SECRET MOVE

Chapter Three

A/N: Unedited.

Athena Grace Flac

After I ate, I went straight to the washroom to brush my teeth.  Inside, I saw Sharpay washing her hands. I approached her to talk, but she seemed out of sorts.

"Sharpay, I'm sorry about earlier.  I shouldn't have shooed you away."

"Nah, it's okay," she replied, a bit tersely, as she dried her hands with her handkerchief.

"Dalian mo hantayin na kita." Saad nya, matipid naman akong ngumiti saka ko binilisan na magtoothbrush.

After I brushed my teeth, we went back to our work area together.  As I was at my desk, doing my job, the handsome guy walked by again.  I couldn't help but look at him.  It was like there was a magnet in my eyes, pulling me to him.

I floated away from my seat at kunwari pupuntahan ko lang si Sharpay, but then, I found myself standing in front of him.  My cheeks flushed as he looked at me. Oh, my god! He looked like Jimin from VTS, but with spectacles. So hot! Gusto ko nalang himatayin sa kilig.

"Can I help you?" His deep voice, which only made him more attractive, made me a little nervous. But I managed a smile, though. Bahagyang din akong napatingin kay Sharpay na ngayon ay nakatingin saamin.

"A-ah, maybe I can help you. I'm very helpful. Help me-help you," I said, trying to smile. But deep inside, I felt like I was melting.

"What?" Kunot ang noo nyang tanong. Oh shit! Ano bang pinagsasabi ko? kinakabahan kasi ako.

"S-sorry, lemme, aw!" I yelped, covering my eye. I had poked myself in the eye.  "Sorry, I just poked myself in the eye, heh," I explained, rubbing my eye..

He raised his brow, still looking at me, clearly weirded out by my actions. I knew I looked like an idiot, but this was how I reacted when I got nervous. I couldn't help being a little strange.

"Ah, let me introduce myself. Hi, I'm Grace, I mean Athena.  Short for Athena Grace," I said, extending my hand. As he shook it, I screamed, kaya pati ang mga ka-workmates ko napatingin saakin.

"What? What happened?" he asked.

"Oh, it's not your fault. That was just a very firm handshake. I have a very low threshold for pain," I explained, but the truth was, I had screamed in kilig.

Lumapit saamin si Sharpay para sawayin ako, nagsorry pa sya kay Handsome guy dahil sa actions ko. I silently gestured for her to let me be and return to her desk.  But she kept trying to pull me away, so I gently pushed her back.

"What are you doing? Go back to your desk," Sharpay whispered, reprimanding me.

"What? I want to talk to him. That's why I don't have a boyfriend—because I always have a villain in my life like you," I said, rolling my eyes.

Sharpay's eyebrows shot up, and she grabbed my arm to pull me back to my desk, but I swatted her hand away. I turned back to look at the handsome guy, but he was gone. He had left.  I glared at Sharpay, blaming her for him leaving, and then I returned to my desk.

When I returned to my desk, one of my coworkers told me that the guy was the company's leader. His name was Jade Montemayor. And guess who had chosen us for this job?  Jade Montemayor! Oh, my gigabytes! The demigod 'Jade' was my leader! Para akong hihimatayin sa kilig at paghanga. Na sayo na ang lahat Jade! Gusto ko tuloy kantahin yung song ni Daniel Pogillia

Jade William Montemayor a Pentagon hacker who could solve any problem, crack any code, and look so amazing while doing it. I had a giant, stupid crush on him. I couldn't help recalling my mom's words about finding a rich man for a better life. I felt like I had found him, and I felt it in my gut that Jade Montemayor was the one. He looked and smelled expensive. I wanted to date him. Kaya Sinulyapan ko si Sharpay. Tama! kay Sharpay ako magpapaturo.

Pagdating ng breaktime, tumabi ako kay Sharpay para humingi ng advices sa kanya at hindi naman sya nagdamot sa advices. In fact, she advised me that Jade Montemayor had a thing for morena women, so she suggested to use tanning lotion to achieve that look. I agreed with a huge smile in my face. So, after work, I told the security guard I was going out to buy some things and he allowed me to go outside, and when I got to the mall, I bought tons of tanning lotion, tons as in one month supply of tanning lotion.

So, the next day, I turned up to work in a tight short dress and had made sure to apply plenty of tanning lotion, hoping to look like those gorgeous models I'd seen online.  All eyes were on me as I walked down the hallway, and I was pretty sure I was having the same effect on Jade. If my plan worked, I would treat Sharpay to Jollibee.

Before the meeting started, nakatayo kaming lahat habang si Jade Montemayor nakatutok pa sa laptop nya. When he closed the laptop, he straightened up and greeted us all with a "good morning."

"Before we start the meeting, I have to ask Athena… are you having a reaction or something?" Jade asked. All of my coworkers turned to look at me.

"I'm good, boss," I replied, smiling at him.

"I think you should go to the bathroom. There's some anti-allergy medicine in the first aid kit there," he said.

Oh god! Ano bang itsura ko ngayon? May problema ba sa muka ko? I rushed to the bathroom, but when I looked in the mirror, I screamed.  Shit! The tanning lotion had turned so orange. I looked like a radioactive carrot. This wasn't the reaction I'd expected. "Sharpay, it's your fault!" I whimpered.

Pagkatapos ko maligo bumalik ako sa trabaho ko. I gave Sharpay a deadpan look. Natawa naman sya kaya mas lalo akong nainis sa kanya. Pagdating ng breaktime nilapitan nya ako pero hindi ko sya pinapansin. Nakakainis kasi sya, I looked like a polka-dot carrot this morning.

"Sorry, Athena. It really looked good at first. But I had no idea you were acidic," Sharpay said.

"Acidic? You totally did that on purpose to make fun of me," I accused her.

"Don't be delusional, Athena, bakit naman kita isasabotage?. Let's go out. I'll treat you. Wag ka na magalit saakin. I'm sorry na," she said.

Pinilit nya ako na sumama sa kanya sa labas ng facilities at nagtungo kami sa restaurant nearby. She let me choose what I wanted to eat, and we ordered. We talked and laughed the entire time. I completely forgot about the embarrassing incident that morning.

Sharpay invited me to her condo to play games. Her PS6, which she had ordered from Amazon, had finally arrived. She even taught me how to track someone using a cellphone or smartwatch. I learned that she was a real hacker!  But what I was most excited about was playing Fortnite on her new PS6.