14

Rose entered my office with 2 cups of tea. Thea, the party organizer for our company anniversary, followed behind.

Thea and I shook hands then she handed me a tablet. “Good morning, ma’am. Here are the pictures and videos of the first dress rehearsal for the party. As you can see ma’am, you picked a good choice for the venue. There is still enough space for a dance floor for the after-party party.” I nodded at her. I need to pick appropriate songs so guests can be persuaded to dance, so they won’t just socialize with others.

Next, she gave me a folder. “Here’s the list of guests who replies yes, no, and maybe. Some of them even sent their diet specifications.”

“Ah, yes, I was about to tell you about that. Good that you’ve caught that, Thea.” I gave her a small smile.

“Lastly, here’s the program.” She gave me a special paper which has the same design as the invitations.

"I need to meet with your hosts and DJ for the after-party. I need to make sure some things with them. Please set us a meeting.”

“Yes, ma’am. Anything else?”

“Nothing more. Please coordinate with Rose for the meetings. Also, please make sure everything is set. 1 and a half weeks to go before the event.”

“Yes, ma’am Will do my very best,” Thea said before she left.

“Rose, any appointments today? I have many papers that I need to face.” I tapped the mountainous papers on the right side of my table.

“Yes, ma’am there is. The CEO said to clear your schedule for the rest of the day starting at 11:30 am.”

I whipped my head in her direction. “What?!” I looked at my table clock. “Oh, no! It’s already 10:30! I’ll just hurry it up so I can still dent this thing.” Then, I started facing the seemingly endless papers.

A few moments later, someone knocked on my door. “Enter.” I didn’t bother to ask because I didn’t have time! Jerk might come any second!

“Jerk is already here,” said a man’s voice.

I looked at the one who entered and my eyes widened. It’s Jerk! I glanced at my table clock and saw that it’s exactly 11:30! “Ah! Hehehe You heard that? Sorry. I have so much to finish. Why did you clear my schedule today anyway?”

“We’re going undercover for a site visit. I received unclear and inconsistent reports from the Rizal factory and I don’t trust 3rd parties or other employees to investigate. So, let’s go. We don’t have much time.”

When he entered the car, he immediately passed a folder, containing many reports and formal complaints, to me. “Read those. Maybe you’ll see something that I haven’t seen yet.”

I faced him a little bit. “Why am I with you? Shouldn’t it be Jason? Or, the regional director? Or, the factory director?”

He sighed. “Just read the files, will you? Besides, Jason has a lot on his plate right now. I want him to adjust well into his position.”

“Okay, okay.” I started reading.

2 hours after we left the office, Jerk decided to go to a drive-thru first because he thinks that we might we a while at the factory. We went to Mcdonalds.

“Don’t order and eat too much. We might encounter heavy traffic and you might need to go to the bathroom.”

I just rolled my eyes at him and ordered iced coffee vanilla, large fries, cheeseburger deluxe, and 6-pc McNuggets. He also ordered coffee, original, and a cheeseburger. I was trying to give him my share but he gently pushed my hand away and gave his card to the cashier. The cashier gave him flirtatious eyes but he just scowled deeper. While Jerk was passing the food to me, he kept shaking his head. I just made a face and rolled my eyes at him. Look what time it is! While exiting Mcdonalds, he got some fries.

“Hey! That’s mine!”

“Not really. I paid for it. Also, you still have some nuggies.” He laughed softly.

I hit his arm which made him laugh harder. “You! I know that you’re the one who paid but this is my order! Also, look at the time! It’s past 12 o’clock! I am very hungry so please, no judging.”

While I was eating my burger, I noticed that Jerk was having a hard time balancing his burger and the steering wheel. It looks like he can’t focus and is really hungry. I put my burger down and grabbed his.

“Hey!”

“Don’t hey me. I don’t want to die yet so I’ll just feed you.” I’m not sure but I think I saw Jerk smile because it looked like a seizure. I felt my heartbeat a little stronger. I’m not sure if this is just acid reflux or something else.

We arrived at the factory almost 3 in the afternoon. We actually arrived a little earlier than expected because Jerk really pushed the gas pedal of the car. He said he doesn’t care for tickets. He pretended that he was planning to put up grocery stores on different small barrios and I am his assistant. Jerk convinced the site manager to let us in and see the different stations inside the factory. I pretended to take note of whatever the site manager was saying but I was actually writing my observations on the factory workers, facilities, and the factory itself.

The site manager also showed us his office and it’s very evident on his face the hope that Jerk will sign contracts and other documents. But Jerk segued his way through words to the site manager can be hooked but, there’s really no verbal agreement. We went back to the car almost the same time with the time out of the workers. I got my phone out as soon as I entered the car.

“Tomorrow, Nicole. Besides, this is already considered overtime. Our office is only until 5, remember?”

“Yeah. But the site mana-”

“Yes, I know. I can see it in your eyes. But I can also see that you are tired. Let’s just have dinner to kill time to avoid traffic before going home, alright?”

I just closed my mouth and turned off my phone. Well, my feet are aching because of the heels and my fingers feel almost numb from the fast typing I did all afternoon.

After a while, we took a turn to signage that says Yellow Lantern Cafe. Because it’s a weekday, we were lucky to find that there were few customers. Jerk immediately said to the waiter to let us sit on the veranda. Good timing because the sun is setting. When we sat down, I let him order for me because I was focused on taking pictures of the sunset. After taking pictures, I kept my phone, placed my elbow on the table, and just stared at the sunset.

Then I heard a click, like the sound of taking a picture. I immediately face Jerk and caught him hiding his phone. “Hey! Why did you take a picture of me? If it is my picture, don’t put horns or else!” I warned him.

He tried to hide his laughter and smile through coughing. “I did not take a picture of you. I took a picture of the sunset.”

I looked at him with a sassy face. “Make sure you did.”

We both watched the sunset and were only taken out of our reverie when the waiter placed a candle in the middle of the table. The food came soon after and continuously, and we ate in silence. In fairness, he chose delicious foods. Everything he ordered, I loved. When the dessert came, I noticed that Jerk suddenly became nervous.

“Hey, what’s wrong? Why are you like that?” I can’t help but ask.

He drank water first before speaking. “Nicole, I… Hmm…”

“What?”

He took a deep breath. “Will you be my date to the anniversary party?”

“Yes.” Then I ate a forkful of chocnut cheesecake.

When we arrived at the underground elevator, he pressed 30 and 29. I looked at him because he didn’t press P.

“Ah, I have some business with Andrea.”

I just nodded. The elevator pinged, a sound saying that we are already on the 29th floor. Before getting off the elevator, Jerk faced me.

He kissed my cheek. “Good night, Nicole. Thanks for today.”

After that, he left me inside the elevator, face red, can’t move and, can’t breathe properly.