Lothario Saga: JAQ

♥ iluvpocketbooks doest claims or own this story,

all Rights is owned by Eve Montelibano & Love Match♥

 THANX A BUNCH TO Ms. Rose Dizon for the lovely cover and Jaq's photo right there --►

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 Jaq Montero 
by Eve Montelibano



JAQ was on the phone talking to his company’s publicist. Today was like a holiday in hell. He had to postpone the scheduled shooting for the day because his set was swarming with media people and kibitzers. He had to reinforce security within the perimeter of the set. The media could be so obnoxious when they were after a big scoop. And that damned scoop happened to be him at the moment!

“No, Lulu! I ain’t making any press releases! No!...Listen, this is different! She’s not some girl I’m dating… No…an old gf…I don’t care!...Listen! Relax, tell our producers that this issue will not affect the box-office performance of my movie in any way. I’ll deal with the problem, okay?... Damnit! Do it, Lu! I need to go. I’ll call you later, ok?”

He angrily snapped his cell phone back in place. “Joey!” he barked. His 25 year old butch Personal Assistant came out from nowhere. She was also his first cousin.

“Geez, man, seems like you’re back to your ol’ bad boy days,” nakangising sabi nito na ininguso ang mga press na nagtutulakan upang makalapit sa director’s tent. Limang gwardiya na ang pumipigil sa mga ito. The set had been barricaded my steel fences at alam niyang mabi-breach na ang barikada anumang oras. Dumarami na rin ang mga nakikiusyoso lang. Kung ang normal shooting day ay may karamihan din ang mga taong nanonood, ngayon ay mistulang may piyesta sa kanyang set.

He cursed and cursed till his vocabulary of curses ran out.

“I’m curious about this video,” si Joey.

Tinadyakan niya ang isang plastic na silya.

“Aww, man! Joke lang eh!” sigaw ni Joey na iniwasan ang silya. Bahagyang lumayo ito sa kanya, mukhang natakot. Dapat lang na matakot ito. Gusto niyang mang-umbag ng tao sa sobrang galit.

Lumapit sa kanila si Eric, ang isa sa mga assistant directors niya. “Ano, Jaq, pack up na muna tayo? Unruly na ang crowd.”

That would mean further delay in his schedule and more money spent on nothing. Fuck! Who leaked that goddamned video? Nobody owned a copy but him and her! He made sure of that. It was his gift to her on their second month of being together. His own copy was lying in a safe inside his house. Secure. No one except him had touched his copy. Did she leak that video herself? It seemed impossible. She was getting married for Pete’s sake!

A gunshot suddenly cracked the humid air.

Napatayo siyang bigla. “What the fuck was that?!

Nagsigawan ang mga tao sa may entrada ng set. Nagsipagtakbuhan at nagtutulakan na parang nagkaka-stampede na.

“Oh shit! Is somebody dead?” she Joey.

Tumakbo sila sa lugar ng kaguluhan.

Nakita niyang nakaumang sa langit ang baril ng isang gwardiya. “Sinabi nang bawal pumasok eh!” banta nito sa nagwawalang mga press people. “Trespassing na kayo!”

“Eh bakit ba bawal? Hindi naman kami manggugulo ah! Tatanungin lang namin si Jaq!” sigaw ng isang reporter.

Nang makita siya ng mga reporters ay muling nagkatulakan. Nagsigawan ang mga ito, tinatawag siya. The scene before him looked surreal. Jesus, what did these people want from him? He was no longer a famous celebrity. His Oblivion days were long gone. His life was behind the camera now. Sure, he still dated celebrity babes but even that had not caused this kind of mass hysteria.

“Sir, ano’ng gagawin natin?” tanong ng isang gwardiya na humahangos na lumapit sa kanya. “Mukhang hindi na natin mapipigilan ang mga reporters na pumasok. Baka magkasakitan ng talaga!” nababahalang sabi nito.

He exhaled sharply. “Tumawag kayo ng pulis.”

“Yes, sir!” Sumaludo ang gwardiya sa kanya at tumalima na.

Bumalik siya sa kanyang tent. Wala na siyang choice. “Pack up!” sigaw niya sa wakas.

Nagkanya-kanya ng diskarte ang mga crew sa set.

Pinuntahan niya ang mga artistang naroroon para sa shooting ng araw na iyon, sinabihang bumalik na muna sa hotel na tinutuluyan ng mga ito sa Puerto Galera.

“Where are you going, sweety?” tanong ni Gwenna sa kanya. She was one of the lead stars in his movie.“Can I come?” Her eyes were telling him she wanted to take him to heaven.

Even a promise of wild sex from this hot sexpot couldn’t cheer him up today. “Sorry, sugar. I need to fix some things. I’ll see you tomorrow. Tuloy ang shooting bukas.”

Lumabi ito. “Bummer.” Then she smiled at him, licking her lips. She touched his denim-clad hip suggestively. “Can I treat you to something delicious before your go? You won’t have to do anything. Just lie down and enjoy.”

Christ, the woman was a blowjob junkie! On another occasion, he would have been her willing fix, but not today. Today, he needed to fix something. Fast!

He kissed her cheek. “Take a rest. We’ll be busy tomorrow. I’ll see you then, sugar,” aniya at lumayo na dito.

Normally, he would be very calm under pressure. In fact, he was at his best when he was under pressure. But this was an altogether different kind of pressure. This was alien territory. He had been a bad boy before in his youth, but not this bad. He had done drugs, booze and women all at once and he never got into so much trouble. And even if he did, he didn’t worry too much. He had always bailed himself out of any tight situation somehow.

But not this kind of trouble. He didn’t know how to handle this. He didn’t know how to handle anything connected to her. Especially this! A video scandal for God’s sake!

Damn, he didn’t need this kind of shit in his name right now. He was gunning for a General Patronage rating for his upcoming movie. This time, he was targeting a wider audience, especially the kids and teenagers. His flick was an action-packed, anime-inspired epic designed to please the younger generation. It was a nice breather from his usually stylized, hard-edged, blood and gore masterpieces which had dominated the local box-office in recent years. He wanted a different flavor. He wanted to test his skills as a director in other categories.

But all of that was about to be shot to hell because of a freakin’ video scandal. Starring him no less! He would be a laughingstock from Luzon to Mindanao. They would boycott his movie ‘coz the director was a slimy perv caught on some freaky video humping the shit out of an incredible, insanely beautiful society princess.

He had seen the Paris Hilton thing. He had watched it with mild curiosity and some amusement and even shared some ribald jokes about it with his male friends. Paris was quite adorably obnoxious in that video and more famously obnoxious now in real life. But Paris was a multi-media commodity, a public property, a shrewd businesswoman who capitalized on her infamy for more box-office popularity. While Angie was…

He cringed at the thought. Angie was nothing like Paris Hilton. She was as pure as a driven snow in that video he shot when she was only sixteen years old. And today, at age twenty six, she was as untouchable as an Ice Princess, her reputation as sterling as ever. Siya lang marahil ang taong naka-mantsa sa reputasyon ni Angelina Yulo. The thought of strangers watching their most intimate secrets like some sleazy porn flick drove him mad with rage. And worry.

He was a man. This was nothing. Some would probably consider this another notch on his legendary bedpost. He sure had nailed quite a lot of pussies in the last fifteen adult years of his life. But Angie…

Jesus! This would destroy her. She won’t be able to handle this. Damnit, who would do this thing?

Tinawag niya si Joey at ang dalawa niyang assistant directors. “Joey, ikaw na muna ang bahala dito. Treat the stars and the entire crew at a restaurant tonight. Bababa ako ng Manila. I’ll be back tomorrow for the shoot, okay?

Binalingan niya ang kanyang mga assistant directors. “Have everything set up when I get back. We’ll shoot the abduction scene. Tawagan ninyo ako kung may problema, okay?”

“Okay, boss,” mahinahong panabay na sagot naman ng mga ito.

Tinungo na niya ang kanyang pick-up na naka-park sa ‘di kalayuan.

Humabol sa kanya si Joey. “Hey cuz, a friend of mine just sent me a clip of that vid. Wanna see?” she said with a naughty glint in her eyes.

He stopped in his tracks and grabbed the lapel of her polo shirt. “Gimme your cell,” he said menacingly.

“Aw come on, cuz!” she yelped.

He grabbed the cell phone from her hand. “Nasa’n?” tanong niya.

She winced. “Press ‘play’.”

Binitiwan niya si Joey at itinuon ang tingin sa screen ng high-tech na cell phone nito. He pressed the play button.

The scene playing was shot in the bedroom. Of course, everyone would focus on that particular scene. Nevermind that it only occupied a good three minutes of the entire thirty minute video. People were interested only in digging up dirt. Especially high society dirt. At least on Angie’s part. She was a Yulo scion, one of the richest, most influential families in the land, while he was purely showbiz bred, the love child of a famous late seventies bomba star with a man he had never known to be his father until he had reached the age of twenty five. His old man was certainly of illustrious blood too, and even richer and more powerful than all the Yulos combined. But he couldn’t claim credit for that out in the open. He was a bastard. Everything that he had achieved in his life so far, he had earned it by using his mother’s name. Compared to Angie, he was actually way below her social class. Her father, Manolo Yulo certainly had no compunction in calling him trash.

But that video was far from trash. He had shot it with all the love in his heart, with all the reverence and passion for the woman whom he had thought returned his love with the same depth. The bedroom scene played before his eyes like he was taking it from his personal video cam ten years ago. It didn’t seem so long ago.

There he was with Angie, naked in bed. None of their private parts were revealed but they were naked, alright. His backside was partly visible, her legs wrapped around his hips wantonly. It was shot from the side, some five meters away from the bed. There wasn’t much movement. It was actually a very tender scene. He took it after they had made love, when they were still both languid with satisfaction. There were some top views too and lots of close ups. He liked to capture her face on cam. She was a very beautiful, sensual young woman. He really loved her smiles…her laughter…He really loved her…

God! This was supposed to be sacred! Only for him and Angie. Now, the entire world was privy to their most personal affairs, even if it happened so long ago.

Feeling hurt at the memories of the past and murderous at the perpetrator of this malicious smear campaign, he deleted the video clip and gave back the cell phone to Joey. “If I catch anybody watching any clip of that video on my set, he’s fired. Including you. Spread the word,” he said gruffly.

Joey nodded wordlessly.

Tinungo na niya ang kanyang sasakyan. He sped off in his powerful pick up truck like a bat from hell.



HIS ultra-modern digs in Alabang, courtesy of a famous architect looked like a tornado had passed through it, leaving everything in shambles. It was severely thrashed.

Pumanhik siya sa ikalawang palapag. Lahat ng madaanan niya ay sira. His bedroom was worse. All the contents of his closets were on the floor, the mattress of his king-sized bed ripped to pieces. The other three bedrooms suffered less vandalism.

By the looks of it, the intruders were looking for something. At parang sigurado na siya kung ano iyon. Pero hindi nila iyon natagpuan. Because he had hidden it well.

Muli siyang bumaba at tinungo ang kanyang studio.

He braced himself for the worst. His state of the art recording studio boasted the most sophisticated gadgets in multi-media production. He had invested major money in this. If they thrashed this too, there would be major hell to pay, he swore.

He opened the door.

He was surprised.

His studio was as how he had left it. Except for his video collections which were scattered on the floor, nothing else was touched. At least, even those thugs paid due respect to these awesome electronic gadgets, he thought with irony.

Iniwan niya ang studio at pumunta sa kanyang high-tech na kusina. The place was spotless clean. Not a thing astray. Of course, who would look for anything worth stealing in the kitchen?

May pinindot siya sa isang tagong sulok ng isang kabinet. Umusog ang modular cabinet at tumambad ang isang safe na nakatago sa likod niyon. The safe was imbedded in the concrete wall. He twisted the revolving lock a few times using a code and it opened. He stared at a CD and a videotape lying there on top of stacks of other valuable items and documents. The CD was the updated recorded version of the video tape. They were both intact.

He slammed the safe shut and locked it. He pressed the hidden button again and the modular cabinet went back in place.

Bumalik siya sa sala. He stared blankly at his destroyed property. He would need a professional to put everything back in place. Ayaw niya ng makalat na paligid. He liked his domain with a Zen-like quality, austere, minimalist and clean. His mind was already one chaotic world so his surroundings must be calm and devoid of fuss.

He looked with rising rage at an original mural by Alyandra Monleon, now hanging askew on a wall. He was thankful it wasn’t destroyed. Yandra’s paintings were rarely owned by other patrons. The bulk of her works belonged to Alexis Benedicto, which of course made her works more valuable because X was a major art collector and anything Alexis owned was valuable. Yandra had given this mural to him as a gift when he directed and produced her Save the Earth commercial for free. It was in collaboration with the United Nations and he was just happy to help in a charitable project like that.

Nilapitan niya ang mural at muling inayos ang pagkakakabit sa dinding.

Maya-maya’y tumunog ang buzzer sa kanyang gate. Napamura siya. Who would come calling now? Today of all days! He wasn’t in the mood to accept visitors today, considering the battered state of his residence.

Mabigat ang mga hakbang na tinungo niya ang gate. Mag-isa lang siya sa bahay na iyon. He had an agency who supplied cleaning ladies, utility men and gardeners to maintain the orderliness and cleanliness of his house and these people came at scheduled days within a week. On normal days, siya lang ang nakatira sa kanyang bahay. Ayaw niya ng maraming tao sa kanyang bahay. He liked plenty of space and lots of silence when working on a project.

Sinilip niya sa peephole kung sino man ang tao sa labas. A guy in a corporate suit was standing outside. Naka-shades ito pero tantiya niya ay kaedad lamang niya ito.

Binuksan niya ang gate at pormal pormal na tiningnan ang kanyang panauhin. He didn’t say a word.

“Mr. Jaq Montero?” tanong ng lalaki.

Tumango siya.

“I'm Wayne Defensor, Manolo Yulo’s legal counsel.’

He squared his shoulders. Bumangon muli ang galit niya. “What do you want?” A lawyer? The guy sure looked the part, he thought. He saw a gleaming, black Audi sedan parked on a curb near his gate. High-powered asshole if he was Yulo’s shit-sweeper, he added inwardly.

“Pwede ba tayong mag-usap?”

Tinitigan niya ang abogado. Bakit siya kakausapin ng abogado ni Manolo Yulo?

Iniawang niya ang pinto ng gate. Pumasok si Wayne. He lead him to a gazebo nearby.

“Sorry, we can’t get in. My house is a wreck right now, courtersy of your client,” sabi niya at tiningnan ang reaksiyon ng abogado.

Wayne’s face remained formal. “Excuse me?”

He shook this head. “Cut the crap, will you, Attorney? You know damn well he was responsible for thrashing my house. Why did he send you here anyway?”

Bahagyang ngumiti si Wayne, unfazed by his blatant accusation. “I’m afraid whatever happened to your house, my client has nothing to do with it, Jaq.”

“Look, did you come here to bullshit me?” Hindi na niya itinago ang kanyang galit.

“No. I came here to talk to you about the video.”

He smiled mockingly. “Ah.” He leaned on one steel post of the gazebo and put his hands in his pockets. “What about it?”

“I’m sure you are aware of the Yulo name’s sterling reputation.”

He smirked. “No. I’m not.”

“Nevertheless, that video has caused major damage to the family’s reputation.”

He raised his brows mockingly. “Indeed?”

“Malaki ang magiging epekto niyon sa kanilang mga negosyo.”

He shrugged. “Do I look like I care?”

“You should. Because my client wants to sue you.”

His lips twitched into a sneer. “For what?”

“For malicious intent to sully his family’s reputation and sabotage the Empress Hotels’ image.”

He laughed then. “Wow."

“It’s actually a very serious offense if proven guilty. The Empress Hotels and Resorts is a huge company.”

He straightened from the post. “Tell me, Wayne, what exactly are you here for?”

“I want you to surrender that video and have it destroyed, deny any involvement in making it and never to talk about it to anybody, especially the press. Under no circumstances would you mention Angie’s name, least of all acknowledge any connection or involvemenmt with her in the past.”

He couldn't believe the audacity of the man. His hatred for Manolo Yulo rose to new heights. That he would send his lawyer to issue threats at him and tell him what to do was beyond incredible. Manolo Yulo owed him so much and this…this was the last straw.

He let a few moment pass before her spoke. “I want you to tell Manolo Yulo this. Tell him to shove his threats up his bloody ass. Tell him not to come within an inch of any of my property again or I’ll kill him. Tell him that.”

Wayne smiled, not even blinking. “Be reasonable, Jaq.”

“Reason is not the way to deal with a snake like your boss, Wayne and you know that. Now, leave.”

Tinalikuran na niya ang abogado at muling tinungo ang gate. He opened one panel.

Naglakad si Wayne palapit sa kanya. “Think about Angie, Jaq. She doesn’t deserve this.”

Hindi siya umimik. She deserved something else, alright. Angelina Yulo owed him bigtime and she hadn’t paid up yet.

Lumabas na ng gate si Wayne.

He slammed the panel shut.

He strode back into his house, angrily kicking any debris getting in his way. Damn Manolo Yulo! Sobra-sobra na ang ginawa ng taong iyon sa buhay niya. Maybe it was time he threw back the shit the old fart had dished him ten years ago.

Yeah, it was time.

♥♥♥

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