[ WANTED: BFF ]

[15] One Week

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Thursday.

Sabi ko kay baklita ay after ng last class nya ay makipagkita sya sakin dito sa Starbucks. Actually, dapat kaninang 4 p.m ko pa sya pinapunta dito, pero sabi nya ay 5 pa ang end ng class nya at ayaw nyang mag absent dahil may quiz. Of course, I hate waiting for others, pero napag-isipan ko ding at least I have an hour to myself to think about stuff kaya pumayag na lang ako.

Honestly speaking, this still feels a little surreal to me. I couldn't believe that time went by so fast. To think that one week na ni baklita ngayon? Funny. He made it seem like taking the position as my "best friend" was easy.

But still, hindi ibig sabihin non ay kampante na ako sa kanya. Paano kung binabackstab nya din pala ako diba? He may look innocent, but I can never be so sure. Pagkatapos kong mapagdaanan ang iba't ibang klaseng panloloko, pagsisinungaling at pagtatraydor, sa tingin ko nakalimutan ko na kung paano magtiwala.

Believe me. Kung kayo ang dumaan sa posisyon ko, matututunan nyo ding maging manhid.

"Good afternoon ma'am!" I heard the guard greet a customer a lot brighter than usual kaya napatingin ako. Oh, si baklita pala iyon.

"Good afternoon din!" Baklita greeted back, obvious na natutuwa dahil tinawag syang ma'am. So close na sila? Wow, ok.

"Oh Kate, anong hanash?" Ngiting aso sya as he took the seat in front of me.

"Here," sabi ko as I placed the white envelope on the table.

"Ano to?" Pabirong tanong nya at dahan dahang kinuha ang envelope para i-inspect.

"Your weekly salary." I stated as-a-matter-of-factly. Then I flashed a cold smile. "Congratulations on being the first person to reach one week."

"Huh???" Napatigil sya. His smile suddenly disappeared. Nagpalipat lipat ang tingin nya between sa envelope at sa akin. "Kate... anong ibig sabihin nito...?"

I laughed coldly and rolled my eyes. "Oh come on. Don't pretend to be so surprised. Have you forgotten that what you're into is just a contract?"

Napabuka ang bibig nya, but he didn't say anything. Then he just stared at me as if he was trying to read my mind. Or rather... as if he already knew what I was thinking.

Nag-iwas ako ng tingin. See? See? This is basically the reason why I can't fully trust him. When he's serious, it definitely feels like he knows something about me. Mas gugustuhin ko pa yung maingay sya, makasat at mumula-mulala.

"Just take it. Hindi yan suhol o kung ano. It's your money."

"Pero Kate..." nakakunot pa rin ang noo nya habang tinitingnan ang envelope. Konti lang ang pagkakabukas nya but surely with just one look, nakita nya na agad kung magkano ang nasa loob. "Sobra sobra yata 'to? Daig pa nito pang isang bwang sweldo ng mga professor natin! Ayos na ako sa 1K o kahit nga 500 lang, pero Kate..."

Luminga linga pa sya sa paligid as if to make sure nobody was listening.

"30 thousand?!!! Seryoso ka ba???"

He whispered harshly. Napapikit ako. Is he seriously complaining about this?

"Okay then. Let's be technical about this, baklita. Your job requires time, privacy, physical, mental, and emotional strength. Your work hours is not set for certain hours. You have to be on-call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You're basically sacrificing your personal life. You should understand the nature of your job, baklita. It's that kind of job where I can make your life miserable kung gugustuhin ko."