Of Kings and Aces

Sleepless Nights

 The rest of the week, I avoided Jacob like the plague. An idiotic guy has crudely replaced my blue-eyed dream girl and I could not accept it. The thought that I actually felt something for a person whom I didn’t even meet excited me but the revelation that I felt something for a man was unacceptable! I mean, it was just a glimpse of blond hair and blue eyes. Whatever made me assume that it was a woman?

 Stupid, stupid assumption.

I was being overdramatic and anyone else in my shoe would probably just laugh about it and maybe even joke about it. So why couldn’t I? Why did I feel disappointed? No, I wasn’t only disappointed. I was infuriated. But why? Why did this affect me so much?

“Hey,” Jaxx cut my rumination. He barged into my room unannounced and immediately took the seat across my desk. “We’re heading to Spumantino tonight. The guys will be there.”

“The guys, meaning?

“Chino, Bart, Jacob… Seb,” he said the last one in a lower voice but I still managed to hear it. I was nearly over Seb’s insolence but I couldn’t tell him that I didn’t want to hang out with Jacob. I didn’t want him to know that Jacob affected me strangely. I don’t even know why either!

“Rain cheque,” I said quickly.

“What? Come on, don’t tell me you’re not over Seb yet? The guy said he was really sorry and admitted that he was a brainless buffoon.”

“I don’t know, man. I just don’t feel like going out tonight,” I said half-heartedly. Half of me wanted to hang out with them but I also needed a good night’s sleep. The week has taken its toll on me. I was tired and irritable and seeing Jacob and Seb would just magnify my irritability a hundredfold. Between sleep and drama, I’d choose sleep any day.

“Don’t be a loser. Since when did you not feel like going out? After the week that we had, we need to unwind, dude!”

“After the week that I had, I need to get some sleep,” I replied. “If it isn’t enough for you and Bart to be my alarm clock in the mornings, some new guy decided to show off and wake me up in the middle of the night!”

 “Speaking of, what happened anyway?” he back pedaled.

“I don’t know, why don’t you ask your friend? He was the one who ended up penniless, phoneless, and identity-less in a police station I have never been to my entire life.”

“No, I know how that happened. I told him not to do anything stupid but he did just that. What I wanted to know is what happened between you guys?”

“What? What the hell? Nothing happened between us! Are you high or something?” my outburst surprised Jaxx making his brows shoot up as he jerked back a little. I don’t understand why I was being defensive or sensitive. This was just a normal conversation. What the hell was wrong with me?

 “Oooohkay. Are you okay? You’re a little on the edge. Are you also pissed at Jake?”

 “I’m just tired and stressed out, Jaxx. I didn’t mean that. I just… just let me go home tonight,” I sighed.

 “Alright. Maybe next time then,” he stood up slowly not taking his eyes off me. “You’ll be fine, yeah? You can talk to me if there’s anything I can help you with.”

 “I’m fine, bro. Thanks,” I forced a smile and nodded, and waved him off to leave me be.

 At exactly five P.M., I shut down my computer and grabbed my things. I needed to get out of the office fast before Noelle hands me over more papers or reminds me of something I might have to do over the weekend. Also, I needed to leave to be ahead of the rush hour. As I was a few steps from the door, it suddenly swung open and I almost bumped into Jaxx.

 “Whoa! Didn’t anyone ever tell you to knock?” I frowned.

 “Where are you going? What’s the rush?” he asked as he took the bag on my shoulder and the coat on my arm as I sidestepped and exited the room.

“I’m heading home, trying to beat the traffic. What’s up?” I asked over my shoulder as I strode toward the elevator. No one’s going to stop me from heading home, not even a gray-eyed grizzly bear.

“I was hoping you changed your mind about tonight.”

“Nope, not a chance,” I said, making a popping sound with the ‘p’. “I need to see your Cara for my stitches anyway.” I teased. I knew this would shut him up, it always did. He pursed his lips and clenched his jaw.

“She’s not mine. We’re done, okay?” I bit my lip to restrain a smile and chuckled internally at my victory. However, that victory was short-lived when the elevator opened to reveal several people inside, one of which was Jacob.

Our eyes met briefly before I quickly looked away. On impulse, I stepped back, refusing to go anywhere near him. But then waiting for the next lift would take another lifetime and the traffic was surely building up.

“Well? I thought you were in a hurry?” Jaxx looked at me questioningly as he held the door.

“Yeah, it’s just that the alarm might go off with too many people inside,” I reasoned lamely. My pulse raced and I could feel Jacob’s eyes still on me.

“Get in,” Jaxx ordered and I did, hesitantly. The elevator was now full and there was no way I could move from standing just in front of Jacob. As the elevator doors closed, he stared at me through the mirror but I looked straight ahead. When I could not take it anymore, I bit my lower lip and took out my phone. What is taking this damn elevator so long? It’s only eighteen floors and the awkwardness is killing me, for f**k’s sake!

He cleared his throat and I swear I could feel the vibrations radiate from his chest to the back of my shoulder. “It’s a pity you couldn’t join us tonight, Mr. Acebedo.”

“Yeah, pity,” I replied without looking. I had nothing more to say on the matter but it bothered me that he called me “Mr. Acebedo”. I’m not that old, if I remember correctly, he was older by two or three years.

“I’m sorry for the trouble last Tuesday, sir, “ he still didn’t give up. At that point, I wanted to cut the elevator cables so we would reach the basement parking immediately. The unease was becoming unbearable.

“Ace. Call me Ace. And it was quite alright,” I lied. It was not all right and the ride back home was hell! But I didn’t want to talk about it anymore. Not now, not ever. Why does he keep talking to me? Jaxx was right beside me, he should talk to the guy instead.

The elevator dinged and we stopped at the seventh floor. I stepped aside for the ladies at the back to alight. More people got pushing us all back until there were a few respectable centimeters between the three of us. Normally I wouldn’t mind being shoulder to shoulder with Jaxx or any other guy for that matter, but I was very uncomfortable being in such close proximity with Jake. I sighed heavily, counting the floors that flashed.

“So are you going home straight to Valle or are you passing by your condo?” Jaxx asked out of nowhere.

“I dunno. Depends on the traffic.” He nodded. Thankfully, the doors opened and everyone in the elevator got off on the ground floor, everyone but the three of us. When we hit our floor, I gracefully walked out and pretended to be busy looking for my keys.

 “See you tomorrow, man,” Jaxx called as they walked towards his car. My head immediately snapped up.

 “Tomorrow? It’s Saturday tomorrow,” my eyebrows furrowed as I stopped in front of my car. Jaxx was parked beside me.

 “Gym and band practice. Do you need Noelle to remind you of that, too?” he quirked an eyebrow before slipping inside, not giving me the chance to reply. When he shut the door, my eyes inadvertently moved to the other side where Jacob was standing.

“See you on Monday, Ace,” he gave me a small salute and an even smaller smile before climbing into the SUV.

“Dammit!” I cursed before getting inside my car.

 ♤

My thoughts were all about the projects I’ve reviewed for the past week during the entire drive to Pasig. We’ve closed one project with a local pharmaceutical company to computerize their inventory and create a user-friendly system to analyze sales and other data they monitored. They were impressed with the demo we showed them they agreed almost immediately. Another project in the pipeline was the electronic medical records for the Department of Surgery in Cara’s hospital.  We haven’t exactly tried making medical records but Jacob was familiar with how to construct and implement one, having worked on a similar project when he was in Singapore.

 My mind immediately drifted back to Jacob.

Oh s**t. What is wrong with me? He was just some other dude working in the company. Why was I so bothered by him?

It’s those blue eyes that fooled me, I reasoned to myself.

 It was because I was convinced I saw a beautiful woman in front of me before I passed out, only to find out it was actually a man. A full-grown, six-foot-something software engineer who happened to be my employee. Frustrated at my lack of rationality, I turned the radio on and skimmed through the stations until I landed on a familiar song that calmed me down and let my mind return to normal.

The moment I stepped into the house, my younger brother rushed to me and hugged me like we didn’t see each other for the past month. Come to think of it, we haven’t. I’ve been too busy with work and with extra-curricular activities I haven’t come home for a while.

 “What happened to your head?” Cole’s eyebrows furrowed as he poked the surgical dressing.

 “Ouch, don’t do that, kid!” I swatted his hand and he made a face. He hated it when I called him ‘kid’. He was six years younger and whether he liked it or not, he will always be a kid in my eyes even when he is seventy. “Where are mom and dad?”

 “Somewhere,” he kept his eyes on the surgical gauze. Understanding that our conversation would be fruitless from henceforth, I headed to my room on the second floor. As soon as I entered, I dropped my bags and took off my shoes before jumping on my bed, belly, and face on the mattress.

“What happened to your head?”

“Jesus, Cole! You almost scared me to death!” I immediately flipped on my back and pressed down on my chest. When he didn’t reply, I opened my eyes to see him sitting on my bed looking blankly at me. This boy wasn’t going to let this topic go, maybe not for the next week.

“I hit my head against the door in the office and got a cut. It’s all good now,” I lied. I didn’t want him to worry about his perennially inebriated big brother, especially when he looked up to me. I had to maintain a good boy image for him even though he knew that I liked to party and drink. A lot.

“Were you drunk when it happened?” he asked without emotions like it was a simple interrogation.

It has always been like this with my brother. He rarely shows any emotions except when he is excited or happy. I’m not sure if he feels sadness or empathy but I have seen him irritable and uncontrollably mad the many times he’s had a meltdown. Ever since he was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome when he was six, it was easier for us to understand his behavior. We were only thankful that he was in the high-functioning end of the spectrum because I have no idea how to handle someone with autism. But, as with anything else, I guess it can be learned as long as there is an effort. And with Cole, I was all-out to learn what Asperger’s was and how to understand and help him. I was twelve that time, and Harris, our eldest brother was fifteen.

Harris was already a teenager then. With his teenage angst and issues, he didn’t spend so much time with us and I don’t think he took the time to understand Cole’s diagnosis. I know he loves our little brother. It’s just that he doesn’t handle him very well and he gets frustrated easily. Plus, he loves to tease Cole by breaking his routine so they end up fighting until either mom or I have to intervene before Cole ends up in a breaking rampage.

“I don’t drink in the office, Cole. I was just careless,” I chuckled and he nodded.

 “Can I see it?”

“I’ll show you later after I take a shower. I’m going to clean it up and change the dressing,” I said.

“Then I can see it?”

“Yes, then you can see it,” I reassured him.

 “Okay,” he replied, seemingly satisfied with my answer. “Mom and Dad are in Davao.”

“Right, I forgot about their trip,” I scratched my head. “Well, then I guess we can have chips and a Brooklyn nine-nine marathon, eh? What do you say?” 

This brought a smile to his face and he quickly stood up. “I’ll get the salsa and chips. Hurry!”

 A big smile was plastered on my face watching him get our things ready for the marathon.

Oh boy, this was going to be another sleepless night, I groaned.