Steady Rhythms of Love (Ryker Series #2)

Prologue

"Architect, tumatawag po sa telepono ang Daddy mo," Migo told me, one of the Intern under my team.

"Just tell him that I will call him later when I'm no longer busy," I responded quickly while still busy checking the work of the other interns under my team.

He nodded but after a few seconds, he knocked on my officer door again.

"Urgent daw po, sa'yo na raw po siya tatawag. Sagutin mo raw po."

I put down the paper I was reading before leaning on my swivel chair and lazily reached for my phone.

"I'll answer it, you may go," sabi ko bago tuluyang sinagot ang tawag. "Dad..."

"Did you receive my message?"

I checked my unread messages and saw that I received one from him. I sighed before putting my phone on loudspeaker. Nilapag ko iyon sa gilid ng table ko bago nagpatuloy sa ginagawa.

"Yes."

"Did you read it?"

"I have tons of work today, I don't have time to do that. Sa bahay ko nalang po babasahin."

I heard him sigh from the other line. "Can you read it now, please? It will only take a few minutes of your time."

"Just tell me about it."

"Ryker University is hosting this year's Architecture Day next weekend and they've invited us to send a representative to be the guest speaker. They personally requested me to be on this. They badly want you to take this one, Zara."

Here we go again. Hindi na bago. I've received a lot of invitations from RU to be one of their guest speakers ever since I began making my name but I am consistent in declining their invites. Hindi ko pa kayang humarap sa maraming tao.

"Dad, we've already talked about this before..." I trailed off.

"I know. I'm sorry, I don't want to force you. They just really want to make you their guest speaker that's why they decided to reach you out through our company. Besides, this can help you para masanay ka na ulit na makisalamuha sa maraming tao."

I don't have any beef with my alma mater but the thought of coming there is making me feel uneasy. I'm not ready yet to face familiar faces and see familiar places there. Heck I don't even know if I'm ready to meet unfamiliar faces.

"Let's just talk about it when I'm done with my work."

"Or you can just come here and we'll talk about it over dinner."

"Fine," I said before ending the call.

I leaned my back in my swivel chair once again. I clicked the email sent by my father's secretary regarding the other details of the event. After reading it, I noticed that the University sent me a personal email as well.

Invitation to Speak at Ryker University's Architecture Day

"Ano 'yan?"

Abala ako sa pagbabasa ng email nang biglang sumulpot sa tabi ko si Lorelei. Kunot na kunot ang noo niya habang seryosong nakatingin sa screen ng desktop ko.

"As we extend this invitation, we can't help but hope that perhaps this time you might consider joining us as our guest speaker," she read loudly.

Napailing ako bago siya hinayaan na basahin ang buong email.

"Parang yearly ka na atang pinapadalhan ng ganyang invitation, ah? Tapos yearly ka ring tumatanggi. Nakapag guest na kaming dalawa ni Calista diyan tapos ikaw tumatanggi pa rin," umiiling na sabi niya bago nilapag ang ilang mga documents sa mesa ko.