Of Kings and Aces

44| Bugs and Pests

Hindsight is always 20/20.

That line kept on repeating in my head as I rode Bart's bike to Chino's office. I still had not bought a car, and there was no way my mind would make me sit in a cab through the noon-hour traffic.

I thought I had my thoughts cleared up after that talk with Jacob, but it was even made clearer today. I still did not feel comfortable discussing things over the phone. It might also have been bugged; we'll never know.

"Atty. Aiden Gochino, please," I panted at the lady behind the reception counter. I have never been to Chino's office. He did not let us visit since he still wasn't a partner, and he felt it would be awkward sitting around his table doing nothing. He was what Seb would call a lowly employee.

"I'm sorry, sir, no one is answering. He may be out," she told me. "Why don't you text him?"

"Shit. Of course." I was about to shoot him a message when a familiar voice called my name.

"Ace, bro, what are you doing here? And what's with the grunge look?" he gave me a deprecating look. His companion, a tall guy also with spectacles, gave me a sidelong glance while he pretended to be busy on the phone.

"It wasn't Jacob. Fuck A, I want to shoot myself here. Now," I panted. I was so ashamed of what I had done, if only I really could shoot myself.

"Oh, Jesus," he groaned and dragged me by my arm. "Come on. Shoot yourself in my cubicle. Don't make a mess in the lobby lest you embarrass me in front of my boss's son."

I looked at his companion to see the guy looking at us, half-stoic, half-worried. I nodded and waved at him, and he just gave me a terse nod and a small grin as he followed us to the elevators.

"Uno, Ace," he introduced us. I combed my hair with my hand and fixed my tie and coat. I kept my mouth shut until we reached his cubicle, where I proceeded to take off my coat and tie quickly.

"Whoa, dude, what the hell! Put your clothes back on!" he whispered so loudly it was clearly audible to the people around because I saw some of the women giggle and turn away.

His office was also an open type with cubicles close to or immediately next to each other. His was located next to the wall, near the windows. The panels were solid gray and went only around four feet high so people could just crane their necks, and they could see what was going on outside. And since we were still standing, my strip show was visible to all who were interested.

"Fuck, A, it's so damn hot I'm sweating like a pig! I biked from my office, hence the grunge look, and frankly, if I could strip down to my boxers right here, I would." I continued to undo the upper three buttons of my shirt and folded the sleeves to my elbows. He let me sit down and recover while he left to get some water.

After guzzling the entire bottle, he looked at his watch and then at me.

"Okay, Ace, you have three minutes to tell me, as objectively as possible, what you're talking about. Then we have seven minutes to make up a good excuse to my cousin. The ten minutes includes you getting dressed," he frowned. "He'll be here in eleven minutes."

"Anderson said yes?" I could not hide my excitement.

"Shush! Talk, now!" he barked, and I complied. It took me less than a minute to tell him what I discovered, and the rest of the time, we planned our next plan of action. I fixed my clothes while we talked, cursing the Manila weather while I was at it.

At exactly ten minutes after I started talking, the lobby receptionist called to inform Chino that his cousin, the renowned criminal lawyer, Atty. Anderson Gochino, was on his way up. A few minutes later, the man of the hour strode into the floor while looking at his cousin's workplace disdainfully.