Bitter Sugar Daddy

21st

21st

Kinabukasan ay maaga akong nagising sa katok ni daddy sa kuwarto. Masakit pa ang ulo ko when I opened my door at sinalubong ako ng kunot na noo nito.

"Arah, ano na naman 'to?" he showed me his phone. In there was the worst review I've ever read about me and the restaurant. And it was from the mom of the lactose intolerant kid!

She mentioned there that it was milk ALLERGY. That his son could've died because of our stupidity. It was horrible. She posted it on our Restaurant's Facebook account, in Zomato, in Tripadvisor at pati Google review ay hindi pinatawad ng mahadera! She mentioned my name and she wrote a lot of mean things about me.

Nasapo ko ang noo ko. "I'm so sorry, dad. It's not milk allergy, though. In-OA n'ya 'yan to get back at me."

"This is why I told you to be patient with them." iritadong sabi nito. "You're suspended, Arah. Two weeks."

"WHAT?" nanlaki ang mata ko. No, no, the charity event is next week!

"Do you even understand the impact of this review to our restaurant once a lot of people see this? Have this deleted right away, Arah."

Kumunot ang noo ko sa sinabi ni daddy. "What do you mean? I wasn't deleting anything. Hindi naman ako marunong magdelete ng gan'yan. I thought it's you, dad! I thought you're hiring some hacker or whatever."

Dad just sighed. Lalo akong nataranta. Hindi s'ya? Hindi s'ya 'yung nagpapabura? Hindi rin naman ako! Eh, sino?

"Sort this out, Arah Quincel, or you're fired." at iniwan na ako nito.

Napaupo ako sa kama na gulat na gulat. Online reviews cannot be deleted sa totoo lang. It was created like that para syempre, hindi agad-agad mafilter ng mga businesses na puro good reviews lang. But I really thought dad was hiring an internet expert to hack it or whatever. Hindi pala s'ya! Hindi rin naman ako! Who the fuck was doing it then!?

Nag-isip ako ng mabuti. Could it be Finn? But it was being deleted even before I dated him eh. So, no, I don't think it's Finn.

Veron? Daisy? Ahlia? Impossible. They would've told me. Why hide it from me? Sa daldal ng bunganga ng mga 'yon.

Eh, sino? OMG, I have a secret admirer!? Of course, why would that person do it for me if hindi n'ya naman pala ako bet, diba? Luh, ganda ka?

Pinuntahan ko si Daisy sa bahay nila dahil si Veron ay nasa work pa. Si Daisy, work from home, kaya pwede abalahin.

"Gosh, sino kaya, Dais?" hinawakan ko ang magkabilang pisngi ko, kinikilig.

"Luh, baka naman nanay mo? Assuming agad."

Tinitigan ko ito ng masama. "Kontradiba ka talaga. Hindi si mommy, malamang I asked her na! Hay, sino kaya!? Nakaka touch lang! It's either isa s'yang magaling na hacker para magawa n'yang magdelete ng online reviews or nagbabayad s'ya ng hacker. OMG! I'm sure, that's expensive! Wow, he must really like me! Sheeet! Sino kaya, Daisy?! Sino?!" Dahil nakahiga ako sa kama ni Daisy ay nagpagulong-gulong ako sa sobrang kilig. Tinignan ako ni Daisy na parang nakakadiri ako.

"Chura mo, huy. Tara samahan mo nalang ako sa office nila TJ, dalhan nating lunch. Kesa nababaliw ka d'yan kakapantasya." Tumayo ito mula sa work desk n'ya at mabilis na hinubad ang suot na malaking t-shirt. Naglakad ito papuntang closet n'ya at kumuha ng dress doon.

"Yuck, 'di uso maligo? Ew." asar ko sabay bangon na rin.

"Tanga, naligo na 'ko kanina." malditang sagot nito sa akin.

"Pahiram damit, nakapangbahay lang ako eh." I'm just wearing denim shorts, a lose shirt, and a pair of flip-lops. Mukhang bibili lang ng suka sa kanto.