Your Lucky One

Chapter Nine: Deep

Trese Anaya's Point of View

I was startled when Miss Everette snapped at me, her voice cutting through the air like a whip.

"Be quick, Trese."

In the flurry of her sudden command, I forgot to say goodbye to Diego, who was now probably halfway down the corridor.

"Ma'am naman, hindi tuloy ako nakapag-goodbye kay Diego," I mumbled under my breath, but loud enough for her to hear.

She shot me a look of indifference. "Is that even important? It's just a goodbye."

I almost rolled my eyes at her response. Just a goodbye?  Aba, sobrang attitude niya. Bestfriend ko 'yon noh, hindi lang basta kung sino!

"He's Diego!" I retorted, shaking my head in disbelief. "Kung ikaw may Ate Deuce kang bestfriend, ako may Diego akong bestfriend!" I grabbed my phone, thinking I'd message Diego instead. Nakakahiya naman if I didn't even say goodbye properly.

"No phones, Trese," Lenore's voice cut through my thoughts before I could start typing. "You are here to help, aren't you?"

I sighed and pressed my fingers to my forehead in frustration. Since when did I become the type to follow orders like this? I never really took orders from anyone, but here I was, pati ang pag-phone ko hindi ko ginawa kasi sabi niya ay wag.

"Ano po ba yung maitutulong ko?" I asked, trying to keep my tone as respectful as possible, kahit na gusto kong magtampo.

She glanced towards a small room off to the side of her spacious office. The place was much bigger than I imagined, though mas malaki pa rin yung office ni Ate. At the far end, several large boxes were stacked on top of each other. 

Tinuro niya ang mga boxes—goods? Canned goods? Ano ba 'to? Para saan ang mga 'to?

"Aba naman, mamimigay ka ng relief goods, Miss?" I asked, trying to sound casual, pero honestly, naiintriga ako. Relief goods?

"My student assistants are going to be late," she explained, her voice still as sharp as ever. "There are too many to pack by myself, and I don't want to be here all night. It's for our department's charity. I'm in charge."

I blinked, a bit stunned. Ako? Ako talaga ang magpapack niyan? She expected me to help with all of that? 

"Uhm... ma'am..." I trailed off, second-guessing every decision I made today that led me here. Volunteering to help was one of them.

"What?" she raised an eyebrow, clearly unamused by my hesitation. "Start doing it. I can't help you because, aside from being a faculty member, I also own several properties across the country that require my attention."

I swallowed hard. Of course. Since birth, I had never been asked to pack boxes like these. It was beyond my realm of experience. I was pampered most of my life, used to having things done for me, and now? I had to organize what seemed like an endless pile of relief goods.