The F- Buddies

25. Outlines

Gregory Troye was so good at writing, and it was surprising to know that the person behind him was too good to be true. A single, financially stable, good-looking man—very ideal. Ayaw sa Mary Sue, yet he himself is a Marty Stu, duh.

Hindi nawala ang titig ko kay Vincent pagkarating na pagkarating namin sa bahay ko. He was using my desktop, working on GDocs, at paminsan-minsan ay nagtatanong ng ilang details na puro lang ako oo kahit hindi ko naman na halos naiintindihan. Masyado siyang welcome sa bahay ko kahit kagabi lang naman siya nakatapak sa lugar ko. Ako naman si gaga, hinahayaan lang. Nasa kama lang ako at hinihintay siya sa ginagawa niya kung kailan niya balak matapos.

"Okay, babe," sabi niya at inikot ang swivel chair ko para makaharap siya sa akin. "I made a story outline, character profiles, and goals. And we are going to clear everything . . . now."

Quarter to twelve na, at ngayon pa talaga niya gagawin 'to? Iba rin! Writer nga talaga, walang pinipiling oras.

"We still need to follow the meet-develop-happy ending formula."

Kanina pa ako lutang kaiisip sa ginawa niya roon sa business park, pero dahil sa sinabi niya ngayon, nagbalik agad ako sa ulirat dahil ilang beses na naming pinagtalunan iyan.

"Hoy, GT. Sabi na nga kasing cliché ang idea mo."

"Will you let me explain the whole outline first, please?"

He stared at me. I did the same. A few minutes later, I gave up.

"Okay! Explain," hamon ko.

Ang cliché kasi talaga ng concept na gusto niya. But . . . okay, sige, I would consider that he was Gregory Troye and that he could pull that off flawlessly. But still, I wouldn't buy it talaga. It was too plain . . . for me, I guess. I was really not a fan of the genre.

"I want the female lead to be a strong, independent woman. That was the original plan, babe."

"Okay?" I crossed my arms and waited for the other details. "Strong, independent woman. What's with that? Rich lady? Born with a silver spoon in her mouth?"

"Someone who comes from a broken family, forced to be career-oriented. Workaholic. A perfectionist. Achiever. The type of woman na hindi kakailanganin ng lalaki sa buhay para lang masabing kompleto siya."

"Oh. Okay. So?"

"The male lead would be a total bummer. An asshole. Or, let's say, a handsome fucker."

I smiled because of his word choice. "I thought you don't like bad words, huh?"

"That was an intentional description, babe. Yours are expressions. I still don't tolerate your language."

Whatever.

"Again, our male lead is someone na never matitipuhan ng babaeng may utak. An egotistical man who will never care for somebody else aside from himself."

Pinag-isipan ko ang combination ng archetype niya. And really, I found that stupid. Toxic si guy para sa female lead.

"No offense, GT, ha? Pero kasi, if I were the female lead, I wouldn't fall sa isang self-absorbed bummer. Perfectionist ka 'tapos pipili ka ng hindi perfect? Walang sense."

He grinned at me at saka siya sumandal sa inuupuan habang hinihimas-himas ang labi niya. Kulang na lang ng neon lights sa noo niya para sabihing, "Oh really?"

"Tanga lang ang mapo-fall sa ganoong tao, real talk lang," sagot ko. "Gusto ng mga babaeng ginagawa silang prinsesa, kaya bakit ka pipili ng lalaking mas uunahin ang sarili niya bago ang kapakanan mo?"