Chapter 21 - Did That Turn You on?

Mornings are now my favorite time of the day, for it is in the morning when the professor is the most unguarded.

When he actually gets some sleep, that is.

"Professor, wake up."

It is such a shame to wake this grumpy slob up every morning, when he looks so innocent while he's fast asleep. I get closer and watch him, noting how his long lashes flutter during REM. How his lips move as if in silent prayer.

"Professor," I sat on the bed and nudged him, "it is time to wake up."

"Nggg... just a bit more, Kuya..."

I frown.

He sometimes calls me kuya when I wake him up. Probably reminiscent of the days when he was still living with his older brother as a child.

"Wake up, professor, or we are going to be late for work again."

His eyes open half way. He rolls to his side, raises himself up, leans on me, and snuggles on my shoulder. I let him stay there for a while, wishing I could hold him closer, but that would probably frighten him again.

I wait a couple of minutes before accompanying him to the wash room. I helped him get dressed, disregarding his `no touch' rule which he himself seems to have already forgotten. I took him downstairs afterwards, and sat him down in front of his breakfast. Only after a cup of strong coffee, would he fully awaken.

It has been three weeks since I returned to his house. We have been busy with the release of the Omega-J suppressant, and busier still, since we had to train the new interns that were sent to us from HR.

We got a record high, 25 interns this time, according to Pedro. Probably since a lot of people wanted to meet and study under the professor after the Medical Expo.

So far, only six of them have dropped out of the program.

We also got five new researchers who are now down to two, namely Ping and Pong.

When I asked the professor why he kept giving them weird nicknames starting with the letter 'P', his answer was; `Because they are all 'Pangit'' (ugly), adding, `Why do I need to remember their names when they hardly ever last long, anyway?'

"What's our schedule for today, Habibi?" Prof. Antonio asked as he sat on the back seat of my car. He still refuses to sit beside me.

"Nothing much, just a short meeting with Dr. Gonzaga for the award ceremony tomorrow," I said as I started the car.

"Ugh... is that tomorrow? Do I really need to attend?"

"Of course. You are this year's awardee for excellence in the field of medicine. You will also get the humanitarian award, since you decided to give 50% of the proceeds from the Omega-J sales to omega institutions."

"What if I suddenly get a bad case of food poisoning? That would be a valid excuse, right?"

"I doubt Dr. Gonzaga and the rest would believe you this time. You have already used it twice, after all."

"Haay... I guess I've used diarrhea too often... what if I suddenly get agoraphobia?"

"Professor, agoraphobia is basically the fear of not having a means to escape," I told him. "Do you really have this anxiety disorder? Or are you simply using it as a means to escape certain situations?"

"Ahh, Habibi, how smart you are!" I look at him through the rear view mirror and see him grinning at me. "Actually, I really was diagnosed with agoraphobia, though that was way back when I was a kid."

"Was this because of what happened to your brother?"

"Huh? You still remember that?" he sighed. "My Kuya was raped by his best friend on the day he manifested as an omega," he told me. "The thought of that happening to me scared me so much that I locked myself in our room for days. But when my Kuya got pregnan, our uncle sold him off to a research institute, and I realized I had to leave our room to save him."

"Then, you were able to fight your agoraphobia on your own?" I asked him.

"Yeah... in a way..." he paused with a frown. "Actually, I had to ask Louie for help... that good for nothing bastard who raped my kuya..." he sounded bitter. "I had no choice. He comes from a rich and influencial family of lawyers. He was the only one I could run to to ask for help."

"And he took you and your brother in, right?"

"Yeah... he was livid when he found out tha Kuya got pregnant and uncle sold him to that facility... They immediately went to the place with some cops and had it closed down..."

He was silent for a while.

"Anyway," he suddenly said, " Louie's parents took us in after that and they got married as soon as Kuya gave birth to their first child. His parents were the one who got me diagnosed and treated. They even sent me to a science school, and later on, to the States for college. They were really good people, too bad they died too soon, they were quite old when they had Louie..."

"Then, you have fully recovered?"

"Not really..."

"But, I have yet to see you have a panic attack."

"And you really wanna see me in a panic attack?" he sounded pissed.

"That is not what I meant," I explained. "People with agoraphobia usually have trouble staying in either enclosed areas or wide open spaces, particularly in contained places where they cannot see any visible ways to escape. We have been in such situations before, even your small workstation in the laboratory should be enough to trigger a panic attack, yet you do not seem to be bothered by such places."

"But of course," he replied, "since I have you by my side."

His answer surprised me.

I looked back at him and saw a big grin on his face.

"What?" he winked at me. "Did that turn you on?"

"You are making fun of me again."

"But isn't that the truth?" he laughed even louder, "Isn't one of your job is to be my bodyguard? And one more thing," he added. "I find you much scarier!"

We went straight to the 79th floor of the East Omega Tower when we arrived at the office.

It was merely a formality. Dr. Gonzaga just wanted to make sure that the professor will be saying the right things when he gets on stage.

"Ah, Eric, please come right in," he said as his secretary led us inside his office. "Dr. Abdel, I hope your stay with us is satisfactory?"

"Very much so," I answered.

"So, I called you over to remind you about tomorrow's event," he faced the professor and looked at him seriously. "Eric, you know, we've talked about this before, that 50% discount is really too big an amount for the company to shoulder..." he looked as if he was pacifying a small child.

"Opo, and didn't I tell you to take the extra discount from my part of the medicine sales?" the professor said flatly. "The company even saved millions on the research since you wouldn't reimburse me without official sales receipts."

"Now, now, Professor, that's why we agreed to sell your suppressants at almost the same price as our old ones..." Dr. Gonzaga said with a weary smile.

"As you should."

"But to announce a discount for three whole months, that would be too much, don't you think? You even decided to give the remainder of your earnings to omega foundations!"

"Three months is nothing. I have other sources. I'm not that desperate for money."

Dr. Gonzaga sighed. He knows that he can't win against the professor.

"Just make sure that you won't make any more announcements that could potentially harm our company tomorrow, okay?" he smiled nervously and extended a hand at the professor.

"Sure." Prof. Antonio slapped it and grinned. "Can we leave now?"

"Yes, please, don't let me keep you," replied Dr. Gonzaga who poped an antacid in his mouth.