Page 59 of Chasing Mr. Prefect
He groaned as I sat up and tried to pull him off the chair, asking if he could please have just one more good night kiss. I poked him hard at the back of the head, scolding him for getting too much alcohol, to which he replied “Oh please, you had just as many shots as I did!” and then almost collapsing when he tried to stand up.
I then brought my tipsy boyfriend inside the unit as Kuya Chan had provided comforters for us in the living room for sleeping just before they went upstairs.
I had barely closed my eyes when I heard my phone ring. Cursing, I took it out from under my pillow and saw Seth’s name on the screen.
“Hello? Vinnie?” came his panicked voice from the other line. “Would you know where Cholo is? He’s not picking up.”
Wait—oh.Cholo updated us on Facebook. This must be why I became the ‘where-is-Cholo’ contact.
“He’s asleep. Why?”
“Our contact for the lights and sounds for Ephemere are threatening to back out.”
“What? Why?” I sputtered.
I could see why Seth was panicking. They barely managed to make this contact agree to our price. Without them, we would not be able to pull Ephemere off and the other suppliers would be charging us tens of thousands more if we tried to get them now.
“They got pissed off. Summer was supposed to meet him last Saturday and she didn’t turn up.”
“What the fuck?” I exclaimed, forgetting to tone my voice down. Even for Summer, that was just so in-your-face rude. I stood up and proceeded to the veranda so I would not wake anyone up. “Where was Summer?”
“No idea. She wasn’t picking up our calls either. Would you know if Cholo has a thing tomorrow? He could meet up with the contact instead.”
“He can’t,” I said. “They have a family trip to CamSur. Wait, why is the contact asking for a meeting on freaking January first?”
“He says he has a flight the next day and as we’re basically begging them not to leave us hanging at this point, we have no choice but to give in to his demands. I called Cholo first, him being chairperson and all, and per checking my Instagram feed everyone else in the team is overseas?—”
“Well, tomorrow I’ll just be in Ortigas. Can you give me the contact’s number?”
“OMG, yes! You’re a total lifesaver, Vinnie. Thank you!” he said.
I received Seth’s text containing all the details I asked for just a full minute after hanging up. Yawning, I set my alarm early for the next day.
Alarm label:Girlfriend duties.
CHAPTER 26
Thankfully, I was able to convince the contact and I was in high spirits when classes resumed.
I updated Cholo on the drive back to school about what happened and he was satisfied. We also used the time to catch up on what happened for the days between New Year’s and the resumption of classes. Upon arriving in the building, we walked together to class and saw Gian waiting outside the classroom.
He folded his arms upon seeing us, both eyebrows raised.
“Yes, we’re together, now bug off,” I said to him just as Cholo was opening his mouth.
“Thanks for letting me speak,” Cholo teased. “But yes. Over Christmas.”
“What’s with the tone? I just wanted to say congratulations,” Gian said and I aimed a little punch at his arm.
Gian then made this ‘I’m watching you’ sign with two fingers and Cholo shook his head and laughed. He knew he would need to get used Gian being around now. The idea of it all working out with Cholo and my tiny circle cheered me up.
Unfortunately, my good mood did not last very long.
I was changing my clothes for a case presentation that afternoon in the washroom when a couple of people came in, talking in booming voices.
“Gosh, this is so weird,” someone was saying.
“I know! When I found out, I was nothing short of insulted, really,” a second voice said and her voice was familiar. “Like, if your pseudo ex-boyfriend dated someone like that after you, it’s pretty much an insult. I mean, Lavinia Exconde? Someone from the opposite side of the tracks?”