Hot Cousin Joey

I remember the day that my boss happily announced his cousin Joey's planned vacation to Manila. He beemed with pride as he was telling us that he'll be in the country to try his luck in the Philippine modelling industry. I was like thinking 'Oh great, another one of those spoiled and lazy Fil-Ams trying to make a quick buck!'

My boss, knowing that I am the only one unattached in our group started to tease me to his cousin. There was this one incident wherein we were going back to the office from a presentation that we did for this very beautiful socialite with equally beautiful daughters who joined showbusiness. I was staring outside the window when he suddenly quipped that I have one month. I was bewildered by what he meant. I asked for some clarification and he uttered just one word - Joey. I kinda felt like dying in embarrassment. How many bosses in the world would try to hook you up with his blood relative? I mean, normally, as soon as you get out of the office, the last thing that you would want to happen is be associated with your boss in any way.

My boss brought his cousin to the office shortly after his arrival and damn, was he a mighty fine lad! He was cute with a boy-next-door vibe. Most Fil-Ams I know are very articulate but he was quiet, mostly kept to himself if he don't know the people around him and exuded a sacrificial lamb image in my head. I used to take my boss' "Joey quips" with a grain of salt but now that I've seen him, my hesitation just flew out the window. I mean, I have his cousin's (his own flesh and blood) blessing don't I?

Went out with him in group gimiks with my boss, my boss' wife and my co-workers but nothing really happened. I'm normally the type that makes the first move but I listened to my higher wisdom and just waited to see if he'd hit on me as well. I'm really not sure why. Maybe it's because at the back of my head, my unconscious still can't get over the fact that his cousin is still my boss. Pretty soon, everyone in the office followed my boss' lead - inserting 'Joey' in almost every conversation.

When I did try to make my move, everyone was kind of taken aback and dubbed it as 'the Discovery Suites incident.' Friday night and we stayed at Discovery Suites for an overnight stay. Angel was tired and still had an early class the next morning so she went back to our room to get some sleep. Thinking that I'd be alone going club hopping, I invited my favorite accomplice and party companion Cathy. As it turns out, my boss was planning to explore the Ortigas nightlife. Went to Phi Bar in Metrowalk and had a fine time chatting and enjoying our drinks. When we got back to the hotel, Cathy had to go home to Paranaque all of a sudden. I was still a little too hyper after some Jagermeister and Red Bull so I texted Joey if he wants to hang out. We met at the lobby and planned to hit the Starbucks in Podium when the concierge informed us that it is already closed (this was about 3 am). We ended up hanging out in Joey's suite (wherein he shared it with his cousin, his cousin's wife, their 2 kids and the kids' nannies) just talking about random stuff while watching whatever the hell's on tv. I eventually went back to my room when I got a little too sleepy.

Lunch time, I'm still in the hotel nursing my hang-over. Over in the office, Angel's having lunch with our boss, the H.R. manager and our firm's bookkeeper. Our boss asked her for comments on the gimik and eventually asked her about what happened to me after we got back from the bar. She told our boss that I hung out with Joey in their suite until 6 am and everyone automatically assumed something funky happened between us (nothing happened, I swear on my grave). Our boss immediately called his wife and jokingly told her that she's not a good mom as she wasn't able to keep a close eye on her kids as there was one "na nakalusot" (who got away). Me and Angel both though that they knew I hung out in their suite so were both shocked as well by their reactions.

Moving forward, I just had an impromptu date with Joey this afternoon. He's helping his cousin with this one project that we are trying to acquire so Joey came in the office today. Lunch time came and my boss/his cousin was in a meeting in another part of the Metro. There were 4 of us that headed to the mall - me, Joey, Ms. Ressie (Ms. H.R. Manager) and Ms. Ethyl (Ms. Bookkeeper). THey stopped by the ATM and just told us that they'll follow us. I texted them where we (Joey and I) were and they ended up going to the restaurant adjacent to our location, peering over the windows to spy on what we were doing. Too bad that they don't know Joey's going to be leaving for Chicago by the 15th! To think they were crossing their fingers that there'd be some sort of progress on the 'relationship' they were hoping would bloom.