Princess Series Two: The Bitter Bitch

3: The Visitor

J A S M I N E

"Diana, where are the list of Clishique clients?"

"It's on your upper right drawer, Miss," sagot naman ng secretary ko.

I thanked her and checked the list, trying to see who I should prioritize first. Isang policy kasi namin sa Clishique that no matter what happens, clients will always go first. Next, the members. And customers are always the last. We're not always open to accept projects and such, sometimes we leave them to other designers in our company. Pero kapag may free time naman kaming magbabarkada, we do the best we can to meet with the demands.

"Diana, sino 'tong priority?"

My secretary looked up from her own papers and I handed her the folder. She read through it. "Miss, bigay po 'to ng head. Sabi niya important daw siya and na-approve na ni Miss Belle na gawing priority kahit hindi client."

Kumunot ang noo ko. "Bakit? Sino ba 'yan at may special treatment?"

Nagkibit-balikat siya. "Sorry, Miss. Ito lang po ang binigay sa'kin kahapon, e. Apparently, gustong makipag-meet sa'yo ng client."

"Ano ulit pangalan niya?"

"Keslow Guillermo, Miss."

I stilled. "What?"

Diana blinked. "K-keslow Guillermo po."

My nose flared and I fisted my hands. Bakit naman ipa-priority ni Belle ang gagong supot na 'yun? Putangina. "Call Belle."

"Yes, Miss."

I closed my eyes and counted to ten and back. I was not expecting this, especially not now. Not this soon. Akala ko hindi na siya magpapakita pa sa'kin. So why is he wanting to meet me now? And he fucking paid extra 15,000 just to be prioritized. At pumayag talaga si Belle! Putangina talaga.

"Miss Belle is on line four," saad ni Diana.

"Okay. Leave, Diana. Go get lunch for us," utos ko at tumango naman siya t'saka sumunod. Pagkasara ng pinto ay kinuha ko agad ang telepono. "Tangina, Belle!"

{ Hello to you, too. }

"Don't fucking hello me! Why did you agree to prioritize him?!"

She sighed. { Jas, kalma ka muna. Try to think with an open-mind here. Please. }

"Pakshet naman! Alam mo naman ang ginawa ng gagong 'yun sa akin e! Bakit ka pa pumayag?" Just like that, bumalik sa'kin ang nakaraan. Oo, hindi ko na siya mahal; pero andun padin ang sakit na dinulot niya sa'kin. Hindi ko alam kung bakit ba niya ako sinaktan ng ganun. Isa lang ang alam ko: kinamumuhian ko siya. If killing wasn't illegal, he'd be six feet under right now.

{ Jasmine, please. He's a potential client and investor. Kilala mo naman ang pamilya niya, 'di ba? }

How could I forget? Keslow's family owned a lot of hotels and had a worldwide branch of clothing and cosmetics. Kung hindi ko lang siya ex at kung hindi lang siya gago, siguro kumpanya na nila ang supplier namin because their products are at the top of the merchandise charts. But since my friends know who he is and what he's done, he was out of the list. "Belle, hindi mo padin sinabi sa'kin. And I had to find out this way. Nakakapikon!"

{ Lagi ka namang pikon, e. Jas, please think about na muna, okay? I'm sure Ariel will be there later. She knows the details, too. }

"I feel like all of you ganged up on me," inis na sambit ko at hinilot ang noo ko.

{ We didn't. } Belle sighed. { Look, I have to go. May binigay si Prince sa'kin na booklet and I have to annotate it. Usap tayo soon? }

I groaned. "Fine. Bye."