CHAPTER 9
“That was quite a show. But this…this takes the cake.” Madeleine‘s busy pinch—counting the 6 pack abs. “Make that I can live on bread alone. Get it? Pandesal=bread. Ha ha! Not funny?” Madeleine pouted.
“Why aren’t you mad?”
“Oh Philip, how can I get mad at you when you look like this. You owe me big time! How do you untie this thing anyway? She got you good. You two put me in a bind there. Alberto’s all agog about you being Alex’s mystery groom. Unable to answer, I fled and followed you. Aren’t you glad I did?”
“Something wrong with your head? You should be furious at a situation like this yet you’re here poking fun at my expense.”
“Puhleease! We are not a love match. Far from it. Frankly speaking, you need to be taken down a peg or two. She’s definitely my hero. You were insufferable during our engagement, just couldn’t wait to get out of there. The bitches who call themselves my friends were all false worries about your uhh…lack of amour.”
“So are we still on with this marriage?”
“Hell no! Seeing you all can’t-live-without-you-might-as-well-die-together passionate about her, I imagine a future of lonely nights and miserable days. Although, I don’t know how you guys can get around your scary-as-shit-corporate-parents.”
“Were you always this crass with your speech? I always thought you were this delicate china doll who needed protection.”
“Fooled you didn’t I? I believe in catching more flies with honey than vinegar. Too bad, it didn’t work with you. Does she have any brothers or cousins I can date ‘til the next board-approved-scion? It might just be the thing to keep ennui at bay.”
“I need to break them apart first.”
“Break apart who?” Understanding quickly dawned on the chatty beauty. “Oooh…That’ priceless. You mean you’re the only one with the hots for her? Things just keep getting better and better. I want to formally meet her, my new dating guru. Set us up. For that favor, I’ll be the one to break the engagement make up an excuse about being a lesbo or something. That ought to keep the heat off you for a while, buy you some time while you make your moves. Am I not the greatest? I’m totally psyched!”
“You are nuts.”
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“Alex please, we need to talk.”
“I have nothing to say to you. Go away.”
“Hear me out. For not telling you about Madeleine, I’m sorry. We’ve parted ways.”
“Doesn’t really concern me.”
“Give us a chance. You’re only pushing me away because you’re scared. I’m not Gabriel.”
“He is not part of this conversation.”
“Yes he is. Your so called best friend, he’s got skeletons in his closet, and it’s not what you think. Tell me, how exactly did you know he was gay? Did he confess that to you to himself? Didn’t you ever wonder why his girlfriends hated you?”
“That’s none of your business. We are over.”
“He is not gay! He played you around because he’s a sick little bastard. An adoring puppy by his side was worth more than a thousand fan’s adulation. He knew you were hurting with each bimbo he dated but frankly didn’t care. No one has ever loved him the way you did, not even his mother!”
“Not true! Lies. You never forgave him for taking away Cici.”
“There’s more. Nicolo Velasco, THE magnate. Ring any bells?”
I stopped. Caught myself and continued walking.
“You do know something!”
I remained tight-lipped. He pressed on, like a shark smelling blood a quarter mile away.
“I bet he made life difficult for you. Back in college, Gabriel was a loner. He didn’t make friends with anyone. But he was brilliant. No one expected him to be an actor. Some said he was a rich man’s by-blow with a druggy-B-list actress. We were all moneyed kids, but then you see this guy with doubtful pedigree upping you with exceptional looks and brains. Someone made the mistake of calling him on it, foolishly thought he was easy pickings. That schoolmate didn’t enroll the next semester. Last we heard, his 4 generations long family enterprise was out of business. It never recovered. Coincidence?”
I was digesting all this. That seed of doubt I’ve always suppressed asserting itself with an ugly and frightening face. And still he wouldn’t stop. His attack was relentless.
“Shocking isn’t it? Only a select few know that. Acting as a lifelong career. He’s merely indulged by an absentee father. But all that is coming to an end. He is set to inherit considerable stocks and managing rights to a conglomerate.”
“That’s not true. Papa… He is Babe’s…” I was a mix of confusion, misery and depression in varying degrees.
“I can’t believe he called him father to your face and you never suspected.”
“They are lovers!” I shouted more to myself than him.
“That’s rich! What exactly did you see for you to make a conclusion like that?”
I didn’t answer. My mind took me to that time when everything started. It was my first day at work and the start of his acting career. I accidentally saw it. Papa was facing me as he embraced Babe in the dressing room. I thought I was going to get fired. But when Babe turned to look at who his papa was staring at coldly, he merely winked at me and closed the door. We never spoke about it. At the course of the filming, I overheard the staff talking about the new guy with a really powerful backer. Personally requested by the show’s sponsor. I also happened to see Papa featured in the business section of a broadsheet. I came to the only logical conclusion because Nicolo Velasco being a homosexual was an open secret.
