The Best Spare (Be My Girl)

Chapter 4

"So?" 

"What?" I asked as I am enjoying the chicken in front of me. Philip keep on badgering me throughout the afternoon regarding Amy's question. For someone who is in the Project and Design team, this person has a lot of time.

"You know there's a reason why I treat you to dinner with your own choice of meal," Philip said while he is munching the remaining soggy fries he ordered. I smirked and tried to ignored his words. It is true though. Philip is a cheapskate amongst us since college. He rarely really treats unless it was your birthday or it is a special day. That's the reason why I grab this chance when he said that he'll treat me to chicken and beer -  two things I've been craving after the long day of quarterly compliance.

"Who was the guy?"   

"Really? Hindi ka pa naka-let go sa issue na 'yan? It's almost 8 in the evening. And I told you guys, he's just a grab driver." I said with a lie. Alangan namang sabihin ko na anak ni Atty. Legaspi yun di ba? Sabihin pang naggagawa ako ng issue sa office.

"Amy won't annoy you like that if it's just a Grab driver," he asked seriously. I put down the chicken wings I am eating and face him seriously.

"Phil, Amy was so drunk last Friday. Tita Cely probably just annoys her by telling that it was a 'handsome guy' so that Amy would minimize being drunk," I explained in a very serious tone. He looked at me directly for almost a minute before he shrug his shoulders but didn't say anything.

"If you guys are that, you could have called me. Buti mabait yung nasakyan niyong Grab. You can not defend yourself if you have a drunk friend with you."

"I consider it. It's just that you might charge me twice than what the app will charge me." I teased. He threw a napkin on me playfully and the conversation ends.

"Hmmm. So, what is it that you really want to talk about?" I curiously asked him as I am eating the Korean dessert I always craved after gulping down a beer. And I was not wrong. Nakita ko kung paano siya napakamot ng batok while trying to look straight.

"Some other time." 

"That's another round of free chicken and beer plus dessert." I chuckled as I slowly devour my Power cap. He just smiled and finished his own Power Cap before he drove me home. 

After knowing him for more than a decade, I think I already have a solid idea on what he wants to really talk about. I mean who he wants to talk about. It's Danielle, one of the Treasury Assistants in Cash Management Group. Danielle and I used to work together in another real estate company before we transferred here. It was actually Danielle who first transferred here after she resigned from our previous company while I stayed behind to clean up the mess of one of Senior Sales Director. Danielle asked for a copy of my resume to which I give her without so much thought. It turned out that she forwarded that to their HR and refer me for one of the position in Compliance Department. It was two weeks before I found out that Philip also works there when Danielle and I ate dinner together. 

Alam mo yung moment na akala mo eto na yung chance na magiging kayo? That seeing each other is a sign that you two will end up together? Lol. NO. A big resounding NO. The worst thing is we became friends as we were in college. Yes. Friendzone. I was friendzoned even before there was a term for it. Dati kasi MU lang ang tawag dyan. Yung parang kayo pero hindi kayo. Minsan, special friend. 

Pero kahit ganun, kahit alam ko kung ano ang lugar ko sa buhay niya, I still can not turn away. I still find myself at his beck and call. Like legit. There was that time when he got sick and our other friends were back in our province. I found myself nursing him back to health. 

Alam mo yun? When I look at it objectively, I look so pathetic. Admitting that I look pathetic is hard and everytime, I would tell myself that this is enough. That I have my own life. Pero everything will go back to square one the moment he calls.