Chapter 24

Celebes Enna Escuadro

I fucking need a break. And I need it ASAP. I can't fucking take Alessandro playing house with us and with my annoying brother hovering around longer than he should, I'm starting to see fine lines on my forehead.

Madalas na nasa bahay si Kuya Sarge dahil nga siya ngayon ang "espiya" ng magaling naming ama. Naabutan ko minsan itong nanonood ng YouTube sa Smart TV tungkol sa isang TikTok Kpop dance tutorial habang sumasayaw-sayaw pa. Nabato ko nga ng remote dahil hindi bagay. Si Alessandro naman ay nagwawalis habang nakasando at shorts at pasipol-sipol pa. Natadyakan ko nang wala sa oras dahil sumasayaw rin ito.

It's been three days ever since Alessandro started bringing food, washing or folding clothes, washing dishes and even taking out trash. I swear to God. If I didn't know he's my boss, I would have thought he's a house-husband a.k.a. unemployed handsome obedient male. My brother is exploiting my boss's newfound kindness and is always asking for takeouts.

These shitheads are living their lives and I'm here getting stressed as heck because I don't want to be used to having people inside the unit, to feel like I'm not alone when they're just going to leave anyways as if they never barged in my life.

Gano'n naman palagi. It sucks and it makes me feel like a lonely emotional loser when I shouldn't be. It's making me feel things that I shouldn't be feeling. Hope. Fear.

I glanced at the clock near the door. Kanina pa ako nakahilata rito sa sofa habang nanonood ng TV Shows sa Netflix. Hindi ko nga namalayang pinapanood ko na ang Season 1 ng Single's Inferno.

Bitterness rose inside me after watching a few episodes of those guys and girls giggling. They all look so happy looking for people who'll make them happy in the present and future.

Fuck. Anong nangyayari sa akin? Bakit kung ano-ano na lang ang iniisip ko?!

Am I even still single?

I fucking need to get out of here. Is it even a vacation if I don't do anything that'll make me feel good?

I glanced at the clock again. It's past 6 PM. If I don't hurry, my brother and my boss will be home again making me lose my mind due to God-knows-what.

And so I ran to my bedroom, hit the shower and quickly did my make up.

I wore a navy blue denim corset top that made my breast pop. It's bejeweled to spell the words "Me over Me". There was a matching denim collar that had a thin long denim ribbon that I tied into a small bow. I paired my top with a pleated denim skirt that reached half my thighs. Then I wore dark brown cowboy boots that reached my knees. Lastly I curled my hair a bit and did a twirl in front of the mirror.

This isn't my usual outfit but I like to switch it up to see if it looks good on me and well what can I say?

"Ang sobrang ganda ko naman para maging bitter sa lalaking engaged na." I rolled my eyes. Kinakausap ko na naman ang sarili ko dahil lang sa Alessandro na 'yan! "He. Does. Not. Fucking. Affect. Me. Period."

I got my phone and started to text Mago but stopped midway. I forgot that he's got a woman now. Tsk. Dapat hindi ko na isipin ang mokong na 'yon. Parang nakalimutan na ako ng loko. He even promised to give me a guy before but where's the guy he promised to give me?! I'm stuck with Alessandro! And I haven't gotten laid in a while. Alessandro for some reason is not giving any hints which kind of pisses me off.

Now who will I go with tonight to have fun? I can just drink and party for all I care. But I only have few people that I can call friends...

Si Clark and Genevieve ay may date, nagtext pa ito sa akin para mang-inggit kanina kaya hindi sila kasama sa option ko tonight.

Hmm. Who to bring?

Or maybe I can just pay someone. I think that'll work too but who can I trust to do what I want as long as they have the payment?

Someone who likes money more than anything.

I smiled as a name popped in my mind.

Carlion.

I hurriedly searched for his name in the web. Alessandro mentioned that his friend is a doctor and is hell-bent to get every penny he can get from anyone he comes across.

It's easy to find his name in Google as a young handsome single doctor in this country. And since he's a guy who loves money, of course he left his contact numbers everywhere.

Carlion Val Nuevos, MD
Internal Medicine Physician
Calvaria Medical Hospital

XXX-XXX-XXXX

*for other requests outside medicine, please call the numbers below:
XXX-XXX-XXXX
XXX-XXX-XXXX

Does he have a team or something to handle calls?

Natawa na lamang ako sa naiisip.

-

As it turns out, Carlion does have a team to receive his calls. I can't believe I got transferred over for so many times that I lost count.

"And you're Ms. Celebes Enna Escuardo," anang babaeng kausap ko ngayon. Sa seryosong boses nito, napasagot na lamang ako.

"Yes." I said for the nth time.

"You are Mr. Alessandro Ramirez' secretary and Mr. Nuevos' acquaintance?"

"Yes."

Should I just give up and go out alone?

Fucking No.

"I'll be transferring you over to Mr. Nuevos. I'm very sorry for the long wait."

Finally.

"Nawa'y hindi ka tumawag para sa problema tungkol sa pag-ibig. I'm just so done with these idiots." His cold baritone voice saying that made me burst out laughing. Who the heck called him about love problems? "I didn't become a doctor to solve love problems. If I could just prescribe real medicine that can treat them, I would've been a zillionaire ages ago."

From his long rant, I can tell that he is fucking exhausted.

"Did they pay you enough though?"

He went silent for a bit and I could hear him curse under his breath.

"As a matter of fact, no. Fucking Thane-I mean, I'm thinking about charging him double."

Napangisi ako. Si Thane pala ang kumukulit sa kanya? I can still remember how he was dragged out by a lady last time.

"I thought doctors can't divulge information for their patients?" biro ko rito.

He sighed on the other line.

"He's not a patient. He's a friend who happens to pay me for my love advices slash precious time." I suppressed my laugh when I glanced at the time on my phone. Shit. Baka umuwi na sina Alessandro. Halos sabay sila umuwi ni Kuya Sarge kapag lumalabas ang kapatid ko nang ilang oras. Napuna ni Carlion ang pananahimik ko at saka hindi na nagpatumpik-tumpik pa. "Anyways, what can I do for you?"

"I need a companion to go clubbing." I thought he's going to ask where Alessandro is or where my friends are but he didn't.

"How many hours?"

"From now up to 5 AM. Are you busy?"

Natahimik ito nang ilang segundo tila nag-iisip o baka naman sinasadya lang talaga nitong humaba ang usapan para mas mataas ang babayaran ko.

"As a matter of fact, I'll be free around 9 PM." That's in a few hours. "I still have patients to see unfortunately."

Napaisip ako at tiningnan ulit ang time sa phone ko.

"I'll pick you up. I'll go right now and wait in the hospital's lobby. If you need to change clothes, I can wait," mabilis kong sabi. Hindi ito napasagot agad at napabuntong-hininga pa. "Carlion?"

"I'll charge you $100 an hour to be your companion for clubbing," seryoso nitong sabi.

I guess his time really is gold. Maybe clubbing's not his scene?

"Okay." There was a very long pause that I thought the line got cut off. "Carlion?"

"Can you define this word "companion" right now?" tanong nito at saka ay bumawi. "Nevermind. I'll text you one of my office addresses where you can wait. You can still back out anytime."

Anong pinagsasabi nito? Me backing out? Absolutely not.

"Text me the address and your account number. I'll be wiring the full payment."

"Good. I got your number anyways."

"Wait, how-"

Toot. Toot.

Did Alessandro give him my number?

-

Mga ilang minuto akong nakaupo sa couch nitong opisina ni Carlion. Napili ko ito dahil itong ang pinakamalapit sa pupuntahan naming club. I have no idea how many offices he owns and for what nefarious operations.

Purong puti ang office na animo santo ang nagmamay-ari. The couch I'm sitting on faced a simple and plain white plastic table as if Carlion ran out of funds to pay for one. The monobloc chair matched the table perfectly. They both look cheap, fitting for its owner who's a major cheapskate. Or maybe he just likes saving and earning money.

Money. Money. Money.

Naalala ko tuloy si Kuya Sarge. He said once when we were younger, it's best to run out of money because money is the root of all evil. I almost laughed, if only he didn't say that in our father's face during one of our rare "family" dinners. Given our father's lack of humor, he took Kuya's words seriously and decided to freeze all my brother's accounts and banned us from giving him money.

Kuya Sarge lasted for a few months however since father forgot to take into account that his sons are all built like most of women's fantasies. Goosebumps. Massive ew but true. Father gave up after one of his business partners who's a widow decided to gift a Lambo to Kuya Sarge on his birthday. He gave back Kuya's bank accounts and said, "Money is indeed the root of all evil but people still need it to escape hell."

Kung alam niya lang... Haha! Kahit pera hindi ako kinayang sagipin sa impyerno. Swerte lang ang mga taong kayang masagip nito sa mundong 'to.

So bored that I even reminisced about the regretful past. I most fucking definitely need to chug a beer. Damn Carlion. If I knew he'll be late, I wouldn't have transferred the payment to his account and went straight to the bar alone or well, straight home. Tinatamad na tuloy ako dahil sa tagal ng paghihintay ng dalawang oras.

I thought he'll be here 9 PM sharp!

It's already 11 PM and I've been ignoring my brother and Alessandro's calls and chats for a few hours now. I scrolled down the notification bar and rolled my eyes after spotting my brother's message.

'Don't you fucking dare put your phone into DND!'

I heard the door creak so I looked up from my phone, only to see Carlion wearing matching gray denim pants and an open jacket. He's wearing a white tank top inside that hugged his sculpted body?

I blinked a few times as I stared at him.

I admit I stared too much at his body because what the heck? Did someone pay him to go to the gym? He doesn't look like someone who has the time and energy to complete 3 reps.

I checked out his outfit again.

He even accessorized his outfit with a chain belt and necklace. He also had piercings on his ears and a lot of rings on his hands. All of them made of silver and it matched his skin tone perfectly. He paired the outfit with white rubber shoes that had a gray check mark on them.

Obviously the guy likes monochrome.

I rubbed my eyes when I looked at his hair. I guess that's why he's late. He dyed it gray.

"Done checking me out?" he deadpanned while looking at his silver watch. He cleared his throat and awkwardly tugged on his jacket as if it's too big for him when it's obviously the right size. "I apologize for my tardiness but I needed some expert advice for the wardrobe choice. Masyadong mahal ang singil pero wala na akong mahanap na iba."

I blinked in disbelief and gave him two thumbs up still gaping in shock.

"You look pretty good," nasabi ko na lang. I'm not sure if it's because of the monochrome outfit or the white room but I think I hallucinated when I saw Carlion's face turning red.