ATM 2:A True Madness (FBS#1)

11

Samantha woke up at 1:30 in the afternoon that day, just to find no one in the house. He tried texting Angelo where he was but he didn't even bother to reply. She also rang his phone but he didn't answer. She spend the whole day trying to cover her disappointment by doing all the chores in the house, watching movie and more, but still, failed. And it's late in the evening before she decided to get some rest. And one thing knew, she can't live a day without her husband. And she hated how it hurts her to the point she cried herself out to sleep.

The next day, she woke up with a headache and puffy eyes. She just ate cereals for breakfast and waited for Angelo again.

She started to get worried when still, his phone can't be reached so she decided to call their friends. Lahat ng maaari nitong puntahan ay tinawagan niya na pero wala pa din siyang nakuhang impormasyon kung nasaan ang asawa. Kaya naman wala na siyang ibang nagawa kung hindi ang mag-iwan ng voice mail dito habang nagdarasal, hoping he was okay.

"Angelo, where are you? I'm so worried right now, and so our friends were. Can you send even just a simple message for me to know if you're okay? Cause if you don't, I might overreact and call the police... *sigh* please... and take care."

Hindi siya mapakali sa mga sumunod na oras. She put her phone down and promise herself to rest for a while, but she can't help but to jump out the gadget when it beeped, hoping it was her husband, but always get disappointed. Afternoon came at nakatulog siya sa couch sa sala, with her phone on her chest, clutching it with her hands. Nagising siya na medyo madilim na at unang pumasok sa isip niya ay i-check ang phone niya. There were eight messages. Tiningnan niya kung sino-sino ang mga nag-text, at ng makita niya ang pangalan ng asawa, agad niyang nilagpasan ang ibang mga mensahe to check his'.

I'm busy

That's all he can manage to say after she made her worried the whole day. At hindi niya namalayan, naglalandas na naman ang mga luha sa kanyang pisngi.

How dare he! Pagkatapos siya nitong pag-alalahanin sa buong maghapon at magdamag, that's all he can say? But in the back of her mind, sinisisi niya din ang sarili dahil masyado siyang umaasa na kahit konti ay may concern din ito sa kanya. Nakalimutan niya na hindi nga pala siya nito kilala, as much as she thought of him right now.

Kaya naman kinabukasan, napagpasyahan niyang pumasok na sa kompanya. She better tired herself the whole day to work than to tired herself thinking about him all day. Maybe she needs a distraction. Dahil napapansin niya din na masyado na siyang nagiging clingy sa asawa. She might breakdown if ever he decided to leave her. But anyway, hindi niya naman ito susukuan. She just need to breathe for a while. Breathing the same air over and over again is very suffocating.

"Good morning, Ma'am."ayan ang bati sa kanya ng lahat ng mga empleyado nila. Ngiti lamang ang iginanti niya sa mga ito.

"Welcome back, Mrs.Salazar."her secretary, John, teased her. Iningusan niya lamang ito. John is also the secretary of Angelo and she's quite comfortable with him so she decided to get him as her secretary, too.

"You looked blooming, Ma'am."he complimented that makes her cheeks blushed.

"Thank you."she shyly replied that makes her secretary chuckled. She just rolled her eyes at him.

"Anyway, Ma'am. Ready yourself for a VERY tiring day. Your shedule is full."he informed. Tango na lamang ang isinagot niya dito. She quite expect that and she was silently glad about it. She was sure she'll forget about him the whole day.

Umupo na siya sa kanyang swivel chair at nagsimulang magbasa ng mga files na inilapag ni John sa harapan niya.

She was d@mn sure that the day will run to her.

It was 10pm when all her meetings were adjourned. But she wasn't satisfied yet. She needs more time with her office so instead of going home like all her employees who gets overtime, she stayed alone in her office. Alam niya namang hindi siya mala-lock-an dahil alam ng bodyguard na naka-assign sa overnight duty niya na hindi pa siya bumababa. Pumasok siya sa kanyang office. Since hindi na ulit siya nakapasok dito ng magsimula ang una niyang meeting, at maliwanag sa kanyang office tuwing umaga, she was welcomed by the dark as she walked in. And unlike before, she's not afraid of dark anymore. At least she can pretend.

Agad niyang hinagilap ang switch ng ilaw, and turned all the lights in the office on. Pinasadahan niya ng tingin ang buong office niya. This is the first time na inabot siya ng ganitong oras sa kanyang opisina. If she do appreciate the floor-to-ceiling glass window behind her swivel chair at morning, she was very captivated by the view outside. The city nightlights are reflecting into her beautiful eyes.

"What a pretty sight."she murmured, still in awe.

"What a beautiful sight."a baritone voice said.

"Yeah."she replied but when she realize that someone is talking with her, napamulagat siya. Wide-eyed, she harshly turned to face the man whose inside her office right now.

"Who are- Aiden?!"gulat niyang tanong sa lalaki when she recognized him."What are you doing here?"

"Aren't you suppose to go get some rest and sleep in your house at this time of night?"instead of answering her question, he asked a question, too.

"Uhm, I've got big loads of works to do here in my office."she half-lied. Oo, marami siyang gagawin, especially meetings, pero pwede niya pang ipag-paliban 'yon at unti-untiin, but she chose to busy herself all day.

He looked at her, quite not satisfied with her answer. Umiwas naman siya ng tingin dito, then cleared her throat."What are you doing here?"ulit niya sa tanong niya kanina para lamang maibaling ang topic sa kanya.

"Hindi pa din siya umuuwi?"she felt frustated when he did not answer her question again. Oo nga pala, alam nga pala ng mga ito na umalis ang asawa niya na walang paa-paalam dahil tinanong niya ang mga ito last time.

"Hindi pa."may bahid na ng pagka-irita sa kanyang tono ng sagutin niya ito."Now, tell me, what are you doing here?"iritableng tanong niya dito. She knows that's quite rude but she has no time for whatever game he was playing with her.

He shrugged his shoulders."Ugh! Can you just leave me here alone if you'll just mess with me?!"nagulo niya ang buhok sa pagka-irita dito.

Minsan na nga lang magsalita, pang-iinis pa ang gagawin! she thought to herself.

Umupo na siya sa kanyang swivel chair at napasapo sa kanyang noo when he didn't even flinch at her choice of words. Naaaburido siya sa bestfriend ng kanyang asawa!

"You want me to leave, then?"he asked, there's this unknown emotion in his eyes. She just looked at him and didn't bother to answer."Okay. I thought you want to go bar hopping."napasinghap siya sa tinuran nito.

"Wait!"sigaw niya at napatayo na siya sa kanyang upuan when he started walking away in her office.

"What?"he cocked his head on the side.

"Tss. I'll go."sabi niya at nagsimula ng magligpit ng mga gamit sa desk.

"Let's get wasted!"she said as she put her bag in her shoulder. He just looked at her, amused. Hindi niya na lamang ito pinansin at nauna ng lumabas.

If loads of works can't busy her mind off him, maybe a beer will do it for her.