Don’t English, I’m Panic!

 “So, what shall I write about Bem?” I mused out aloud as my brain wracked out an idea on how best to describe Michelle’s boyfriend. See, Bru has this unique idea of making a newspaper decked out of articles that’s all about him. Talk about feeding the ego but hey, that’s exactly the perfect gift I imagine one would be very happy to received on his (/her) special day.

“Why don’t you just enumerate Bem’s good traits?” Cha suggested, extricating herself for a moment from her text-a-thon with her boyfriend, Nico.

“Then we need SHE who knows him well, don’t we?” I looked over at Bru, who, at the moment, was busy bullying (via emails and SMS) other people in helping her fill out her newspaper idea. “What?” she asked rather abstractedly.

“Describe Bem in one word.”

She paused…it was a very long pause.

“Ok, gimme five then.” Like any girl in love, I know she’s trying to find a way to contract a gazillion adjective into one word…that, or she’s finding it very hard to think of even a single positive trait.

She started with, “He’s goal-oriented, first of all.”

“Yeah, he’s so goal-oriented, he’d treat doctors to girly bars to help him get a sale,” Cha, who just finished her text-a-thon, chirped in.

Bru laughed then defended him, “But that’s just normal SOP with most med reps, you know. And let’s not forget his Most Helpful Award he got from his elementary years. He’s real proud of that award because that’s the first and only medal he’s ever received while he’s still in school.”

“Well, I did remember him saying he wants to help those poor dancing bar girls he met while he’s on his rounds,” I teased, on which Cha added, “Yeah. He said if he ever wins the lotto, he’ll gather all of them in one place and…that’s it.”

“Real helpful, huh?” We all laughed.

“Whatever he is, he sure is passionate about whatever he does,” Cha said, finishing up a giggle. “He’s so fired up about his work, he delivered his sales spiel at Debs’ Despedida!”

“And let’s not forget about his passion for driving. I believe we became very religious that day he drove us home,” I mentioned grinning, “Schroo even mentioned getting life insurance as soon as we got out.”

“Even his girlfriend prefers the bus,” Cha teased Bru.

“Come on, you guys,” still laughing, she said, “Driving skills aside, at least he’s sweet and thoughtful…or tries to be.”

“Thoughtful? Oh yeah, tell him the albatross bathroom deodorizer he gave me at my birthday is still preserved,” I winked, “Funny you’re calling him thoughtful and sweet now because that’s not what you thought of him before when he gave you those dried flowers.”

“What dried flowers?”

Cha reminded her, “Remember that one Valentine that you thought he doesn’t care because he didn’t even bother to greet you, but then suddenly he showed up in your office with a bunch of weeds for a present?”

She smiled at the memory. How could she forget when she blushed fiercely (which was no mean feat) after seeing the real bunch of beautiful roses hidden by her seemingly thoughtless and most un-sweet boyfriend while he’s presenting his bogus bouquet?

As the banter went on, I silently reflected on that one instance when Bem was telling us something about himself before he met our friend Bru:

“Before I met her, I was a smart-ass punk who’s always in the center of brawls and drinking bouts. But when she came into my life, she gave me hope that I could be better someday. And I held unto that hope for as long as I can.  You know what? She changed me. And I’m glad she did.”

I’m not sure if Bem knows but he also affected Bru’s life so much he changed her to be a softer, more feminine and more caring version than before.

For one thing, the Michelle we know before wouldn’t dip her hands on doing something so personalized and mushy such as the newspaper idea she’s so hell-bent on finishing for Bem’s birthday tomorrow.  

“Whatever it is that you’re going to write about, just make it funny,” Michelle demanded, she said trying not to make her newspaper soggy with sap.

“With Bem as the subject? “I snorted, “As if I could avoid not writing so.”

 ****

What Bem would say:  “Don’t English! I’m panic.”