Warming the Ice Queen's Tears

Chapter 34

Chapter 34

Azel

 

Paggising ko ay agad akong napasapo sa ulo ko dahil sa sobrang sakit. Nagising ako dahil sa walang tigil na pagtunog ng cell phone ko. Someone’s calling and that someone would be in deep sh*t kapag hindi mahalaga ang sasabihin niya.

Ugh! My head hurts. Why did I even get drunk?

Oh, I remember. It’s because Rainne cancelled all our weekend plans. Nakakaasar! Her sudden decision made me push myself to drink. Siguro dahil umaaligid na naman sa kanya si Kristoff. I wouldn’t let him get a step ahead of me.

I groaned with pain and annoyance before reaching for my phone lying on the side table. I was ready to shout and give the person calling a snarlwhen she spoke and I was glad I didn’t.

“Azel, did I disturb your sleep? Sorry, I’m not sure about the time difference.”

“Not at all, Aunt Therese.” I lied smoothly. “Do you need anything?” Hindi naman sa hindi ako natutuwa dahil tumawag siya. Hindi naman kasi ako madalas tinatawagan ni Auntie Therese kaya alam kong importante ang sasabihin niya.

“Actually I do.” She sighed. “Can you do me a favor and check on Aiden? I got some news that he’s not working for months now. I don’t know what’s got into him but this is unlike him and the company’s losing a lot of money because of this. The others even wanted him to step down from his position.”

Tumayo ako at dumiretso sa banyo para maligo. “Is that true? Something must have gone wrong. Aiden is the most workaholic person that I know.”

“I know. But I’m afraid it is.”

“Don’t worry, Auntie. I’ll go visit him after my meeting.”

“Thanks, Azel. I wanted to travel back there but Ben and I are fixing our own trouble with the main branch. The fire caused more damage than we thought and we have our hands full for a couple of months more.”

“I understand. Hope you fix these problems soon. I’ll call you when I see Aiden.”

“Thanks, Azel.”

Pagkababa ng telepono ay nagmadali agad akong kumilos. Uminom ako ng gamot kaya nawala ang sakit ng ulo ko habang nagmamaneho. I had a meeting with Drake Smith.

Drake was one of my friends back in college. We were on the same football team with Azel. He now had his own law firm and Rainne wanted him to be her new lawyer and legal councilor of the company. Malaking opportunity ito para sa kanya kaya agad niyang tinanggap.

Mabilis akong nakarating sa restaurant na pagkikitaan namin. Nandoon na siya nang dumating ako. Tumayo siya at ngumiti ng makita ako. We shook hands before engaging a bro hug and sat.

“How’s it going man? It’s been a long time.” He asked.

“Yeah. It’s been what? Three, almost four years?” he raised his hand to signal a waiter before turning to me.

Hindi ganoon kalaki ang pagbabago sa kanya. He was wearing a business suit and his golden brown hair was neatly brushed. He had this wide smile that he always had same as his caramel eyes. Mas lumaki ang katawan niya at naging mas professional. Kabaliktaran ng suot ko na jeans and shirt lang.

Nagkwentuhan muna kami habang hinihintay ang pagkain namin.  Hindi siya kasing yaman namin non. He belonged to the middle class but he worked hard and had struggled before getting where he was now, branching out his law firm. Nag-usap pa kami hanggang sa mapunta sa meeting na magaganap bukas matapos dumating ng mga pagkain namin.