so, Astrid.” The voice clip then ends with their laughter.

“I’m... holy shit... I’m going to have to call you back.”)

Astrid was screwed. As she watches the 10-minute video of her trash-talking her mother while putting on make-up, drunkenly at that, Astrid can only imagine Vivien murdering her in more ways than one.

---

Astrid and Vivien sit by the dinner table, eating in silence. Vivien is giving Astrid the cold shoulder, and Astrid is growing more and more anxious. Despite Astrid’s attempts at creating small talk, her mother refuses to talk or even look at her.

As Vivien stands up and goes to clean up the table, Astrid quietly asks her if she’s seen the video.

(“Who hasn’t?” Vivien starts, finally replying to her daughter, “It’s nice to know what you really think of me, Astrid. After everything I have done for you.”)

Astrid shrinks in her seat as Vivien continues to talk. Word after word, Astrid begins to wonder if it was worth opening the topic at this point. But suddenly, Vivien stops and starts to look thoughtful,

“However, that video did put you back on the radar.” She finally says.

Vivien then examines Astrid from top to bottom and imagines her as a vlogger.

“This could actually work. And all you need to do is make content.” Vivien tells her as she circles around her, “No producers or executives to answer to, no love team to abide by...”

Vivien looks thoughtful for a moment, then her face lights up like a child on Christmas day.

“Oh, Astrid, what did I do to have such a perfect daughter like you?” That catches Astrid off-guard, but the next thing Vivien does surprises her even more. Vivien embraces her.

“You’re not mad?” Astrid asks as Vivien pulls away. Vivien only chuckles and tucks a stray hair behind Astrid’s ear.

“Astrid, what have I been telling you since day one? Any publicity is good publicity.” She quotes herself, “My reputation might take a blow from this... but what’s a mother’s sacrifice for her daughter’s success, right?”

Astrid stares at her in confusion, unable to wrap her head around the shift in the conversation. Vivien picks up on this and laughs.

“Go to sleep, anak. This will all make sense in the morning.”

Astrid nods and heads to her room warily, not sure what to expect come morning.

As soon as Astrid is out of sight, Vivien pulls out her phone and dials a number she hasn’t contacted in years. The phone rings a bit, then the line picks up.

“Hello, Lee? This is Vivien, Astrid’s mother. Listen, I know things have been rough between you two, but do you have time to talk?”)

---

Vivien had apparently set up an agreement with Lee to have Astrid simultaneously work and create content at Brew Blends. And to nobody’s surprise, Lee was cold to Astrid in her first week there. Astrid wouldn’t go as far as saying he's a bad boss (or an abusive one at that), he’s just... cold. He doesn’t speak to her directly, and neither does he acknowledge her presence.

The only time there’s a turnaround in his behavior is whenever Vivien is there.

Dreia explains to Astrid that Lee hasn’t been the same since Lola Elisa passed away, but even she couldn’t wrap her head around why Lee had a soft spot for Vivien. Astrid decides to ignore it, thinking that the cold shoulder was something she deserved and that it shouldn’t affect her work too much.

However, things grow tense when Lee makes snide remarks regarding the filming. And every time he does, it’s caught on camera. Thankfully, Dreia calls him out on it, and he keeps his comments to himself after that.

But if there’s something you should know about Lee, it’s that he was the third to their little trio before everything fell apart. It was always Astrid, Dreia, and Lee.

Much like Dreia, Lee had a knack for film making, especially with cinematography. He knew exactly where the light hit best and how to make a scene look cinematic.

The three often made short films with each other despite their limited resources, and their roles were almost usually the same: Lee the Videographer, Astrid the Actress, and Dreia the Director and Video Editor.

So, when Dreia couldn’t show up to help film the vlog one day, leaving Astrid to fend for herself with a camera she barely knew how to use, Lee had to step in. He helps Astrid set up and even found her the best spot behind the bar to angle the camera.

Little by little, Lee starts to warm up to Astrid. He films her throughout the entire day, directing what she could do, even teaching her how to make latte art! It’s all very wholesome and light-hearted, it almost felt like they never broke up.

As the day ends, Lee helps Astrid clean up behind the counter. They share a moment, looking back on their childhood memories fondly. That is, until Astrid asks what changed.

The mood shifts, and Lee returns to his cold self, reminding Astrid that she knew exactly what changed. He leaves Astrid behind, leaving her to fester in her own guilt. She then realizes the camera was still filming and turns it off.

Dreia drops by at Astrid’s place to retrieve the camera when Astrid tells her not to be too surprised when she sees Lee in the footage. Astrid also lets Dreia know that Lee helped her film the entire thing that day. Dreia simply nods as she looks through the footage with an unreadable look on her face.

Astrid confesses to Dreia that perhaps, after all this time, she was still in love with Lee—to which Dreia wonders out loud if it’s not just the “nostalgia goggles.”

Astrid says no but leaves it at that, still refusing to tell Dreia the real reason behind the break up.

Dreia then leaves her with parting words that will haunt Astrid for the rest of the night, “The night you called to break the news to Lee, he was at the hospital looking after Lola Elisa. She had just collapsed from the stroke. He thought he could tough it out so he wouldn’t worry her, but he still lost her the week after.”

(“Dreia, why didn’t you tell me?”

“Honestly? I guess it was because I really hated you in that moment.”)