["PLAY THE KING" IS ACT TWO OF THE "PLAY" SERIES. PLEASE READ "PLAY THE QUEEN" FIRST.]
It's been four months since Priam Torres, the once unpopular president of the Elysian University Student Council, assumed office. Thanks to his chief-of-staff Cas...
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CASTIEL
"WHAT THE hell is going on, Priam?" I yelled after shutting the door of the conference room. Right after the announcement of the new vice presidential nominee, I did not waste any time confronting the president. I demand an acceptable explanation!
Naiwan sina Sabrina, Tabitha, at Rowan sa labas ng aquarium. I asked them to give us space. They congratulated me for the promotion, but I was not one bit happy about it. If it were someone else, they would be jumping for joy. Isinara ko ang motorized vertical blinds para hindi nila kami makita sa loob.
Priam stood at one end of the conference table. His eyes were devoid of any emotion, as if he were serial killer about to murder me no matter how much I begged. He was even unfazed by my sudden outburst. He took all the arrows that I shot at him, unflinching.
I stood face to face with him. Mas matangkad siya sa akin kaya hindi ko siya basta-basta mai-intimidate. Umangat ang tingin ko sa kaniya habang nakababa ang tingin niya sa akin. We exchanged intense stares, neither of us daring to break the fragile silence in the aquarium.
"I deserve an explanation, Priam," I tried to tone down my voice. "First, why did you not choose someone from the list? Second, why did you not tell me you were nominating me as your next VP? And third, why me of all people? You could have chosen Tabitha if you were being strategic!"
"I know that you're upset, Cas—"
"Am I upset?" I bared my fangs before turning away from him. Napahilamos ako ng mukha at napahinga nang malalim. "I would have appreciated it if you kept me in the loop. Nagmukha akong tanga at walang kaalam-alam dahil sa mga desisyon mo na hindi mo ipinaalam sa akin. I'm your freaking chief-of-staff, and I got blindsided by the very person that I serve!"
"You're right. You are my chief-of-staff," he said with a certain coldness that could send chills to my bones. "And I am the president, the one who ultimately makes decisions in this office. Kung magiging technical tayo, hindi ko kailangang ipaalam sa 'yo ang bawat galaw ko at hindi rin kailangang dumaan sa 'yo ang bawat desisyon ko."
"Wow!" I stared at him in disbelief, my mouth hanging open. "After months of giving me direct access to you and your thoughts, you've decided to cut me off from your decision-making process? Yes, you don't need my approval or opinion unless you ask, but you should have at least given me a heads up!"
Another round of silence befell the conference room. Paulit-ulit akong huminga nang malalim para pakalmahin ang sarili ko. Inhale. Exhale. My eyes never left Priam. I wanted him to see how hurt I was by this new development.
"Are you done?" he asked. "Can I now answer your questions one by one?"
"By all means!" I motioned to him. Hinila ko ang isang swivel chair at umupo muna. Biglang nanakit ang kaliwang binti ko, malamang dahil sa sobrang stress na nararamdaman ko ngayon. "Please explain to me as a courtesy why and how you arrived at those brilliant decisions—which, by the way, will jeopardize our alliance with SALVo and ruin everything that we've built so far! You're well aware of their conditions, aren't you?"
