Mr. HOT & Ms. COOL

CHAPTER 6: When They Jammed With the Band

June 4, 2018. Monday. Kian went to Reina's studio after setting up an appointment at the printing lab. He messaged Reina about it and so afterwards, she confirmed to him that she had already sent the image he wanted printed. He opted for both a color print and a black and white print and already paid in full for all the fees of printing and framing.

On the other hand, Reina just stayed most of the time at home in her small office nook near the balcony, where she got to see the view outside from the glass walls along with the sliding folding door leading to the balcony by just simply opening the vanes of her floor-length vertical blinds or having the vanes stacked on one side for a much clearer view. She only received office calls from her assistant, who was also the general manager of Reina Studio, supervising all their other employees. She had been notified of VIP clients who wanted to hire her. So she studied the list of the preferences Anika had forwarded to her before approving or rejecting it.

First, an A-list celebrity wanted a renaissance-inspired maternity portrait photography, so she asked Anika to assign their creative team to prepare possible concepts for the said preferences. Anyway, the celebrity was just five months pregnant. They would still have time to prepare because a maternity shoot should be done ideally during the 30-36 weeks of pregnancy. If the celebrity approved the concepts, then the project would be a go.

Second, a creative director of a fashion magazine wanted to collaborate with her on their coffee table book to be released on their 10th anniversary next year. So she asked Anika to arrange an appointment for a business meeting.

Last, Valerie Co, the 30-year old fiancee of her 32-year old ex-boyfriend Arthur, wanted her to take their prenuptial photos. She was willing to pay any amount for her preferences to be realized. Valerie, an upper-class socialite, also belonged to the family who co-owned the food corporation with her ex-boyfriend's family. She had no way of rejecting the project because her ex-boyfriend's fiancee might think that she was not over her relationship with Arthur if she declined. So she also instructed Anika to arrange an appointment for a client meeting at their studio.

Then she received a personal message from Kian again – If you are free for dinner, then we can discuss the terms of our work agreement with our respective lawyers, this evening. 7 PM at Viajeros Bar & Restaurant.

Reina immediately called up Jennie, who was also her lawyer handling all the details of her work contracts and copyrights. Her best friend was so excited to meet Kian Estrada that she canceled her dinner plans with Zandro.

Afterwards, Reina responded to the personal message – My lawyer, my assistant and I would be there. See you later then.

So she also notified Anika about the business dinner meeting. Her assistant was already aware of her possible work agreement with Viajeros Enterprises. She needed her presence for the possible scheduling of photo shoots after the finalization of the work agreement.

Viajeros Bar & Restaurant was a casual dining restaurant. So Reina just opted to dress up casually for the meeting, wearing an all-black motorcycle rider outfit – black sleeveless top, black waist-length leather jacket, black skinny leather pants, black leather boots, and a black backpack.

Surprisingly, Kian and Reina both arrived at the front of the restaurant riding their respective motorbikes.

As she removed her helmet at the same time that Kian removed his helmet, he immediately reacted, "So it was you riding that big bike with purple trim!"

She smiled and replied, "It's the fastest way to get here so I won't be late. I have been stuck with browsing digital images all day."

He then said, "I have been stuck all day too, but with document reviews and signing. I didn't want to get stuck in traffic and so I opted to ride my bike as well."

Their lawyers and assistants were all surprised to see them walking together into the private dining room upstairs with their helmets on their arms.

Jennie immediately asked her best friend, "Did you just ride your bike coming here, Rei?"

Reina admitted, "Yeah. I had to finish one external hard drive of digital images before coming here.

Faith Marzo was also surprised to see that the photographer Kian was referring to was the stepdaughter of her aunt. She thought that it could possibly be a male photographer, knowing that her boss usually made it to a point to avoid working collaboratively with females if possible. Since she was recommended by her cousin Jeffrey Lacson, her boss' best friend, to be Kian's chief-of-staff, she had never seen her boss smile genuinely towards a lady. Even with his female followers, his smiles were stingy.

Reina was equally surprise that the beautiful lady he had seen before at Kian’s unit was Faith, who was Kian’s chief-of-staff and her stepmother’s favorite niece.

While introductions were being done, Faith was thinking – Why are you so comfortable around her, boss? I have never seen you interact this way with a lady before, boss. You don't even interact with me this way. Are you romantically interested with her? No way! I didn't keep up with all your moods all these years just so you will end up with another lady. I am the only lady worth being by your side forever. I exerted all my business expertise to help you out from Day 1.

Then she heard her boss asking, "Have you ordered food already, Faith?"

Faith answered, "Yes, boss. The bestsellers of the restaurant will be served in a few more minutes."

Kian then realized that most of their bestsellers had peanuts or peanut sauce on them, like Beef Kare-Kare, Kung Pao Chicken and Lumpiang Sariwa, so he instructed his chief-of-staff, "Faith, please also ask the chef to serve something without peanut or peanut sauce."

Faith said, "That will just be Rellenong Bangus and Grilled Squid, boss. Does anyone have a peanut allergy?"

Then she just heard her boss asking the stepdaughter of her aunt, "Do you prefer to eat something more other than the Rellenong Bangus and Grilled Squid, Rei? You see, some of our bestsellers, like Beef Kare-Kare, Kung Pao Chicken and Lumpiang Sariwa, have peanut or peanut sauce on them."

The standby food attendant immediately handed out the menu.

But on Faith's mind – Why do you even know that she has peanut allergy, boss? I didn't even know about that even if I am very close to her stepmother.

Reina stated, "Everything will just be fine. Just add up a small serving of fresh sautéed buttered vegetables."

Kian then asked Reina's companions, "Would you want anything else, Atty. Lee, Ms. Guilas?"

Jennie responded, "I got no food allergy so everything will be fine by me, Mr. Estrada."

Anika seconded, "I also just fine with all the bestsellers, sir."

So Kian told the food attendant, "You may go now and tell chef the addition."

Faith then asked, "So shall we discuss about business already while we are waiting for the food, sirs, madame?"

Kian then motioned at his lawyer. A folder had been handed to him. He said then, "I think Atty. Lee can have the draft of the work agreement first. Then she could just discuss the changes you want with my lawyer, Atty. Solis, some other days. Let us just enjoy dinner for tonight. This meeting is just for familiarization of our lawyers and some employees. As you already know Faith is my chief-of-staff so she can coordinate with Anika regarding all the projects that we would be working on together for a one-year duration. Then we can renew the work agreement afterwards. It shall include the Extreme Race project, which will be filmed starting late February and will be aired sometime in August. You will always be notified in advance regarding every photo shoot we wanted done so we can all agree on the schedule."

Their food already arrived and was then served.

Faith just watched as her boss comfortably talked to the award-winning professional photographer-stepdaughter of her aunt.

Reina shared, "By the way, Jennie is a fan of yours, Kian. She even cancelled her dinner appointment with her fiancé just to be able to accompany me here in this meeting."

Kian casually responded, asking "Would your fiancé be not angry towards me, Atty. Lee?"

Jennie said, "He is very much secured with our relationship. Besides, he is Rei's older cousin. They are extremely close as real siblings so even if I cancelled our dinner for Rei, it is just fine by him. He is also a lawyer and our law office handles all the legal service needs of Rei."

Kian then asked, "So, when will be the wedding?"

Jennie answered, "This coming Sunday. I brought an invite just for you. I know you are a very busy man, but I hope you can come if you have the time. No pressure," handing the invitation to the video sharing Top Start she liked.

"I am not promising but who knows, I might just suddenly pop up," Kian accepted the invitation and then stated, "Then I guess we should finalize the work agreement within this week," and then joked, "Atty. Lee might be away for her honeymoon next week."

Reina confirmed, "Yeah, they will be away for a weeklong honeymoon trip. So all my possible work contracts for next week will have to wait for the following week to be finalized. They are the only ones I can trust when it comes to the legalities involved in my career."

Kian commented, "It seems that you have other job offers."

Reina said, "Just the usual portrait photography clients at the studio. Anika interviews all those clients and also supervises all of our employees at the studio. There are just a few clients every now and then because my minimum fee is not cheap."

He acknowledged, "Yeah, she accommodated me this morning when I went to your printing lab. But your printing lab seems to be very busy."

She said, "We do prints for other professional photographers. So the studio earns a lot from our printing lab services. As for me, I don't typically go to the studio regularly. I just usually appear there when I have a scheduled photos hoot. Most of the time, I am out to capture relevant or special moments or just working on concepts in the privacy of my home office."

Jennie then shared, "She did our prenuptial photos. I posted just one photo on my social media account, and a lot of people were already asking me who did it. Although she majored in documentary photography back in Paris, she is an excellent travel and portrait photographer as well. She won't win a number of Top Prizes in the National Geographic if she isn't good."

Kian also shared, "She also captured a moment when I was working on my balcony and I was really amazed by the snap. She has good eyes, so that made me decide to hire her as the resident professional photographer for my company, especially at Viajeros Productions and Viajeros Travel Network. I went to the studio this morning to have that digital image printed and framed already. The printing lab employees told me that I could already get it within this week. So I am really excited about hanging the colored photograph in my office, and the black and white photograph in my living room."

Faith could not help but wonder – Why was she on your balcony, boss? Are the two of you dating? When did it start? Why did I not know about it?

Jennie's reaction was, "Yeah, she mentioned that to us yesterday when she did our prenuptial photos during the rest of the morning."

Kian then told Reina, "Guess, you told Jennie everything."

Reina's response was, "Well, not actually everything. Just the things she would want to hear about the Video Sharing Top Star that she avidly follows. I think it was through her that I saw one of your travel videos on V+Tube. You see, I don't have my own personal social media account, but Reina Studio does have an official i********: account managed by our IT personnel and Anika. So I am really not that much into online photo sharing and video sharing. That is why I have employees to do those things for me. If you weren't recognized by those passengers on the plane, then I would not even know that you are 'the famous' Viajero."

Faith then assumed – So they just met during their flight back here. But that does not answer my question why she was able to take a photo of Boss on his balcony. I heard Mom talking to Tita Elaine this morning on a video call about her attendance at the family dinner last night at Joya Residence. And of course, my aunt was again not very happy because she got the undivided attention of her in-laws again as well as her husband and sons. They all seemed to love her that much that they failed to notice that Tita Elaine even existed when she was around. I even heard once that her father gifted her last Christmas with a two-bedroom condominium residence in Monarch Condominiums as suggested by her grandparents so they could see her more often because she still lives with her maternal family. Wait! Empress Condominiums! Boss also lives there! Could they be neighbors? Yeah! That is one possible explanation why she was able to take a photo of Boss on his balcony. His condominium residence has a balcony and the same goes for all those units facing the main road. Yes, that will explain it. They are not in a relationship. They are just neighbors. She is indeed a very lucky lady! Of all the units in Empress, why did his father happen to purchase the unit beside that of Boss? Boss has been living there for ten years already, according to Kuya Jeffrey. So, her father might not be the first owner of that unit. Still, they are neighbors! So they will often see each other. This is quite annoying! Boss is very casual when talking to her. That's not good. Boss is only casual whenever he talks to Kuya Jeffrey. He is always serious when he talks to others. Such casualness had even extended to her lawyer-best friend and to her assistant. I hate this! This work agreement should not materialize. I need to see a loophole.

When their meeting ended, they all came down in time for their in-house band to ask volunteers from the crowd for a jamming session.

Surprisingly, a former battle of the bands competitor was the lead vocalist and so he announced – Wait! I just saw a former nemesis on battle of the bands during my high school years. Miss Reina Joya, can you please come up here on the stage for a jamming session?

Kian asked Reina, "Do you play, Rei?"

Jennie answered for her best friend, "She does not only play the lead guitar but she is also the vocalist of the band that defeated the leader of your in-house band."

Then the leader of the band spoke again, begging – Please, Miss Rei.

She then raised her left hand or a thumbs up and so Kian escorted her up the stage asking her, "Are you sure about this, Rei?"

Then the leader of the band said – Guess, our boss will also join our jamming session.

Reina then asked him back, "So you also play?"

He confirmed, "Just the drums and some back-up vocals."

Jennie and Anika did not let that moment pass. They both took video of what was happening as they were escorted by the restaurant manager to a table.

Kian and Reina had already reached the stage.

So the leader of the band said – For those who still don't know. Boss Kian, who owns this restaurant, was a drummer and vocalist during his college days, while Miss Rei Joya, Roscotta City's very own first daughter, is not only an award-winning professional photographer, but also a superb vocalist and lead guitarist. So what do you want to sing for all of us, Miss Rei?

Reina spoke up as a microphone had been handed to her and Kian sat down by the drums – Will Bon Jovi's 'You Give Love A Bad Name' just be okay, guys?

Everyone raised their hand for a thumb's up. She was also handed with a left-handed lead guitar.

So she commented – You seem ready for me. You even got a left-handed lead guitar.

The leader of the band spoke – Yes, Miss Rei. You can do the guitar solo later on. But basically just bring the house down with your powerful vocals.

They had a sound check for a while

When everyone was ready, Kian started beating the drums.

Then Reina belted the intro lyrics ...

Shout through the heart

And you're to blame

Darlin', you give love a bad name

The rest of the crowd immediately were up on their seats and jumped with Reina as the rest of the band musicians played their instruments.

After a short while, Reina sang again with Kian and the leader of the band doing the back-up vocals.

An angel's smile is what you sell

You promise me heaven, then put me through hell

Chains of love got a hold on me

When passion's a prison, you can't break free

Oh, you're a loaded gun, yeah

Oh, there's nowhere to run

No one can save

The damage is done

Shot through the heart

And you're to blame

You give love a bad name

I play my part and you play your game

You give love a bad name

Hey, you give love, a bad name

Paint your smile on your lips

Blood red nails on your fingertips

A school boy's dream, you act so shy

Your very first kiss was your first kiss goodbye

Whoa, you're a loaded gun

Whoa, there's nowhere to run

No one can save me

The damage is done

Shot through the heart

And you're to blame

You give love a bad name

I play my part and you play your game

You give love, oh

Then Reina did her guitar solo which amazed everyone, of course, except for Faith.

Then she said – Take it away, Kian

Kian sang ...

Oh, shot though the heart

And you're to blame

You give love a bad name

I play my part and you play your game

You give love a bad name

And the rest did the remaining vocals until the song ended. Afterwards, the entire crowd requested an encore, chanting – Encore! Encore!