Thank God it’s Wednesday, I thought. It meant tomorrow would be Thursday and it mean I’d be with Georgie. I couldn’t believe Jackie would leave me here to be put on shame! Other cars and their owners looked at me with amusement as they started to leave.

The BMW beside me was talking about how unfortunate my situation was. It wouldn’t stop talking! I wanted to kick its shiny bumper and leave it limp for the rest of eternity until it would be weighed for scrap.

I was still partially blinded by the stupid orange cardboard that read, “I love you, Jackie! Please say yes!”

“We’re here! Yes, yes! Oh my God!”

I almost jumped on my four tires when I heard George’s voice. Georgie?

A small gasp followed George’s cry. Dannie?

And sure enough, there they were. Both of them were staring at me with shock on their faces. And then the shock turned to anger. George stormed toward me, her slit eyes now in lines, and grabbed the stupid cardboard. She ripped it away from me and I cried in glee.

“Sick bastard!” George cried, staring at the rose petals on my hood. “Okay, I change my mind! We definitely need to get rid of him!” She used the cardboard to sweep the red rose petals off me.

Dannie was looking at me, still in shock. “I really thought Jackie was just exaggerating when she told me about this guy.”

Come on, girls! Jackie has been in hell since this guy came into her life!

“We should have known he’s doing more than sing outside our apartment,” George said in agreement. “Shoot!” she uttered as she checked her phone, the one she was holding in her other hand. She brought it back to her ear and said, “Jackie? Sorry, we just had a shock when we saw Toto. He was covered with rose petals!”

“And a cardboard!” Dannie added beside George.

“Where? Art District? Why are you there?” George was asking. She threw the cardboard right beside the narcissistic BMW. Good throw, Georgie!

I saw George’s shoulders drop. “Okay, we’ll get there.”

“Why is she in Art District?” Dannie asked, walking to my passenger side.

“They’re following her boss,” George answered, searching her big backpack for the keys. “She should really stop leaving Toto behind,” she added in frustration.

Tell her that, Georgie!

“I was waiting for her outside the school when she called me to pick Toto up,” Dannie uttered conversationally when George finally managed to open my doors. “But you said she was following her boss with who--” Dannie did not finish her sentence. “Right. She’s with Troy.”

“And she said she has a ‘shocker’ thing to tell us,” George added, putting me in gear.

Drive faster, Georgie! I want to know what this shocker is!

  *****

Art District was located at the back of Lopue’s Mandalagan, a supermarket/department store. It was where most people who would want a night with music and good drinks would go. I used to call it a “park of bars” because there were just different small bars surrounding the amphitheater found at the center. These bars had tables and chairs set up outside so people who would like to spend their night breathing in fresh air could enjoy. And there would always be music. It was named Art District because it was a place that collaborated music, art works, food and drinks. Colorful murals on the walls gave the place a cool look and then there were those exhibits of statues made from scrap! At the entrance, you would find large concrete balls, some of them painted to look like giant billiard balls. Others had pastel colors and they were gigantic. It was cool, actually. I was just unlucky that I was a car and I couldn’t join the boys and their friends whenever they went here. They used to park me at the back, right behind the supermarket, but that parking lot was closed now. So I had to content myself by just hearing and getting a glimpse of the fun from outside the main entrance.

It seemed that there would be a band playing tonight. I could hear someone testing a guitar. I preferred the jazz nights like George, but then, I also liked some of the bands who played here before.

As George and Dannie climbed out of me and crossed the street to where the fun was, I was giddy. I couldn’t spot Tata anywhere so I assumed Troy parked her somewhere far. No chance for me to get some news of her late-afternoon adventure. There were a lot of different vehicles around though, and I could spend my night chatting with some of them. I could forget about the excitement over Jackie’s shocking news for a while.

I saw a pink Volkswagen parked just a car away. It was definitely one of the latest models, but I knew those vics (we call female vehicles ‘vics’ and this word is actually legit among our kind) would dig an old, funny Beetle. Hey, there, sexy! I called.

  *****

Jackie waved at her friends from the table she and Troy managed to get. It was nearly dark and people were starting to arrive, most of them just to grab dinner. Some call center agents were already starting to have fun from another table.

“What’s this all about this time?” George asked the moment they reached the table. She grabbed the seat next to Jackie. Dannie had no choice but the seat next to Troy. “And why are you wearing sunglasses?”

“She’s on an undercover mission,” Troy answered dryly before he took a bite from his burrito.

“You wouldn’t believe this!” Jackie gushed out, dramatically wailing her hands sideways, not minding the fact that she was more likely attracting more attention by wearing a pair of pink-rimmed sunglasses.

“What?” her friends asked.

“My boss wears jeans and shirt!”

Her friends looked at her, dumbfounded. “That’s all?” George asked.

“That’s the shocker?”

Jackie looked at her friends. “Can you believe it? He’s normal after all!”

“Uh, Jackie,” Troy said beside her, “it seems that you are the only person here who actually appreciates this kind of revelation.”

Her face fell when she realized he was right. They didn’t know her boss. They didn’t know what he was at work.

“Why are we here anyway?” asked George.

“I have to treat him to dinner,” she answered, gesturing her head at Troy’s direction. “You know, I still can’t believe it. I mean, he never wears anything in the office other than slacks and a suit. I never even saw him wearing anything else! And yet, he’s now wearing a pair of sneakers!” She motioned her hand behind them, her voice lowering with each word she uttered.

George frowned. “He’s here?”

“Why else would we be here?” Jackie asked incredulously. “You know Art District is only on Saturdays for me.”

“Have you taken enough pictures?” Dannie asked as George called the waiter.

“No, not really,” Jackie answered. She tipped her sunglasses over her eyes and carefully looked over her shoulder. “As you can see, he has his back turned to us.” Then she threw Troy an accusing look before she pulled her sunglasses back down. “If he didn’t take a lot of time chatting up with that girl earlier, we could have grabbed a better table.”

“Hey, it was not my fault,” Troy said in defense, his mouth full of rice and beef and burrito wrap.

The waiter arrived and her friends gave him their orders. “This one’s on you as well,” George stated as the waiter left. “We could have saved a lot if we just went home and cook.”

“Agree,” Dannie voted. “And you look ridiculous with that eyewear.”

“He might recognize me.”

George rolled her eyes. “We recognized you in an instant the moment we entered the place. In case you forgot, you are wearing your office uniform.”

She looked down and her clothes. George was right. Without argument, she took off her blazer, revealing her light blue sleeveless shirt. She then unwound her hair and let it fall down her shoulders. “Better,” she uttered, throwing Troy the blazer. “Keep it safe for a while,” she ordered, leaning on the table to look at her friends. “Tell me what he’s doing,” she said.

Dannie sighed and craned her neck. “Who should I be looking at? The one with the gray shirt?”

“Yes, the one with the black baseball hat. He’s facing the other way.”

“He’s drinking beer, talking to some guys.”

“Woah! Beer! I just can’t believe it!”

George was into the game by then and she was also looking ahead to where Dean Gamboa was sitting. “I think I now understand what you mean. He’s with a bunch of men you cannot really picture out in an office suit.”

“See? That’s why this is such a shocker! I’m telling you, girls, if you just know the guy like I do, you’d flip like crazy.”

Troy was also looking over his shoulder. “They really do look familiar.”

Jackie smacked his arm. “Stop looking! You’re so obvious! And of course they will look familiar to you. You’re always almost everywhere. I said, stop looking.”

Troy turned back to his original position, a frown on his face. “I’m serious. I really think I know them.”

“Then rack your memory! This can actually be good! I can have more information on the guy that will make his Facebook legit. Which reminds me,” she turned to Troy and held out her hand, palm up. “Give me the pictures.”

“Later,” he said with a wink.

She glared at him through her sunglasses. “Troy,” she warned.

“Fine, fine,” he said, his hand grabbing his camera. He took out the memory card and gave it to her. “Give it back to me. It costs a lot.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Jackie uttered, already standing up.

“Where are you going?” Dannie and George asked in unison.

“II have to make an FB account now. My laptop’s inside Toto. I need to actually put my plan in action, you know. My life is at stake here in case you forgot. You just witnessed earlier how mad Brian can get and I have been telling you guys that for a long time. Right now, I desperately want to be the official girlfriend of Dean Gamboa.” She walked away without a word. She ignored the curious glances people were throwing her because of her sunglasses. They had the right to be curious. It was already dark, nearly eight o’clock. How did the time fly so fast?!

Hurry, hurry, she told herself. She had to make the account now.

  *****

I saw Jackie walking toward me. What the hell? Why is she wearing sunglasses? Come on, Jackie, you’re not this crazy!

But she ignored me, not even saying a word as she opened my door. At the backseat, she took the bag that contained her laptop, one that she would always forget to take with her. But it seemed that right now, she remembered it was there.

“We’re going to make an FB account, Toto,” she said excitedly as she turned the laptop on. She took off her stupid sunglasses and waited for about a minute or two, patiently humming a happy tune while the computer was starting. Once done, she turned on the tether of her phone and went online. She went on to make an account, muttering words as she typed.

“Dean Gamboa. What’s his middle name? Hmmm, let’s leave this one blank for a while. Birthday. Uh, no idea either. Okay, let’s make it October 7, 1983, the same one I used with his Gmail account. That will make him around thirty-years old. That’s close enough, I think.”

You’re crazy, Jackie girl! And you dare make his birthday the same as yours!

“Of course, we have to have the same birthday. He will just be about five years older than me. It will be destiny,” she said as if hearing me.

Brian works in the HR department, Jackie. He’ll know his birthday!

“Shit! Brian works in the HR. He would know. Okay, we’ll just hide the birthday then. That’s more like him. Private. What else? Description. What the hell? Man of few words. That’s enough, I guess. Create account. This is it, Toto!” For a few minutes, she busied herself verifying the account and when that was done, she went back to edit Dean Gamboa’s profile. She turned the setting to private, added the photos Troy managed to take yesterday at the restaurant and golly! The man was good! He managed to take pictures of Dean Gamboa smiling like he was a handsome angel and then, there was that photo of him and Jackie looking at each other, their faces too close.

“It’s not what you think it is, Toto. This was actually taken when he was scolding me about texting during a meeting.”

Don’t be too defensive, Jackie. I’m not asking.

When the photos were uploaded, she went on to invite friends. Of course, she invited herself first.

She opened her phone’s FB account and changed her privacy settings as well. She made her list of friends private. Her office friends were grouped together. She changed the setting for that group and smiled wickedly. “No one will ever know,” she whispered. Then she went on to accept Dean Gamboa’s friend request and deleted it from the newsfeed. Once that was done, she went on to search for Troy. Of course, the man was searchable. Next, George. She couldn’t look for George. Shit. Dannie. Great. Dannie was not on a private setting. Next, Brian. And Jackie almost jumped up in joy when she saw Brian’s profile. She clicked the ‘add friend’ button.

“Done! Now, how do we make Brian accept the request?” I could almost see the bulb light up inside her head when the idea struck her. “I’ll make this photo of us our profile picture,” she said, searching for that picture of her and Dean Gamboa looking at each other. “And once Brian finds out that I am a mutual friend, he would accept the request. But let’s just hope that he’s scared shit of the guy and back off for good. It would make things easier--” her words were cut off by the groan that escaped her lips. “He accepted it! The creep!”

And then her phone started ringing. It was Brian. He wouldn’t rest, would he?

“I hate you!” Jackie shouted at her phone without answering. She reviewed Dean Gamboa’s fake account, making sure that his list of friends and other personal information were private. “It doesn’t matter if Brian finds out Dean Gamboa just joined Facebook today,” she said aloud. “I could always tell him I urged my new boyfriend to make one.”

Crazy, Jackie. Crazy!

“Okay, just one status.”

Chilling with friends.

I knew she wouldn’t specify the place because Brian might just come. Anything was possible with that guy. She took the memory card from the laptop, closed the lid, and replaced her stupid sunglasses. And then she opened my door and got out.

Just make sure this is going to work out, Jackie!

  *****

Jackie was too excited to go back to her friends. She had to ask Troy and Dannie to accept the friend requests. And then she had to beg George to--

Her thoughts halted as she passed by a group of guys. For a moment, she thought her eyes were just fooling her, but she had to make sure. She went to a corner and took off her sunglasses and stared.

Her jaw dropped. “Oh my God,” she whispered in awe. “What the--this is crazy!”