Broken Promises (Epitome Series #2)

Kabanata 49

Pagkatapos ng usap naming iyon ni Chester, umalis na kami ni Tita Amanda. Ilang beses nila akong pinilit na sumama nalang muna sa kanila at doon na muna mamalagi sa bahay nila sa Makati but I told her that Chester has a property here at doon nalang muna ako. 

"Are you sure you'll stay here all by yourself?"pag-aalala ni Tita kaya napatango lang ako sa kanya. She only smiled at me. Lumapit naman sa akin si Tito Augustine.

"Just call us if you need anything"tipid itong ngumiti sa akin kaya napatango lang ako sa kanya. 

"I will. Thank you so much for your help, Tita and Tito"

Hinimas lang ni Tito ang likod ko bago niyakap. 

"I'll do everything for you, hija"he whispered gently kaya marahan lang akong napapikit. 

I don't remember when was the last time that I get a hug from Papa but Tito's hug is more comforting. Hindi ko alam kung bakit sa tuwing kasama ko siya, mas lalong gumagaan ang pakiramdam ko. 

Hindi naman sila nagtagal dahil hinatid lang nila ako sa condo ni Chester. We ate together and after that, umalis na rin sila para makapagpahinga na rin ako. Sobra rin siguro ang pagod ko kaya nang sinalampak ko ang katawan sa kama, ilang segundo lang ay nakatulog na ako.

Nagising lang dahil sa pagtunog ng aking cellphone. Nang makitang si Althea iyon, mabilis kong tinanggap ang tawag.

"What is it?"medyo paos kong tanong habang kinukusot ang mga mata. Napatingin din ako sa kaliwang banda at tinignan ang oras. Pasado ala una na rin ng madaling araw. 

"Miss Thalia went here and was looking for you"aniya.

"What did you say? Sinabi mo bang I am here in the Philippines because there's an important thing I need to do?"

Natahimik siya kaya napakunot ang noo ko.

"I did"

Napatango naman ako dahil doon. 

"I won't be accepting any calls from now. Keep everything on line and just deal with her for now. She knows what to do in everything. Just send me the updates sa flagship store natin. Send me an email of the summaries. I will held you accountable in everything. Let her decide for now"paalala ko kaya narinig ko ang pagsinghap niya.

"What is it? Is there anything you want to say?"tanong ko nang nanatili lang siyang tahimik.

"It is about the design team who were assigned to the August issue---

"No! I won't reconsider anything about that and Althea, this will be the last time you'll ever mention that thing to me. They need to learn from their own negligence and failure to submit the expected article we needed"giit ko bago binaba ang tawag.

Malalim akong bumuntong-hinga at nanatili munang nakatitig sa kisame. Napahilamos ako ng mukha dahil sa sobrang daming kailangang gawin. Bumangon ako at nagdesisyon na maligo muna at mag-ayos ng sarili. Sakto namang dumating ang email ng investigator na hin-ire ko. It was a report. Mga statements ng mga construction workers, auditing committee, at statement mula kay Samantha. May copy na rin ng mga audits ng account ni Chester pati na ng kompanya. They are also trying to reach out ot the contractor of the project. The Architect flew few weeks before they accused Chester of embezzlement. Kaya mas naging palaisipan ang lahat dahil sa biglaan niyang pagkawala at ni Stan. 

I tried to contact him again but he's out of reach. Alam kong isa siya sa makakapagpatunay na walang ginawa si Chester. That he is innocent. I believe that he cannot do this. He wasn't able to post bail because the company is stopping him for doing that. I don't even understand if that is even possible. The next day, I also tried to call Papa but he's not answering his phone. Kaya si Valerie nalang ang tinawagan ko and luckily, she's here in Luzon.