A lot of things happen inside a car or any types of vehicle. I, for one, have a lot of stories to fill your nights and I would start with my three girls, or boys as what most people called them.

Why don’t we start with Jackie?

But before you continue reading this story, let me clarify one thing. You may notice that I would disappear from time to time because I would give you the honor of having a glimpse of things from the point of view of the girls. Whenever they are in the bathroom, in a restaurant, in the ambulance, in the office, in church, or wherever it is I cannot possibly grace with my presence, you will get their point of view.

Now that’s settled, let’s continue…

People called them BOYS because their names sounded masculine. 

Jackie, or Jaquilou Marie Ramos, for one didn’t like it when people called them collectively as the boys. She was too feminine to be called a boy. Sometimes, I even wondered how she ended up with George and Dannie. You could never picture her doing the adventurous things as George and she was not as saintly as Dannie either. In fact, the three of them were very different and it was a wonder how they even became friends.

Today, Jackie was driving me. She drove me every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

“Can you go any faster? I’m going to be late,” George told her and I felt Jackie’s hand tighten around my wheel.

“Calm down, George,” she uttered, stepping on my gas a little deeper. She was not a very good driver, I tell you. I could feel her sharp stilettos against my floorboard and they were shaking. I knew Jackie needed her caffeine.

But she had to get through the traffic first. Though Bacolod didn’t have heavy traffic all the time, the jeepney drivers were reckless and Jackie didn’t like them.

“Hey!” both Jackie and George shouted when a motorcycle did a sharp overtake. And yes, they didn’t like motorcycles either.

“Calm down, please,” Dannie uttered at the backseat.

“Moron!” George shouted, not hearing her friend. Poor Dannie, she was way too soft-spoken to be heard.

“Where are you going?” George asked Jackie when she guided me to the side of the road.

“Just a quick coffee, please,” Jackie begged.

Her friends groaned. I, on the other hand, agreed with a silent hum. The last time Jackie forgot her cup of coffee, she was nearly clawing at my new leather seat covers.

“Make it fast,” George groaned, looking at her watch.

Jackie climbed out and jogged her way inside Bob’s Café in her office attire of white collared shirt, gray blazer, skirt and black stilettos. When she reappeared, she was holding three cups of coffee. “Okay, I’m good to go.” She uttered as she handed George their cups. Though Dannie didn’t drink as much coffee as the other two, she took her cup and sipped it quietly.

“I can’t believe what happened last night,” George said a while later when Jackie finally turned the corner to where the headquarters of The Philippine Red Cross was located. I was all ears for the story of last night. I didn’t get to witness the scene, but I heard other cars from the parking lot talking about it.

“Please, you’re not talking about that drunk patient again, are you?” asked Jackie. “You should have slapped that old man’s face.”

“Loca, I’m talking about your suitor,” George uttered. “You know, the one who stood outside the apartment singing? Were you able to sleep at all, Dannie?”

“No, not really,” Dannie answered. “You should just talk to him and tell him you’re not interested, Jackie.”

“I did! I did many times and he won’t even budge!”

“How about the police? You can always go to the police,” George suggested. “He almost broke the door last night.”

Ah, so they were talking about Brian, Jackie’s stalker. I hated that guy. He covered my windshield with a large cardboard that said, ‘I love you, Jackie!” once and didn’t like it. I spent the whole day in the parking lot with the other cars playing jokes on me.

“I can talk to Kevin about it,” Jackie said as she stepped on my break. Huh! Kevin? Did she really expect her boyfriend to do something about that guy? I didn’t think that because I didn’t like the guy. I knew the guy well and he didn’t care about Jackie at all--well, apart from her makeup and her dress, he didn’t. I was certain, from the bottom of my engine and from the first time he sat on my passenger seat that he was gay. If I could just do what Bumblebee could do, I would scan the radio and play This Guy’s in Love with You, Pare over and over again.

And I was very certain until this day that George and Dannie thought the same because none of them commented as Jackie mentioned her boyfriend. George unclasped my seatbelt, the one hugging her feminine, yet muscular body, and took her large bag from Dannie.

“I suggest you talk to your boss about it. Or the police. I’m telling you, Jackie, one more attempt to break our door and that guy will find himself in an ambulance and I will not make any move to save his life,” George warned. She climbed off me. Dannie easily squeezed herself between the driver and passenger seats. When she finally settled herself on the seat George vacated, she looked at Jackie.

“What?” Jackie asked, sipping her coffee.

“Nothing, let’s just go. I’m going to be late for my class,” she uttered. They waved at George before she entered the headquarters in her pants, hiking shoes and loose Red Cross shirt.

 *****

We dropped Dannie off outside Kumon where she worked.

If I could just speak, I would, now that I was alone with Jackie. She had been double parking for a few minutes now because of one thing: she was doing her makeup. It was one of the things I didn’t like about her. She would be very late and she wouldn’t care at all as long as she arrived--every time--with grace and makeup. But she had always been like that. And because I loved her company, I got used to her little whims.

When five or more cars honked at her, she finally closed her vanity kit and started driving.

“You’ve got to get up every morning, with a smile on your face and show the world,” Jackie started singing and I felt white smoke come out of my exhaust. I had always loved it when she sang, you know. She had this cool voice that any guy would fall over for--even cars. “…that you’re beautiful as you feel…” she continued singing as she maneuvered me to her office building.

Jackie worked as an events planner in one of the biggest advertising company in the country. And by big, it meant an international one that decided to build another headquarters in the city ever since the news got out that Bacolod was one of the top sites for big companies in the archipelago. She once went to Manila where she worked the same job, but she decided to go back after she decided she couldn’t wake up every four in the morning to avoid the traffic and then go home late because her work demanded it.

Ever since she got back three years ago, she had been living with Dannie. And then George joined them when she finally had enough of her domineering family. Since they had always been friends back in high school and college, it was only natural that they lived together, they thought. Ever since, Jackie had had the same job at Collins Corporations.

She just parked me in my usual spot at the very back of the parking lot of the building. Why? Because she wanted me to be under the shed of the big Acacia tree. Why? So she wouldn’t have to be burned inside a hot car when it was time to go home. So there I was, back in my lonely spot and I’d have to wait for her for eight hours or so.

Just as when she was about to climb out, we saw Brian approaching with a bunch of flowers. He was in his office attire. Did I mention Brian worked in the same building as Jackie? He was in the HR department, I heard. And he looked like just the nerd type. His hair was too neat, his collar awkwardly closed up to his neck, and his suit too large for his lanky size. But I tell you, guys, he was one persistent man.

“Toto, if you have this hidden power to fire off missiles, it is the perfect time to do it,” Jackie uttered with a sigh as she grabbed her red bag and opened my door.

Oh honey, if I can only do that, the guy will be nothing but black dust on the ground, I answered in a language she couldn’t even hear.

“Jackie,” Brian said in an eager tone when Jackie finally stepped out of me. “Did you get my texts? You did not answer me when I called you last night. I was outside your apartment. Didn’t you hear?”

“Brian…” Jackie uttered in her awkward, sweet voice. “I must not have heard you last night. And I got your text.”

“You did not reply,” the guy stated, still holding the flowers.

“Brian, I thought I told you I already have a boyfriend? Kevin doesn’t like it when I talk with other men.” She was obviously lying. Her no-good-and-gay boyfriend didn’t even bat an eye when she told him about her stalker. That time, they were riding me because Kevin’s car broke down. He was more concerned of my air freshener than his girlfriend’s stalker.

“You’re not married yet, right? Come on, your boyfriend’s gay, Jackie. He wouldn’t even care.”

Okay, I had to agree with that one, Brian. Kevin was definitely gay.

“I love him and I don’t want him to be bothered about other guys courting me. Please, just stop this,” Jackie said, her voice etched with irritation.

“I will never stop loving you, Jackie.”

“I don’t have time for this, Brian. I am running late for work,” Jackie said and started walking. Shoot! Now I couldn’t witness what would happen next.

“Please…” Brian was saying as he tailed Jackie across the parking lot and to the building.

I gave an engine sigh. There went my morning entertainment.

  *****

Jackie wasn’t sure if she should swing her red bag around and smash it against Brian’s face, but it was new. She just bought it a week ago and it would not be good if it smacked against Brian’s stupid face.

“I brought your flowers,” Brian was saying behind her. She quickened her pace and even ran to the entrance of the building where a guard stood by.

“You can’t give me flowers at work, Brian. That’s against company policy,” she said, obviously lying. She never read the company guidelines. Hell, she didn’t even know if her sick leaves were accumulative or not!

“Jackie, please,” Brian was saying just as they reached the elevator. Unluckily for her, she was late and there was no one else around to ride the elevator with them. Her shoes were new as well so she couldn’t very well climb up to the fifth floor.

“Stop this, Brian, I’m getting pissed,” she said seriously, entering the elevator and punching the fifth button. “Just go to work,” she added, pushing the fourth button when he didn’t.

“Just give me a reason why I--” when Brian didn’t finish his statement, Jackie looked up and there she saw the reason.

Dean Gamboa was entering the elevator.

“Good morning, sir,” she greeted with a smile. He just nodded his head and looked at Brian who had stepped aside to let him pass, his bouquet of flowers hidden behind him.

It was one of those rare moments that Jackie was grateful for her boss’ presence. The man was too intimidating that even Brian who was infuriatingly persistent and who worked at another department just had to shut up.

She stole the man a glance. Who wouldn’t? Almost everyone in the building had stolen multiple glances at him whenever he was around. He was the typical handsome guy in office clothes. His suit fit him well, his tie perfect, his shoes without a scratch, and his face…well, too clean. Jackie was not even sure if she would see the pores on his face if she would get the chance to look at him face to face. His hair was neatly brushed up and she had never seen it fall over his forehead. She wondered what hair gel product he was using. All in all, with his too clean square jaw, Dean Gamboa was a certified hot, bachelor boss.

Once upon a time, three years ago, Jackie was infatuated with the man. But that was only for a week because it got boring. The man was nothing but the perfect epitome of “man of few words”. Up to this moment, Jackie could count the number of sentences he had addressed her. And she could remember every scenario, one of them was when he said “thank you” after she picked up the pen he dropped when he passed by her desk. And he didn’t really have to talk to her, you know. She worked with a team and they had a team leader. It was their leader, Joseph, who constantly talked with the man. No one in their office knew a lot of about Mr. Dean Gamboa, just that he graduated in UST with a degree in economics and that he was one of the top students. What he was doing in an advertising firm, specifically the events planning department, no one knew. Hell, they were not even sure if he was born in Bacolod or not.

Brian never said a word. Jackie even guessed he stopped breathing until the elevator stopped on the fourth floor and he had to get out. And before he did, he pushed the flowers in Jackie’s arms and dashed away before a word escaped her mouth.

Still in shock, Jackie warily lifted her eyes from the roses and up to her boss. He was staring at her in his usual flat expression. For a moment, she saw an eyebrow twitch, but it must have just been her, because from the looks of it the man was not interested as to why she just had a bouquet of flowers thrown at her. He looked away just as fast as you would when something caught your attention and then you realize it was not worth a second of your time. Not a minute passed and not a word spoken, the elevator doors opened, revealing their wide open office space. Dean Gamboa stepped aside to let her pass first and she murmured a thank you before she scurried to her table, throwing the bouquet of flowers inside the big garbage bin just beside the elevator door.

Since their office was the entire fifth floor, there were no hallways to walk through and no main doors to open. And of course, almost everyone who had their tables near the elevator door saw Jackie and they witnessed her throwing away the flowers.

“Was that a bouquet of flowers you just threw inside the bin?” Karen asked.

“Yeah,” she muttered as she swung her swivel chair around to face her desk.

“And was that boss Dean with you inside the elevator?”

“Uh-huh,” she answered as she sat down.

“And did he give you those flowers?”

“What?!” Jackie shouted, attracting more people. “No, of course not! What the hell are you talking about? Those were from Brian,” she explained to her office friend.

“Uh, the guy from the HR department?”

“That guy, yeah,” she answered, opening her bag.

“I thought you already told him to stay away from you?”

“I did. It didn’t work.”

“That guy is something, Jackie. You should consider dating him instead of your gay boyfriend.”

“Why does everyone say that Kevin is gay? And to my face? He’s not gay.” Almost everyone in the office knew who Kevin was. He worked in the Finance Department.

Karen just shrugged and continued with her work.

Not ten minutes later, Jackie was busily arranging her desk, a thing she often did whenever she was stressed. Her desk was too orange for everyone, but she didn’t care. Her pens had different orange things at the tip--orange feathers, orange head of a monkey, orange ball…orange everything. Her mouse pad had an orange Aztec design. Her stick-on notes were different shades of orange. Her slippers, the one she would change into whenever their boss was not around, were orange. Her phone was orange. Everything on the table was orange apart from her mahogany table, computer and keyboard which were owned by the company.

She was toying with her orange cat paperweight, trying to figure out if it looked good beside her monitor or her orange pen holder, when Joseph walked up to her desk.

“Jackie,” he said. When she continued to stare at the cat without hearing him, he said, “Jacquilou Marie Ramos.”

She blinked and looked up at their team leader. His hair was a mess as it had always been, his crooked nose was sort of flaring as narrowed his round eyes down at her. “Yes?”

“Did you finish the report?”

Her well-trimmed brows furrowed. “Report?”

Joseph was a cool guy. He was the typical bad-boy in office attire and you could very well see that by how he folded his long-sleeved shirt to his elbow and how his black slacks appeared like they had never met an iron. And it was rare for him to get pissed like he was now as he stared down at Jackie with disbelief. “I’ve assigned that one to you a week ago. It was due last Friday which you said you’ll pass today.”

Her sharp intake of breath made Karen look up from her work. “I--I left it with Toto.”

Everyone knew who Toto was. “Then get it and give it to boss Dean.”

She stopped half-way from her chair. “What?”

“He was expecting that report last Friday. I don’t want to get his sermon today. You deserve to be in the hot seat, so you do it.”

“But aren’t you going to check it first? You know, for grammatical errors, typo errors, any kind of errors?”

Joseph stared at her with warning. “Get it and take it to boss Dean now.”

Jackie stood to her full five-feet-five-inches height, plus the two inches from her new shoes, and gulped. Her eyes went to their boss’ office, the only room on the floor with a door apart from the comfort room. She could clearly see him through the glass walls, doing something behind his desk. Even with his head bent, his hair was still in place. She had secretly called the room the Devil’s Room, or the DR, because no one really knew what was going on every time Dean Gamboa would drop the blinds. And every time he did, whoever was inside the room with him would leave nearly in tears. Joseph was the only person in the team who would leave the room (with the blinds down) with a smile or a neutral look. Everyone else wouldn’t talk about the experience and Jackie had always wanted to know. Not that she wanted to be in that room with the blinds down, because that was one of the things she had always avoided.

But it seemed that she would finally find out today because everyone knew that it was a sin to hand in late reports to Dean Gamboa.