My Boyfriend is a Freak (Published under Pop Fiction)

4: Vren

"Get off me!" I hissed at Alessandro Pinpin, or as everyone knows him, Alexia.

Kung hindi lang 'to isa sa mga pinakamatalik na kaibigan ng girlfriend ko, sasamain na 'to sa akin.

"Ay, taray much, Papa Vren? Wala pa naman si Mira, e. Ako muna ang magbibigay-aliw sa'yo!"

Holy heavens. This gay is giving me goosebumps.

"Naririnig mo ba ang sinasabi mo?" I glared at him. "I said, quit clinging to me or else, I'm going to kick you out of this building!"

"Psh, eto na po! Suplado talaga," Alexia muttered before smirking. "Pero okay lang, super gwapo at hot nemen!" He snuck another touch at my arm before finally inching away from me.

I was in Mira's office, waiting for her to come back from a meeting with Medialink's VP of Finance. While I, the company's CEO, took a short break from my duties, having just finished my initial preparations for my dinner date with my girlfriend later.

A boss deserves a time-off every once in a while, right?

Kaya lang, habang hinihintay ko ang pagbalik ni Mira ay sumugod din ang tatlo niyang best friends sa kanyang opisina. While Mavi and Hannah respectfully greeted me and assured that the three of them will be off as soon as they have relayed an important message to Mira (as if I'm not aware that "important message" isn't a euphemism for "gossip"), Alexia proceeded to molest my poor biceps.

Thankfully, before I completely lost my patience and made good of my warning to kick Alexia out of the building, the door of Mira's office opened once more, letting her in.

Finally.

"Girls, anong ginagawa niyo rito?" she began with a smile, noticing her friends first. Then our eyes met, and her smile widened in pleasant surprise. "Vren! Bakit nandito ka rin?"

"I'm waiting for you. Obviously," I smiled back at her and took a few steps to close the gap between us.

"Sus. Miss mo na agad ako?" Mira chuckled. And to my delight, she tiptoed and planted a kiss on my cheek. My heart skipped a beat.

"I'm out!" Alexia suddenly cried, causing the rest of us to look at him. "Hindi ko na kaya! Masakit!"

He gave Mira a look of contempt and sashayed towards the door.

Nagtataka naman akong nilingon muli ni Mira. "Anong nangyari do'n?"

I chuckled. "Nagseselos yata."

"Ni-reject 'yan ni Sir Vren kanina," tatawa-tawa ring paliwanag ni Mavi. "Sinaway dahil panay ang himas sa braso ng boyfriend mo."

"Hoy, bruha ka!" Hinabol ni Mira si Alexia, na noon ay ilang hakbang na lang ang layo mula sa pintuan ng opisina. Just as Alexia was about to open the door, Mira grabbed his collar and yanked him back. Napaupo naman ito sa couch na nasa gilid ng pintuan.

"Aray naman, sis! Mamamatay ako nang maaga sa'yo!" he whined while massaging his throat, amidst our laughter.

"Lakas mo Mira, ah!" Hannah commented.

"Naman!" Mira grinned at her before turning her attention back to Alexia. "At sino ang nagbigay ng permiso sa'yo na lumingkis sa boyfriend ko, ha? Gusto mong makatikim ng sabunot mula sa akin?"

Alexia's eyes widened at the threat. Before any of us could react, he sprinted again to the exit.

"Bye, sisters! See you later!" he shouted as the door slammed behind him.

The four of us were left laughing at Alexia's foolishness.

****

For our dinner date, I prepared Mira's favorite Chinese dishes, the ingredients of which I personally shopped for earlier — the reason why I left the company premises on office hours.

It was just a simple meal-for-two here at my condo unit, but I knew Mira loved it, maybe even more than our dates held at fancy restaurants.

I thought everything was going well — Mira even set aside some dumplings to munch on while we watch "The Fault in Our Stars", one of her favorite movies — but just as I was already congratulating myself for a job well done, I heard her sniffing. I looked at her and saw tears cascading down her cheeks.

"Hey, why are you crying? Is the food terrible?" I asked, panicked.

"K-kasi..." Mira stammered. "Huhu... Vreeeen!"

"What?" I demanded, now a nervous wreck.

Seriously, is this date going to be a flop?

"Tingnan mo naman... Waaah!"

"Damn it, Mira. What is the problem?"

Mira glared at me through red-rimmed eyes. "Mamatay na yata si Gus! Tingnan mo ang pinagsasabi ni Hazel sa eulogy niya!"

What the fuck?

I let out the breath I didn't even realize I was holding. "Holy crap. That's what you're crying about?"

"Bakit? Ikaw ba, hindi naiiyak? Tingnan mo nga, o. Pati si Isaac, nagda-drama na. Wala ka bang pakiramdam, ha? Manhid ka!"

I shook my head in exasperation. "Crazyhead," I muttered.

"I heard that!" She pouted. "Pusong-bato ka lang talaga."

"Hindi ako pusong-bato. I'm just not stupid enough to get carried away by a frickin' movie."

"Che! Ewan ko sa'yo. Wala kang alam sa pagmamahal."

"If that's the case, then I should've not come back for you," I countered her with a smirk.

And just as I expected, Mira's face turn crimson at my words. I chuckled but didn't say anything.

We spent the next minutes watching the movie in silence. Or, more accurately, she resumed watching, while I returned to my business of staring at her — even though I always say that staring is rude.

Maybe there's an exception — it's when you like the view so much.

And in my case, that view is Mira.