Mister Villain

CHAPTER TWENTY

Disconcerting.

RJ had no other word for the night but that.

He took out a bottle of beer from his fridge, walked towards the living room, and turned on the TV.

It wasn't that he wanted to watch anything. He just didn't want silence to fill his whole unit.

Masyadong maingay ang utak niya at ayaw na niyang pakinggan pa to.

The first thing he saw was "You've got Mail".

Paboritong pelikula ito nang Mommy nila and not something he should be watching, given his state of mind.

He flicked a few more channels before finally settling on a discovery channel show on how things were made.

His phone rang and he saw it was Kris.

"Bro" he answered.

"Nakabalik ka na galing sa event mo?"

"Yep. Bakit?"

"Inom tayo."

"Wednesday ngayon" he answered and then looked at the bottle of beer in his hand. He was a hypocrite.

"Alam ko, tara!"

"Asan ka ba?"

"Andito sa bahay."

Kris lived in Ayala. He was near enough. "Puntahan mo na lang ako. May mga beer ako dito."

"Ayaw mo sa tugs tugs?"

RJ laughed. "I'm in my boxers. Ayoko na magbihis pa ulit."

"Oh sige. Be there in 20 – 30 minutes."

They both had work the next day but they didn't care.

They were on to their third bottle and watching theories on how the world will end very seriously nang maisip ni RJ itanong bakit naghahanap nang kainuman ang matalik na kaibigan.

"Bakit mo gusto maglasing?"

"Para makalimot."

"Nang ano?"

"Nang kung sino ako."

Tinaasan ni RJ nang kilay ang kaibigan. "Anong pinagsasabi mo?"

"Kung hindi ako si Kris Martin, malamang hindi ako mahihirapan sa babae."

"Ano?!?!? Mali yata pinagsasasabi mo. Hindi ba dahil ikaw si Kris Martin e ang dali makakuha nang babae?"

Bumungtung hininga to. "Hindi yung babaeng gusto ko."

RJ was reminded of the jokes Jake has been making. "Assistant mo?"

Umiling si Kris. "Hindi. Sira ulo lang yung si Jake. Sinabi ko kase sa kanya to pero hindi ko pa nakwento nang buo. Nasabi ko lang girl sa opisina, in-assume naman niya agad na yung bago kong assistant."

"Oh sino?"

"CFO namin, si Joyce."

Kilala ni RJ ang dalagang tinutukoy ni Kris. They had worked together a couple of times when Joyce Ching was still part of a company that Faulkerson Inc. previously had a merger with.

She transferred to Kris' company two years ago.

"Mabuti."

"Yan lang ang sasabihin mo? Magkakilala kayo diba?"

"Oo. And mabuti talaga siya ang gusto mo. Intelligent. Headstrong. At saka mabait."

"Exactly the reasons why I would not ask her out on a date."