Well, to make things even, Dean Gamboa was as surprised as she was. It was completely apparent on his face and his round eyes as he stared down at Jackie. God, how did he get more handsome? He was just wearing a freaking cap!

“You…” she stammered. They were outside work and she didn’t find the need to call him sir. “What are--”

“Miss Ramos,” he uttered, cutting her words with his oh-so-familiar cold voice. “What are you doing here?”

“Why? This is Art District. I was just about to ask you the same question. What are you doing…” Okay, if there was something you should know about Jackie’s past, it was that she once joined an acting class back in high school. And she pulled off a good shocking face as she gaped at Dean Gamboa “Wait a minute…you’re with that band, right? Oh my God!”

The look on her boss’ face was priceless. He pulled his cap deeper down to hide his face as he looked around to see if people heard Jackie’s cry.

“Oh my God, I can’t believe it--”

“Miss Ramos, please don’t tell anyone about this,” he cut off once again.

Jackie gaped at him. Did Dean Gamboa just beg her to keep his secret a secret?

“Miss Ramos,” he said once more to get her attention, his face serious now.

“Yes, of course. Whatever you want,” she said so with a nod. “But why--”

“And don’t ask a lot of questions. Just forget about this. I have to go.” With that, he walked away in haste, throwing her a last glance over her shoulder.

“Aaaaah!” Jackie cried out. She jumped on her feet with excitement. Dean Gamboa was afraid of her now, right? Of course he was! She knew his secret and he knew she knew. He didn’t want anyone to know and she would keep it that way as long as he didn’t do anything stupid, especially at work.

As Jackie walked back to her friends, she was thinking how fate could be so kind to her. Everything was in her favor.

  *****

I didn’t do a lot during the weekend. Dannie was sick so she didn’t go to the church where she usually taught street children how to read. I was stuck outside the apartment with nothing but the motorcycles and other cars to keep me company. They too even had to leave on Saturday night while I got to be on my own. The boys would usually eat out during Saturdays, but they chose to order pizza since Dannie was sick and George was tired from her trip. On Sunday, we went to church. Dannie just had to go because well, she might have thought she would get sicker if she didn’t.

All in all, it was one of the laziest and boring weekends I ever had. I couldn’t wait for Monday. Jackie was excited for the same thing because of one thing: she wanted to see how Dean Gamboa would treat her now that he knew she knew his secret.

  *****

Jackie almost ran her way to the elevators. But her excitement died down when she saw Brian standing by the closed doors, obviously waiting for her with two cups of coffee.

“I already have my coffee, Brian,” she uttered before he could even make the offer.

He started to speak but then he closed his mouth. And that was when Jackie knew that Dean Gamboa was standing right behind her. His car was not yet around when she parked Toto outside. Did he have a gig last night? She asked in her mind.

She didn’t turn around to face him because she didn’t want to see his reaction just yet. But then she remembered Brian was there so she pretended she was looking over her shoulder and then she feigned a startled look when she saw him just a few feet away, dressed in his usual boss Dean getup.

“Good morning,” she murmured without looking in his eyes.

He just nodded.

Jackie’s excitement died down. Yeah, of course, he would still be the same Dean Gamboa she knew inside the office. But there was something different in his eyes when she glanced at them before she looked away and faced the elevator doors again. There was that look of familiarity one would often wear when they would look at someone they shared a secret with.

Jackie smiled inwardly. Of course, Dean Gamboa had a secret only she in the office knew.

When the elevator doors opened, she walked inside and Brian stepped right beside her, his face curious. She caught him steal a glance at Dean Gamboa and then at her.

She pretended she was busy with her phone. When Brian finally walked out the doors to the fourth floor, she was once again left alone with Dean Gamboa.

Why do I have to ride the elevator alone with him all the time? Why? She asked herself.

“I don’t care if Monday’s blue, Tuesday’s gray and Wednesday too…” she silently sang to keep herself busy as the elevator lifted to the fifth floor.

Dean Gamboa turned his head and looked at her, his eyes slightly narrowing. And it was then that Jackie realized she just sang the song from last Friday. She gave him a small smile as she bit her lower lip.

He was opening his mouth to say something when the doors opened. Jackie walked out as fast as she could. Stupid last song syndrome!

  *****

The rest of the day went by normally for Jackie. She got ten freaking missed calls from Brian, twenty texts and five Facebook messages.

Furious that her plan was not actually working as she had hoped for with Brian, she opened Dean Gamboa’s Facebook account. She was just about to post a status when she remembered her boss was not the type to go online during working hours.

She groaned in frustration. She had to give it time. Brian would eventually realize that he was fighting a losing battle. And how would she show him that?

Jackie opened her own account and posted a status.

Looking forward to see you tonight! She added a heart and tapped the post button.

Some friends commented who she was talking about. She did not answer, just smiling inwardly for she knew Brian would see it. She just hoped that he wouldn’t find the courage to confront her fake boyfriend.

A lot of things ran through her mind and they were mostly plans she had to do for today and tomorrow. And all of these plans were entirely due to Brian.

  *****

My Monday was fair. I didn’t see Brian at all! And I guess Jackie was also in a good mood. She was even excited when she went to the office that morning.

And on Tuesday, I had a great time with Dee, the ambulance. She told me great stories of her run with Georgie last Monday. And I confessed to her the misfortunes I had since Brian came into Jackie’s life. I guess she heard the same thing from me at least ten times, but she never complained.

But Tuesday didn’t end well for everyone.

Georgie and I went to pick Dannie and Jackie to file for a protection order, but it was a lost case.

The boys were furious that the Barangay Captain was not around and the secretary allegedly told them that they had a lot of protection orders to settle before they could help Jackie with her case. And they said that they prioritize more dangerous situations and Jackie’s was not yet what others would consider harmful.

 Jackie almost cried with frustration, but Dannie was able to comfort her saying that her plan might just be working. Brian didn’t go to their apartment for almost five days now and it was a good sign.

Well, I sure hope it is, boys. I sure hope it is…

Now, it was Wednesday again and I was back at the parking lot of Collins Corporations, under my lonely acacia tree and beside the narcissistic BMW. Everyone was throwing remarks at me, asking how I had been since that day I was sprinkled with rose petals. They had asked me the same thing since Monday! When would they stop?

You’ll all have your time, I tell you!

But it seemed that this year was all about me and Jackie because Brian was back waiting for her, his hands restlessly pulling the edge of his over-sized shirt as he waited for Jackie to climb off me. If I could just strap her with my seatbelt for eternity just to keep her away from the guy, I would have. I had not seen him for almost five days and now he was back. Whatever made him come back to his old tricks?

She managed to get a good vibe today after her coffee and she was once again enthusiastic with her plan to keep Brian away. As she told me earlier, it was just all about the right timing. But it seemed that her mood was about to change.

“Brian, please, leave me alone. How many times to I have to tell you that?”

Brian’s face looked like he had been thinking about something for quite some time and now was the time to finally make a confrontation. Psycho! Like he even had to do that! He had been fearlessly stalking Jackie around for months! “Jackie, I saw your boss’ Facebook account. Are you guys together?” Jackie pulled off her infamous shocked face as she stopped in her tracks and stared at Brian. “How did you find out? Oh my God, Brian, how did you find out?”

Brian frowned, his anxiety gone. “He sent me a friend request days ago.”

Jackie placed her fingers against the bridge of her nose as she stared down on the ground, mocking annoyance. “I told him to leave you alone.”

Fear registered on Brian’s face before it turned sour. “What do you mean?”

“I told him about how you have been you know, been persistent, and he didn’t like it. He actually made an account on Facebook to watch over me. I told him to leave you alone and that you will go away and leave me in peace, but he said some things have to be done. He doesn’t trust a lot of people, you know.”

When Brian’s jaw twitched in both fear and anger, Jackie stepped back.

“But don’t worry. I will talk to him. And please, Brian, keep this a secret. If everyone finds out, I will be out of job.”

Nice, move, Jackie! Just make sure the guy is not angry enough to be the cause of your immediate termination!

It took almost a full minute for Brian to calm his features and when he did, he gave Jackie a small smile. “Of course, you can trust me to keep your secret, Jackie. But it won’t be a secret for so long.”

I saw Jackie gulp. “Why?”

“Because you will end things with him sooner than you expect. Because you will realize that I am much better.”

“Brian, Dean and I just started and it is going pretty great--”

“Then why are you alone? Why isn’t he with you right now?” He looked behind him and gestured his hand to where Beatle was quietly parked. “He even came to the office ahead of you. I don’t think it is going to work out for the two of you, Jackie. He doesn’t even want to be seen with you. The man is heartless and you know that. Just wait and see, Jackie. He will leave you crying once he is through with you. But don’t worry, I will be here for you when that happens.”

  *****

Jackie was furious. She really thought her words would make Brian cower away! It was a brilliant, spontaneous excuse she gave earlier. She had never thought of those reasons until this morning when Brian asked her about the Facebook account. But did it work? No, it didn’t. Brian challenged her great plan instead.

She was in deep thought the entire morning. She had to think of some ways for Brian to see her with Dean Gamboa.

What to do, Jackie? What to do?

On her third trip to the vending machine, the idea struck her.

She was kicking it again for giving her another Pepsi can. “I want you to go limp and break down, you idiot!” she gritted her teeth at it. And then it came. The light bulb.

She went back to her table with a good smile despite getting the Pepsi can she hated.

She was definitely brilliant!

  *****

The moment the clock struck twelve, she stood up and told Karen she couldn’t join her for lunch because she would be going out with Dannie for a quick lunch date.

She rode the elevator with some of her team mates. They went straight to the cafeteria while she hurried back outside the parking lot.

“He’s very busy today. He’s still in a meeting and another one is following after that. He won’t have time to fix it,” she muttered to herself, reveling at her brilliance, as she walked to where Toto was parked.

  *****

Hey, there, Jackie girl! What’s up? Another meeting?

She looked too happy after what happened this morning. If I had a heart, it would already be pounding right now because Jackie was having that naughty grin on her face as she opened my door.

Wait, what are you doing?

She was whistling as she searched the dashboard for something. When she found it, my headlights almost popped out of their sockets. She was holding George’s tool kit. It was just a small, black bag Georgie kept inside me in cases of emergencies. It contained almost everything from screwdrivers, knives, ropes, nails, a small hammer and others.

Hey, Jackie girl, what are you going to do with that? Oh God, are you holding a knife? Please, don’t tell me you’re killing Brian without an escape plan. You have to have one, girl! For one, how do you plan to execute it? In the bathroom? How do you plan to disappear? Are you going to fly out of the country? Unless you have those things covered, don’t kill anyone! I would totally support you in committing a crime against that bastard, but please have a plan! A genius one!

But she was still whistling as she looked through the windshield, making sure the coast was clear.

It was. No one really went out during lunch time and I could attest to that, being the car had a great view of the whole parking lot.

Jackie was holding a pocket knife that Georgie would usually sharpen every now and then as part of her maintenance routine. And Jackie didn’t look cool as Georgie was with that thing. She looked more like a deranged pretty girl in heels and skirt.

When she finally climbed out of me, I was screaming. The BMW was asking what the hell was wrong. Beatle was saying something, but I couldn’t hear him clearly because Jackie started to attack him.

Jackie girl! Don’t! Oh my God! What the hell, girl?!

  *****

Jackie had no choice. This was the only way she could think of.

With the knife, she attacked the back tire of Dean Gamboa’s Honda Civic.

What she didn’t expect though was the alarm.

“Shit!” she shouted as it blared loudly in the silence of the hot, quiet parking lot.