Mister Villain

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

RJ was used to taking gambles.

Some cost millions. Some cost a few broken egos. And some cost his own reputation.

One of the things his father taught him was how to be shrewd in business and how to go with your gutfeel.

It helped build their telecoms empire.

It also helped him in the stickiest of situations – like the one he was in with Maine Mendoza.

Sa mga palpak na nagyayari sa kanya sa mundo, naiisip niya na siguro ay may anghel pa rin somewhere out there looking out for him.

That video call with Maine's bestfriend would have been nothing really important if he hadn't caught on sa asaran.

Pauleen's playful jab at finding Maine's phone in the possession of another guy and the way she had commented "Mas gwapo siya kay Sam oh! Way to go Meng!" even though everyone involved could hear it raised his curiosity.

He looked Sam Gogna up on the internet and found him a restauranteur.

He owned 5/6/7/8 – a chain of Mediterranean restaurants that RJ and his friends actually liked eating in. He went to the same school Meng was in and graduated the same year she did.

He was the Student Council president based from his public posts on facebook and seemed engaged in a lot of charity work.

In short, the man had the looks and a good heart – possibly yung "perfect" na guy na tinutukoy ni Maine during her drunken outburst.

And possibly the reason bakit din ito naglasing.

It somehow fit kase in his mind. Maine seemed to have feelings for the guy (based sa pang-aasar nang kaibigan niya) and he was having an engagement party on Saturday.

The last time he had seen her, she didn't seem to even be down in spirits. She was raising hell against him pa nga.

Tapos next thing you know she was in Draft trying to drown in Margaritas.

He tested the merit of his conjecture last night and her reaction was a dead give-away.

Poor little Ms. Mendoza.

In love with her bestfriend's fiancé.

"Sir, Mr. Tuviera is here na po" Mommy Ten knocked on his door.

"Show him in."

A tall stocky man entered and RJ immediately walked towards his door to shake his hand.

"It's nice to finally meet you Sir. I'm RJ Faulkerson."

The older man smiled. "Thank you for inviting me over Mr. Faulkerson."

RJ sent a proposal to him last week and got to talking to him two days after.

Mr. Tony Tuviera owned T.A.P.E. Publishings.

It was his publishing company that printed Maine Mendoza's "Two Wrongs Make A Right".

"I was happy you wanted to hear my proposal out" RJ led him towards the mini meeting room adjacent to his office that had an amazing view of the Makati skyline. Ten had prepared coffee and biscuits beforehand.

"Aaminin ko, I was curious and wanted to hear more of it in detail."

They sat opposite each other as Ten handed both of them coffee. "Well Mr. Tuviera –"

"Tony na lang Mr. Faulkerson" the older man cut him.

He smiled "You can call me RJ, Sir."

"Go ahead RJ."

"As I was saying, I've been wanting to expand beyond the telecoms business we have now. Your company is one amongst a list that we have been looking in to coz next year, we want to launch an arm in publishing, air lines, and potentially phone application based start-ups. I am not proposing a buy out though but rather, a partnership with you."

"I will be very honest in saying that my company is really small compared to the scale of yours RJ. I'm surprised we are even in your radar."

Ngumiti siya. "Your team published five big hits from Q4 of last year to Q2 of this year. I know your revenue is on the rise but you are having difficulty partnering with big publishing companies in the US so that you can carry international titles too. I have connections with Penguin and Scholastic. We can work on making you their sole distributor in the country. Ang alam ko e frustrated sila sa publishing partner nila dito sa Pilipinas ngayon."

"Oo nga raw. I sent a proposal over to them last month."

"If you are willing to explore a partnership with us, we can work on ensuring that your proposal is on the top of their mind. I'll send one hell of a sales team to pitch that proposal."

"Wow. Mukhang pinag-isipan mo ito nang mabuti."

He nodded. "Syempre Tony. I have to bring out everything to let you know how serious we are in this."

"Well, what's in it for you?"

"Wider reach, of course. We're starting to see a resurgence of reading as a habit for many pinoys, I am sure there is so much we can do with that opportunity."

"People would say that with the internet out there, publishing is outdated" Tony Tuviera challenged.

"Your revenue says otherwise" RJ countered "So I think you are heading into the right direction by marketing reading as a lifestyle, not just a habit. Your branding makes reading look both hip and intellectual. Mayayabang ang mga pinoy so they buy in to that. I say I can take that further."

The T.A.P.E. CEO looked impressed. "I will talk this over with my partners. What do you say about presenting how you can indeed take marketing our books further and I will have the partners present that day so we can decide on a merger?"

"I say that would be great! We'll prepare for that."

"I have no doubt you would. I am overwhelmed with the potentials of the partnership as it is."

That was all RJ needed. "Just give me a date and we could schedule the presentation outside the office. We can meet in Manila Pen."

"I'd like that."

RJ's smile widened as he finally relaxed in his chair. Tony made a few more comments on how he liked what he was hearing so far and how beautiful RJ's mini meeting room was.

Pinigilan nang Faulkerson heir ang ngumiti nang todo todo.

Everything was going well for him so far.

If there was one thing that RJ Faulkerson was, "sigurista" was it.

He didn't thrive on just one plan.

And when he decided to do all means possible to stop Maine Mendoza and his sister from publishing that second book, it wasn't just attacking Maine at her weakest that he planned on.

He looked at her portfolio to see how else he could make his goal possible and sure enough, coursing it through her publishing company will seal the deal.

If he became part-owner of T.A.P.E., he can work on ensuring her second book about their family never gets published.

She can search for other publishers, of course, but he'll make sure she gets binded to them by a contract that would make lawyers shit on themselves thinking of a way out.

"You'll never see the end of me Ms. Mendoza" he whispered to himself in satisfaction and then headed for his next meeting.

This was a jampacked day and he just had a boost of energy at the thought of him winning against her in the end.