Chapter 8: Hooked

Herbie and Mandy agreed to meet at Ryley’s at 7:00 in the evening that night, a habit they had developed after their trip together. It was enough to keep him calm. He didn’t want to mess up what they had going by talking about the night of the kiss. He felt that Mandy wasn’t ready to entertain anything romantic at this time. Besides, being mistaken for a couple most of the time was working to his advantage that men who might be taking interest in her could be thinking twice to even try to approach her.  And he loved it that she didn’t even try to correct people about that.

Herbie was in his third cup of coffee and Mandy had not arrived yet. It was unusual. That’s another thing that he loved about her. She didn’t like being late and if ever she did, she always had some valid reason.

If it was not Mandy that he was meeting, he would probably be on his 10^th stick of cigarette. Before her, cigarette was his best friend and companion. But Mandy didn’t like it when he smoked. She didn’t like the smell and he felt genuine concern when she’d talk about horror stories she had witnessed first hand from working as a nurse in a hospital.

None of the girls he ever dated was successful in making him stop. He would not smoke in front of a girl but he always found a way to smoke behind their backs that they would just surrender convincing him about that.

The day he gave up cigarettes was the day Mandy and him had a fight, if one would call it that. It was more of a discussion. It was not a fight where emotions ran high that would get both parties in a cursing rage. To his credit, Herbie didn’t really like cursing. Even at work, he was not known to be a foul-mouthed boss. He would get upset and would sometimes say some hurtful things but it was never the F word or the son-of-a- b__ type of thing.

He made the mistake of telling Mandy he didn’t smoke when she asked casually while having dinner with some of her workmates from the hospital and then she just went quiet. Her workmates didn’t notice the sudden change of mood but he did. What followed was a silent walk home. She did say good night as she closed the door but it was ice cold. He had never felt so uneasy about someone getting mad at him like that in a long time. He paced the hallway back and forth, back and forth for about an hour until he finally had the courage to tap on the door.

Mandy was upset when he allowed him in. She didn’t have that smile on her face and she wasn’t looking at him.

“I’m sorry I smoked.”

“It’s not even about that, Herbie.”

“It's not?”

“Okay, it’s a little bit about that. I just can’t believe you would say you didn’t smoke when the smell is all over you. I mean, we’re best friends! We should be honest with one another.” she said finally looking at him.

“I know. I’m sorry I wasn’t truthful about that. I promise, I will be honest with you at all times.”

“Alright.”

“Are we good?” he asked looking for signs on her face.

“Yes.” She then turned him towards the door - “Sleep now, Herbie. You have work tomorrow.”

That was the last time he had tobacco in his system. No one and nothing had ever made him stop, not the patches, not the candies, not even her ex-girlfriends. It was just Mandy, his bestfriend, who was able to do so.

A black Mercedes Benz that stopped right in front of Ryley’s caught Herbie’s eye. It was a car that he could only dream of getting. Even more eye-catching was Mandy coming out of it from the front passenger side. He couldn’t see clearly who was driving the car but he was certain it was a man. Mandy watched the car disappear before she went inside Ryley’s to join him.

Soon as Mandy saw him, she was mouthing apologies for being late.

“Herbie, I’m sorry.” she said pleading. He replied to her with a smirk.

He was not bothered by her coming late. He was more concerned about finding out who the guy was, the guy that sent Mandy gushing all over for him.

“So, what was that all about?” he said trying to sound cool.

“Oh, that? That was Migs Corpuz.”

“And?”

“He’s a magazine editor, can you believe that?”

“How did that happen?”

“Oh, can we order first, ‘cause I’m really hungry? Pleaaasse?” she said raising her hand to call the waiter’s attention.

“So I was looking at the photos I had developed and he was picking up some photos for his magazine.”

“Whaaat? A magazine editor in a Benz and he’s picking up photos?”

“Why? What’s wrong with that?”

“Nothing. I’m just saying, it’s unbelievable a magazine editor in a brand new black Benz would drop by to pick up photos.”

“Well, maybe I’ll find out tomorrow ‘cause he’s  offering me a job, well, not a permanent one, but a job still.”

“You’re meeting him again?”

“Yes! So he saw my shots and he asked me if I am a photographer and I said yes, I am a freelance photographer and that my dream is to get my photos published in a magazine.”

“Wow, you’ve met the guy for five minutes and you’ve told him about your dream?”

“Hahaha, yeah! I badly need a job, Herb, you know that!”

“Yeah, I know. So good luck with that.” Herbie cleared his throat before asking the next question. “You like him?”

“Herbie?!” she said smiling looking away from him.

“This is not good.” he thought to himself. That moment, he was craving for a stick of cigarette to calm his anxiety.

He had seen Mandy with guys before. The first time they met, she was on the tail-end of her relationship with Mark, her college classmate. He never even met him. He just heard about him. Then, she dated a certain Don briefly, then she had another brief relationship, her most recent, with Dr. Dan from her hospital. He had never seen her so smitten with anyone of those guys like now and she just met that Migs guy that day!

“So, you wanna meet here again tomorrow, after your visit to that guy’s office?”

“Name’s Migs, Herbie.”

“Yeah, whatever.”

Mandy was laughing at the way Herbie was behaving. She didn’t want to say it out loud but she thought Herbie was jealous. “He is off-limits, Mandy. He is your sister’s ex!” she told herself.

She tried to focus on the job Migs was offering him. She didn’t want to give any other meaning to him offering the job and taking her home other than just a simple act of kindness from a total stranger.

“So?” Mandy didn’t realize Herbie was waiting for her reply for quite sometime.

“Yeah, sure!… Meet you here at 7:00? 7:30?”

“Alright!” he said reaching into his pocket for his wallet.

Mandy reached into her purse as well but stopped when Herbie motioned for her not to.

“I owe you.” she whispered into his ear.

Mandy hooked her arm into his. “Thank you, Herbie. What would I do without you?”

Herbie forgot feeling anxious about Migs. He was just so scared that as they walk side by side with her, it was really him who was hooked.