Everlasting

Chapter VII

[JULY 2, WEDNESDAY, 8:46 AM]

Max's POV

Biglang may kumatok sa office ko kaya naistorbo ang pagtrabaho ko.

"Maam, Sir Cruz is here to meet you." Sabi ni Avery.

"Sige papasukin mo na Avery. Salamat." Sabi ko dito at ibinalik ang tingin ko sa monitor.

Bigla namang pumasok ang lalaking maputi. Gwapo ito at medyo namumukhaan ko siya.

"Hi Ms. Romualdez, sorry, I'm a bit late. Medyo natraffic lang kasi."

"Mr. Cruz, Good morning. Have a seat." Sabi ko sa kanya.

He sat on the chair across my table.

"So let's talk about business." Sabi ko dito.

"I got word na you wanted to invest in my company. You even travelled from New York so I bet you really wanted to." Panimula ko.

Ngumiti naman ito.

"Hmm. Yes. That's partly true but another reason is that I really wanted to see you Max. Hindi mo ba ako namumukhaan?"

I stared at him intently.

"Well, you look oddly familiar. Magkakilala ba tayo?" I asked him.

He looked hurt when I told him that.

"Sorry, I haven't been here for a while. So you are?"

Tumikhim naman ito.

"Liam. Liam Cruz from 2nd year." He told me.

"Oh my God! Liam! Ikaw na pala yan? Ba't hindi mo sinabi agad?" I told him still in shock.

Liam was actually the guy that made Anthon jealous during 2nd year High School, inadmit naman ni Liam na may gusto siya sa akin noon pero I declined him and we became friends. Well, we were friends. Umalis kasi ito pagdating ng 3rd year. Nawala nalang ng parang bula.

"So tell me, anong nangyari sayo nung 3rd year? Ba't bigla ka nalang nawala?" I asked him.

"Hmm. My family decided to move away sa New York nga eh. Hindi ko nga alam na lumipat ka rin pala. Ngayon ko lang nalaman. Natiyempuhan pang andito ka na ulit sa Pilipinas." Pagpapaliwanag niya.

"Ohh anyway, sabi ng secretary ko, gusto mo raw ako makita? Miss na miss mo na ba ako?" I teased him.

He chuckled.

"Anyway, let's talk about the investment?" Sabi ko sa kanya.

He started talking about his investment and I also layed down our terms about it.

"So final na yun?" I asked him.

"Yes. That's final." Sabi naman nito.

"Thank you for trusting MEAR group of Companies." Sabi ko sa kanya at inabot ang kamay ko.

"Yeah. By the way, Max. Gusto mo bang mag early lunch? Or may ginagawa ka? You know, we could catch up and stuff." Sabi nito habang hawak pa rin ang kamay ko.

Binawi ko naman ang kamay ko dahil medyo matagal na kaming naghahandshake.

"Uhm. Busy pa eh." Sabi ko dito.

Tumango naman siya.

"Dinner then?" Sabi nito.

I tried thinking of a way out. Paano ba to?

"I'm not going to take no for an answer Max. Pag tumanggi ka sa dinner, aayin kita sa breakfast, pag tumangi ka doon, sa lunch, and ao on and so forth." Sabi niya.