"Jackie," Joseph uttered once again, his voice deathly serious.

"Okay, fine," she muttered and slowly walked to the elevator.

She was trying to come up with a good speech when she would finally hand in the report to her boss while inside the elevator. It stopped on the fourth floor and a man walked in with a greeting. She smiled and then she saw Brian walk by the doors just before it closed. Her problem came rushing back and she took out her phone to send a text to her boyfriend of two months.

We need to talk later.

Just as when she reached the ground floor, Kevin's reply came in. Okay.

Okay was enough for her. He better prove he was man enough to talk to Brian this time.

*****

My engines almost started up when I saw Jackie walking back. I was really hoping she would be having some of her usual out-of-the-office meetings. I was getting bored with no one but the self-centered and narcissistic BMW parked beside me.

But my bumper sagged when I saw Jackie's face. There was no way she was going out on a meeting today. She had that look she always wore whenever she was nervous or forgot something. And this time, it seemed both.

"I forgot my folder, Toto," she told me as she opened my door.

Great, I moaned. And then I saw him. What the hell? Could he be for real? Working hours just started and he was out here following Jackie like a hungry dog?

"Jackie, please, let's talk," Brian said, walking near.

"Brian!" Jackie jumped in shock, folder in hand. "What the hell are you doing here? Were you following me?"

Okay, it must be time to panic. Jackie was obviously afraid and it might be time for me to sound the alarm. Oh, wait. I didn't have one. I was just a poor, old, beaten beetle Volkswagen. But someone better give Brian a taste of his own medicine because he was obsessive about this stalking. It was no longer cute or funny.

"Just give me a chance, Jackie," he was saying.

"Stop this, Brian! I already told Kevin about this and he didn't like it." Liar. Kevin didn't care at all. It would have been more effective if she followed George's advice. She should have gone to her boss or the police.

"Then I'll talk to him!" Brian insisted. "Let's see if he's man enough."

"Get out of my way, Brian," Jackie warned as she slammed my door (ouch!), locked my door (as if anyone would even consider to steal me), and walked past him.

"I'll talk to your Kevin if you want, Jackie! I'll do anything for you!"

"Then get out of my life!" I heard Jackie shout back as she walked away with purposeful strides. Oh-oh, Jackie was really pissed.

*****

Jackie was shaking with fury as she stormed to the elevator doors.

"Jackie, if you'll just give me one chance, just one, I will--"

"Brian!" she shouted as she whirled around to glare at him. "Stop this or I will talk to my boss!"

For a moment, he appeared to be stupefied. And then he snorted. "Come on, Jackie, I am not doing anything to hurt you. He wouldn't care at all. I just want you to give me just a little bit of your attention."

"You're sick!" She turned away from the elevator and went to the direction of the stairs. She couldn't risk riding the elevator with him. Almost everyone was behind their desks by now.

As she climbed the stairs on her heels, she regretted not going to the guard. The man could have helped her in some way.

"Jackie, just talk to me. Why didn't you answer my texts? And I know you heard me last night. You wouldn't open the door and--" Brian was saying behind her but the rest of his words were cut short as Jackie sharply turned around and smacked the folder she was holding against his right shoulder. He almost stumbled down the stairs with the impact, but he was fast to grab a grip of the iron railing of the stairway.

"Stop this, please!" Tears pooled her eyes with so much fury and desperation.

"Can't you appreciate everything I have been doing--"

"No! I would appreciate if you just--" she smacked the folder against his shoulder as hard as she could again, "go away!" she finished. She knew she could have provoked Brian to hurt her, but the man didn't even appear to have realized that she just assaulted him because he was still looking at her like she was Santa Clause, wishing she would give him what he so desperately wanted. But there was no way in hell she would give anything to Brian. He was sick! So she turned around and ran up the stairs.

"Jackie!" Her ears were ringing with anger that they didn't bother to hear Brian's cries of plea behind her. When she reached the fourth floor, she turned around and stared down at him.

"Don't you dare follow me again," she gritted out and continued on to the fifth floor.

"Jackie!" Karen said the moment she reached the floor and walked to her desk.

"What?" she snapped.

Her friend looked at her with concern. "What happened to you?"

"Nothing. What?"

"Joseph's really pissed. You better take that report to boss Dean now."

She was lost for a moment and then she blinked. She looked at the orange folder in her hand and groaned. It somehow got crumpled during her attack on Brian earlier. Well, it was almost ruined.

"I'll finally know what happens inside the DR," she groaned to herself, "with the blinds down."

"Jackie!" At Joseph's voice, she lifted her head from the folder. Their team leader was sitting behind his desk at the other side of the room near the windows. He tilted his head toward Dean Gamboa's office behind her.

"Okay!" she mouthed at him and slowly turned around.

Dean Gamboa was sitting there, his head still bent down on whatever he was doing behind his desk. The blinds were up, meaning the scene was still safe. Jackie gulped the same time she took the first step. She had been a good employee. She never received any warning from her boss though almost everyone in the office already did. And she never spent more than ten seconds inside the Devil's Room. Dean Gamboa had never shouted at anyone and that was the worst part. The reminder of the eerie silence in the room whenever someone was trapped inside that office with him in the past made Jackie's innards turn upside down at that very moment she was walking toward the glass doors.

Her hands were slightly shaking, might caused by the hard thumping of her heart against her ribcage. God, it was so hard it vibrated throughout her body. Careful, she tapped her knuckles against the glass door and her boss looked up from his desk, his face neutral. He motioned his hand for her to come in.

When was the last time she entered the office? She couldn't even remember. Was that when she brought coffee when his secretary, Beth, was absent? Was it when Joseph asked her to get the signed papers from his desk? Or maybe it was when he was not around and she dared herself to enter without his permission and take a picture of herself for proof. That must have been a week ago so it must be it. As she pushed the door open, her hand tightened on the folder she was holding and her mind prayed that Dean Gamboa would never find out that she had trespassed into his office a week ago.

"What is it, Miss Ramos?" he asked in his deep, carefully modulated, baritone voice.

"I...I...just...ah...here's the report from last month's event, sir," she stammered and rushed at the same time, lifting her arm and showing him the nearly-tattered folder.

His too-handsome face slowly frowned and Jackie's heart hammered harder against her chest.

"Is that the report I should have received last week?" he asked, looking at the folder.

"Uh...yes," she admitted with a grimace. "I know it's late but--"

"And ruined," he cut in, looking at the paper. "So you decided to give me a late report. And it's physically ruined?"

"Sir, I can explain--"

"Close the blinds, Miss Ramos," he cut in.

"Sir, I--"

"Close the blinds," he repeated, looking her straight in the eyes.

Defeated, she nodded and turned around. Through the glass walls, she could see the rest of her team, including Joseph and the other teams, look on. And when she lifted her hand to close the blinds, she saw Karen gasp, her hand dramatically covering her mouth.

"The door, Miss Ramos," Dean Gamboa ordered behind her. She walked to the door and closed it. "The blinds," he added.

All hopes left her as she closed the blinds of the door. The room was dimmer now. She turned around and faced her boss.

"Sit," he ordered.

For a moment, she just stared at the seat across his desk.

"Miss Ramos, I don't have all the time in the world," Dean Gamboa's voice was now etched with irritation and she almost ran to the chair. "Now, hand me the report."

She handed him the folder. He looked at its poor state before he opened it and started reading. Then his frown deepened.

"Did Joseph review this one?" he asked.

"Well, he didn't get the chance, sir. He told me to hand it to you immediately."

"You made it in a rush," he uttered, looking at her.

Her gaze faltered. "I had been busy last week," she lied.

His brow arched. "You didn't have a project since last month. What could you have been busy with?"

This was definitely a new record. She was having a long conversation with her boss! "Well, I have personal things to settle and--"

"And why is this report in a bad shape? Physically," he cut in, obviously not interested with her personal problems.

Again, she gulped. "I used it to attack someone?" She cringed and shifted on her seat.

"What do you mean you attacked someone?"

"Remember the guy in the elevator this morning? He followed me out to my car when he saw me coming down to get the report. He wouldn't leave me alone so I guess I lost control and attacked him with the folder."

For a very long moment, Dean Gamboa just looked at her.

"Sir, I'm really sorry. It won't happen again. I will check the report for errors this morning and I will give it back to you as soon as I can," she stated when he didn't say a word.

"Miss Ramos," her boss said as he leaned away from his desk. "I don't care about your problem with that man in the elevator. I don't care how you spend your personal time. What I care is how you do your work. And I can't have this kind of work in my office." He lifted the folder and dropped it on the table.

"Sir, in my defense, can I say something?" When he just stared at her, she continued, "I really planned on passing this report a week ago but Brian, the guy in the elevator, has been very persistent. I couldn't sleep in peace because he is in my apartment every night. I can't even do my work without my phone beeping every hour. And I can't even use my computer without him sending me messages through the messaging system."

"Miss Ramos, your problem is not mine. But if you can't control your suitor at your own workplace, then I guess I can't do anything but find a replacement."

Anger surged up Jackie's throat. She just shared her dilemma with him and he threatened to fire her? Her work was greatly being affected here. "But, sir, you said you care about how I do my work--"

"Exactly. I care how you do your work. If that guy is bothering you during working hours, then turn off your phone and change the settings of your messaging system. If he's bothering you at home or outside the office, then I suggest you don't take your work outside this building and finish them behind your desk as what you should do. If you can do that, I don't see any problem."

"But, sir, he's been a constant bother--"

"What he is to you is not my concern. As I've said, I care about how you do your work, not how you live your life or how you deal with your problems." He reached for the folder and handed it to her. "Get this done by tomorrow, understand? To be honest, this is crap. Review it, redo it, and do it right this time. Consider this a verbal warning, Miss Ramos."

Jackie was near in tears. The man was heartless! And George even suggested she went to him! Well, she did tell him of her problem and he didn't even care! She stood up, her legs shaking with fury. She hated Dean Gamboa.

"Miss Ramos," he called behind her when she started for the door.

She stopped but did not turn around.

"The blinds," he ordered.

Jackie gritted her teeth but did as he ordered and opened the blinds.

When she finally walked out of the Devil's Room, she made up her mind to never ever come to Dean Gamboa for help. She expected him to at least do something, even a little, to help her with her problem about Brian because he was her boss and he somehow should be responsible over his employees. But no, he didn't. He brushed her problem like he would an ant crawling on his sleeves.

Karen was silent when she reached her desk and slammed the folder beside her computer. She would stay up all night and prove to Dean Gamboa that she could make a damn good report.