ARE YOU MAN ENOUGH?

Chapter Seventy-Four

NAPANSIN NI BASIL ANG TAMLAY SA BOSES NI PAULA. Nakaupo ang binata sa harap ng study table sa silid ng condominium unit. Umaaninag sa mukha nito ang malamlam na puting ilaw mula may kalayuang sliding glass window. It was already six in the morning, and yet the skies were somber. Sumisilip doon ang view ng siyudad— ang nagtataasang mga gusali, poste at linya. Katapat ni Basil ang bukas na laptop.

Basil's back was against the backrest of his chair. An elbow rested on one of the armrests while his other hand held the smartphone close to his ear, tilted slightly away from his cheek. Komportable ang binata sa suot na indigo pajamas at white cotton sweater na long sleeved. Akmang-akma sa lamig ng airconditioning sa kwarto.

To be honest, Sir, malumanay na patuloy ni Paula, pakiramdam ko, may naging contribution ako. Kaya... kaya ganoon ang feeling ng karamihan sa mga nagtatrabaho sa Variant. Kaya pakiramdam nila, may favoritism sa trabaho. May unfair treatment. She paused, taking in another breath for courage. Siguro, mali ako na tinuring kong trabaho lang ang trabaho. Siguro, dapat kahit papaano, may personal na parte ng pagkatao ko ang dapat na shinare ko sa mga katrabaho ko. Tulad ng pang-unawa. She chuckled. Sorry, Sir. Hindi ko alam kung bakit napapakwento na ako rito. Napabuntong-hininga ito. And Basil could imagine her lift her head up with eyes closed in frustration. Hindi kasi kayo nagsasalita, Sir, eh. Puro ako tuloy itong nagsasalita.

Napangiti lang si Basil, pero hindi abot sa mga mata. He simply smiled because he found it funny when Paula shed off the professional mask and talk like her personal self. Or maybe because it was both a happy a sad feeling that comes over him when she does that, which is rare. The rarity of it made him smile because it happened, and made him sad because he never knew when...

When will he have another glimpse of Paula's personal self?

A time when she drops behaving like his employee and just be herself.

Her real self.

Dahil sa hinaing ng dalaga, nagsalita na si Basil. "Huwag mong damdamin masyado 'yong sa open forum. All of that happened when Miss Jackie was still the HR Head. Ilang araw ka pa lang HR Head. Those sentiments simply reflects the past management, okay?"

She hesitated. Okay, Sir.

Basil continued. "You should see it as a leverage. Now, you know where the past management went wrong. Pag-aralan mo 'yong mga report ni Jared. 'Yong mga recommended steps niya para masolusyonan ang tungkol sa unfair treatment."

Yes. There she goes again, back to behaving professionally. As she should. Damn, why was he being such a jerk? Paula was doing the right thing. Why was he asking for something more? Hinihintay ko na lang ang email niya. Malapit nang matapos ang linggo pero, wala pa akong nare-receive sa kanya. Ineexpect ko pa naman 'yong pangako niyang by Thursday, meron na.

"I think, you're just too fixated with what happened at the open forum. Kaya abang na abang ka sa email niya. You should be taking your time studying the tasks that Miss Jackie left behind instead of calling me for this, Miss Paula."

Ang tinawag ko talaga sa'yo ay ang tungkol sa in-email mong notice sa akin. Nareceive ko siya nung mismong araw ng Team Building. Nabasa ko lang kinabukasan ng gabi. There was a silence, and that kind of suspense got him holding in his breath. Lalo pang nagpakaba sa kanya ang paghalo ng kaseryosohan sa matamlay nitong boses. Aalis ka na ba talaga sa Variant?

Napakamot siya ng baba. "Well..." he wanted Paula to take it lightly, something that she would just laugh about. But it was hard, especially with his failure of a sense of humor.

Basil was very aware of his poor sense of humor so, it really made him sweat cold bullets.

"Yeah."