He Married the Stripper.

Clingy - Two.

---NARRATOR---

It's 6pm, Gigi, Anthony and Emily are in the kitchen drinking wine and preparing dinner while Alex was sitting at the kitchen counter and working on his laptop. They were talking about Gigi finally leaving The Club.

"Anong sabi ni Mother G?" Emily asked her.

"Sabi niya malamang magagalit daw yung mga clients ko pero sya na daw bahala don, sana daw maka-hanap ako nang ibang pagkaka-abalahan at wag na daw sana akong bumalik." Gigi laughed.

Gigi quit after fighting with a new dancer and also because her parents have been telling her she doesn't need to work there anymore since with all the money she sent home they finally have a growing business that can support their family.

"Sabi kasi ni Nanay tumatanda na daw ako malamang daw maubos na clients ko dahil maraming bagong recruit at mas bata sakin. Tama nga din sya dahil yun yung pinag-awayan namin ni Winnie."

"Marami ka na namang ipon diba? Tapos may business pa kayo sa probinsya, you should be happy, you're set for life." Anthony added.

"Parang hindi naman, anyway di ko pa alam kung anong gagawin ko. Basta ang alam ko nabo-bored ako lagi sa bahay. Kaya mag-hahanap muna ako ng part-time o kahit anong hobby."

"Gusto mo ba i-recommend kita sa coffee shop? Nagha-hanap kami ng part-timer." Gigi nodded and thanked Emily.

The three of them were talking about what Gigi should do with all her free time, they suggested taking short courses if she doesn't want to go back to regular school or learning some skills when Alex suddenly stood up, grabbed his phone and went out the balcony.

"Uh-oh. He looks mad." Said Anthony as they watched him pacing outside.

"Probably something about work." Emily said as she cut some pickled radish for their dinner.

"Hindi ko alam hardworking pala si Alex. Nasa bahay na trabaho parin?" Gigi said as she took a peek at Alex's laptop.

"Oo, madalas lagi syang nag-oovertime sa office pero nowadays umuuwi sya on time pero nagta-trabaho parin." 

"I don't care if you're home, I need you to fucking fix it!" They heard Alex say as he came inside.

"Okay ka lang, cousin?"

"No! I don't understand where HR gets my secretaries. I gave her instructions and like always she does half of them right and the other half's just up in the air." He went back to his seat and started jabbing the keys of his laptop.

"Baka naman may naging problema lang. Give her time she might be able to fix it." 

"There's always a problem when she's the one doing it and it's not like she's new anyway. It feels like she's just around to sabotage me." 

"Is Nathan coming?" Anthony suddenly asked.

"Oo daw. He's bringing miso soup, sakto sa katsu dinner natin." 

"Oh then maybe he can help you Alex." Anthony added.

"I don't need his help. I'm fine." He answered but contrary to what he said he just started jabbing his device harder.

"Ano bang kelangan mong gawin?" Gigi suddenly asked as she looked at the screen, Alex looked at Emily and she shrugged, who knows maybe explaining it aloud would magically fix things. So he explained it to Gigi coz she seemed interested.

"Yun lang?" She asked as he finished.

"Bakit kaya mo bang ayusin?" Alex asked her. 

"Yea, kelangan mo lang  i-convert yung file." She said matter of factly.

Gigi asked if he wants her to do it, Alex was already desperate as his clients are waiting for the reply and knowing her assistant, this might be better. So she gave her his laptop and let her work her so called magic. After a while Alex's eyes lit up as Gigi gave him the laptop back.

"How'd you know to do that?" He asked.

"May kliyente ako dati na pinag-panggap akong sekretarya nya para hindi kami mahuli ng asawa nya. Tinuruan ako nung assistant nya para mas believable daw." She answered, Alex stared at her and sent a quick e-mail to his assistant and to the HR department.

"You need a job right?" Gigi nodded.

"Okay so I'm hiring you as my assistant."

"Ha? Teka lang porket marunong ako mag type tsaka konting troubleshooting di naman ibig sabihin nun kaya ko na maging assistant mo."

"Based on what you just said, I can tell you're a fast learner and you did better than my current assistant so clearly I need you more than I need her. I have three assistants in rotation, one of them will be gone tomorrow and at least one of them can help you. So? Do you want to work for me?" 

Gigi thought about it for a moment and took his offer after Alex told him about all the benefits she'd receive once she starts working for the company. 

"Wait a second, diba may chismis tungkol sayo and sa mga secretaries mo?" Anthony said his eyebrow raised.

"Anong chismis?" Gigi asked.

"He sleeps with all his secretaries." They all turned to Alex who didn't bother to look up from his laptop.

"That's a nasty rumor and I don't do that anymore." He said as he glanced at Emily. Something that immediately caught Alex and Gigi's eye.

"Call me when dinner's ready, I'm gonna make some calls." He added as he gathered his things and went upstairs.

"Wow ha, talagang hindi nya dineny." Gigi said as she gave a meaningful look towards Emily who was still focused in making dinner.

"Naku mga bakla, akala ko yung Monica Ruiz lang yung di-nrop nya marami pa palang iba and kung totoo yung nasagap kong chismis, lahat daw ng sex friends nya hindi na nya kinakausap. Did he find a girlfriend?" Anthony said as he raised an eyebrow at Emily who avoided his gaze.

Gigi and Anthony looked at each other, raised their eyebrows and nodded. The atmosphere in the condo has changed, they can feel it  and something is definitely up and the night's not gonna end without them figuring out what it is. 

"Anong sa tingin mo, Ems? May girlfriend na nga ba si Alex?" Anthony asked as Gigi snuck away.

"Hindi ko alam, bakit hindi syang tanungin mo?"

"Talaga, hindi mo alam? Balita ko kayong dalawa yung parating mag-kasama." Anthony added.

"Mag-kasama kami sa bahay so syempre..."

"I guess but did you know, Riley and Loraine saw you two at the mall a week ago." 

"Talaga? Hindi ko sila nakita they could have at least said hi."

"Well... they couldn't coz they said you were going inside. A. Sex shop!" Emily dropped the ladle she was holding and turned to Anthony her face red.

"Ha? Ano namang gagawin namin sa sex shop. Baka naman akala lang nila kami yun."

"Maybe pero alam mo ba, sabi sakin ni Sheng, he bought a lot of lingeries and sex toys from Taiwan. So kung hindi na niya mine-meet yung mga FB niya para kanino yun?" Before Emily can even say something, Gigi yelled from her room.

"Bingo!!!" The both of them ran to her room where she's holding up the box she hid the lingeries Alex bought her.

"Oh my! Gigi?" Emily tried to grab the undergarments from her friend but she deftly passed it to Anthony who immediately turned the box over in her bed and looked through the pile.

"Mygod, Ems. Paano mo to sinusuot?!" Gigi asked as she grabbed one that was mostly lace and ribbons.

"I usually help her." Alex said who was casually leaning on the doorway.

"Ohmygod! Are you guys together for real??" Anthony and Gigi asked their eyes shining brightly.