Everything Has Changed

Chapter 2

Nag-ring ang cellphone ni Henry habang nakikipag-meeting sa mga advertisers. Then he put it on silent mode. It was their second meeting dahil interesado naman ang mga ito na ilagay sa men's magazine ang produkto nila na isang men's deodorant. Pwede naman. In fact, it might sell dahil number one selling men's magazine naman ang CHAP. Habang dumadaldal ang isa sa mga advertisers, Henry's phone vibrated for a minute. Tutal madilim naman at presentation pa lang naman ng product at ng gusto nilang maging itsura ng product nila sa magazine. He looked at his phone. Unregistered ang number then he decided to answer the call.

"Apooo!" sigaw ng nasa kabilang linya."I've been trying to reach you!" Alam na alam na ni Henry kung sino yun. Tumayo si Henry sa upuan niya. "Excuse me, I have to take this call. Eliza, take charge." Then he stormed out of the room.

"Hello? Grammy?"

"Apooo!!!"

Nilayo ni Henry ang cellphone sa tenga niya sa sobrang lakas ng boses ng lola niya.

"Grammy! Hi. Calm down. I can hear you."

Yung lola kasi niya kahit na techie di pa rin maalis ang pagka-ancient.

"Apo, masusundo mo ba si lola ha?"

"Po?"

"Oo. Nandito na ko sa airport."

Henry face palmed. With of course his other hand that doesn't have the phone on his ear. He gasped. What? How come na kababasa pa lang niya ng e-mail nito, nasa Pilipinas na agad ang lola niya? He was damn nervous.

"Umm... Ah... Grammy I'm in the middle of a meeting. Can you wait for me maybe... for a couple of minutes?"

"Oo naman, apo. Siguro bibili na lang muna ko ng mga pampasalubong kina Jinny, Sasa and Hermie."

"Ah.. Yes, Grammy."

"Okay. We have matters to talk about young man." Saka naputol ang kabilang linya.

"Damn." Nasambit na lang ni Henry saka bumalik sa conference room. Umupo siya agad sa tabi ni Eliza. Napatingin naman si Eliza sa kanya. Madilim pa rin sa loob ng conference room pero kitang-kita ni Eliza ang mannerism ni Henry kapag nag-iisip. The Sherlock Holmes pose. Maybe Henry read a lot of the detective's adventures when he was younger she thought. But then, he rubbed his palms together. Tensed si Henry, naisip ni Eliza. Nagbukas din ang ilaw sa conference room at natapos din ang meeting.

"Sir, any thoughts?" tanong ni Eliza kay Henry but he wasn't paying attention. He was super pre-occupied. "Sir?" ulit ni Eliza. Then she tapped him. "Henry..." lumingon naman sa kanya si Henry. He came to his senses.

"Yes?"

"Thoughts niyo po sa ad nila sa magazine natin."

"Oh. Ah. I'll just speak to Mr. Centeno on Thursday privately."

"Okay. Thank you for dealing with us. Mr. Hidalgo will talk to Mr. Centeno on Thursday then it will be settled. Kuya Enz, can you please lead them outside. Thank you." Sabi ni Eliza while laying her hand out to Enz, their managing editor.

Nag-thank you-han muna sila, nag-shake hands at umalis na ang mga clients nila. Naiwan na si Henry at Eliza sa kwarto.

"Hoy, Henry. Ano ba? Para kang nasa outer space kanina. Kaskas ka ng kaskas sa mga kamay mo. Ano bang meron ha?"

"Andito na si lola." He declared.

"Talaga? Eh kababasa mo lang ng message niya kanina ah?" masayang tanong ni Eliza habang nakangiti at inaayos ang mga papers sa ibabaw ng conference table.

Tumango si Henry. "Nasa airport na siya. Nagpapasundo na. Bumili na lang ng mga pampasalubong sa mga pamangkin ko para malibang siya. Sinabi ko kasi na may meeting ako. Kaya ayun. She's waiting for me at the airport. And she mentioned that we have matters to talk about again." He was breathing heavily and twice the normal pace. Epekto na rin siguro ng scotch na ininom niya. "And what bothers me is that why in the hell the letter was just sent to us tapos nandito na agad siya."