Since she promised she would pass a fantastic report that would blow Dean Gamboa's mind--literally, she hoped--she stayed in late. Karen had already left and so did Joseph, after he had a long meeting with Dean Gamboa.
The good thing about Joseph was that he never held grudges. He knew she was already aware of the severity of her situation so he didn't add to her frustrations by giving her a speech that started with, 'I told you so...". One by one, everyone started to say goodbye.
When she first read the report she did last night, she had to agree with her boss. It was crap. She was not bad in grammar, but her English teachers would definitely start a revolution if they read the report. All possible errors were present in it.
"And I'm going to fix you," she muttered to herself as she started a new document. There was no time for her to do the report earlier because Joseph had a lot of things for her to do now that a new project had just landed on their team. She had searched for great restaurants around the city that could accommodate a hundred or so people. And it was no easy task. Most of the restaurants weren't capable of such a large number, while those who could want a definite assurance that they would not cancel the reservation before the date of the event.
Jackie was busily attacking her keyboard when she heard sounds from the Devil's Room. She frowned.
He's still here?
Of course, he was still there. Apparently, he was done for the day and he was going home. Jackie checked her orange table clock. It was almost seven!
"You're not going home yet?" asked the devil himself.
Though his shadow was almost palpable, she did not bother to turn her head and look at him. "No, because I apparently need to finish my work behind my desk," she answered and she hoped her voice was laced with sarcasm, enough so as he would get the message but not fire her at the same time.
"You can continue that tomorrow, Miss Ramos," he said in his usual dead-pan voice.
"That's okay, I am not in a hurry to go home just yet," she answered and continued with her work.
There was a long silence before he said, "Turn off the lights before you leave." Without another word, she heard his footsteps walking away.
He was just entering the elevator when she decided to turn her head. "God! I hope it gets stuck. He deserves a nice evening inside a cold elevator!" she uttered allowed as the doors closed.
Now that she was completely alone, Jackie felt a little afraid. Sure, she heard ghost stories concerning their floor, but it never occurred to her in the past that she could experience one because
She shook the creepy feeling away and focused on her work. She had to go home by eight.
After almost five calls from Dannie and three from George, she finally decided her work was done. She checked the time again.
"Shit!" It was almost nine. She hurriedly saved her file, printed the report, threw it inside a new orange folder, and turned off the computer. While she was waiting for the windows to shut down, she heard a sound near the elevator. She turned her head to check it out. There was no one there.
The creepy feeling returned so she took her phone and dialed George's number.
"Where are you?" her friend demanded.
"You should be home by now, right? You should have picked us up earlier as well."
"I know. But I had to finish some work."
"You always bring your work home."
"This time, I can't."
"How come?"
"My boss kind of pointed out that I can't do that. Long story. Will tell you later."
"Why did you call?"
"Nothing. I just need someone to talk to while I ride the elevator," she answered, picking up her bag. "It's really creepy here," she added in a hushed tone.
"Did you eat?"
"No, but I guess I'll just drop by McDonald's to grab a bite."
"We still have some leftover from dinner. You can reheat it when you get here," George said conversationally.
"Great." She was now riding the elevator down to the ground floor.
She heaved a big sigh of relief when it finally opened and she saw the guard. Good. Now Brian.
"Will be home soon, bye," she told George and hung up.
And there she was, walking up to me like nothing happened.
She freakin' made me wait for her for hours! The only decent companion I had, which was a black Honda Civic named Beatle (because his owner was a big fan of the Beatles), had long been gone by now. Apart from the narcissistic BMW, he was the only one who was parked near me.
Where the hell have you been? I demanded from Jackie.
But of course, she couldn't hear me. Another reason she was not able to tell me the answer was Brian.
Where the hell did he come from?
He had been walking behind Jackie all along and he looked really tired. Had he been waiting for her?
This is why you should never take overtimes, Jackie, I told her.
"What the hell, Brian! Leave me alone!" she shouted. "I'm going to call the guard if you don't leave this instant!"
"I'm not doing you any harm, Jackie. I just want to talk."
No talking, girl. Just get in and we'll drive away. I can run over him if you want!
"I already talked to my boss, you know."
That stopped Brian for a moment and Jackie took the opportunity to rush to my driver side and open the door.
"He can't reprimand me, Jackie. He's not my boss," Brian said with a scoff.
"Well, he's my boss and he doesn't like it that my work is being affected because of you. Just leave me alone!" she shouted before she got inside me and slammed the door shut.
The shaking of her hands as she maneuvered me away from the almost-empty parking lot told me she was both angry and afraid. And she almost ran over Brian if the guy didn't jump out of the way. Bummer. Maybe next time, eh?
When we were finally on the road, Jackie reached out for her phone.
Not a good idea, Jackie. We're driving. I don't have a freakin' auto-drive! I need your full attention!
But she was not listening. She was already talking on the phone.
"Where are you? I told you we need to talk, right?" she demanded.
She was calling Kevin. Great. She should just go to the police.
"What? What the hell are you talking about? Where are you? Yes, I'm going there! What? Fine! Wait for me!"
Where? Where is he? Where are we going, Jackie?
"Can you believe it, Toto? He's going to watch a movie with an office buddy!"
He's watching a movie with a guy? This is a confirmation, girl! He's gay!
"He's going to watch a freaking romantic-comedy! With a freaking office buddy named Jason!" she cried out with an incredulous laugh. But I could hear her voice breaking into sobs as she made a u-turn and headed to the direction of the nearest mall, Robinson's Place.
Oh-oh, I bet this was not going to be the best night of Jackie's life.
Jackie stormed inside the mall like a tiger. Her nostrils were spitting out invisible fire as she climbed the escalator to the third floor of the mall.
"Where are you?!" she demanded, talking to her phone.
"We're outside cinema three."
"Wait for me there and Jason better not be there!"
"Jackie, you should calm down--"
"Just make sure you are alone!"
She spotted Kevin outside cinema three and he was alone holding a bucket of popcorn and a bottle of Coke. He was still in his office clothes, but he looked fresh as he always was. Kevin was good-looking, but he had some feminine features that bothered most girls. He acted like a guy, talked like a guy, but he looked not quite like a guy. But Jackie never really cared. He had always been nice to her and she had always liked him.
"I told you we need to talk and you said OK," she said the moment she reached him.
"You didn't call me again when office hours ended so I said yes when Jason asked if I wanted to watch a movie."
"I was busy doing something important! And you should have called me when I didn't! And I don't want to hear about Jason!" she almost shouted. God, why was she in this situation? Why? "I have a big problem and you are the only person who can help me right now and you're out on a date with an office buddy?"
"Come on, Jackie, it's not a date," he gushed out.
"Shut up, Kevin! I am so done with you! I can't believe that I even expected you to at least do something about Brian. I told my boss and he didn't even bat an eye. But that's understandable. He's just my boss. But you are supposed to be my boyfriend. Do you get it? I needed you to do something!" She was almost out of breath when she was done.
"What do you want me to do about Brian?" he asked with a frown.
"Oh my God!" she finally shouted her frustration, catching everyone's attention behind them. There was a line of people walking inside cinema two and they all turned their heads to look at them.
"Jackie, calm down," Kevin reached out his hand to hold her but she slapped it away.
"Don't touch me!" she shouted. She adjusted her bag over her shoulder and added, "We're over. We are so over!"
"Jackie," he tried to call her back.
She turned her head over her shoulder and shouted, "My friends were right! You're gay!" and then, she stormed away, struggling with her heels.
Okay, here she comes! I almost urinated diesel gas with so much excitement as Jackie made her way across the dark parking lot. Once, she almost tripped due to those stupid stilettos, but she managed to regain her balance.
Come on, tell me what happened!
But she didn't. She opened my door, climbed inside, and cried with her arms on my steering wheel and her head buried in them.
Okay, Jackie, please stop crying. You know I don't like tears.
"He's a jerk!"
No, baby, he's just gay.
"Jerk!"
Gay!
"Jerk! Jerk! Jerk!" she shouted the word over and over as she slapped her hands against my steering wheel.
He's gay, Jackie--and in a literal sense. How many times do we have to say that?
"Gay bastard!" she finally wailed, her tears streaming down her face.
That's right, girl. Acceptance is the key.
Her phone started ringing. "Why can't you leave me alone?!" she shouted at the phone before she tapped the red icon, almost making a hole through the phone. Jackie was definitely, crazily frustrated. Who wouldn't be?
I was just about to say that she should really go to her boss and tell the man about Brian, but she spoke up, "My boss won't help me, my friends have their own troubles, my boyfriend--ex-boyfriend--is gay. What the hell do I do, Toto?" she asked me.
Well, I was just about to tell you to go to your boss but now, that's out of the picture. Why not the police?
When her phone started ringing again, she pushed the answer button and shouted, "Leave me alone, Brian!"
She hastily wiped her face, both in anger and desperation. "If no one can't help me, the police can."
That's my girl.
"Ma'am, if you can't give us any proof that he's physically harmed you, we cannot just order him to stay away."
"But he's been bothering me for almost a month now!"
The policeman just looked at her, took a bite from his sandwich, munched and stared again. "You can file for a barangay protection order," he suggested.
"What's that?"
"It's like a restraining order, but it is only applicable for fifteen days and only around the premises of the barangay."
"What?! I work outside my barangay!" A barangay is like a small town inside a town and there are a lot of them in the Philippines. In Bacolod alone, there are 61 known barangays.
The policeman just shrugged. "Then file for a restraining order in court. Good luck with that," he chuckled as he said the last part.
"The president will know about this!" she fumed, slapping the counter with her hand. "I follow him on Facebook and Twitter!"
The man laughed. "Good luck with that one as well!"
The tears were threatening to come out again as she walked out of the police station. All hopes were gone. Yes, true, she could file for a restraining order but it would take a lot of work and people might not take her seriously. Hell, even her boss didn't think it was a big problem! The barangay protection order was useless, but she could file for one just so she could keep Brian out of the apartment for fifteen freaking days! It would be enough time for her to actually come up with a good plan to keep Brian out of her life forever.
Jackie was not looking confident as she did fifteen minutes ago. She looked like a defeated warrior as she slowly made her way toward me.
Poor girl, poor girl! What could I do? Well, nothing, really. Even with the engine on, I couldn't do a thing but moan.
She silently climbed inside. Her phone rang again.
"Hey," she answered.
"Where are you? I thought you're on your way home? It's almost been an hour," I heard George's voice from the other line.
"I got stuck in traffic," she lied.
"Well, where are you now?"
"Near. Look, I'm driving. See you in a bit." When she started me up, Jackie was still silent. "Well, I guess you can say I tried my best, right?"
Well, yeah. But you still need help, girl.
The next day, I couldn't keep an eye on Jackie because George was driving me today and I would be stuck inside the Red Cross headquarters with the ambulance named Dee, who would tell me about her adventures in the streets. I would usually look forward to seeing her, but today, I just wanted to be with Jackie.
She had been silent the whole ride and my engine's heart went with her as she climbed down when we dropped her off her office building.
"What's up with her?" asked George as she guided me to Kumon to drop Dannie off.
"I don't know. You think she has a problem?"
"Of course, she does. We should talk to her about it."
"Maybe it's about Brian," Dannie said.
Right! It's all about that creep!
"I think he's getting out of hand. We better do something about this," George said strongly.
I had always liked how George's mind worked and this time, it was spot on.
"Not now, Brian, I am really tired," Jackie uttered when Brian came forward with two cups of coffee in hand.
"I bought you coffee," he eagerly said, handing her the other cup.
She ignored the coffee. "I told you to leave me alone. Don't make me file for a restraining order," she uttered strongly. She didn't get enough sleep last night thinking about her problem, the one standing before her.
Brian's brows furrowed. "Jackie, all I want is to have some time with you."
"You're having it now. And it's over. Get out of my way."
As she said that, Dean Gamboa came into the picture. She saw Brian bend his head as they waited for the elevator doors to open.
The moment it did, she rushed inside and pushed herself in one corner. Dean Gamboa followed, standing right at the center like an unmovable force. Brian entered and hesitated for a moment. Jackie was afraid he would choose to stand beside her, but when his gaze went to Dean Gamboa's he scurried to the other corner without a word.
Jackie's eyes traveled from boss' strong presence to Brian's cowering one. Slowly, a smile formed on her lips. She was riding the elevator with the two men she hated the most.
And one of them is going to help me get rid of the other, she thought, her brain reeling with a wicked plan.