Thursday, October 16, 2008

what is inside my movie, is talent

he is there again sitting on the usual seat outside the coffee shop. he has a light skin, medium built with a bulge of prominent belly flabs hanging inside his body-hugging shirt, his face is covered with well outlined facial hair and having his usual order, a cup of brewed coffee. he has the eyes that dances as fast as a bee, moving in every direction of that exposed corner, as if looking for something or probably, waiting for someone.
i often see this man every night, whenever i pass by gateway and probably if you'll pass there tonight, you'll see him as well. the man is hard to miss since the coffee shop is just standing right infront of the escalator going to the exit heading to the other mall and he usually sit just beside the cafe's door.
i am thinking he would probably knew me by now, since he often catches me staring at him whenever i pass by. but don't get me wrong. i am not into mall hook ups (that is so harrison mall 1991) nor i am interested to him. let's say, he just catch my attention and trigger my imaginative story telling side. or probably, i have just watch too much movies that i often look at him as if i am watching inside a movie screen.
i remember the first time i saw him. he was with a group of men, happy talking to one another. there was an old man, older than the rest and two other younger guys, which is safe to say younger than him. from the looks of it, the older guy is gay. while the two younger guys were straight. a stereotypical scene of talent scouts and talents, if you've once worked in the compound of abs-cbn.
our mystery guy was talking with the older guy. while the two younger fellows were indeed good in their craft, acting or may i say, pretending as if they were listening. from that brief moment, i already have my prologue of the movie that i am mounting inside my head. but the what i thought to be as a one time big time short film actually gave way to a sequel (probably because the movie became a big hit for my brain cells).
the next night, i saw him again. this time, with the old guy alone. our mystery guy was still talking to him. but it seemed like the scout's attention was not on his. but to the busy crowd passing across them. he was scouting for potential looks este talents, basing from his eye movements (well, i just hope he wouldn't see me--- i remember telling that to my conceited ego). there is always an episode for each night that i see him. probably because his eyes also changes as a new moon rises. quite poetic huh?! the guy was no longer there on the next night. but reappeared again after a couple or so. this time, he was alone again. call me, over rated. but there was something in his eyes that was indeed bothering. it seemed extremely sad. there goes your climax.
when i resigned in my previous company, it took my current job before i could pass by the same mall again and that was more than two months. during that time of extreme bumness, where my tv and bed were the only friends i had, i saw our mystery man as an extra in one of the shows in abs-cbn called my girl.
my suspicions were indeed correct after all. he played as the owner of an expensive car that kim chiu's dad was trying to repair but accidentally bump against another car in the shop. after a minute of exaggerated furious drama, i never saw him again in that show nor any other show in that network.
then, on the very first night of my new work, i got the chance to pass by the mall again. as expected, the man was still there, sitting on the same seat outside the coffee shop. he still has that light skin and medium built. although his belly flabs inside one of his collection of body-hugging shirts were more prominent than the last time. he also grew longer facial hair that already covered his once well-outlined shave, sipping his usual cup of brewed coffee.
nonetheless, it was his eyes again that catched my attention. but he stared differently that night. i felt as if it was stabbing me as i stood patiently on the escalator, waiting for my flight to reach his floor. i could say that it was way deeper and unrevealing, as if conceiling a disastrous secret which i later on chose not to explore anymore. i felt that he wanted me to peek inside his life as a talent, as a man who forever seeks and wins the attention of talent scouts and so many other people.
then, i realized that he is only one among the millions who seek stardom and popularity in this vicious world they kept on denying its reality but call it as show business.
that night, i decided to finish the film inside of my head, open-endedly. because for the first time, i felt scared that i might uncover something that i might regret at the end: something that might cost all my tears. i feared that it might end like most of the films i loved, trageic and not your typical happy-ending story. but the only difference is, it was in real life (which it is not suppose to).

17 comments:

jamie da vinci! said...

this is gonna sound really campy but as i read ur entry, isay alvarez-sena was singing "movie in my mind" from miss saigon in my head! hahahaha.

i often find myself doing the same thing as i people watch at malls and even as i meander the streets of my side of town. however in my case, people walk around with empty thought bubbles and it's my job to fill them up. :)

too much TV and an over active imagination has wrecked havoc to my once simple quiet life :)

Anonymous said...

gateway... i think i also "know" that mysterious guy...

just blog hopped.

A.Dimaano said...

Hahaha, nakakarelate naman ako =) Astig ka talaga =)

Niel said...

I do that will people, too. Making up stories of their lives. Now I do it will dolls, too.

But this one is not made up. I don't know if we are talking about teh same guy.

I saw an older man once in Starbucks Araneta Center. He got that metrosexual-gay look going on. He smiled at me when he caught me staring at him.

I told the guy I was with (an EB) that the old guy smiled at me. He told me that the old guy was there in Cubao almost every night. He said it in a tone that's derogatory to the older guy.

True enough I saw the older guy almost every night I was in Gateway. He was either in Figaro, Starbucks or Coffee Bean. You know were else I saw him? I was in a bus when I saw him in front of a pink motel along EDSA near QMart accompanied by two other guys waiting for a ride.

Unknown said...

huwaw. if i am in cubao area i would surely notice that guy also. anyway...

what could be scary is to find out that in fact u r part of the film that ur making and ending. all of us, our lives, are intertwined, interconnected to each other no matter how you would deny it. we are in a single life force. we affect each other. that is the reason why that we could sense what other senses if we only allow to.

this entry is so descriptive that i could picture it in my mind. :)

Dabo said...

yup... the film maker is honing his craft very well..

this is very impressive piece.

bwisit! said...

kalowkah! si figaro guy! is that the guy you are talking about? my friends and i have been forever guessing what he does for a living. una, inisip namin may EB siya. then it became boring and we imagined na may-ari na siya ng figaro. tapos masyado kami na-kornihan sa idea so naging addict na lang siya sa coffee. maybe he is a ghost? or a vampire? or just really, really, bored with his life. one of these days somebody should really ask him what he's doing there. nakaka-intriga! hahaha!

. said...

Napaka-observant. Ang galing. :) Makulay ang iyong utak ha.

dak/james said...

im not much of an observer. i actually avoid observing other people cos i think it's not proper...

or maybe bcos i am simply a histrionic... who loves attention... hahaha... kiddin.

N said...

the movie in my mind...the dream he left behind?

coffee instead of ice cream in new york?

:)

Will Shady said...

I want to know.

the spool artist said...

it's funny how you can weave tales and stories from a mall routine! that my friend, is called creativity.

hahaha, you need a producer dali!

Chyng said...

i know this guy- ANG DAKILANG TAMBAY NG FIGARO!

gillboard said...

gawan daw ng kwento ang mga nakikitang tumatambay sa gateway?! hehehe

Kape Kanlaon\ said...

that's really interesting..
me too, i get easily distracted by those that have cathy eyes.. *wink*



hahaha!

Savage Heart said...

Oh my Gosh!! Si Figaro Guy nga yan!!! nakakaluwka!! akala namin ni Bebeboo na may EB lang yan e parang sa twing dadaan kami dun anjan sya at uu minsan may kasamang mala talent scout din hahahha...

ang dami na rin palang nakakapansin sa kanya... malamang makikita ko na naman yan ngayung weekends... hehehe

Anonymous said...

ang galing! haha.