Behind-the-scenes

Chapter 7 | she has a boyfriend

“NAPAKA-COMPLEX MO!”

Tory was in my ear – as usual. Goddamit. Ano naman ba to? She continued, of course she did. “Ang hirap mong intindihin! We missed a photoshoot because you weren’t up on time!”

I was naked under my sheets and Tory, being my handler for five years, never really cared. Tory is a woman made of stone, no matter how much flesh I showed her, she doesn’t react. Maybe PA girl is made out of stone, too. Ang aga naman ng thoughts ko about PA girl. Erase!

“Alam mo that we worked your entire day’s schedule for that shoot? I would have understood if pagod ka from shooting last night pero from the looks of IT…” IT means my trés sexy girls, who Tory may or may not found in my condo when she arrived. She also may or may not throw them out half-dressed. “The shooting wasn’t the reason! Hindi ka ba napapagod? Seriously? Nag-uwi ka pa ng dalawang whorebags after ni High Heels and Slutty Smiley?”

Woah, do we call her that now? That stroke a nerve, medyo napikon ako. “Tory, shut up!” I am so mad. I sat on the bed which means I am beyond mad. I am furious. “First, I don’t care. Re-schedule the commercial shoot or cancel it, I don’t like Soy Milk anyway!” Tory looked shocked and I continued. “Second, my sex life is none of your business, it is in our contract! Lastly…” I took a deep breath. “Don’t call Nati a slut because nothing happened between us. You do that again, you are out of here.”

Tory eyes widen, she went from the monster woman who threw my harem out to this uneasy girl in front of me. “What did you say?” There were pain in her eyes.

I breathe and buried my face in my palms for a second and rake my hair off my eyes. I hate making Tory tear up. “Tor, come on. I didn’t mean it.” I wanted to comfort her but I wasn’t sorry. I never really said the word. I’m an unapologetic asswipe.

Tory nodded and sat on the bed next to me, “Sorry. I didn’t mean to pry. I crossed the line.” The thing about Tory that I like is she doesn’t actually think I’m a pain in the ass. She understands.  There was silence.

“So, you like her?” Oh, here comes the part I hate about Tory. She’s like my mother.

“Shut up, Tory!” I stood up bringing the entire blanket to cover my, erm, treasure into the bathroom. I heard her laugh.

WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME AND WHAT’S UP WITH ME DEFENDING THE PA GIRL? I showered the thoughts away.

After I shower we went for a late lunch, it turns out it is three in the afternoon already. The car passed by a small coffee kiosk near Grover Heights University where I saw a girl with a black, messy bun and a sad face – talking to a monstrosity of a tall guy. He held her hand; she was smiling at him and him at her. It was a typical scenario but not to me, PA girl is with THE boyfriend. It took all my might not to jump out of this car and punch a hole in tall guy’s face.

I caught myself thinking non-sense things again. Of course, she has the right to have a boyfriend. It is not like I own her.
“Hey, are you okay?” Tory asked me as she drove away from the coffee stand.

For the first time in a long time, I don’t really know.