Tangled Up With You

Chapter 5

A/N: Sama kayo sa prayer circle?

Ancestors, hear our plea
Help RoxChie become reality
No more delulu for the finale
Kenji, bring honor to us all.

Lol! Happy reading!

Red lips and rosy cheeks, say you'll see me again

Present

Had she known that the medium-sized kraft box would throw the entire 12th floor into pure chaos, she would have left it at home.

"Taym pers! Taym pers!" Kenji screamed from the top of his lungs. "Taym pers nga eh," he reiterated while swatting away an intern's hand.

"Huy, Kenji! Calm down," she chastised him.

"Itong mga intern na 'to," he criticized. "Hindi yata nakapaglaro sa lansangan. They don't understand taym pers."

"Hayaan mo na kasi," she told him, torn between putting her face in her palms and laughing out loud over her colleague's antics.

"Hayaan? Hindi!" Then he yelled at another intern. "Kaka-iPad niyo yan eh. Time pers nga! Taym - Order in the court!"

"What's going on?"

Roxy's posture stiffened. She suppressed a shiver as she felt a wave of goosebumps race across her skin.

"Hindi 'to first come, first serve.' Dadaanin natin 'to sa tenure," Kenji continued, not caring that a client entered the conference room.

"Everything alright?" Archie asked as he set two large white boxes on the table, his right arm brushing against hers.

Doughnuts - glazed for sure. Blegh.

"Morning, everyone! Got you all doughnuts to go with your coffee," he announced.

There was a collective cheer in the room, and a small group swarmed around the boxes of pastry.

"Lifesaver ka, Archie," Kenji sighed while fixing his glasses, clearly relieved that he no longer had to fight the others for the cookies she made.

"Ang OA mo, Kenji. May tatlong boxes pa kaya sa condo."

His eyes shone brightly with excitement. "Tatlo? Stress baking yan? Mine na doon sa isang box, ah. Pa-Lalamove ko later." Before she could reply, he turned to Archie and said, "Archie, kumuha ka na bago ko pa maubos," he offered.

Archie smiled. "Nah, I'm good. Baka kulang pa sa'yo."

Roxy felt a pang in her chest when he declined Kenji's offer.

Akala ko ba 'irresistible' yung mga bine-bake ko? Kung ayaw mo na, 'di huwag.

Kenji laughed and swore, "Dahil diyan, you have my vote."

She narrowed her eyes and said, "Really? Even if sa Los Baños ka bumoboto?"

Archie laughed and said, "Well it's the thought that counts. Thanks, Kenj."

"Speaking of, I need your thoughts on something. Kunin ko lang yung laptop ko," he said, then hurried back to his office with his looted box of cookies.

The 12th floor was spacious, and more than enough for their team of 18, which included the four interns Kenji was yelling at. There were four offices on one side, a conference room and a pantry on the other, and rows of desks in the middle. Both she and Kenji were given the two smaller offices while the two considerably bigger corner offices were each being used by Tanya and Archie when they were around.

She knew it would take Kenji a few minutes to retrieve his laptop, so she decided to make an exit before Archie ropes her into another conversation that she was not ready to be part of.