Light Up The Spark

Chapter 28

Spark

"Caden, don't!" Vini warned me as we both watched the little commotion happening.

"She's my friend and she needs help." I answered and walked directly to where they were.

"Not here please, tita. People are watching." I told who seemed to be Aly's mother in a low voice.

She looked at me with dagger eyes like she was asking who the hell am I but she let me lower her hand down.

"Hi, ma'am." I faced the other madam and introduced myself. "I'm sorry but I heard you mentioning Nexus so I couldn't help but to hear what you were going to say about it. I'm Caden by the way, the CEO and founder of Nexus."

I held my hand out for a shake and waited for her to accept it. She did briefly shake it after she raised her brows.

"I'm surprised that you're invited, iho. Oo at CEO ka pero hindi ba small pa yung company mo? Sa pagkakaalam ko kasi big corporations lang ang mga invited. And, regarding what I said a while ago, no offense. I'm merely stating the fact." She said with head held high.

Narinig ko ang singhap ng mama ni Aly kaya inunahan ko na siya sa pag-salita para hindi matuloy ang away nila.

"Of course, ma'am. No offense taken. As the CEO, I will work harder to improve the company and hopefully, one day, we can grow bigger, rise higher and be able to meet you up there."

"We'll always be 10 levels higher than you, iho. Kapag nakarating ka sa level namin, nakaalis na kami roon at nasa mas mataas na. Kids nowadays are so full of themselves, founding a company at a young age without any experiences and expecting to be at the same level of a business tycoon."

"We don't mean anything like that, ma'am." I said, trying my best to stay polite. "We are just full of passion and we have willpower to succeed in life. We respect our mentors and are very much willing to learn from them."

She faked a laugh in response. "Young people nowadays are so full of themselves when really, they've got nothing."

"How'd you know they've got nothing, amiga?" Aly's mom said, now better composed. "And who are you to be disappointed in my kids? Gosh! Uso pa ba ang pagiging nosy? Because my kids have their own lives, they have their own choices to make and the fact that they are choosing their own path instead of just following societal norms is 10 steps ahead of your unica hija that is so sheltered."

Ngumuso ako at umiwas ng tingin. That is... I don't know, bullseye?

"By the way, Nexus is indeed a startup, yet its investors are multibillion-dollar corporations. Don't belittle the young CEO here because he has an extensive network." She paused and turned to look at me expectantly. "If you'd excuse us, Caden and I have deals to discuss. You see, Hernandez Group is investing in Nexus too."

My eyes widened. "Oh, right! That was why I was looking for you in the first place, tita."

I offered my hand to tita and walked her away from there. Before we could be out of earsight, she asked me loudly.

"How's your project with Helios Tech coming?"

I didn't need to answer that though because the moment we were out of the ballroom, she just thanked me briefly and said that she needed to find her daughter.

I shrugged, ayos lang naman sa akin. The important thing is I helped and prevented a fight from happening.

Nakapamulsa ako habang naglalakad papunta sa parking lot. I decided to just wait there for Vini, uuwi na rin naman kami.

What I wasn't expecting was seeing Aly there, near my car. She was leaning forward at the railings facing the highway.

My steps slowed and as I got nearer, I noticed how her tears were still strolling down.