My Life Without You

Prologue

June 2016

Miss Jenny was in the TAPE office conference room with Alden, Mr. Joey de Leon, Allan K. and Mr. Vic Sotto. TitoSen was still on leave because his loss in the senatorial elections gave him reason to just rest for a while with his family. Present were her main writers, Alden's handler, 2 floor directors and Direk Pat. But sans Maine and JoWaPao. Which alerted Alden that there may be something in this meeting today. Something big.

It was already 20 minutes past 4 o'clock. The KalyeSerye for that day just ended and Alden was asked to stay and because he had no prior commitments, he just waited for the others and Ms. Jenny to be ready. 

"Alright, team," Ms. Jenny started, addressing all of them. "As you all know, KalyeSerye will celebrate it's first anniversary this July. We already thought of plotlines to spice things up between Yaya and Alden. And after some deliberation, me and the writers have picked what we think is the best one."

"Jenny, be consistent pa rin, ha?" interjected Sir Joey, who was usually just content to be informed of the flow of the story and letting Jenny and the writers do their job. "The narrative is still important even if this is just a street series."

"Of course, Jo," Jenny acknowledged. She then turned to Alden after glancing at Direk Pat. "We'll be introducing someone new. Her character - what is she to you and what will her purpose be - will not be disclosed immediately to Maine, JoWaPao and the audience. We will let them stew first, let them think. Her arrival will be on a Monday and you will formally introduce her on a Wednesday. Yes, she'll be set in the studio."

"But what will her real purpose be?" Alden asked, a bit apprehensive at the introduced plotline. Not because he thinks he'll be bashed - he knows he'll be, regardless of what will be his relationship to the newcomer - but because Maine will not be informed. For real. He does not really care what others will think, as long as Maine will not get the wrong impression. 

"She'll be your older sister. She's been living abroad and you had not parted on good terms. But because it's been years since you've seen each other, you welcome her with open arms. And I mean this literally," the head writer-turned-VP explained, handing out a 2-page plot outline to Alden. The other writers did the same to the others. 

Jenny gave them a few minutes to go over them before she started again. "We already cast someone for the role. But I won't introduce her to you yet. You'll get to see her only on the day she's set to appear."

"Do we know her?" asked Bossing, who was still on the last page.

"No. And she's not a celebrity here in the Philippines either," Jenny cheekily said, a mischievous smile on her face. "We found her at the most unlikeliest of places but she's fit for the job."

"It says here that the story arc will last two weeks?" the question came from Leysam, Alden's handler. 

"Yes, it's the timeframe we calculated, time we think is enough to tie up loose ends. To show the audience how her arrival will affect AlDub, especially since it's the upcoming anniversary and also reconcile her with Alden," she expounded. "She is, after all, family. We're also deciding to have her bond with Divina."

"But how, exactly, will she spice things up for AlDub?" asked Allan K, perplexed. 

"By the anniversary, we will now have Divina decide that she is really sure about her feelings for Alden and ready to jump with him. But with the sister's arrival and keeping in mind the reasons why they had a falling out in the first place, Alden will question himself and he'll ask Divina to give him some time," Jenny answered. She had turned these ideas in mind the past few weeks, thinking of ways to pull this off.