Together but Separate

Chapter 5: Everything Casual

Kate Rojas

I worked from home for three days before I decided to go back to the office. Gumagaling na kasi ang ankle ko at kaya ko nang maglakad ng maayos.

I thought many things would change at home nung bumalik na si Nicko pero that was not the case. We remained civil with each other. I could feel that he was giving me some space to be comfortable in the house because we barely bumped into each other in the house, and we ate meals separately most of the time. We didn't get to have another long conversation like the last time we ate together. Sometimes, we would not even say a word to each other kapag nagkakasalubong kami sa bahay. And that was fine with me, for that was the plan.

Days and weeks had passed. Our set up continued to be the same. We were living separate lives, and it worked well for us.

"Many investors are competing to invest in our company, Maam. They are willing to do everything to get the spot," my head staff told me.

Since the day everyone heard that I married a Ferragni, our sales went up. My company was getting recognitions more than it should. More and more investors were willing to invest that the spot became limited. Because of what was happening, the boards did not even think twice of approving my proposal to expand abroad when I brought it up again.

Marrying Nicko was not that bad at all. It had some perks in spite of the chaos I experienced few times because of being married to him.

I was so happy and excited about the expansion that I spent days and nights planning for it. I planned to start in Asia, to the countries nearby. My first goal was to expand to Singapore and Vietnam. I wanted to export my products there.

I did not waste any time. After few weeks of planning and working it out, we finally found clients that were willing to market our products. I went to Singapore and Vietnam to meet them personally. I stayed in these countries for at least two weeks each because I had to follow up with the business paperworks for their country to allow me to export there.

After getting an approval, the marketing team and I planned on how to market our products to their masses. We had to hire endorsers to make commercials in their languages to effectively market the products. So, I stayed longer just to make sure that everything would go well.

I did not feel like I was out of the country for more than a month because I was always so busy. In fact, I did not take even a day off while I was abroad. Every minute counts to me, and I did not want to waste any precious time. An opportunity opened, and I needed to grab it tightly and persistently.

Kuya Cris picked us up in the airport. We dropped off Linda at her house first before we drove back home.

"Na miss ko kayo, Maam. Ang tagal niyo rin doon sa abroad."

Napangiti ako kay Kuya Cris.

"Na miss ko rin kayo, kuya. Kamusta ang bakasyon niyo sa lugar ninyo sa Bacolod?"

Pinabakasyon ko kasi siya habang wala ako. Ang tagal niya rin kasing hindi nakauwi kaya sinabihan ko siya na i-grab na ang pagkakataon na wala ako para bisitahin ang pamilya niya at para makapagpahinga.

"It was fine," sagot ni kuya saka tumawa.

"Naks naman. English 'yon ah. Parang nag-abroad lang kayo, Kuya Cris, ah." Tumawa ako sa joke niya.

"Pero seryoso, Maam, salamat sa perang binigay ninyo para ipambili ng plane ticket ko at para ipasyal ang pamilya ko. Sobrang tuwa po nila, Maam. Salamat daw po ng sobra. May pinadala nga silang kakanin para sainyo, Maam, bilang pasasalamat."

Napangiti ako. Kahit sa pictures ko lang nakita ang pamilya niya, parang pamilya ko na rin sila dahil pamilya ang turing ko kay Kuya Cris. Matagal ko na siyang driver at sa kanya lang ako may tiwala na ibigay ang trabaho na iyon. Kaya ginagawa ko ang lahat para tumagal pa siya sa akin. I made sure that I do not overworked him.