Love and All that Jazz

Familiar Voice

One thing I noticed about morning duty was that aside from being so busy, everybody was more free to talk and play banters than in the evening. Since even the managers are busy encoding stuff on their computer, they don't have time to actually check up on workers like us.

It was still quite early, the mall opens at 8:30 and while everybody was busy chopping and slicing and weighing their products, I kept myself busy organizing the display area. We make it a point to decorate the display area. No ones gonna buy a pile of chicken just like that. The price tags have to be organized, the parts in place and the trays and clips in order.

"That's cause your breath stinks. All the ladies aren't talking to us" said Jesus. He was talking to Maj, the group leader of Magmilan. Do they do this banter every morning? Ugh men.

"At least I don't look like I wanna rape somebody. The way you look at girls make them wanna run before they even talk to you" mused Maj.

Boys are so complicated. They talk to each other like that but they're absolute buddies. Why are guys like that? If girls talk to each other like that it would start World War III.

"Fake Chinese! Fake Chinese!" shouted Jesus. Maj's last name was Wang. They make fun of him by calling him 'Chinese Wang'. I'll give you a brief history of the Philippines. We were invaded for so many times by so many other nations that we all have different racial ancestry. As for Maj's case, I guess he came from a family of chinese descent. He was yellowish white. He had small eyes. The typical Chinese look. Jesus was laughing like a kid. A peice of chicken leg flew across the selling area.

"Ow! Maj! What the heck?" I gasped. The chicken flew past Jes (Jesus) and hit me in the head. Good thing I had my visor on or my hair would've smelled like fresh chicken. Which is not a good smell for a "single/available and ready to mingle" lady like me.

"Gah! Sorry Ice! Believe me that chicken leg wasn't for you. It's for your stupid grown-ass team leader who needs to act his age."

"Woah, slow down man. You talk like I'm past 40 or something"

"Wait. I thought we all knew you were past expiry date? I mean past 40" said Rom. The gay guy from Magmilan. Everyone laughed. I did too cause I know for a fact that Jes really is older than the rest of us. It's just that he's also the most childish.

In a sea of laughter. I would recognise his voice. His laugh was one of the best noises in the world. I have a thing for the sound of laughter. Nothing could compare to the sound of his laughter. Rio's laugh was so contagious. Not only to me but for the rest of the class. All the other boys liked him. He was their go-to-guy. Even Kevin hung out with him often. Haze was the only exception (and Jome cause techniacally, he's not a guy, he's a girl by heart). He never hung out with Rio. He always seemed like he didn't like him.

"His drumming was clumsy and he's out of tune. *shrug* I don't get what all the fuss is about"

Haze grumbled while fiddling with his guitar. He was tuning it in preparation for our performance.

"There's this thing called showmanship and he clearly got points on audience impact. Haze, We need to up our game a notch" I said nonchalantly, trying not to show how excited I was about Rio's performance. Right now, I don't care if we win or not. Watching him sing was the ultimate prize. (apart from the romantic gestures he did on stage)

"Impact shmimpact. If you play like a pro then the audience will like it. That's all there is to it. This isn't a popularity contest you know? It's a singing contest"

"I know that but the criteria says-"

"Hey guys" Kevin came out of nowhere. His voice was soft and trembling. He looked exhausted and pale. "We have a serious problem here"

We looked at him. Puzzled. I was breathing slowly and a little heavily as I try to think about what it might be. What could possibly happen? Haze looked as puzzled as I was. We looked at Kevin and anxiously waited for his response.

"Jome is gone. I can't find him. I looked evywhere I swear but he's gone you guys"

"What do you mean he's gone? He was with you wasn't he?" Haze stood up. "You were supposed to keep an eye on him. Remember what happened at your place? He NEEDS supervision."

Kevin looked down. He looked sincerely worried. I tried not to push the issue further. "Let's just look for him first okay? Kevin, Tell Sir we are not ready. One of the members are missing. Tell him to have the 4th group present next." With that Kevin rushed away and and I pulled Haze towards the opposite direction.

"Let's split up. I'll go this way and you go that way" Haze sped up and so did I.

I tried to focus. I went from corrider to corridor. A single performance could only last for up to 4 minutes max. I needed to find Jome and fast. He had a spectacular voice. I know I could do the singing alone if ever the worst thing happens but he was a part of the group. He needed good grades as much as the rest of us. I really needed to find him a-

"Ow!"

I felt an arm hold my wrist rather tightly. "I found Jome but he can't perform. Let's go to the stage now or the Professor will disqualify us" Haze said rather breathlessly. We ran all the way to the stage and Kevin had already set up the equipment. He was standing there with the mic in his hand. He was making spills. The audience seems to be enjoying his antics and I guess he's doing a good job stalling. We took our equipment and Kevin gave me the Mic and I put it on the mic stand. Haze began strumming and it was showtime.

***Sorry. Rather busy here. Their performance will be posted after a while. I still have a day job folks. Day jobs come first in the adult world. *Ehem* I'm pretty young but hey, Adult life at an early age is amazing. Sit still for the next chapter. Chow~***