Feeling author's note:

Thank you so much for reading.

____________________

"Torres!" Melo's yell reached your office, which was located just next to his. 

In a fraction of five over five, one part was being consumed by the area of your office and the rest were his. The size of the comfort room inside his office was actually larger compared to yours, which has the liking of a public toilet along the smokey roads of Manila. 

Quickly, you ran to his office. 

You found him standing in front of his glass door, his arms were folded over his chest as his gaze lurked from your head down to your toes, then back to your head again. 

"Coffee. Magmadali," he said before turning his heels with attitude back inside his office. 

He's very particular with the brand of coffee that he drinks, which is Jamaican Blue Mountain, one of the most expensive brands of coffee whose production yearly is limited. He hates it when it's too warm and when it lacks his preferred hotness, so the water shall be heated in the microwave for only a minute. The color of the cup must be in accordance with the order of hues in the rainbow. Red for Monday, Orange for Tuesday, Yellow for Wednesday, Green for Thursday, Blue for Friday, Indigo for the next Monday, Violet for the next Tuesday, and the cycle repeats. 

Since it was a Friday, his cup must be Blue. 

"Here's your coffee, Madam." You carefully placed it on his pink desk. 

Everything that laps one's eye inside his office was pink. From the fully furry-carpeted floor, to the leather couch, to the fancy curtains hanging in a gigantic window behind his desk, which gives him a view of the beauty of BGC, to his rose gold Apple branded laptop, and up to the wall clock placed at the farthest distant wall from where he was seated on a pink velvet swivel chair. 

"Obvious nga." He rolled his eyes at you with vastness.

"May iuutos pa po kayo?" 

He massaged his temples and said, "I'm craving for the Purple Oven's Blueberry Cheesecake. Bilhan mo 'ko ng sampung boxes."

"Sampu po?!" You unconsciously held your chest due to shock. You knew just how much that product costs only for him to ask you to buy ten of them just for himself. 

"Bingi ka?" He raised his one brow. 

"Hindi po, pero makakain niyo po ba lahat 'yon? Masasayang lang po pera niyo. Saan niyo po dadalhin 'pag hindi niyo naubos?" 

"Hinihingi ko ba opinyon mo?" he asked along with the arching of his two brows. 

You knew that was the signal for you to stop, ergo you bowed and mumbled, "Masusunod po. Pasensya na po." 

He then placed several blue bills on his desk and slid them towards you. "You may go. Be back after ten minutes." 

"Madam, nasa BGC po tayo, sa San Antonio pa po ako bibili. Kulang po ang ten minutes," you argued, slowly feeling your temper skyrocketing while staring at his now smirking visage. 

You suddenly thought of shaving his thick bushy ebony eyebrows and hair, breaking his well-formed pointed nose, punching his naturally perfectly shaped and reddish lips, pulling his long lashes strand by strand, and scratching his poreless rosy cheeks. Sadly, you knew you couldn't put any into action. It's illegal and you ain't loaded like him, so there's no way for you to hire the best and the most expensive lawyer to free you from the charges. 

"That's your problem, not mine," he said before turning back his swivel chair from you. "It's already fifteen minutes past one pm, you should be here by 1:25 pm. Else you would suffer the consequences."

Having no power to battle with him, you took the bills on his desk and left after mouthing, "Noted, Madam." 

Obviously, you wouldn't be back at the office at his required time. So suffering with the consequences was the only option on your list. 

When it was finally your turn to claim the ten boxes of Blueberry Cheesecake, it was only then when you realized you got no one to help you carry those boxes, to think you were to ride a public utility vehicle--a jeepney to specify. Needless to say, there was no high chance for you to keep the form of the cakes. And that would probably be the end of your world. 

So there you were, resulting into a penniless woman after grabbing a cab. Having an equitable balanced way of thinking barring your financial difficulties, you knew it wouldn't be even-handed if you'd make use of Melo's money to pay the taxi driver, because the only transportation fee that he was to support was the fee for jeepneys, tricycles, or buses. 

Upon reaching the office, your eyes immediately looked for someone to give you a hand with the boxes of cake.

There you caught a look of your office friends, Tupe and Kulas, both women-by-heart and choice. 

"Mga accla!" you yelled, loud enough for them to hear and guide themselves to your direction. "Patulong naman!"

"Sa'n ang party, mamsh?! Ang dami, ha? Kay Madam lahat 'to?" Tupe, the bald-headed woman-by-heart asked after taking four boxes of the cakes. 

"Sa true? Ano'ng trip ni Madam? Huling kain na ba? Shuta sana yes, ha? Imbyerns talaga ko sa shoklang 'yon," Kulas laughingly said while tying his long, curly blonde hair into a bun before taking the other four boxes from you.

"Nag-crave daw siya, eh." You shrugged and started paving your way to the lift.

"Ano 'yan, nagkaro'n ng milagro at nagkamatres 'yang hayop na 'yan, kaya naglilihi ngayon?" Kulas asked as he took a step inside the elevator along with you and Tupe. "Tupe! Twenty-fourth floor nga! Pronto, tonto! Magmadali!" he laughingly added, mimicking the famous smart-mouthed words of Melo. 

"Ok po, Madam," Tupe replied. He hurriedly pressed the said button. Para pa 'tong tanga na aligaga at kabadong lumapit sa elevator pad. "Rinig mo sinabi ko? Kita mo ginawa ko? Ha, Sirach? Konyatan ko fallopian tube mo, eh! Gano'n na gano'n ka 'pag inuutusan ka ni Madam, kahit minsan di na makatarungan. Gigil mo 'ko."

Simply did you laugh because you were certain they were more than right, although there were times that Melo pushed you to the edge and you couldn't help to fend for yourself. Those times, however, only happen once in a blue moon. 

When the three of you reached Melo's office, you found him comfortably leaning his back on his chair, chewing on a gum and playing with his Conway Stewart Westminster Teal pen on his left hand. 

"Leave," Melo said, referring to Kulas and Tupe.

Without any further ado, the two placed the boxes of cakes on top of his table and trotted off. 

By the time they have completely left, Melo settled his gaze at you, who was a busybee taking a pique at the cakes, trying to make sure they weren't deformed. You almost sighed in relief upon seeing that they were all still in their perfect shapes. 

"What time is it, Torres?" The sliding sound of his fan, as he slid it open, made you nervous. 

"Five minutes to two, Madam," you replied after checking the time on your Scooby Doo watch. Your favorite cartoon character and favorite watch, which was given by your mother as a present on the last birthday you had with her. 

"You're thirty minutes late." He slammed his fan on his desk, shooting daggers at you. "Buksan mo lahat ng cake sa harapan ko, 'pag may isa sa mga 'yan na nasira, you're dead. Get it?"

"Yes, Madam."

"Louder! I can't hear you!" he commanded as he banged his palm on his desk. 

"Yes, Madam!"

"Ano pa'ng tinatanga-tanga mo r'yan?! Open all the fucking cakes!" 

After opening all the boxes, Melo started to round his desk to thoroughly check the ten cakes one by one. 

Two cakes to go and you could stop holding your breath. But on the last one, you were stunned when he faced yoi with his two brows on flick. 

You're so dead. 

"Lumapit ka rito, Torres."

You obliged. Slowly and nervously, you headed near him. "Pronto, Tonto!" 

"B-bakit po, Madam?" a step away from him, you asked.

"The icing of this cake went over the board, meaning," he raised his pointing finger, "it was deformed. Meaning, you didn't manage to keep its form. Meaning, you're stupid." He placed his hands on his hips as he went on saying, "Sa Tagalog, tanga ka." 

Like the icing that went over its board, he went over your board as well with his hilariously annoying cocky mouth. But unlike yesterday when you had the chance to indirectly take the defense against his offense, you just couldn't now because you didn't have any attacking cards on hand. It was your fault, after all you knew how unjustifiably meticulous he is.

"Sorry, Madam," was the only line you could genuinely course him with. 

"As a consequence of your stupidity, you need to come with me on my trip to Dasma. I need a nanny to wait on me hand and foot."

"Pero Friday po ngayon at off ko po ng weekends."

He jerked his thumb to his emotionless face. "Mukha ba 'kong may pake?" In response, you shook your head disappointedly. You had no right to object his decisions. "We'll be leaving tonight, get it?"

"Yes, Madam."

"Now, leave my sight," he commanded. "You're not a good view. Magmadali!"