Office Love Affairs Part 1

Written by xnavyrmtx

 

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Hi! I’m Jan Andrei Medrano, people would call me Jam for short. A little bit about me, I’m 23 years old. Matangkad at 5’10”, nasa twink side, maputi, and a huge nerd. I wear thick-rimmed glasses, I have mopey hair that reaches my eyes, always nakatingin sa floor or sa ground while walking so as to not catch any attention. When wala sa office, I always wear my earphones para walang kumausap sakin as a socially awkward person.

Currently working in an office here in BGC. Actually kakahire ko lang last week. So trainee pa lang ako together with 4 others. They are Spring, Aurum, Eunice, and Alice. Yes, ako lang ang lalaki samin. I don’t know if yun yung naging reason why ako yung naassign na liaison ng department namin to other departments. One of my boss joked nga na mas mabilis ako makakadeliver ng documents or whatnots because mahahaba biyas ko. I have no choice but to accept because I need the job kahit na di talaga ako sanay to interact with people.

I became close with both Spring and Aurum, while Alice usually eats lunch with us or sabay pauwi but di ko alam pero always may distance between us, figuratively. I get extra shy around her. Eunice also comes with us sa lunch and pauwi pero di ko masabing close kami, but we are friends. Also, di naman tago sa kanila na I like men. We have our crushes sa office. Ako si Sir JP sa ibang department, si Spring kay Sir Benedictine na kateam namin, si Aurum kay Sir Dreif na kateam din namin, si Eunice kay Sir Vincentsa same department kay Sir JP, and si Alice kay Sir Ezer na same department namin pero ibang team. Funny enough, close yung crush nila Spring, Aurum, and Alice kasi same team and batch sila before.

The time na we became regular employees came, the team organized a welcome dinner for the 5 of us to officially welcome us. It was nearby our office lang naman kaya madaming nakapunta. Syempre, all 5 of us need sumama kasi the party was for us. As we were walking, tamang usap lang ako with the girls. They were pretty excited kasi kasama sila Sir Benedictine, Sir Dreif, and even Sir Ezer. Kami naman ni Eunice nagbibiruan na heartbroken gawa ng wala yung office crushes namin. Siguro we were around 15 people non. When we arrived sa samgyup place, na no choice kami but to sit with other people kasi sabi ng boss na maghiwa hiwalay kami to meet other people. So napunta ako sa table nila Sir Benedictine and Sir Dreif and isa pang kateam namin na babae. Sila yung kumakausap saken and I was polite enough naman to answer. They offered me beer pero tumanggi ako which they understood. Sila yung bangka ng usapan kahit na para akong nahotseat.

“So may girlfriend ka na ba?” Tanong ni Sir Dreif.

“Nako wala po, Sir.” Sabi ko naman.

“Nako sabing wag ka na mag-sir eh. Di yan uso dito. Eh boyfriend?” Pilyong tanong ni Sir Be- ni Benedictine.

“Hoy loko kayo wag nyo pinagtitripan si Jam.” Sabi nung isang kasama namin.

“Wala naman nang issue yun ah.” Tanggol ni Dreif.

“Okay lang po. Pero to answer your question po, wala din po. Hehe single since birth po ako.” Mahina ko namang sagot. Wala din namang issue saken yung mga ganong tanong kahit medjo nakakahiya.

“So may crush ka na ba sa office?” Follow-up ni Benedictine.

“Taga-department natin? Kateam naten?” Pangungulit ni Dreif.

“Hindi po. Hehe.” Sagot ko naman.

“Ano bang mga tipo mo? Huhulaan namen.” Si Dreif na ayaw akong tigilan.

“Hmm. Mukhang mabait po, mukhang aalagaan ako, ganon po.” Sagot kong medjo nahihiya.

“Aalagaan? Sa laki mong yan? Ano ba gusto mo, nanay o tatay?” Sabi ni Dreif sabay tawa silang tatlo.

“So kung ibang department tas ganyang hulmahan ng mukha, aba may hula na ako.” Sabi ni Sir Benedictine. “Si JP yan no?” Bulong neto sakin na ako lang nakakarinig.

“Uy Ben sino yon?” Di ako nakasagot kaya nangulit si Dreif kay Benedictine kung sino yung binulong nya.

“Ay sikreto na namin yon ni Jam.” Tatawa-tawang sagot naman ni Benedictine.

Kung ano-ano ano pa napagusapan namin habang ako ay nagluluto ng samgyup namin. Hanggang sa nagbigay ng speech ang boss namin at pinatayo din kami para magbigay ng konting message.

“Cute yung si Eunice. Reto mo naman ako.” Sabi ni Benedictine sakin after magbigay ng message ni Eunice.

“Uy ako ang type ko yung si Aurum. Cute cute very bite size.” May gigil pang sabi ni Dreif. Muntik pa ako kiligin kasi same nilang crush ang isa’t isa.

“Hoy bata pa yang mga yan.” Saway naman ng isa naming kasama.

“Baket 25 pa lang naman ako, 24 si Dreif? Ilang taon na ba sila, Jam?”

“Alam ko po 24 silang dalawa.” Sagot ko naman.

“Hmm. Pwede pwede.” Malokong tinginan ng dalawa.

Nagpatuloy pa kami hanggang sa halos magsara na yung samgyup place. Naghiwa hiwalay na din kami ng daan pauwi, kasama ko ulit yung apat.

“Alam mo ba crush ka ni Sir Dreif?” Sabi ko kay Aurum.

“Hoyyy! Napansin ko nga kung makatingin, nascared ako konti.” Sabay tawa ni Aurum.

“Eh si Sir Benedictine? Chinika ba sayo sinong crush nya?” Pangungulit ni Spring.

“Huy alam nyo ba pinagsabihan na ako jan sa Sir Sir Ma’am Ma’am naten, pang boss lang daw yon. Hahaha.” Singit ni Alice.

“Uy ako din nga pala. Di daw uso yon. Nasanay lang siguro tayo.” Sabi ko naman. Sinadya ko talagang iwasan yung tanong ni Spring tungkol sa crush ni Benedictine, and thankfully di na din nya pinursue.

We parted ways that night na happy and looking forward to a good stay in our office.

The days went by and seryoso pala talaga si Kuya Ben to pursue Eunice. He insisted na I call him Kuya Ben, baka his way of telling me to be comfortable with him habang nililigawan nga nya si Eunice. And infairness, he was sincere and consistent with it kaya I can’t help but root for him din. Legit din yung pagpapagoodshot ko sa kanya kay Eunice.

“Beh, diba close naman kayo ni Benedictine? Baka naman pwedeng sabihan mo na, uhm, pano ba to? Di ko kasi sya type. Like wala namang masamang tinapay sa kanya or what pero di ko lang talaga type. Gets mo ba?” One day nabanggit sakin ni Eunice while we are eating lunch sa cafeteria. I can’t help but feel sad about it. But what can we do?

“Uhm, sure sige unti-untiin ko sya.” Sabi ko naman.

“Thank you ha. Besides, nanliligaw din kasi si Sir Vincent saken. Eh diba crush ko yon?” Sabi nito habang humahagikhik.

“Hoyy! Baka pwede mo naman ako ireto kay Sir JP hahaha.” Biro ko naman para madissipate yung tension kanina. Naglokohan pa kami bago dumating yung iba naming kasama at kumain na nga kami.

I didn’t have the heart to tell Kuya Ben about Sir Vincent and Eunice. Kaya one day, nabigla na lang ako ng kausapin ako ni Kuya Ben on the hallway while I was delivering some docs to other departments.

“Magjowa na pala sila Sir Vincent saka Eunice. You know about this?” Malungkot nyang saad.

“Hala, wala naman po sya sinabi.” Sa takot ko eh nagdeny na lang ako. “Alam nyo naman po si Eunice. Madalang magsalita.”
“Yeah, I guess.” Tugon nyang walang sigla. “Inom tayo later?” Aya nya.

“Ehh–” Tatanggi pa lang sana ako nang may pumutol sa sasabihin ko.

“Huyy anong inom? Sama ako.” Singit ni Dreif. We became a bit of a trio, with me looking like a very unwilling youngest brother na hinihili hila lang mga kuya neto.

“Sige tara, libre ko na.” At lumakad na to palayo. Nagtataka namang tumingin sakin si Dreif. I just shrugged my shoulders and continued with my work.

Kinagabihan, wala akong choice but to come with them. Doon naglabas ng lungkot si Kuya Ben samin ni Dreif. He really was serious about Eunice and we know it naman but we can’t really blame Eunice or Sir Vincent about it. Dinaan na lang namin sa inom and ktv ang lungkot ni Kuya Ben. We were supportive of him kasi it’s what he needed that time.

After that night, akala ko titigilan na ako ni Kuya Ben kasi kumbaga I’ve done my part already. And for me, I felt that the friendship was one sided o kaya transactional. Di rin naman ako naattach sa friendship kaya nabigla ako na minsan dadalaw to sa desk ko para mangulit o kaya sasabayan akong maglakad papuntang ibang department habang nakikipagkwentuhan. Kuya Ben have many friends despite his maangas na personality, kapag di mo sya kilala, nakakatakot sya kaya I understand Eunice’s hesitance. But once you get to know him more, he’s really gentle and thoughtful. And he’s attractive, too. Like nasasapawan lang talaga sya ni Dreif kapag magkasama sila since Dreif is really the cute type. Tall, lean, makinis, maputi, with curly hair and dimples. Kaya Aurum fell for him eh. But Kuya Ben was ayun nga, brusko, moreno, more on the borta built, usually close cropped hair na naturally dark brown. If you like manly men, talagang attractive siya. But I know I won’t be attracted to him because I like the tall, chinito men kaya confident akong maging friends with them.

Dreif and Aurum became a thing for a while but then, they fizzled out as rin lang just as quick. They just realized na they’re better as friends. So they left it at that. The night they decided to end things, nagyaya si Dreif ng inuman but Kuya Ben and Ezer declined. So kaming dalawa lang natuloy. It was fun while it lasted but feeling ko kulang or di lang siguro ako as comfortable compared as when kaming tatlo with Kuya Ben. That night din started my close friendship with Dreif. With my batchmates, si Spring na lang din yung nakakausap ko talaga as close as before lalo at halos kapitbahay ko lang din sya so madalas sabay kami umuwi.

Few weeks passed, and naging mas close kami ni Dreif. Sabay maglunch, sabay may kape, nangungulit sa desk ko. I didn’t mind naman. One thing I noticed was parang lumayo samin si Kuya Ben. I just thought na baka nga tapos na yung transactional friendship namin.

It was December when nagorganize ang company ng Christmas Party sa isang hotel nearby. Kumpleto kami from the team na umattend. Eunice was with Sir Vincent. I saw Sir JP pero wala akong lakas ng loob to come near him kasi kahit napupunta ako sa department nya, never kami nagkainteract. It was a night of just fun and raffles and booze. Medjo konti na lang yung mga tao sa events place non when our team decided na umakyat na sa rooms namen. Our team decided to book 2 rooms na lang para after the party eh di na hassle umuwi. As we were getting ready to go up, nagulat kami nang biglang magsuntukan sila Kuya Ben and Dreif, both of which hindi ko masyadong nakainteract tonight.

“Tangina mo, wala akong jowang bakla.” Sigaw ni Dreif.

“O talaga? Di na nga kayo mapaghiwalay ni Jam, diba?” Sagot naman ni Kuya Ben.

“So nagseselos ka?” Panunuya ni Dreif.

Di ako makapaniwala. Natulala ako sa kinatatayuan ko habang hawak ako ni Spring at Aurum.

“O anjan na yung jowa mong bading.” Sabay tingin sakin ni Dreif. I can’t believe na kaya nya yung sabihin sakin. Lumapit si Aurum kay Dreif at sinampal ito.

“You asshole. Thank God, I dodged a bullet.” Sabi ni Aurum. Agad nila akong dinala sa room nila sa taas ng hotel.

“Dito ka na muna, Jam.” Sabi sakin ni Aurum. Pumayag naman yung boss namin na doon muna sa room nila ako magstay.

Masyado akong shocked to comment. Like I never wanted attention and para maeskandalo ng ganon in a company party, with other people from other departments na nakakarinig non. To think na next time, pagpunta ko sa ibang department ano na lang iisipin nila saken. Sobrang kaba ko and all, gusto ko na lang umuwi. Gusto ko na lang umuwi. I know silang dalawa yung nagsuntukan but to have my name with them. I think I’am having a panic attack. Wala na ako masyadong maalala after non but I woke up when Spring woke me up.

“Tara na, we have to check out na. Are you okay na ba?” I just hugged her, afraid to get back out to the world. I never thought na Dreif who I really thought as a friend would say those words to me, about me. And Kuya Ben who I thought was just a friend of convenience really cared and was possessive of me.

“Pwede ba ako paextend? Ayoko pa lumabas.” Sabi ko kay Spring na narinig ng boss ko.

“Anong extend? Di to comshop, Jam. Saka, kung magsstay ka pa ng isang gabi dito, magbook ka ng mas maliit ng room, di kaya ng sahod mo kung dito ka ulit magbobook sa room na to.” Biro nya.

“Eto na nga po magaayos na po.” Walang sigla kong tugon.

“Alam mo, Jam. Don’t mind them. As much as how old they are, sila Ben and Dreif ang pinakaimmature sa team. I understand your dynamics with them and let me tell you, lalamig din yan. Okay? Kaya wag ka affected, love ka namin, diba team?” Nagsitanguan naman lahat ng babae sa room and Spring and Aurum hugged me tight as well. Sabay sabay na din kami nag-ayos.

It was work as usual the following Monday. I was wary of everything, of everyone. Wala si Dreif. Si Kuya Ben was in his usual desk, di man lang ako nilingon when I entered. Eunice and Alice gave me their smile of encouragement. Sinalubong ako nila Spring and Aurum at hinila sa desk ko. I felt their love and support.

I don’t know if it’s their way of showing support saken but kumpleto ulit kaming lima na maglunch, with plus one kasi Sir Vincent was eating lunch with us. We got to know him a bit. May anak na pala sya and his girlfriend died in an accident. Nabigla kami kasi Eunice never seemed like the type to accept that big of a role as a mother kasi mukha pa syang alagain so it we say Eunice in a new light after that. While eating, Sir JP noticed Sir Vincent in our table kaya lumapit ito.

“Vincent! Sino na naman jan sa kanila nilalandi mo ha?” Biro neto kay Sir Vincent.

“Tanga! Friends to ng girlfriend ko! Si Eunice nga pala.” Pakilala neto kay Eunice. Pinakilala na din kami neto isa isa.

“Jam, diba ikaw yung liaison? Tagal na kita napapansin kaso hirap mo batiin, laging nakayuko.” Biro ni Sir JP sakin na kinakilig ko naman.

“Alam mo parang gusto ko gumawa ng good deed, no Aurum?” Sabi ni Spring na nakatingin ng maloko kay Aurum. Natawa naman si Aurum sa sinabi neto.

“Anong good deed yon?” Sabi ni Sir JP. Kinabahan ako at namawis. Tinignan ko nang masama si Spring. Ngumiti lang ito ng nakakaloko.

“Kasi Sir JP, crush ka netong si Jam.” Sabay yugyog neto saken. Napangiti naman si Sir JP at napailing.

“Alam mo flattered ako but I am happily in a relationship. Don’t worry next time pakilala kita.” Sabi neto at nanginkit ang mga mata habang nakangiti. Natulala na lang ako kasi ang pogi nya talaga.

“Hala happy crush lang naman po kasi yun. Happy po ako na happily in a relationship po kayo, Sir.” Sabi ko naman. Tinapik nya ako sa balikat.

“Usog ka nga, dito na ako maglunch.” Sabi ni Sir JP. Natulala pa ako ng ilang segundo para iprocess yung sinabi nya. Nakipagkwentuhan din sya sa amin at nalamang matagal na pala sila ng jowa nya. Nakipagkulitan din sya sa amin, pero di talaga ako makamove on sa kapogian nya. Para syang angel kasi sobrang puti nya, ang kinis, ang lean ng katawan na bagay sa height nya. Maya-maya ay may lumapit na lalake sa kanya at kinalabit ito. Pinakilala nya kami dito.

“Ay nga pala, si Vaugn, my boyfriend. Una na kami balik sa office ah.” Sabi neto habang nakangiting kumakaway. Natulala na lang kaming lahat, kahit si Sir Vincent.

“Naknampucha. Magjowa pala yung dalawang yon?” Makaraan ay sambit ni Sir Vincent. Nagkatitigan na lang ang lahat at nagkibit balikat. Makaraan ay bumalik na din kami sa kanya-kanyang opisina.

Kakalabas ko lang ng cubicle ng CR nang may nanghila ulit sakin papasok. Nagulat ako na si Dreif ito. Namumutla ang mukha, gulo gulo ang kulot netong buhok. Nagsisiksikan kami sa loob ng masikip na cubicle kung saan hawak nya ako sa magkabilang balikat na madali lang sa kanya dahil mas matangkad sya at 6 feet at mas maskulado ito saken.

“I need to talk to you.” Sabi neto ng mariin. Kita sa mata nya ang halo-halong galit, takot, at… pagnanasa? Nagpanic ako kumakawag.

“Di ba pwedeng sa labas Dreif? Ang sikip dito. Di ako makahinga.” Sabi ko habang unti-unti na akong natatakot sa tingin nya sakin.

“I can’t do this kung sa labas tayo maguusap.”

At hinalikan nya ako sa labi.

(to be continued…)

Hello po, first time publishing here. Hope you enjoyed my first chapter and feel free to comment on anything about my story. Criticism are welcome! This chapter is meant to introduce almost all the characters and show yung dynamics and relationship nila sa isa’t isa. So medjo wala pa talaga syang solid na kwento. Hope you look forward to the next chapters! Thank you again.