Work Text:
“Good job today, Diana!”
“Thank you!”
Diana waved to her co-workers after her long shift in Traveler’s Market was over. Now that classes and exams are finished, Diana can afford to take longer shifts and earn more money to pay for own tuition and rent on her apartment. Sure, her aunt and uncle offered to pay for all of her tuition and rent, but Diana insisted on paying them all on her own. Well, most of it… They made a compromise that they would split the payment and send her money for her personal groceries and other needs. So far, it’s going well.
And with her obtaining scholarships that covers at least a third of her tuition per semester, Diana is saving her money that can be used for stuff she really wants.
…Like a new handbag. The straps are being held by bright pink duct tape and there’s stains she has trouble removing, even if she used the best stain remover spray that doesn’t reek of chemicals. Diana has been eyeing a cute pink and white handbag that was recently on sale for 50% off. Oh, or maybe a green bag with a–
“What’s this doing here?”
Diana’s thoughts were interrupted when she spotted Eloise holding an album, alongside a CD player. Odd… why’s that there in the locker room?
“Eloise, I thought you were heading home. What’s up?” Diana wondered as she closed her locker.
“Oh! W-Well… I noticed this was left behind…” Eloise pointed to the CD player and the album, the latter she read the title of the cover, “‘Jolina’. Huh… It looks a little torn…”
“That old?” Diana got a closer look at the album, and as Eloise mentioned, the cover art has some tears and had a few marker scribbles on the bottom. She looked at the back of the album where there’s duct tape on the upper half and written on it with black marker was ‘M. Berskii’.
- Berskii… as in…
“That’s Mark’s!” Diana pieced everything together.
“What? B-But he left twenty minutes ago,” Eloise informed Diana. “You think he’ll come back for them at this hour?”
It’s 7:30 PM, and the sun is nearly down. Plus, from what Diana knows about Mark, he doesn’t have a driver’s license, and he either takes the bus or train home, or he gets someone like Jett to drive him. And Mark was more than eager to clock out of work than normal, not even apologizing as he bumped into his co-workers. He did work overtime for the third time this week, but he only did two hours instead of one. Maybe he forgot about some of his belongings after constantly working long hours this week.
“Well…” Diana grabbed the album and CD player from Eloise, putting them inside her bag. “I’ll drop by his place and return it to him.”
“You know where he lives?” Eloise pondered as she grabbed her belongings from her locker.
“Been there once for a project.”
A creative writing class in her recent semester as Diana and Mark were paired for an assignment where they had to write a short story together. Surprisingly, both of them did their fair share with the assignment, even planned the topic on it: a story involving a cat helping someone with loss. And that one earned them an A!
Most of it was done online via Google Docs, and they’ve written the final draft at Mark’s place due to their usual meeting spot, the university’s library, was used for filming a movie for a few days. And his place was closer to both the university and Traveler’s Market. Besides driving, that fastest way to Mark’s place…
“Gotta go! See you later, Eloise!” Diana waved to Eloise as she left the locker room.
“O-Okay, Diana. Stay safe, Diana,” Eloise waved back.
Diana left Traveler’s Market in a hurry, waving goodbye to her co-worker, and made a mad dash to the bus already approaching towards the bus stop. Thankfully, she managed to arrive just on time and scanned her bus pass as she slumped onto the nearest empty seat. As the bus is driving away, Diana pulled her phone and attempted to call Mar, only to pause when she received a sudden message from him!
Mark: did i leave my CD player and album at work?
She’s surprised that Mark would be texting her instead of someone else like their manager or Jett (his workplace is close to Traveler’s Market). Diana quickly responded to Mark’s message.
Diana: Yeah. I have them with me. I’m coming to your place and plan to give it back to you.
Mark: oh. did you listen to it?
Diana: No! It’d be rude to go through your belongings w/o your permission!
Mark: alright. just tell me when you’re at my place. ‘kay?
Diana: Be there in 10 minutes!
Mark: thank you.
Diana sighed in relief that Mark didn’t get mad at her for bringing his belongings in the evening. Just rereading the text messages, it seems like both the CD player and album have some importance to Mark, especially the album that has his name on it (at least she thinks). She hasn’t seen either a CD player or a physical album in a long time, and the CD player has a few alligator and turtle stickers plastered on it, the stickers having a few tears.
She wonders if Mark uses the CD player at work since their workplace forbids them from using their phones (they use the work-issued phones instead). She has seen Mark with different devices to listen to music such as an iPod and a Walkman since he can hide them easily. How Mark managed to hide a CD player is beyond Diana, but it beats listening to the music playing at the store.
Speaking of CD’s, Diana took a look at the track list on the album and most of them are in Tagalog! Huh… She has heard Mark speak Tagalog a few times to customers and a few older co-workers, but for the most part, swaps back to English whenever most people notice. Diana wonders if she can listen to the CD at some point… She’s aware that she could possibly find it on Spotify, but she wants to experience listening to it on a CD player. They have a sweet charm to them.
Eventually, the bus stops close to Mark’s neighborhood and Diana steps of the bus, making her way to his house. Finding his house isn’t difficult as there’s a red SUV in the driveway and a green and red windchime on a large oak tree.
Diana took a deep breath as she pressed the doorbell, waiting patiently for Mark to answer the door. While waiting, she messaged Mark in case he couldn’t hear the doorbell.
Diana: I’m here! (＾▽＾)
No response from Mark until the door opens, revealing a man who Diana assumes to be Mark’s father (or uncle). The one time Diana visited Mark’s place, none of his parents were in there.
“Uh… hello there!” Diana greeted the man.
The man didn’t answer to Diana, but turned his head and yelled, “Mark, sino siya? Girlfriend?”
Diana’s face turned red from that comment, almost wanting to correct him, but…
“Hindi, ‘tay! Si Diana yan!” Mark replied, coming down the stairs and made it to the front door, headphones hung on his neck and still blaring out music from it, and he’s out of breath. “Sorry about that, Diana. I didn’t expect my dad to answer the door.”
“Oh, no. I-It’s okay…” Diana replied, still flustered from the ‘girlfriend’ comment. Diana dug through her bag and pulled out the ‘Jolina’ album and the CD player. “Anyway, as promised, here’s your stuff.”
“Thanks. I’m glad they’re okay.”
“No problem. I’ll be heading–”
“You're leaving already?” You should stay over for dinner,” Mark’s father suggested, much to Mark’s dismay, if his cheeks blushing pink meant anything.
“Huh? Oh, no! I really should be heading–”
“Diana, you might as well accept. He’ll drag you eventually,” Mark advised her as he walked away from the front door.
The bus doesn’t come for the next 15 to 30 minutes anyway (or longer depending on traffic), so she might as well stay for a little while.
“Okay, I can stay. At least I don’t have to make dinner tonight,” Diana answered.
“Great! Please, come in. Dinner will be ready in ten minutes,” Mark’s father said as Diana entered the house.
Diana removed her black sneakers and placed them on the shoe rack close to the front door, slipping onto a pair of purple slippers–just like the last time she visited here. She went to the living room and sat on the sofa, patiently waiting for dinner.
“Meow!”
Oh, and just like last time, a white, fluffy cat with green eyes appeared, nuzzling Diana’s leg gently.
“Ooh, hi Veronicat! It’s so nice to see you again!” Diana squealed as she managed to pick her up into her arms and hug the cat. “Aw, you feel so good!”
At least Diana gets to see and play with Mark’s cat in person. Mark does send her pictures of Veronicat every now and then (he does send them to others like Jett and Cassidy) since Diana requested it upon meeting and earning Veronicat’s love. Sure, the pictures were nice, but nothing beats actually petting and playing with her in person.
“Veronicat, did you gain weight?” Diana wondered, lightly pinching her tummy, meowing in response. “Aw, you’re so cute, sweetie!”
“She didn’t gain weight,” Mark commented, coming down the stairs with his CD player and wired headphones, sitting next to Diana. “Kinda surprised as she manipulated a bunch of people for free food. She even fooled a local butcher for sliced beef.”
Diana has a hard time imagining Veronicat carrying a pack of meat in her mouth or a bag.
“Aw, little devil, aren’t you,” Diana cooed at the cat. “Surprised she remembered me since I was here two months ago.”
“You did spoil her a bit,” Mark reminded her. “Hell, Veronica loved you on first sight. Almost everyone took a while for her to love them.”
“Did that include your parents?”
Mark hesitated with answering Diana’s question, twirling the end of the headphone wires.
“Mark?” Diana called to him as she let Veronicat go.
“Hmm? Oh… Uh… It took a week for Veronicat to warm up to ‘tay. As for ‘nay…” Veronica hopped onto Mark’s lap, loudly purring. “Hey, you. I’m alright…”
Diana wanted to ask Mark about his mom since she has never seen her, nor has he mentioned her frequently. Speaking of which, Mark was acting strange during Mother’s Day, not talking to anyone unless it was necessary and kept eyeing the bouquets of carnations, mainly pink and white, alongside a pot of fuchsias. Like he hopes no one gets them by the end of his shift, which thankfully, he got them as Diana spotted him with these flowers as he left that day.
Wonder if they’re still–
“Dinner’s ready!” Mark’s father called out.
“Coming!” Mark responded, gently placing Veronicat on the floor as he made his way to the dining room. “Diana, let’s go.”
“Right.” Diana followed Mark into the dining room, where the table is already set with three white and blue plates, three glasses already filled with orange juice, forks on top of napkins, and a large bowl of spaghetti with the tomato sauce already mixed to the pasta. “Wow! It looks good!”
“Thanks. I hope you like spaghetti.”
“Yeah, I do.”
As Diana took her seat, she noticed on the center of the table is a pot of red fuchsias with a pink and white ribbon tied on the pot. Huh. That’s the same one Mark took a couple of days ago. That answers one question in Diana’s mind.
For the first few minutes, dinner was pretty quiet besides the sounds of utensils clattering on the plates, Veronica meowing and begging either of the three for free food, but to no avail. There were moments Diana wanted to break the silence, mainly to comment on the spaghetti, but decided against it as she didn’t want to criticize how Mark’s father–
“How’s the spaghetti, Diana? I know it’s a little different than what you’re used to.” Mark’s father laughed a bit.
Yeah, he noticed Diana’s eyes widening in surprise over her first bite, mainly on how sweet the sauce tasted and how there’s sliced sausages compared to small meatballs. No need to hide it anymore.
“Oh, it actually tastes good, sir,” Diana answered. “Way better than how I make it. I always manage to make the sauce either too sour or too spicy.”
“Well, I put two teaspoons of sugar in there to subdue the sour taste. That, and I sometimes would ass pineapple slices–”
“Excuse me?!” Diana exclaimed, nearly dropping her fork on the sauce. She quickly clasped her palms on her mouth upon realizing what she did. “Uh… Sorry, sir. I really shouldn’t have raised my voice like that.”
“Nah, don’t worry about that. You’re not the first person to react in horror upon hearing that. Even Mark’s friends had a similar reaction to you.”
Mark can only respond with a quiet, “Yeah”, swishing his fork on his noodles.
“I didn’t put any today cause the pineapple isn’t ripe yet,” Mark’s father explained. “I thought it’d be ripe by today as it’s…” He stopped as Mark coughed loudly, catching both his father and Diana off guard.
“Mark, are you–”
“I’m fine,” he responded quickly. Too quickly for Diana’s liking.
“Uh, anyway,” Mark’s father attempted to change the topic, “Diana, thank you for returning my son’s belongings, especially the album. It means the world to us.”
“No problem. So, what’s special about that album anyway?”
It felt like she broke the peaceful atmosphere upon asking that question. Even Veronicat stopped begging for scraps. Mark’s father looked at his son, his head lowered and setting his fork down on his half-eaten spaghetti.
“Mark…?” Diana called to him.
He didn’t say anything, not even as Veronicat was meowing loudly.
“D-Did I made you upset?”
He slowly shook his head in response.
“Then, did–WHOA!” Diana was suddenly pulled off her seat by Mark as he grabbed her hand, dragging her out of the dining room and up the stairs where they entered Mark’s room.
Hardly anything changed the last time Diana visited here: the half messy bed, his desk cluttered with paper and pencils alongside his dual screen desktop, posters of his favorite bands, a bookshelf with the top half containing various of trophies, a keyboard and a guitar, and a corkboard that has a few photos of his friends, Veronica, and one featuring him and his father at Mark’s high school graduation. Really, the only thing that’s different is a small vase with a pink carnation sitting on the desk.
“Hey, Mark… What’s wrong? Why’d you drag me here in the first place?” Diana wondered, worried that Mark is gonna yell at her at any moment.
He said nothing as he handed Diana the CD player and the Jolina album.
“Do you want me to listen to it?”
“Only Track 1,” Mark clarified as he sat on his computer chair and logged in.
Diana was gonna ask Mark ‘why’, but decided it was best if she did what Mark told her. Well, she finally gets to listen to it. She removed the CD from the case and inserted it inside the player. Once she puts the wired headphones on, she pressed play.
The song opened with a piano and bass playing for a moment before the singer appeared, her voice soothing and angelic. Even if Diana didn’t understand Tagalog, she can tell this is a sweet melody, one where she can easily get lost while secretly daydreaming at work or play on repeat at home until she falls asleep.
Eventually, it swapped to the next song, and she paused it, taking off her headphones. The moment she did, the speakers on Mark’s computer played the instrumental to the same song, only the vocals… were Mark’s. She’s heard Mark sing before, but never in Tagalog!
However, a minute passed as the song stopped, much to Diana’s dismay. She would love to hear the full version.
“H-hey, it sounds amazing. I-I mean, I like the original song, but your cover is as great as the original!” Diana praised Mark’s work.
“R-Really? I don’t sound like a dying chicken when I sang in Tagalog?” Mark asked, his face lowered, not facing Diana.
“Eh?! No, of course not! You still sound great, Mark!”
“Oh…”
She noticed Mark’s hands shaking and his breathing growing heavier.
“Ah, Mark! Are you…?!” Diana approached Mark, gently placing her hand on Mark’s right shoulder, rubbing it carefully.
Mark breathed in and out slowly, responding, “A little better.”
“Alright. Did I–”
“No. You didn’t do anything wrong, Diana.” Mark turned to face her, tears coming down and his eyeliner running. “I-I really needed to heat that. I need to hear more people say I don’t sound stupid whenever I speak or sing in Tagalog.”
“Huh?”
Mark wiped his tears with his sleeves before he explained, “A month ago, during work, some rich bitch and her friends made fun of me when they overheard me sing in Tagalog. I wasn’t singing that loudly, but apparently, it was enough to catch their attention and film me.”
Diana doesn’t like where this is going…
“And she posted it on EVERY known social media platform for the world to see,” Mark fumed, his hands gripping onto parts of his desk.
“W-What?! That’s awful!” Diana gasped on what she heard. “Did you at least try to persuade her–”
“Already did. And she threatened me that she’ll ruin my school career and put my ‘tay out of a job. That’s the last thing he needs…”
Oh, he had to face ‘those’ types of girls–ones who solve most of their problems via powerful connections and a boatload of money with little care.
“And you’re aware of my online alias, right?”
“Mayhem.”
One of the top cover artists in the world, ranging from metal remixes of popular video game tracks to rock covers of hit songs across the world. And only a few people know Mayhem’s true identity.
“You, Jett, Cass, and my whole family knows… ‘Nay was my biggest supporter.” Mark sniffled, wiping away stray tears.
Was?!
- Suddenly, everything made sense.
“Mark, I’m sorry…” Diana can only say. “That Jolina album, did it belong to your mom?”
He nodded. “Melissa Berskii. That album was used for my parents’ wedding day. She especially loved the first track, Laging Tapat, and wanted me to cover the song one day. Today, May 15th, was supposed to be her birthday.” Mark coldly laughed. “But today is also the anniversary of my mom’s death.”
Oh, no…
“Last year, some asshole was speeding through the road at nearly 100 miles per hour and… Well… The accident even made a veteran officer throw up…”
Diana can only gasp at what she heard. No wonder he was acting strange on Mother’s Day.
“I-I wanna make a cover album featuring my mom’s favorite songs, most of which are in Tagalog,” Mark told Diana. “But I’m scared… scared all my fans will slander me, saying I sound like some stupid animal…”
“Have Jett or Cassidy made rude comments when you speak Tagalog?”
Mark shook his head. “No. Jett and Cass even try to sing Tagalog songs, but fail and end up laughing it up. They never minded it.”
“And I don’t mind it either. I’m sure our co-workers won’t mind it either, Mark. You sound amazing, no matter what language you speak or sing in. Screw what that rich brat said! Even if you somehow lose most of your fans, I’ll still be there. Promise.”
Mark wiped the last of his tears and got up from his chair to give Diana a hug. Diana wrapped her arms around Mark’s shoulders, gently rubbing his back.
“Salamat, Diana.”
Diana waved goodbye to Mark’s father as he drove her to her apartment, as it was getting late. Once she unlocked the door, Diana slumped onto her sofa and checked Instagram to find the video Mark mentioned. It didn’t take too long to find it, but she stopped the video upon hearing the girl’s voice.
“My god! That wannabe musician sounds like a dying chicken! Am I right, ladies?!”
It can’t be…
@ChrisValencia.
Diana really can’t escape her, huh… Well… She’ll find a way to send a large dose of karma to her ex-friend. But for now, she’ll let Chris enjoy her spoiled life.
You’re not getting away with this, you bitch.