What she was looking at was a group of guys setting up instruments. Obviously, they were the band that would play tonight. But that was not what caused Jackie’s shock. At the back of the group, with his baseball cap covering almost half of his face, sitting behind the drums, was Dean Gamboa!
And he was holding the drumsticks! He wasn’t’ just a lost soul sitting there, right? He was a member of the band, right? He was the drummer, right?
He was not sitting there for any reason at all other than play, Jackie thought.
Sitting there strumming something on the drums was not Dean Gamboa, the boss, she was seeing. It was a completely different person who managed to possess her boss.
“Oh my God, oh my God…” she was muttered to herself as she hastily made her way back to where her friends were.
“What took you so long?” George demanded.
“He just left with his friends, Jackie” Dannie told her.
Of course, her friends didn’t see Dean Gamboa and his friends setting up their instruments. Their table was far from the scene.
“You won’t believe this!” Jackie cried out, her expression still shocked.
“What?” Troy asked.
“What?” George and Dannie repeated when she just stood there to fan her face with her hands in a dramatic way, the other one still holding her sunglasses.
“He’s…oh my God. Now, this is the real shocker!”
“What?” this time, it was the three of them who impatiently asked.
“He’s a freaking drummer!” she cried out. “He’s in a band!”
“What?” George and Dannie cried out.
“I knew it!” Troy exclaimed.
“I know, right? He’s in a freaking band and they are setting up right now!” Jackie announced, jumping on her feet with excitement.
“I knew I saw them somewhere. They’re…what do they call them?” he uttered, his eyes searching for the answer. And then he flicked his fingers. “Anon. People call them Anon because they--”
“Don’t have a name for their band,” Jackie finished. When she saw her friends’ appalled look, she explained, “Karen gushed about them the other day.”
“I featured them in my blog,” Troy added.
“And you couldn’t remember them until now?”Dannie asked him.
“I feature a lot of people in my blog,” he answered dryly. “And do you know that they are not only called Anon? Some folks call them Mang Tomas.”
“The all-around sarsa?” George asked.
“Yeah, the all-around sauce you dip your lechon in.”
“Because they play almost everything?” Dannie asked.
Troy looked at her with awe. “You never fail to amaze me, Danica.”
Dannie rolled her eyes at him. “We have a teacher at school we also call Mang Tomas. He can teach almost every subject.”
“So, you mean they play almost all genres?” Jackie asked with awe.
Troy gulped down his beer and nodded. “Yes, they are pretty versatile.”
“Oh my God! Let’s go see them!”
“Jackie, he might see you,” George pointed out.
“I don’t care! He must probably be busy playing and hiding that he won’t even notice me! Come on, guys!” She cried as she grabbed George’s hand and pulled.
“The bill, boys,” Troy uttered as they started to stand up.
“You’re such a gentleman,” Dannie shot at him.
He just shrugged and watched as Jackie fumbled through her bag and took out some bills. She waved at the waiter and gestured for the bill.
*****
“You should really lose those glasses, Jackie,” Troy whispered beside her as he shifted uncomfortably in his chair.
“If you care too much about how people would see you, then go find another table,” she hissed at him.
“Can we order for a pizza? I’m hungry,” George asked.
“Me, too!” Troy answered, lifting his hand to call a waiter.
“Order something--” Dannie started but Troy placed his finger on her mouth to stop her. She slapped it away.
“I know what to order. No pineapples because George doesn’t like them. No olives because you can’t eat them.”
“Both green and black olives.”
“I know, Danica. I’ve known you boys for years. I literally know what you can’t put into your mouths.” He followed his statement with a wink.
“I think they’re starting! Oh, my God, this is so exciting!” Jackie squealed in her seat. Their table was at the far corner in front of the small area around the band. Since they got there later than the others, they couldn’t get a better table. Troy even had to stand up to catch the attention of a passing waiter.
Jackie was not hearing a word of what her friends were talking about. She was busily looking at the band. The lead guitarist was smiling at the crowd. He was not that handsome, but it was obvious that the women dig him like they would almost all lead guitarists. The one behind the keyboard looked geeky with his eyeglasses. The vocal was perhaps the coolest-looking guy in the group. The one holding the bass guitar looked like he was transported to a place he didn’t recognize.
But Jackie’s attention went back to Dean Gamboa as soon as she managed to get a good look at the rest of the band. She looked at him behind the drums, his face hidden by his baseball cap. Her eyes travelled down to his broad shoulders, hugged by his shirt (she still couldn’t believe he was wearing a normal shirt!) and down to his arms. The hands that she usually saw holding pens and papers were clasping a drumstick each and they were being playfully and masterfully flipped in the air and through his fingers as Dean Gamboa waited for his band mates to finish their last-minute adjustments. Her eyes travelled back up to his neck and around the collar of his shirt and that was when she saw it.
It was just peeking at the edge of the round collar of his shirt. She lowered her sunglasses to see better, but she couldn’t figure out what the sign was. But she was certain about one thing: it was a freaking tattoo!
“Good evening, guys!”
A few tables howled a cheer as the vocalist started talking.
“It’s good to be back here. I hope you’ll like our set tonight,” he added, flashing a grin at everyone before he faced the rest of the band and nodded his head.
Jackie’s mouth was slightly open as she watched Dean Gamboa tap his drumsticks together three times before all instruments started playing. For a moment there, she almost didn’t want to hear the band. She was afraid to be disappointed. She desperately wanted them to be great.
And they were.
She recognized the song Gravity in an instant. The band played in perfect balance. There was no instrument sounding louder than the others. And the moment the vocalist started singing John Mayer’s song, the girls started howling.
Jackie and some other people sang along with the song while the others just continued on with their conversation and laughter. When the song ended, everyone was clapping and the girls were howling.
“Since we see older folks--no offense--let us play this song we have always wanted to play. Please bear with us for this is quite old. But we do respect Marvin Gaye and his music,” the vocalist was saying as the band started playing once again.
“How sweet it is to be loved by you!” The people around them started singing along. It was one of the songs that was old, yet had endured time, especially among those who had grown up in households with parents who loved classic country rock. Jackie was one of them.
She noted that the band made a good rendition of the song that one wouldn’t feel he was back in the sixties.
I needed someone to understand my ups and downs and there you were
With sweet love and devotion
Deeply touching my emotion
I want to stop and thank you baby
I just want to stop and thank you baby
“How sweet it is to be loved by you!” the crowd started singing once again as the vocalist motioned with his hand for everyone to join him.
“Hey!” she turned to Troy, shouting over the noise. “What the hell are you doing sitting here? Grab your camera and start shooting!”
Her friend looked at her like she just made a joke. “Fine!” he shouted when she didn’t blink an eye. “You’re paying for my drinks!”
“Just do your job!”
“Like you’re actually giving me a paycheck,” her friend muttered as he grabbed his camera and stood up.
Jackie looked behind her and saw that George and Dannie were looking at the same man she was looking at earlier. It was one of those moments when your friends would check out the guy you were interested in. But in this case, her friends were checking out the man she was using to make her problems go away.
And the man I hate, she reminded herself. She looked back at where Dean Gamboa was, the music slowly fading as she was all of a sudden consumed by her anger toward him. Yes, he turned out to be awesome and cool, but he was still the same man who didn’t even blink an eye when she told him about her problem. He was still the boss who only wanted her to do her job whether or not she turned up dead the next day.
She was no longer smiling or gaping with awe by the time the song ended and people started clapping. She was already formulating the next action she should take.
*****
I was actually not in the mood to go out today. But since it was my job to take the girls wherever they wanted to take me, I just had to tag along. The vic I was with last night turned out to be worse than the narcissistic BMW. She made me want to wish for sound-proof windows.
And Jackie seemed like she was in one of her crazy days. She was busily looking through her phone, specifically the fake Facebook account of her fake boyfriend.
“George, please, just turn off your privacy setting for a minute. I need to send you a friend request.”
“I’ll do that later, Jackie,” George uttered as she parked me outside Bob’s Café. “Go grab your coffee and make it fast. I have a training class in thirty minutes.”
Jackie sighed and climbed off me.
“She was different last night when we came home,” Dannie uttered the moment Jackie closed the door.
Hmm, yeah, I noticed that as well. She was not as excited when they finally came out of Art District as she was when she made Dean Gamboa’s account.
“When she found out her boss is in a band, she was all over the moon with excitement,” George agreed.
Yeah? Of course, I found out about the band thing. And it was a bit of a shocker for me. I never took Dean Gamboa to be a drummer. He was so stiff he could be a drumstick or a microphone stand. But a drummer? I just couldn’t picture it out.
“What do you think came to her mind?” Dannie asked.
George sighed. “Let’s just hope it is not crazier than this game she’s playing.”
*****
If there was anyone who could forget a sour mood fast, it would be Jackie. Yes, she went home feeling somehow sour because she had to remind herself of the real Dean Gamboa, the one who was cold and heartless. But at the back of her mind, she was guilty as well. She was using him to her advantage.
But I’m doing it to make Brian go away, she had told herself over and over again last night as she lay in bed.
And right now, as she held her coffee in her hand, walking to the entrance of the company building, she was almost smiling. Dean Gamboa, whoever he really was, could go to hell. If he was keeping a double personality, she didn’t care. What he really was would not be her business. What he could be in her life was what that mattered. And right now, he was her fake boyfriend who could really save her from a freaking, sick stalker.
*****
Joseph was back and he was not being nice to everyone. His voice sounded different because his nose was all clogged up.
“Why did you report back to work if you’re still sick?” Jackie asked.
“Because I heard you were not very helpful in the meeting,” he uttered.
“What?” she asked. “In my defense, I jutted down some notes for you to review. And how the hell could I participate in that meeting? All I know is how to contact people and make great designs for the event. I don’t do meetings on how to properly distribute the budget.”
“That’s why I’m back,” Joseph said dryly, sniffing. “Let’s go.”
“Where are we going?”
“The meeting.”
“What? We’re having a team meeting?”
He nodded. “Get your ass up. The boss is waiting.”
“What are we going to talk about--” she stopped when Joseph gave her one of his looks. “Okay, okay. Calm down and wipe that runny nose.”
*****
The meeting started and the six people present, including her, Karen and Joseph, were quiet. As always. Dean Gamboa was talking and Jackie was busily looking at his face. He had light dark circles under his eyes and Jackie smiled inwardly. Karen caught it from across the rectangular table and her friend threw her a questioning look. She so wanted to tell her friend why their boss looked a bit tired, but she wouldn’t want to spoil the fun of knowing the secret of the man who could make everyone in the room fearful.
She was so immersed in her own thoughts, just looking at Dean Gamboa move his lips. He was definitely a good imposter. He would act all cold and grumpy when in fact he was nothing but a drummer wearing a baseball cap at night.
Those lips were singing backup last night and right now they were…they were calling her name?
“Miss Ramos?” the sound of her name came to her like an airplane, just a faint sound at first and then, it got louder.
She blinked.
Her boss’ handsome face turned to a frown as he looked down at her. “Miss Ramos.”
“S-sir, yes sir?” she stammered, looking for something on the table when all she actually had were her feathered pen and orange notepad.
“As I was saying, everyone should know what was discussed in the meeting yesterday, about the contacts and the event settings.”
“The meeting?”
“Yesterday,” Dean Gamboa iterated, looking at her suspiciously.
“Uh…” Shoot! She could tell them how Troy took amazing candid shots of Dean Gamboa during that meeting. She could tell them how the batchoy tasted, or how her iced tea was served perfectly. But she couldn’t tell them a single line said during that freaking meeting!