Found

Chapter 17 - Missing

It has been a fast month. I was busy during weekdays at work and I was busy during weekends for my small time cupcake business. Lahat halos ng weekends ko ay may order dahil na rin sa word of mouth ni Faye. Kung sa marketing lang talaga ay talo niya ang ibang marketing manager na kilala ko and she doesn't even accept any single cent from me.

At work I am still struggling at times but I am sure getting the hang of it. I have great rapport na nga with the drivers! Kung noon una ay tinatamad akong pumasok due to habitual office work but then when I feel bored I help with the packaging team and sure their work is fast paced. George would allow me to help them if my job is done of course. George and I are still a working progress. Ngumingiti na rin siya sa akin minsan kapag Biyernes to be exact kasi weekend mood na iyon. Pero most of the week sinisimangutan niya pa rin ako. But it is okay with me. I don't intend to be friends with her. Civil is enough.

Chari joined one pageant in school and her talent was modeling. Of course I coached her and I was the mind behind her ensemble. She didn't win and I was so angry about it. The mechanics in winning was the number of likes in FB and one of the kids has a thousand over of likers. We did our best to ask all of the colleagues at work to like Chari's photo but then again she lost. I was really fed up and I wanted to talk to the teacher organizer to reinvent their pageant mechanics but Faye and Chari stopped me. Chari told me that it was okay not to win sometimes. She told me that even if she didn't win she was still happy for she had the opportunity to wear pretty dresses. Ah! That little girl is really endearing.

And Eki, Eki left for Palawan. Isang buwan siyang wala dahil may kailangan daw ayusin as George told me. Kaya pala binigay niya sa akin ang susi ng kotse niya at gamitin ko raw for deliveries. Akala ko pa noon una ay may bago siyang kotse. Iyon pala ay magtatagal siya. I didn't hear from him for a month. Hindi ko nga alam kung hanggang kailan siya roon. Lahat ng subordinates niya ang bukambibig ay kung kailan babalik ito. Miss na siya ng mga ito. At bukod doon meroon na naman bagong tsismis tungkol sa kanya.

Right now I am at Michael's again. He called me and he said on the phone that he has a proposal for me. And since it was Sunday so I came. I came for the proposal and of course that included the free good food.

"Eat." Salita pa ni Michael. Nakatingin lang kasi ito sa akin at ngiting-ngiti. Kinakabahan ako sa ngiti niyang iyon.

"Ano ba kasing proposal yan? Kung kasal sa Ate ko wala akong pakialam at ayoko ng pag-usapan."

"Ito naman." Simangot nito. "Naisip ko ito kagabi after thinking of you for a very long time."

"Eww! Michael that is so disgusting." Irap ko. "Why were you thinking of me for a long time? Gago ka huwag mo akong minamanyak sa isip mo." Tumawa naman si Michael.

"I wanted to think of you that way but sorry I cannot think of you that way. Siya pa rin talaga." Inirapan ko siya. He is one of the people who are smitten with Liv.

"Eh ano?" Taas ko ng kilay. "Dalian mo gusto ko umuwi ng maaga may pasok pa ako bukas."

"Ito naman minsan na nga lang tayo magkita." Binuksan pa nito ang tv sa likod ko. "Ayan manuod ka muna ng tv palagay ko di ka na nanunuod kasi nagtitipid ka. Isa ka ng dukha nga pala."

"Gagu!" Bato ko rito ng binilot na tissue. "I'd rather be poor with dignity than be rich with a lot of shame."

"I like! Pang Miss Universe!" Tawa pa nito. "Sali ka kaya roon, Belle. With your beauty and height--" at talagang piansadahan pa niya ng tingin ang katawan ko. "And your body and of course that pretty intelligent head of yours mananalo ka."

"Not interested." Irap ko. "I think those people joining that are robots. That perfect, irritating smile that send shivers down my spine and that world peace spiel. Who says that kind of stuff? Real people don't say that kind of thing. They don't even do a damn thing to the marginalized people of this country and they want world peace. F*ck them! Their minds were brainwashed by those sh*thead organizer. They really don't have a cause. Their politically correct speeches are sickening."