FIRST AND ONLY

CHAPTER 36

CHAPTER 36

“Hello?” I answered the phone.

“YOU SAID YOU’LL BE BACK FOR FEW MINUTES! HOW DARE YOU LEAVE ME WITH THAT MORON!” Che che shouted, almost ripping her neck I guess.

“Hey, hey…don’t you yell at me young lady! You know how busy I am…and wait?Why the heck are you so mad at me?I did you a favor…I asked Cody to have lunch with you instead cause I know you don’t eat alone..Don’t you think you should Thank me instead? You brat disrespectful two faced little kid!”

I couldn’t help but shout…I am pressured already with editing of the lyrics and this diva kid calls me and that’s not the annoying part but to really yell at me for 35 minutes? ARGGGGGH.

“OH MY GOSHHH… ISN’T THAT JUST THE SWEETEST THING KUYA MAC?I SHOULD REALLY THANK YOU..I SHOULD PROBABLY PREPARE YOU A DINNER WHEN YOU GO HOME…” she says in a sarcastic and childish tone. “YOU PROBABLY DESERVE A SWEET STEAK WITH HOT POISONED GRAVY ON THE SIDE!REALLY??I SHOULD THANK YOU FOR BEING WITH CODY THE WHOLE AFTERNOON??ONLY TO REMIND MYSELF HOW PATHETIC I WAS TWO YEARS AGO? HOW DARE YOU SET ME UP WITH MY EX!!!”

She hangs up.

I touched my phone, it was hot…it’s as if it felt Che che’s anger. How can that kid be so mad at me when----Wait a second? CODY IS HER EX?No wonder she wants to kill me. But still yelling at me and hanging up is disrespectful, I didn’t know it in the first place! I was about to text her when I received a text.

“Dre, School’s been already starting. Aren’t you returning yet?”

It was from Anthony. Wow, I suddenly started missing Anthony and Pau. If they were here, I wouldn’t be this confuse, they just know me so well, they know what to say and what not to say.

I wanted to reply but decided not to instead.

“Here…Coffee awakens the dead body.” Gaile dropped a Tumbler of hot coffee on the table.

She sits on the opposite couch and started singing.

I lost focus, I was not in my world for awhile.

“Anything wrong?” she asks after noticing hw completely stunned I was.

“Huh?” I am still stuck staring at her perfectness.

“You look like you wanna ask me something…What is it?” she said while having that doubtful smile.

“Yes..I wanna ask you, what are we doing?What are you doing to me to be exact?Do you enjoy doing this? Me being a slave for you and not knowing my stand on you. Was it easy for you leaving me? Can we talk about Us?” These questions were going through my head.

Instead I decided to say something else.

“That song you were playing…It’s good, why don’t you include it in your tracks?” I asked.

The truth is, knowing Gaile she sings Acousticly, now, I hear her record rock songs. That’s not even her forte.

“That what’s the label wants, that’s what the audiences would buy.” She smiles after saying so.

“Rock or Acoustic…I know one boy that would buy all your CDs.” I said sincerely.

After long hours of editing.. I finally finished re-writing her lyrics or should I say rewriting the whole album?

I came near her to submit the edited papers.

She received them with the furious look and started reading them.

She stared at me and gave me the look.

“Does it sound awful?You know I can---“ I didn’t finish to ask her whether it needed revisions, she stood up and hugged me.

“It’s beautiful. I never thought you could write all these.”

It was a short hug, she instantly leaned away.

“Here,take this!” She offered me an envelope. I know it’s a private fee, Chelsea told me about, when the album comes out, All the songs written will be credited to Gaile regardless of my big part in the album.

I waved off. “I don’t need the money.” I lied, although I was insanely running out of allowance cause I should be returning back to Manila two weeks ago, I rejected the money. “I just need you to want me.” I said in my mind.

“I WOULD REVISE THE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT, YOUR NAME WOULD BE THERE, ALL CAPS.” Gaile said furiously. “It will be there, first line, I promise.”

“No need, really.” I said, but deep down, Im telling myself “Is that it?Am I just part of an Acknowledgement?If my name would be in all caps and put in the first line would it declare something?”

“Your name will be there.” She insisted.

I replied with a short “Thanks.” For I don’t know how to ask her the questions I’ve been dying to ask, the questions that’s been haunting me every night for about 4 weeks already. When do you know you’ve tried hard enough? When do you cross the line from meeting someone halfway and being this all around guy for all things pathetic? When are you allowed to give up on someone?When?

Gaile kissed my cheek and says “You’re the best,Mckenzie.”

We went to the sushi bar resto afterwards. A lot of teenagers approached her for photos, a lot of boys should I add. Gaile smiled with every guy that had their arms around her shoulders in the camera. She had that rehearsed smile I got used to for 4 weeks.

“We love you, Gaile.” They would all say after being starstrucked.

“Aww, I love you too.” She replies.

I know it’s a blanket “I love you”, directed to all her fans, therefore including me. I would like to tell myself I’m super okay with everything, but as she comes back beside me and I felt how big of a star she’s becoming, I knew..I would never be enough.

The next morning, I woke up with the knocking on my door. It was Che che, she still looks pretty upset and sad at the same time. “Here” she handed me Gaile’s new Cd and a Big Paper bag and left instantly.

I stared at the Cd, it was a Picture of Gaile wearing a cocktail dress in a vintage room wearing a sneakers in the cover, I stared at the album title “McLovin”. I instantly went to the Acknowledgment section,I scan the first paragraph,my name isn’t even there.

I sighed after reading the small notecard in the CD that goes “Here you go Mac, Sorry the printers couldn’t wai for the revisions of the Acknowledgement but Thank you for everything,ThankZie.”

It wasn’t even her handwriting, that I’m sure of.

I flipped the pages of the Lyrics I know every part of. Out of curiousity,I went to the Acknowledgement section again, Gaile wrote something about how she loves her family so much, how she misses Jessica so bad. It had something about Thanking Cody,the producers and staffs. She thanked her record label company, her new friends in Cebu, the fans of course. She has to. On the very last line she wrote “This album and everything in it is dedicated to Lance Agoncillo, my fiancée, we’re getting married next year.”