Absinthe novel Chapter 36

Faye's house spanned the entire land that used to be the University of the Philippines Arboretum. Yes, all 16 acres of it. The entrance was an imposing toll gate with armed security rivaling that of the lower house of the Congress.

It took us several minutes before the security personnel cleared us for entry and Derrick drove all the way inside, past the mini golf course that got featured on Time magazine and a seemingly endless expanse of carefully maintained greenery. We were greeted by more attendants than I could count the moment we reached the central courtyard. We got out of Derrick's car, and a valet took the vehicle away.

I will never ever get used to seeing Faye's house.

"Hello, sir Derrick and sir BJ," the familiar-looking head attendant greeted us while the rest of the staff simply bowed in salute. "Ma'am Faye is currently in the lanai with sir Robert. Would you like to wait in the lounge?"

"No, manang," Derrick answered. "You can take us to them."

The head attendant nodded and led us through the house toward the veranda at the back. There, we saw Faye with her back to us, sitting regally in front of Rob, a tea set between the two of them. Rob nodded when he saw us approaching.

"Faye!" I shouted. "Bitch, I missed you!"

I hugged her from behind and Derrick kissed her cheek before sitting himself comfortably beside Robert.

"You're not angry with me anymore, are you?" I asked, still hugging her.

"Let go, BJ. We're not in high school anymore."

"Wow," I said, laughing and doing as I was told. "Anyway, Faye, I want you to meet Jiwoo."

"Hello, ma'am," Jiwoo greeted politely. "I'm Jiwoo Miguel Garcia."

"Hi," Faye said, motioning for us to sit down. "Manang, please bring more refreshments."

Two attendants dashed out of sight. Within moments, they were back with a serving cart filled with drinks and assorted food.

"What?" Faye snapped when she caught me staring.

"Nothing," I said. "I really missed you, bitch."

"We seldom saw each other when you were back in Korea. How's now any different?"

"It's different because you refused to take my calls and you never responded to any of my texts!"

"I was busy," she said, sipping on her cup of tea. "And it seems you were busy, too." She shot an obvious glance toward Jiwoo. I reached for a cup and an attendant poured tea into it.

"Sugar, sir?"

I nodded, "Two cubes, please."

"Jiwoo, is it?" Faye started. "Please, help yourself. If you don't like tea, we have other beverages available."

"Thank you, ma'am."

"You were busy?" I asked, trying to sound as sarcastic as possible. "Bitch, we saw the news."

"Uh-huh," Derrick seconded, munching on some sconces and frowning upon chewing them. "You should hire BJ to cook for you—he can make better versions of these."

Faye rolled her eyes. "So that's why you're here."

Derrick and I nodded in unison. "Yes!" I said. "Are you okay?"

"Obviously," Faye answered. "Robert's handling whatever's not okay yet."

Robert coughed to clear his throat. "There are some groups calling to boycott your company's products. But my team's doing everything—"

"Why'd you do it?" I asked.

Faye put down her cup and wiped her lips with a white napkin. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Thank you."

Faye stared hard at me in silence, and I was pretty sure a full five minutes passed before she opened her mouth to speak. "You think I did it for you?"

"I know you did it for me." And before I could do anything to stop them, my tears fell just like that. There were so many unsaid things between me and Faye, and whatever it was she wasn't saying right now, I could feel it deep inside me.

I felt Robert's hand on my back, rubbing it gently. Soon enough, Faye was full-on sobbing, and we hugged each other without another word.

"Thank you, Faye," I said over and over, holding her tighter as we cried together.

"That asshole said you deserved it. I had to do it!"

"I understand." It was difficult getting the words out. "But he isn't even worth a slap from you."

Faye snorted. Our faces were a mess of ugly tears and runny noses. "He definitely isn't."

I still hadn't let Faye go. "Don't you dare put yourself in danger again because of me, okay?"

"I hate him, BJ," Faye said. "I hate him for what he did."

Good god! I wanted to slap my face to wake myself up in case the whole thing was a dream sequence.

"I've already messed up once, but I really like him," Jiwoo continued.

"Excuse me?" said Rob, annoyance lacing his voice.

Shit! Was it not a dream after all? I'd forgotten that Rob was there, too.

"I know I'm not as successful as any of you, but I swear I'll make a name for myself," said Jiwoo. "I'll become someone deserving of your friend."

Robert was on his feet in seconds. "Back off, dude. BJ's mine."

"Wow," Derrick told me. "I should drive you to the nearest salon because your hair is so long we're stepping all over it now!"

It had been ages since I last heard that expression. Telling someone that their hair is long is a Filipino way of complimenting their attractiveness. Only in that case, Derrick sounded 100% sarcastic.

"As far as I know, BJ's single," argued Jiwoo with a cool demeanor. "If you're interested in him, too, I'd say we both have a fair chance."

"Fair chance?" Robert was turning red in the cheeks now. "I'm telling you to back off."

"I don't recall needing your permission for anything," Jiwoo said, smirking. "Who are you to tell me to back off?"

"And who the fuck are you to try getting your hands on what's mine?"

"What's yours? Why don't we ask BJ then?"

All four of them turned to me. Faye's eyes were encouraging, and they exuded genuine curiosity. Derrick, on the other hand, looked livid. I didn't know why, but looked pissed off as hell.

Robert's expression was equally angry. But I knew that his anger was directed at Jiwoo.

Meanwhile, for some reason, Jiwoo didn't belt out any of his usual snide remarks and sharp comments when arguing with someone. I was thankful for that. If he had, I was sure Robert would have punched him in the face, and I didn't want any violence to ensure, especially not in Faye's house!

"BJ, please tell this idiot to stop whatever he's doing," Robert said.

"Yeah, BJ," went Jiwoo. "Tell this arrogant prick that you've actually allowed me to court you."

"What the fuck?" Robert looked close to beating Jiwoo to a pulp.

"Stop," I managed to say. Both Robert and Jiwoo looked at me expectantly. "Stop joking around, Jiwoo. I'd appreciate it if you dropped the boyfriend act already."