Elysian Secrets

Kabanata 5

"Hold all my calls."

Kamuntikan nang mapaigtad at mapasigaw si Lia sa pagkagulat sa biglaang anunsyong iyon ni Raphael.

"Sir!" singhap niya at nasanggi niya pa ang nakasalansang mga papeles sa kanyang mesa sa pagmamadali niyang tumayo. Nagkalat na tuloy ang mga iyon.

"Are you alright?" kunot-noo nitong tanong nang makalapit sa kanya.

"Yes," sabay tango niya pa nang makailang ulit.

Ni hindi niya man lamang narinig na bumukas ang pinto ng opisina nito. Ni ang papalapit nitong mga yabag. Oo nga at carpeted ang sahig nila, but Raphael is a big, towering man. He has no business moving like a thief. He should be a lumbering klutz.

As it turned out, she was the klutz who dropped a bunch files.

His eyes flitted to the scattered papers. Maingat niyang isinalansan ang mga iyon at pasimpleng isinilid doon ang itim na sobreng kanina niya pa tinititigan. Nandoon ang buong atensiyon niya kanina kaya hindi niya na namalayan ang paglabas nito mula sa lungga.

Besides, he is not supposed to be out this early!

She glanced at the digital calendar on her huge computer monitor and briefly scanned it. It confirmed that he has no off-premise meeting today. Or did she forgot to put it on the calendar? Kinabahan siya.

Heart in her throat, she asked. "Did I forget to put a schedule on your calendar?"

Hindi ito sumagot agad. Something on her desk caught his attention. Nang sundan niya ang tingin nito, she saw the edge of the black envelope peeking from under the mound of papers. She thumbed the edge and pushed it deeper under the papers bago muling ibinalik ang tingin rito.

Ginawaran niya ito ng alanganing ngiti and prayed hard for him not to say anything.

The Gods must have been listening because he just shrugged and said, "You're too perfect to forget anything. Just hold all my calls while I'm out."

He strode towards the elevator as soon as he finsihed his declaration.

"Are you coming back?" pahabol niyang tanong.

Huminto ang lalaki at nilingon siya. "I'm not sure. If by three and I'm still out, reschedule the rest of my activities and go home."

"Hanggang alas singko pa ang binabayaran mo sa akin," nakangiti niyang paalala rito. Ito pa talaga ang umuudyok sa kanyang mag-undertime.

He rolled his eyes. "Why would you stay when I'm not here? What are you gonna do, pine after me?"

It was her turn to roll her eyes. "You left me a ton of documents to study."

"The world will not crumble and I will not go bankrupt if you go laze around once in a while. I'm going to shirk my duties today. Do the same. Niccolo will be happy to see you earlier."

Muli na itong naglakad papuntang elevator at, this time, hindi na niya ito pinigilan. Once inside, he saluted her before closing the elevator doors. Tuluyan na itong naglaho sa paningin niya.

She heaved a deep sigh of relief at mabilis na muling napaupo at sandal sa swivel chair niya. Hinila niya papalapit sa kanya ang kasasalansang mga papeles, and then riffled through it until she found the black envelope again. Maingat niyang itinabi ang mga file sa malayong dulo ng desk niya para hindi na iyon masaging muli.

Isa-isa niyang nilatag sa mesa ang nilalaman ng naturang itim na sobre mula sa Elysium at bumuntong-hininga. She has read the invite for what feels like a thousand times already, but she still couldn't believe that her name was written on there. And that she received one in the first place.