She's The Boss

by M.G. Marquez

I was busy planning my reconciliation with Guji and was busy rolling on my sides when my phone beeped. It was Jason.

  “Janella, can we talk for a while?” he texted.

  Bewildered, I thought of a million possible reasons why a guy would text me at 9 in the evening. I don’t know if it’s about love, family, studies, Philippine Economy, or the best tasting Jollibee yum. Then I replied, “Sorry Jason, but I don’t have money to lend you,”

  “Fuck Janella! You actually think that I would ask for money? Funny. Whatever. Looter’s Hideout. I just need you... badly.”

  Uh-kay.

  Yes, I know it wasn’t a good idea for me to be standing outside a bar full of stupid drunkards but Jason needed me. He’s my friend. And so I will be – NOT.

  I was about to turn around and leave but he was already there in front of me. His eyes were full of pain. Just wow.

  “I’ve been waiting for you. I thought you’d never come.” He told me. “I feel so sad.”

  That gave me a nice punch in the gut. I’ve never had a conversation with him about stuffs like our love interests so this was such a great start. And I’ve never seen him so pained ever in his life. He was always so… nothing. I always think that he felt nothing and that’s so rude of me to think like that. He’s human and he’s supposed to feel something.

  Even a little bit of anything.

  “Lyn broke up with me,” he started when we made ourselves inside. I was right. This place is full of stupid bastards and I imagined Guji being here, drinking his ass off until he passes out. Brain-dead drunkard.

  I turned to face Jason this time to ask about his break-up with The Great Wall of China. When I learned that Lyn and Jason was a couple, the news shocked the hell out of me. I felt stupid to even get jealous of Lyn when she has a boyfriend of her own and thank God, it wasn’t Yvan. And of course, I felt proud of Jason’s taste on girls. Amazing.

  “Why did you break up anyway?”

  “I always leave her behind, ignore her often. Sometimes I feel like she’s too much for me, that I can’t contain her love anymore. But she always tells me that it’s okay, she can bear with it. But this one time, her strings snapped. I called her pig, loud and clear in the middle of a crowd.”

  My jaw dropped by the time I heard what he said. I pasted a look on his face which meant, “Shit as hell.” He just nodded twice to affirm my “Shit as hell” statement. Oh yeah, that was shit as hell.

  “Why did you even tell her that? Don’t you think she’s vain or something? Self-conscious? That it’s a super big (like her) deal for her? That it would be so much painful to even come from you? You should know that because you’ve been together for almost two years already,”

  “I know that she’s quite sensitive, and I did that on purpose. She’s becoming too demanding.”

  “Oh I know you don’t mean that. Just say sorry to her,”

  “I said I was sorry,”

  “Every mess does not end with a little sorry. Remember that,” I told him, irritated.

  Why are guys so insensitive these days? Oh, I forgot.

  We are so insensitive these days.

  “But since we’re friends already, I want you to know a secret.” Then he began to whisper. “I didn’t love her at first. I just used her for something.”

  GUJI

  “Bro, I need your car. Jason’s down. Drunk. I can’t handle the two of them. Looter’s.”

  Yvan’s message irritated me a lot. Jason could be so annoying and he got me big time. It’s already past 12 and I should be sleeping now. Bastard.

  By the time I got there, I went straight to Henry. He’s the bartender here and is also a friend of mine – not.

  “Dude, Jason got a new chick. Haha. I gave them a mix which made their heads dropped off their necks!”

  I just rolled my eyes at him and went on to look for Jason. When I found him, sure as hell, he’s with a girl. I felt a disgusting feeling toward him because he has a girlfriend and he’s here messing some girl’s life up.

  I don’t give a shit over his girlfriend, but I give respect on some things like bonds.

  “I’ll take care of Jason, and you take care of this girl,” I told Yvan who happened to be seated beside the unconscious girl.

  “I don’t have enough money for taxi. Janella needs to get home now,”

  Janella? “Who do you mean by Janella?”

  “Janella. Our Janella.”

  You’ve got to be kidding me.

  I came to her side and swept her hair away from her face. Damn this, it was her! Why the hell are they together? In this bar? At this late hour of the night?

  Disgusted, I turned to Jason and hit his head with all my might. I went to Henry to shout at him like an angry boar. Well yeah, I’m angry. But I’m not a boar.

  “YOU BULLSHIT! Why did you give Janella a drink?!”

  “She asked for it. When someone asks, she must be given.”

  “Will you just look at her?” I pointed at SB’s sleeping face. “Does she look like a drinking monster to you?”

  “Yes?”

  “SHE’S NOT A DRINKING MONSTER YOU –” Yvan locked his arms around mine to stop me from trying to kill him. He told me to stop being such an ass and to calm myself. When I did calm myself, Yvan let me go. I told him that he could bring Jason to my car and that I would take care of Janella instead.

  I came to Henry, more steady now. I took out my wallet and got the money that would pay all of what Janella at Jason got. Henry doesn’t get it.

  “Get it. They don’t bite,” I told him.

  When he got the money on my hand, I instantly reached for his collar and pulled him close. I saw his eyes grew wide and streaks of sweat came trickling down his nose bridge.

  “I’ll kill you for this. Be ready.”

  He nodded once. He nodded twice.

  SB and I fought over what happened last night. Jason said that it was none of my business so I should back off. But what the hell? I can’t just go silly-o-just-let-it-go over what happened. She’s a girl and there are a bunch of bastards in that place. I can’t just let this pass.

  “Since when did you start to care for me?” She asked me, irritated. “One more thing mister, Jason needed me last night because Lyn broke up with him. I just thought that maybe I could do something right to someone else,”

  “Right? I doubt it,”

  “Why are you like that to me? Stop being such an ass, okay?” She walked out on me and let our fight go hanging in the air like it was nothing for her.

  I bit my lip in utter frustration.