Moment That I Met U

Chapter 11: Staff Meeting

It's been one and a half weeks since sinabi ni Alden na sya na ang magiging boss dito and so far wala pa namang diperensya sa nangyayari dito. Every Monday to Wednesday at Saturday mornings siya andito, on the other days, sa kabila sya or day off nya. Sa mga araw na andito siya medyo na luluwagan na kami ni Rhianna, but at the same time pa unti ng paunti na rin ang pumapasok sa store.

With that said, si Alden ay nag issue ng staff meeting sa Sunday, ang araw ng off namin. "Hay, why do we have to do it on a Sunday." reklamo ni Rhianna.

"Ano ka ba, first staff meeting natin 'to, dapat excited ka." sabi ko sa kanya habang naghihintay kami ng masasakyan na bus.

"Sus, gusto mo lang makita si Alden eh," she teases me, "am I right huh?" she lightly shoves me.

"Hindi ah," nilagay ko ang bangs ko sa likod ng aking tenga, I turn and looked at her but she continues to look at me in a teasing way. "Wala nga, excited lang talaga ako!"

But she continues to give me the same look, until I couldn't help it anymore, "Uy kinikilig!" she pointed out my face that expressed a lot of happiness.

"Hindi ah," I calmed myself down, mahirap control-in ang feeling na kinikilig pero ginawa ko, dahil work is work, and it's not the right time to find love, "Kinikilig ba yan?" I gave her my signature taray face, that I usually use on my dubsmash videos.

"Hmmm... deny pa Maine." she finally stops teasing me

Kawayan namin ang bus napadaan, at ito ay nag slowly stop sa harapan namin. Pagsakay namin sa bus, nakakuha kami ng group text kay Alden, "Guys I'll be there in 25 minutes, see you guys there."

Uy, my number siya ni Alden, "for your information, business number nya yan, lahat ng staff ng bakery merong yang number na iyan." I told myself. Nagreply ako with a simple smiley face habang si Rhianna ay nag text back ng winky face.

Pagdating namin sa bakery, umikot kami sa likod para makapasok sa backdoor, ang kotse ni Alden nakaparada sa harapan ng bakery. "Sir Alden?" sabi ni Rhianna out loud.

"Alden?" tinulungan ko siya hanapin ang aming boss. She went to the seating area while I went to the one place, I knew he was going to be at, sa loob ng kotse nya. I went to his car and peeped through it, nung ilalapit ko na yung mukha ko sa bintana, binaba nya ang window, ang mukha nya eksakto kung saan ako sisilip, buti nalang na hinto ko ang sarili ko bago pa magkadikit ang mukha namin.

Parang ilang sentimetro nalang ang agwat ng mukha namin, "good morning Maine."

I immediately backed off, "good morning po sir Alden." Medyo nagbu-blush ako, dahil hindi parin ako nakaka-recover sa munitkan na mangyaring kiss.

Sinara nya ang bintana, at lumabas sya sa kotse, "sabi ko sayo Alden na lang, wala nang sir o opo, halos magkakaedad lang tayo." I followed him walk back inside the bakery through thebackdoor going into the kitchen. "Besides isipin mo nalang na friendship ito, at hindi boss and employee relationship." I nodded and gave him a small smile, which he returned with an even bigger one.

"There you guys are, Alden where were you?" Rhianna walks inside the kitchen her hands on her hips.

"Ah... may pinuntahan lang," sagot nya pabalik, bakit kaya nya ayaw sabihin kay Rhianna ang hiding spot nya? "Since andito na tayo lahat, shall we start the meeting?" He sets up a table in the middle of the kitchen, puts a white tablecloth over it, and we dragged three chairs to it. "Medyo corny ng setup pero pwede na to."

"Magsimula tayo sa overview ng branch natin." he pulls out a big binder full of numbers and charts, he flips to a specific page about revenue. The chart shows two lines, one red, one blue, "ito ang weekly revenue ng main branch," he points at the blue one, "ito ang atin." tinuro nya ang red line na nasa ilalim ng blue line. "Hindi malaki ang diperensya, pero at the same time, malakas pa ang pumapasok na pera sa business dahil nga bago."

"So what do you suggest we do para malagpasan natin to?" I abruptly said.

"Right now, our focus is to maintain." he flips to a black page near the end of the binder, "that's why we need a..." he pulls out a pen from his pocket and write the word, "Gimmick."

"A gimmick?" Rhianna confused on what he was talking about.

"Yes a gimmick, something that will attract customers" he looked at both of us, "any suggestions?"

"What about a buy one take one?" Rhianna suggested to him.

"It would be a good idea, pero hindi natin ma-a-afford." he writes on the paper again, "it needs to be affordable and of course appealing sa mga tao." He turns to me, "Maine do you have something in mind?"

I was as blank as the piece of paper he has, walang pumapasok sa utak ko, all I could think of is my dubsmash videos pero I doubt na may magagawa iyon. I ended up just shaking my head and raising my shoulder.

He took a deep breathe, "Ganito nalang, pag may idea kayo, sabihan nyo na lang ako, i-text nyo or i-tawag nyo." and both me and Rhianna nodded our heads. "Switch over naman tayo sa company issued na topic." Imbes na nasa binder ang ipapakita niya, binuksan nya ang kanyang bag at inilabas ang apat na white polos na may tatak ng bakery. "Ito an bagong uniform ninyo," pinasa nya sa amin ang mga damit.

"Ang cute!" natuwa si Rhianna sa mga damit. "Maine do you like yours?"

"Ah, yes, I like it." ngumiti ako at tinapal ko yung polo sa katawan ko para makita kung bagay ito sa akin, "Rhianna what do think?" She smiled and nodded at me, "Alden, bagay ba?"

Nag blush si Alden, hindi nya siguro ini-expect na tatanungin ko siya, "Oo, bagay na bagay." he gave me a thumbs up, then I hear him continue his sentence, "kahit ano naman bagay sa'yo eh" he whispers and then quickly looks away.

Tinignan ko siya, si Alden hindi maka tingin sa akin, "Uhmmm... Maine let's go try these on." Rhianna grabs my hand and leads me to the bathroom. "Girl, did you hear him!" malakas na sabi nya.

I grabbed her hand and put my pointer finger on my lip, "Shh, quiet ka lang,." I said in a low tone, "Oo narinig ko siya."

"Maine ang haba ng hair mo!" her voice filled with excitement.

"Sige na i-try na natin 'to." we went to different stalls, paglock ko sa pinto, tinanggal ko agad ang suot kong t-shirt at tinesting ang damit na ibinigay ni Alden, "Rhia?" I walk out of my my stall and went to the mirror to check on myself.

She hollers back, "bakit?"

"Okay ka na?" I responded back, inaayos ko ang sleeves at collar ng bago naming uniform.

She comes out of the stall and walks to me, as I was buttoning up, she asks me to look at her, "what do you think?" she did a 360, para makita ko kung maganda ang fit ng damit sa kanya.

"It all comes down to kung komportable ka or not." I made her turn around so I can fix her collar, "komportable ka ba?"

"Oo super lambot nga ng tela eh," she felt the fabric of the shirt, "eh ikaw," tinignan ko siya, "komportable ka bang bumalik sa kitchen?"

"Bakit naman hindi?" inayos ko ang buhok ko dahil na gulo ito nung sinuot ko yung uniform, I grabbed my other shirt before following her. Binuksan nya ang pintuan para sa akin, and as I walk out, I see Alden waiting for us, seating near the the counter, "Ano bagay ba?"

"Sabi ko nga sa iyo." He stood up and walked closer to me, "kahit ano ba-bagay sa'yo."

"Pati rin ikaw, bagay ka rin sa'kin." Hindi ko mapigilan ang sarili sabihin yun, pero buti na lang pabulong ko lang nasabi at hindi nya ako narinig.

"Meron pa ba kayong mga questions?" we both shook our heads, "Hatid ko na kayo sa bahay ninyo." Alden offers us.

"Hindi na, okay na kami." I declined his offer.

Rhianna whispered in my ear, "Girl, payag ka na, ang init sa labas o, tapos pwede rin natin pambili ng zonrox yung ipamamasahe natin ngayon," she did have a point.

"And besides," Alden butted in our conversation, "nung unang offer ko, sabi mo next time nalang, well, right now is that next time."