That Guy In My Head

"Ha-ha-ha... ACHOO!" Susan let out a thunderous sneeze that echoed through the hallway. The people around her burst into laughter. Her sinus rhinitis was acting up again. She hated November and December. Every year, without fail, those were the months when her allergies attacked. The endless sneezing and runny nose never seemed to stop. She hated it. Whenever her allergies flared up, they disrupted everything. Even the simplest daily tasks became difficult, and it was impossible to work normally. She was climbing to the third floor where her office was located. Susan worked as a Data Entry Clerk for a large call center company in the Mall of Asia complex. Her legs felt unusually heavy as she stepped into the elevator. She kept her head down, feeling miserable. A tissue covered her nose as she continuously wiped away the stream of mucus that refused to stop. Her eyes watered from all the sneezing. I'll just visit the clinic later, she thought. I don't want to buy medicine again. I need to save money. Only one other person was inside the elevator when she entered, but by the time they reached the second floor, a crowd of agents squeezed in. The sudden rush forced Susan backward until she accidentally bumped into the man standing behind her. "Sorry," she muttered without looking back. "It's okay," the man replied with a warm smile. His smile slowly faded when he realized she never even glanced at him. Now trapped at the back of the crowded elevator, Susan sighed inwardly. These call center agents are so noisy. Then she remembered she was getting off on the third floor. "Excuse me! Excuse me!" she said impatiently when no one seemed willing to let her pass. Show-offs... probably newbies. She had worked there for two years already. She knew exactly how people behaved in the company—especially the new hires. Finally, after struggling through the crowd, she managed to escape the elevator alive. "Susan, are you okay?" one of her coworkers asked when she arrived at the office. She shook her head. "No." Anyone could see she wasn't feeling well. "Why don't you go to the clinic?" suggested her friend, Rea. "Later... maybe during lunch." "Ha... ha... ACHOO!" She wiped her nose again, already annoyed with herself. --- That afternoon, Susan finally went to the company's clinic. "Hi!" the clinic doctor greeted cheerfully, as if he already knew her. Susan had never seen him before. She didn't care. "Hi," she answered weakly. "Can you give me something for my sinus allergy?" "I noticed you didn't look well this morning," the doctor said as he stood and opened a small drawer. He handed her a box of medicine. "Take one tablet every morning and one every evening for seven days. Don't skip any doses, okay? That should help clear it up." The doctor smiled warmly. Susan barely looked at him. She was too busy worrying about her constantly dripping nose. Embarrassed by the way she looked, she kept her head lowered, hiding behind her bangs. "Yes, Doctor." As she accepted the medicine, her eyes landed on the nameplate sitting neatly on his desk. Dr. André Marius, PhD "So... is there anything else I can help you with, Susie?" Susan immediately looked up. Susie? Are we close or something? What a conceited doctor... She simply shook her head. "Please sign here." Dr. André pointed to the blank line on a form. After signing, Susan quietly thanked him and turned toward the door. "ACHOO!" She sneezed loudly once more before she could even leave. Dr. André chuckled softly. He had been quietly amused by her all day. She'd actually be pretty cute... if she weren't buried under all those tissues. --- Susan barely managed to finish her work that day. Hopefully I'll feel better tomorrow, she thought as she walked home, tissue still pressed against her nose. Before entering her subdivision, she stopped by the neighborhood convenience store for dinner, just as she did every evening. "Don't you ever get tired of eating here?" Bob, the owner, asked while manning the cash register. His cashier was absent that day, so he was filling in. Susan had become a regular customer, and over time she and Bob had become good friends. "No," she answered with a smile before sniffing again. It wasn't really because she was trying to save money. She simply had no appetite for eating at her boarding house. Cooking for one felt lonely. Bob looked at the items she'd bought and frowned. "Tsk, tsk... There you go again. Instant meals, noodles, pancit canton, bread... Where's the nutrition in all of that?" "Bob, I still have to send money home to my mother," Susan replied. "My younger brother Intoy is about to graduate, so I really need to save." "I seriously don't know what to do with you," Bob sighed. "You're unbelievably frugal... except when it comes to buying books." His eyes drifted toward the novel tucked under her arm. "What business is that of yours?" Susan pouted playfully. She grabbed her dinner and walked to her favorite corner. Susan owned quite an impressive collection of books, most of them romance pocketbooks published by PHR along with several English romance novels. She lived in a world of imagination. Books and fictional boyfriends filled the empty spaces in her heart. After all, they were the only things that made her happy. She didn't have a love life. Her real life felt painfully dull. If she couldn't fall in love herself, then she'd settle for falling in love through the pages of a novel. --- It took Susan a long time to finish her adobo rice meal because she had become completely absorbed in the story she was reading. Bob could only shake his head. "Bye, Bob!" "Want me to walk you home?" "No, I'm okay. I'll walk. My legs need the exercise." "All right." Bob waved as she left. He watched her until she disappeared from sight. --- When Susan arrived at the boarding house, her roommates, Dianne and Aubrey, were nowhere to be found. They probably went out again, she guessed. She collapsed onto her bed. Alone. Again. That was the real reason she disliked eating at home. She hated eating by herself. After changing into her pajamas, she picked up her novel once more. Books were piled almost everywhere in the room, much to her roommates' annoyance. A few minutes later... Susan suddenly burst into tears. The story had completely overwhelmed her emotions. "Why did you two have to break up?" she cried. "I hate you!" The main couple in the novel had just separated. She hugged the book tightly against her chest, unable to accept the heartbreaking ending. Closing her eyes, she tried to stop herself from crying. "Susie..." "Susie..." A man's gentle voice called her name. Susan opened her eyes. Standing before her was a tall, broad-shouldered, incredibly handsome man smiling warmly at her. "Do I know you?" she asked cautiously. "Can't you remember?" he asked with a grin. "I'm your boyfriend." "What?! Boyfriend?!" Susan nearly screamed. Since when had she gotten a boyfriend this handsome? Was he making fun of her? She looked around. Everyone nearby was staring at them. Where am I? The place felt completely unfamiliar. "Pancake, are you done eating?" the man asked, pointing at the food on the table. Susan blinked. When did that food get there? Did I already eat? She couldn't remember. "Pancake, let's go. We still have a conference meeting to attend." "W-What? A conference meeting?" She stared at him in disbelief. Since when did she attend business meetings? "Yes," he answered casually. "You're my secretary, so you should be there." "No way..." Susan muttered. Did I hear that right? She looked at him suspiciously. "So... I'm your secretary... and your girlfriend?" "Of course." He laughed as though it were the most natural thing in the world. "Oh my God..." Susan cupped her cheeks in shock. The kind of impossibly handsome man she only ever dreamed about in romance novels was standing right in front of her... Claiming to be her boyfriend.