Eighteen

Chapter 42

Tristan Han sent you a friend request.

It was the man from yesterday. Catherine's half-Korean cousin. He had told me about staying here for a month before flying back to Korea where he currently lived. A friendly person. We had talked about a lot of things in a span of an hour of knowing each other. Nagbiro pa siya na iikot ko raw siya sa Pilipinas dahil wala siyang tour guide.

Hindi naman pwede dahil marami akong kailangan asikasuhin.

Aalis na sana ako ng condo nang nakita kong may mensahe ako sa telepono ko. I would have understood if he had sent this message for business purposes, but the content was what I would not expect from him.

Ivo: Morning miss CEO. Ure not moots with Anai, I see

Nagtipa ako ng sagot.

Camille: Good morning, Mr. Montepolco. May I know why that concerns you?

We were mutuals before, yes, but that was on my old account. I had already made a new one. Only my close friends and family had access to it. For the sake of tita Irina, I included this guy in my friend list only to have gotten his very odd message right off the bat.

Now that he had pointed it out, I actually felt bad for not adding Anais. Well, for a fact, I had never added anyone. It was not because of my pride; I just did not. Hindi ko rin naman madalas na ginagamit ang social media ko kung hindi tungkol iyon sa trabaho.

I kept my phone after that and went straight to job. We had multiple meetings in the morning. Nakakapagod ang araw na ito kaya nang nagkaroon ako ng libreng oras mula alas-dose hanggang alas-tres, tinawagan ko sina Leon na puntahan ako. I was not sure if he had classes at the academy, but he replied. He must be free, too.

Hindi na rin nasundan ang sinabing iyon ni Ivo. Baka abala rin siya sa trabaho at nagawa lang na isingit sa oras niya iyong nakakapagtakang mensahe.

They had arrived at my office. Nakurot pa ni Ellaine ang pisngi ni Cain dahil hindi na siya nakapagpigil. I smiled widely and circled my table to meet Cain's little but comforting hug. Dinama ko ang yakap ng maliliit niyang braso habang nakaluhod. I looked at Leon who had a small backpack on his right shoulder; I assumed it was Cain's change of clothes and other necessities. Nakasuot din siya ng itim na sumbrero. Para siyang artistang tatay na kasama ang anak niya.

"What do you want, Cain?" tanong ko sa kapatid habang nilalaro niya ang pluma na nasa lamesa ko.

Weirdly, I preferred quills to plain ballpoint pens. Maybe I just wanted to work with style.

"Shopping," sagot niya naman.

Ay?

"Marami ka nang laruan sa bahay, Cain," sita ng kuya niya. Tinapunan ko siya ng nagbabawal na tingin na siyang ginantihan naman ni Leon ng buntong hininga.

"It is okay. Let him be. You only get to be a child once in your life."

"Hindi naman niya nililigpit, Ate," pagrarason pa niya na tunog pagod ang tinig. Maybe he was the one responsible for this little one's mess. Dapat tinuturuan din si Cain na magligpit para hindi siya lumaking umaasa lang. Though, I loved him so much that I wanted to give him everything that he wanted.

Nilingon ko ulit si Cain na nakatitig din sa akin, like he was trying to get in my favor.

"Hmm . . . I am not going to buy you toys if you do not know how to keep them after playing with them, Cain. Baka masira sila kapag hinahayaan mo lang," I said to my four-year old brother who was staring at me attentively. "They would be hurt if you keep your attitude toward them that way." I pouted to convince him. He pouted back! His cuteness made me pinch his cheek lightly. Natatawa na si Leon sa tabi.