"How have you been, mystery girl?"
Iyon ang unang bungad ni Xavier sa kanya pagkasagot nito ng tawag niya. At kahit namo-moblema, hindi niya mapigilan ang pagsilay ng ngiti sa mga labi. Ewan niya, but Xavier always have a way of putting a smile on her face no matter how shitty her day has been.
"Ito..." She trailed off.
"Should I take a wild guess?"
She could imagine him with a raised brow while waiting for her to elaborate that one word. She sighed.
"I'm still here in La Union."
"Still? Why the delay? Akala ko babalik ka na ngayon sa Maynila?"
She could already imagine his frown deepening sa magiging sagot niya.
"Well..." Muli siyang bumuntong hininga, this time it was laced with frustration. "Kuya Joaquin... he announced to the board that I will be replacing him as Executive Director. Papalitan niya si daddy as CEO since unstable ang health niya ngayon. Bawal siyang ma-stress."
Ilang sandaling hindi ito nakaimik. He clicked his tongue after a while.
"Will you be resuming the position after you're finished with your MBA at Harvard?"
Nakagat niya ang ibabang labi at saka napabuntong hininga.
"Iyan nga ang problema eh..."
This time, she heard shuffling from the other side of the line. Ang pagbukas sara ng pinto ang sunod niyang narinig.
"I'm just getting myself a bottle of beer." Imporma nito sa kanya.
"Kuya is insisting I get my MBA here instead."
"What did you just say?" Anas ni Xavier. Halata sa boses ang labis na pagkagulat.
"Of course I declined!" Mabilis niyang sagot. "I have my own plans, alam mo iyan. At hindi kasama doon ang magtrabaho sa kumpanya!" She exclaimed, frustration was dripping in every word.
"Okay, relax..."
Nagsimula siyang maglakad ng paroo't parito. "I can't fucking relax, Xavier! I feel like they are keeping me here! Tapos itong si Atticus pa..."
"Why? What's with him?"
She sighed. Pakiramdam niya wala na siyang ibang alam gawin ngayon kung hindi ang bumuntong hininga. Ganoon siya ka-stress!
"He..."
"He what?"
"He kinda... uh, confessed."
That earned her a long silent reaction from him.
"So... He said he loves you...?"
She rolled her eyes at the question. "More on like he's attracted to me."
"What?!"
"His words, not mine." Mapakla niyang turan.
"What the fuck?!"
"I know right." She chuckled dryly. "And that's after he told me he has a fiancè."
"Shit! That's fucked up."
She couldn't agree more.
"I need to think of a way to get back to Manila because I fear if I don't act now, I wouldn't be able to step foot outside this country ever again."
"And how do you plan to do that?"
"I'm going to tell my parents I need to sort some things at the university."
BINABASA MO ANG
The Minxes Series Book One: Asking for the Moon
RomanceSesha Josephine Ilustre has everything a plain Jane would ever want in life- expensive clothes, jewelries, cars, attention, the love and support of a family... you name it. She revel at the fact that she could go to an elite school not because of he...
