Office Romance.

I’ll never fall in love. Not in this lifetime. Joy thought, stirring her coffee as she smiled at her date. He seemed nice, he’s a gentleman from a neighboring company who has a crush on Joy for a few months now but only gathered the courage when he found out that she’s close friends with Irene (who is his cousin). She leaned on her seat, eyes still set on him as she studied his features. He’s particularly handsome, has a good body to top it all off and he’s also from a job that pays well. Her mother would love him.

But she knows for a fact that she won’t.

Joy loves to dress to impress. She uses high-end products to maintain her acne-free face, uses expensive make-up lines,  and she works out to maintain her hourglass figure. Nothing worth having comes easy for her that’s why she has to work hard but for what exactly? She did tell herself that it was for her own sake but as the years pass, her reason to look good is deteriotating. It’s as if she’s only doing it to prove to herself that she can still look good despite her inner turmoil.

Sure, she goes on dates but it doesn’t mean that she’s interested in romance. She isn’t. Joy tried so hard to fall in love--, to even like someone but she couldn’t. Everytime she held hands with a guy she wanted to throw up, she feels disgusted with herself for even having the audacity to play with someone else’s feelings.

“Okay ka lang?” tanong ng date niya sa kanya. (gulat kayo noh kala niyo english HAHAHAHHAAH) Joy nodded her head, smiling slightly. “Yeah, I just don’t feel good all of the sudden..”

“Hatid na kita pauwi?”

Joy shook her head. “No, it’s okay. I can manage naman na.”

“I insist. Tara,” agad na silang tumayo and sumakay sa sasakyan ni Sungjae.

“Good morning, Joy!” bati ni Jennie at Rosé sa kanya. Alam na alam na niya ang kasunod ng energetic nila na bati. “Musta date?” agad nilang hinila si Joy sa bakanteng upan. Nasa pantry room sila ng kanilang opisina. Nasa may coffeemaker ang magkaibigang Lisa at Jisoo na may sariling usapan.

“Mabait naman siya. Kaso ewan, masyadong mabait?”

Jennie frowned. “Grabe ka naman sis. ‘di mo talaga siya bibigyan ng chance?”

“Willig naman akes. Kaso ayoko lang sayangin oras niya when he could be with someone better.” Joy gladly accepted the coffee Irene made for her. “Well, if you say so.” Jennie shrugged her shoulders.

“Ikaw naman, Jen? Musta naman na kayo ng mystery guy mo?” Irene urged the younger woman who quickly stands up from where she was sitting. “Tawag na’ko ni Boss, bye!”

“Ay tangina madaya!!” sigaw ni Joy sa kay Jennie na agad ng lumabas ng pantry room. Rosé, on the other hand approached Jisoo and gave her a peck on her cheek. “Good luck sa’tin today.”

Lisa rolled her eyes. “Aba sa harapan ko pa talaga ah.”

“Wala ka pa rin bang girlfriend, Lisa?” tanong naman ni Irene sa kanya na kakatapos lang ubusin ang kape niya. “Bakit, meron ka na ba, Chief?”

“Wala.” Ikli niyang sagot. Alam naman nila na never pa nagka-jowa si Irene. May mga fling but it never occurred to her to seriously date them. Magkaiba sa kanila ni Joy ay Irene’s willing to open her heart for someone pero dahil na rin ata sa unseemingly high standards niya ay nahihirapan siyang hanapin si The One.

Joy stirred her drink.

“Tapos ka na ba, Joy?” tanong sa kanya ng kakapasok lang na si Wendy. She jolted up at her senior’s soothing voice. ‘di niya alam ba’t siya nagpapanic. weird

“Yes po. Dadalhin ko nalang ‘to sa table ko, ano pong meron?”

Wendy gave her a thick folder. “Nagkamali ka ng encode ng assets natin for tomorrow’s meeting.” Agad naman itong tinanggap ni Joy, “Hala, sorry.” Agad niyang binuksan ang folder to see kung may iba pang remarks ang senior niya. “I already corrected it and sinend ko na kay Boss. Double-check mo nalang next time, okay?”

Joy felt relief wash all over her body all thanks sa supervisor niya. “Sorry po talaga,” she meekly said, head bowed in embarrassment. Wendy chuckled. “Okay lang. Mauna na muna ako,” she glanced at Irene who nodded at her before ducking out of the pantry room.

“Swerte mo si Wendy supervisor mo,” Irene whispered, “Kasi pag ako yun kanina ka na siguro umiyak.”

“Intern!” tawag  ni Irene sa bagong intern ng team niya. Agad namang tumayo sa kinauupuan si Seulgi at lumapit sa kanya. “Yes, Miss chief?”

Irene rolled her eyes. She hated being called Miss Chief kasi it sounds like mischief­ which negates into something related to acts such as playful misbehavior or troublemaking in which something that she does not do. Pero dahil pamangkin siya ng boss niya and since she’s not that harsh ay hinayaan nalang niya si Seulgi to call her that. When Lisa tried to call her Miss Chief the other day kulang nalang ay maihi sa takot ang Thai national. It was a good thing that it didn’t warrant any unwanted attention and she’s quite grateful for that.

“Give me 7 copies of these, please. Marunong ka bang gumamit ng photocopier na’tin?”

Seulgi accepted the thick ledger that was given to her. “Ah, opo. Tinuruan po ako ni Miss Wendy kahapon. ‘to lang po ba, chief?”

Irene bobbed her head. “Yes, thank you.”

Ngumiti si Seulgi at naglakad na papunta sa photocopier room nila. Papasok na sana siya nang makita niyang lumabas and heavily dishevelled si Jennie na mukhang nagulat sa pagkakita sa kanya.

“Are you okay po?” she asked the smaller woman who cleared . Napansin rin niya na ang gulo na ng tuck-in at may wrinkles na ang blouse niya.

“Sira photocopiers.” Agad niyang sabi nang makita ang dalang ledgers ni Seulgi. “Sa labas ka magpa-photocopy.”

Seulgi raised an eyebrow. “Kakagamit ko lang less than an hour ago ah…” she pondered. But everything made sense when Lisa ducked outside the room with a grin imprinted on her face as if she won the lottery.

“OHHHHHHHHHHHHH.” Seulgi’s mouth formed into an O when she finally got the gist of what was really happening. Lisa’s eyes widened, “Hoy!” she barely whispered as she took Seulgi inside. Sumignal siya kay Jennie na umalis na and the smaller woman obliged, not even batting an eye sa dalawang magkaibigan.

“Tanginamo?! Kayo ni Jennie?!”  she half-whispered and half-screamed at her friend who is blushing in embarrassment. “No,” she shook her head. “We’re not like that. Kaya manahimik ka, Seulgi.”

Seulgi removed Lisa’s hand on her arm. “How long has this been going on?” tanong niya sabay turn on ng photocopier nila. Liar. Mukha namang hindi sira.

“6 months, I guess?” nakita niya si Lisa na umupo sa couch habang pinapanuod niya ang magiging reaksyon ni Seulgi who remained impassive. “Seriously though, please keep it as a secret. Walang dapat makakaalam.”

Seulgi glanced at her friend. “Gotchu mehn, pero tangina 6 months and you guys kept it under the wraps for that long.. do you guys love each other? or physical lang talaga?”

Lisa gingerly ran a hand to her hair. “Purely physical lang. Agreement namin ‘yon e. Tsaka may jowa na si Jennie.”

“Gago ka? may jowa na pala yung tao pero ba’t niyo pa rin ginagawa?!”

“Hindi ko alam sa totoo lang.” Lisa admitted, leaning on her seat. “Gusto ko si Jennie and if that’s a way of keeping her close to me then so be it.”

Seulgi frowned at her friend. Before pa siya naging intern sa company ay close friends na sila ni Lisa. It was because they were high school classmates. Mas nauna nga lang natapos sa pag-aaral si Lisa ng 2 taon kasi Seulgi had to take a time off to find herself. Nahanap naman niya ang sarili niya pero she was left behind by her peers in terms of career.

“Tanga ka, Lisa. Tigil mo na ‘yan sinasabi ko sa’yo. Baka mawalan ka pa ng trabaho niyan.”

Lisa smiled sadly. Alam ng lahat na anak ng CEO si Jennie and being the only daughter of this company meant everything to the company’s sake. Jennie’s meant to inherit and continue what the CEO had started. Which increases the chances of her being in an arranged marriage. Cliché as it may sound given that we’re living in a modern era but some still hold on to the medieval vestiges.

“Alam ko.” Lisa sighed sadly.

Jisoo sat next to Wendy--, since nasa same department lang sila ay naging close na rin ang dalawa. Umusog ng kaunti si Wendy para naman magka-space silang dalawa.

“Sa’n si Roseanne?” tanong nito sa kay Jisoo who opened her cup noodles. “Nasa chapel nagdadasal. Lamonaman ‘yon.”

“Sa lahat pa talaga ng nagustuhan mo ‘dun ka pa talaga sa preacher’s daughter.” Sabi niya sabay kain ng baon niya na hinanda ng kapatid niya sakanya.

“Leave me alone, Wendy. Masaya naman ako kahit ganito kami.”  That’s Jisoo’s popular line whenever someone would confront her about Rosé, who is a daughter of a famous televangelist. The preacher’s daughter decided to work in the corporate world since she wanted to live independently from her father for a while. She was quite grateful that she ran into Jennie when they were in college and the rest is history. Hindi naging madali ang coming out story ni Roseanne sa mga kaibigan niya ng narealize niyang may feelings siya sa kay Jisoo na katabi niya lang ng cubicle sa office.

 “Geez, kalmahan mo. Wala naman akong say d’yan e. I don’t know a thing about love.” She made air quotations to further prove her point. “Ku