Say You Won't Let Go

XIX. Late Reply

A/N: Hello, hello. Mic test? Oo na. Matagal na nga bago nag-UD ulit. Sorry na. God bless. Char! Ayan, nagka-reunion, so nakapag-update tuloy (Thanks, Kuya J at sa impersonation, lol). Char! Kaway-kaway sa mga nagbabasa tapos ipo-post sa Twitter dahil may questions daw sila. PM is the key, mga siszt! 🤪😉

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December 27, 2020
Davao City

Digong was drinking his coffee when his close-in aide arrived. He was supposed to record a video greeting to the public and the members of the ASEAN Law Association for New Year's Eve because he disapproved the one they pre-recorded earlier as he said that he looked a bit different there. However, at the last minute, he changed his mind and opted to just greet the lawyers live via Zoom.

"Good evening, Sir. Mag-start po tayo at 7pm."

He just nodded and continued drinking his coffee. Fifteen minutes before the meeting time, they were already setting up the place where he would be staying.

"Alisin man siguro natin itong bandila man sa likod... Masyado mang pormal ba..." He instructed his staff.

"Sige po, Sir." They politely obliged.

Then, they set up the laptop he's going  to use for his meeting. He dusted off something from his white polo shirt before looking at the screen. The Zoom greeting started at exactly 7 in the evening.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen..." He greeted the participants — composed of some ALA officials and members which were around 30+ that time. They greeted him back.

"Sorry to bother you during your holiday vacation... Pero hindi man ito ano... Hindi man ito official meeting ba." He said while pretending to scratch his head.

The others laughed.

He continued. "Gusto ko lang itanong ba kung okay — okay man ang mga presyon niyo?"

The participants laughed again. Digong requested his staff to unmute the participants, so he could hear them while they were laughing.

"Pinatanggal ko man ang... Dili ko man kayo marinig ba. Para man akong buang dito... Naga-salita man sa..." He tried pointing out the screen to them. "As I was saying... Dili ko man pahabain itong Zoom-zoom na ito... Una, dahil bakasyon man ngayon... at pangalawa, dahil magalit man ang apo ko sa akin... Sabi ko sandali ko man hiramin ang computer niya..." He chuckled. "Hiniram ko man dahil ang mga put— naghiram ako dahil wala man pala kaming dalang sariling ano rito... Magsa-submit 'yan siya ng ano kaya sandali lang pwede... "

He paused for a while — as if thinking of a joke to interject.

"Sabi ko man sa anak ni... Ipasara ko man 'yang eskwelahan mo... Pasko tapos magpasa ng... Ano'ng ipasa mo? Handa natin no'ng... Bakit ka magpapasa ng requirements eh puro kainan man ngayong..." He laughed with the participants.

His aide reminded him of the time as he still wasn't able to give his greetings to the participants.

"Wishing you all a good and vaccinated year ahead..." He ended his message. The participants were greeting him back when his phone beeped.

"Sino man ba itong—" he paused then, smiled shyly as he placed the phone back on his table.

"Nag-text man ang... Ang babae... Nag-enjoy man ako sa pagbasa kaso putol man sa put-#₱%&! cellphone na ito... Some texts are missing ang..." His phone beeped again.

He typed a short message before talking to the participants again.

"Nabasa ko na buo... Nag-reply man ang babae... Gi-reply late man... No'ng 24 pa ako ng gabi nagbati, pero... Ngayon man nag-reply... Sorry for the poor signal..."

He tried to imitate the message. He paused again and placed his hand on his chin.

"Nag-out of town pala ang buang... Dili man... Mawalan nga ng signal do'n... Gipalagyan ko man ng tower ng telepono sa buong Pilipinas... Para hindi man..."

His aide reminded him of the time again. He signaled using his palm — which means that he's asking for five more minutes.

"'Di totoo... Palagyan ko man ng tore para dili na mahuli ang reply... Tatlong araw man bago..."

He chuckled while scratching his nape.

"Dati man... Itong babae... Ito totoo man na nangyari... Itong si... Mabilis man mag-reply ba... Pagka-pindot ko sa... Tutunog na agad ang cellphone kasi nasagot na niya..."

He got his phone to show it to the participants.

"Ngayon... Daig pa nitong... Mas mabilis pa akong maka-reply gamit man itong pang-tipa kaysa sa kaniya..." He paused. "Mabagal man talagang tumipa rito kita niyo naman... Burado pa ang mga letra kaya minsan gusto kong..." He pretended to throw it away.

"Kung baliktarin man natin ang sitwasyon... Ang mga babae... Kapag nahuli man... No offense meant to the ladies in the meeting... Kapag nahuli man magsagot ang mga asawa o boyfriend... Nagiging ano man... Nagiging dinosaur... Kahit ilang minuto lang huli..." He laughed at his own joke. "Kung ako man itong tatlong araw huli... Paktay na! Dili ko man alam ano na naman ang ipadala... Totoo man... Kaya man ako nandito ngayon sa bahay ng una kong asawa... Ayaw man akong patuluyin do'n sa isa dahil dili man din ako nakasagot agad... Put-%#&! Hindi niyo man maunawaan na... " He showed his phone again as if trying to tell them that they should understand his situation because he's using a keypad-type phone and it's really hard to type on those.

He looked at his watch and saw that it was already almost 8pm, so he decided to finally end the Zoom call.

"I am sorry, I lost track of time... Sabi ko man dili ko... Have a pleasant evening, everyone!" He bowed down and smiled at the end of the meeting.

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