There Was You (Completed)

4 - All In A Day's Work

♪♪ Magtanim ay di biro, maghapong nakayuko...Di man lang makaupo...Di man lang makatayo ♪♪ (Filipino folk song)

Their car stopped at the entrance of a large shopping mall in Makati at around 10:30 the next morning.

"Mang Rogelio, sunduin n'yo na lang po kami ni Tita around 7pm? Yes, i-text ko po kayo kung saan."

Maine proceeded to the area  where her aunt is, busy with her phone.

"Where do you want to go, Tita? There are three malls here. Or do you want to have an early lunch first? There's a good restaurant here if you like Filipino cuisine."

"No, we make intay for the Uber ride that I booked, then we make tingin the cars that I lined up from the sites you gave me last night."

Maine just stared at her aunt not realizing that her reaction is written all over her face.

"Alam kong kagabi ka pa nagtataka. But, just in case you did not receive the memo, hindi ako marunong bumasa ng isip. You need to speak up. Hindi puwedeng yes or no lang. Come on, my dear, you can do it."

Put it like that, Maine had no option but to say what's on her mind. "Why a secondhand car, Tita? And why did we let Mang Rogelio leave if you intend to look at cars today?"

"Yes, secondhand car, used car, ukay-ukay car, whatever you want to call it. Ayoko ng brand new. Praktikal lang ako. Ang kotse pag bumili ka ng bago, kinabukasan, used car na ang classification. And why would we tell Rogelio? Eh di nalaman ng daddy mo."

"Ibig ko pong sabihin, Tita, why do you need to look for a used car? You can always ask Mang Rogelio to drive you around when he's not with dad or you can even borrow one of dad's cars."

"At maging dependent sa daddy mo for getting around? No way, Jose! No, no, no, no! Okay lang sana ako mag-Uber, pero hindi raw pala puwede sa labas ng Metro Manila. Paano kung gusto kong pumunta ng Tagaytay or ng Baguio or Subic? And besides, I want to experience again how it is to drive around Metro Manila. I'm sure adventure yon, para na rin akong nag-bump car ride sa theme park."

"Pero mahirap po magdrive dito, it's too dangerous. Masyadong mag-aalala si Daddy."

Tita Terrie made the motion of wiping non-existent tears. "Ayaw mo lang yata ako samahan, di bale na lang. Naiintindihan ko that you don't like my company. Puwede naman akong mag-isa. You can contact naman the police stations, hospitals at yung mga funeral parlors kapag hindi pa ako nakauwi by midnight tonight."

How can she win against that persuasive reasoning? "Let me look at your list. Which do you want to see first?"

"Sabi na nga ba at mabait kang bata. Pagpapalain ka ni Lord. You betcha by Golly wow."

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A/N: Meanwhile at the Daily Planet where Clark Kent is working... biro lang. Nakasalang na ang bida natin sa design review.

"Richard, why did you deviate from the specifications of the basement in your technical drawings? How are we going to explain this to the architect team?"

"Chief, ang address po ng condominium project na ito ay Cainta. Pag tiningnan n'yo po sa mapa, it's just 500 meters from the river bank and 1 km from the Marikina fault."

"Do you think the architect team did not consider that? How do we now justify your estimate of additional php3M for the basement and foundation columns alone?"

"Puwede pong mali ako, pero meron silang hindi na-consider."

"And just what do you mean by that, young man?"