May FOREVER ba sa NEW YORK?

CHAPTER 14: CELLPHONE

           

Purity's POV

This man could speak in Tagalog and could also understand it, I presumed. Tsk, Tsk, Tsk, after all the Tagalog words that came out from my shotgun mouth. I looked at him with my mouth opened. He was sitting on his chair while he formed a steeple with his fingers. His eyes were fixed on me.

Adrian repeated his question, "Matagal ka na ba dito sa New York?"  

I kept on staring at him maybe because of shock or maybe because of the nonstop beating of my heart. I could hear a noisy drum inside of me.

He smirked when he said, "Ms. Gonzales, are you alright?"

I came back into my senses and slowly walked through the chair located on his big, oak table. "You can speak Tagalog? OMG, you did understand... hmmmm..... my..... ahhhh.....," I stuttered, still looking at Adrian.

"Yes, I did understand and Yes, I speak Tagalog. My mother is a Filipina and my father is German. My nanny, Yaya Corazon is also a Filipina. I am fully aware of the Filipino language and the culture and traditions of my mother's ancestry. I visited the Philippines numerous times already. My mom's ancestral home is in Cavite. My favorite Filipino dish is Adobo." Adrian explained. "I also understand Filipino vulgar words, so to speak," he added with a smug.

"Ohhhh, I'm sorry Mr. Carlmas. Those are not vulgar words. They're expressions, you know," I told him nonchalantly. "It's just so weird for someone like you, a well-known billionaire to have a Filipino blood and could speak my language, to be specific."

"I've always been proud to be a half-Filipino. I never hid it from people that I've encountered, even to my business partners. I've learned to love both my Filipino and German blood," he stressed with his brow raised. "Now, Ms. Gonzales, what do you have here in your catalogues," he asked while scanning the catalogues that I gave him.

I just kept looking at him. This man was a perfect personification of success. He looked at the catalogues with ease. He had a perfect set of fingers and his hands were long. The word handsome was an understatement, but this man indeed is a perfect example of a demi-god. He had this perfect chiseled jaw. He had shaved, I presumed and his eyes, yes, his eyes.... oh my god....... and his smell, soooo manly.... ang sarap lang amuyin ng lalakeng ito ah.

"Ms. Gonzales?"

"Ohhhh, sorry ho Mr. Carlmas. I just couldn't believe it that you're a Filipino talaga. Nakakaintindi ka pala ng Tagalog and yet, you did ask me a while ago kung ano ang "Kingina" eh." I bursted out laughing. "Dapat alam mo yun, hindi ka na dapat nagtanong sa akin. Just imagine nakakapagsalita ka pala ng Tagalog at nakakaintindi pa. Tapos magtatanong ka kung anu yung sinabi ko kanina, hahahahaha," I kept on laughing at him.

Adrian stopped looking at the catalogue and looked at me with no emotions at all. He fixed his eyes on me. I sensed that he's about to get pissed with my laughter. So, I stopped and cleared my throat.

"Sorry. Ahmmm, about your question a while ago, if matagal na ako dito sa New York. Well, 5 years na rin po ako dito. I'm living with my bestfriend in an apartment. Then, for your second question, ahmmm, about our latest catalogue, ahhmmm, you will see our latest summer attire for men from well-known designers like Giorgio Armani, D&G, Alexander McQueen, Tom Ford, Christian Lacroix and many more. I'm very positive naman po Sir na lahat naman po ay bagay sa inyo and you could actually afford almost anything and everything. Para nga po kayong model eh," I uttered continuously. "Sir, why don't you try wearing polo shirts. In po sila ngaun, try mo po ang pink polo, that would look good on you Sir. There are lightweight suits also and balik din po ngaun yung 90's streetwear. Actually Sir, hindi naman po ako kasi stylist eh, yung mga usual na pumupunta po kasi sa boutique eh mga ready na po yung choices nila, inoorder na lang po namin if hindi available sa boutique. If available naman po eh, prineprepare naman po namin for them. Kaya, kung anu man po ang magustuhan niyo sa catalogue, just contact the boutique at kami na po ang bahala." I finished with a big smile on my face.

Adrian watched Purity with so much interest. He had his own stylist but he couldn't help himself wonder about this talkative creature in-front of him. She's far different from the women that he'd encountered. Adrian went back to his senses when he noticed that he's spacing out.

"Oh, I see. I will look over this catalogue and send them over to my stylist. I also apologized for what happened a while ago. Now that I knew na kababayan pala kita." Adrian told me.

"Ok po Mr. Carlmas. I will go ahead na po Sir. Ms. Stephanie is waiting for me already at the boutique. She texted a while ago. Again, nice meeting you po, Mr. Adrian Carlmas." I offered my hand to him for a handshake.

Adrian took my hand in his. He squeezed it tightly. I felt something, yes, something that I couldn't explain. So, I immediately took my hand away from him. He just looked at me with a smile. I suddenly noticed that it was a genuine smile but it went away all of a sudden.

"Nice meeting you too, Ms. Gonzales. Hope to see you again, since kababayan naman kita." he told me, his eyes not leaving my own two orbs.

"OK po Sir. Sige po, BYE." I excused myself straightaway from his office. When I was out from his office, I breathed a lot of air. It was suffocating inside, frankly speaking, or maybe perhaps, his presence indeed suffocates me for an unknown reason.

I was outside the building already when I decided to buy myself a coffee and a muffin. I felt hungry since it's already near lunchtime. I went to a nearby coffee shop and helped myself to the counter. I bought what I wanted and instantly moved my way out because it was crowded. I called in a cab and hopped in. I ate my muffin and drank my coffee inside the cab.

When I arrived at the boutique, still holding my coffee, I saw Stephanie with a client. I proceeded to the office and went directly to my table. I placed my coffee down and looked for my cellphone inside my bag. I couldn't find it inside my bag. I looked again and tried to ransacked everything inside and yet my cellphone was nowhere to be found.

"Nasan na bay un?" I whispered.

I was really annoyed of my own stupidity of losing my cellphone when suddenly, I realized something.

When I received the text of Stephanie, I was inside the rest room of Adrian's office. Then, it hit me!

Napa-facepalm na lang ako...... Naiwan ko lang naman ang cellphone ko sa rest room ng office ni Adrian Carlmas. Tsk.... Tsk... Tsk....

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Adrian's POV

I called in my secretary via the office intercom. I told her to call Stephanie of Fifth Avenue Men's Exclusive Boutique and informed her that I got the catalogues that she sent via her sale associate Purification Gonzales.

Her presence went back to my senses when I mentioned her name to my secretary. Well, it's nice to know that I met a kababayan. But, there's something with that woman. I could see it in her eyes. They looked sad every time I stared at those two orbs during our talk.

I also felt something when I took her hand and lightly squeezed it. It was never the same with other women I touched. It's soft and cold. I guessed she's really tensed during that moment.

I diverted my mind to other things that I needed to do. I focused myself to my work.

After 30 minutes, I decided to go to the rest room. I smelled sweet woman cologne. It smelled orangey like rose and it lingered to my nose.

I saw something to a nearby lavatory counter. It was a cellphone. Then, it hit me.

I reached out for it and pressed the home button. A picture of two women appeared. I noticed the face of Ms. Gonzales and the other one, I assumed, her best friend. Both had an appealing smile and morena beauty. However, I found myself staring at Ms. Gonzales' eyes once again.

"I will return this cellphone to her..... Myself.

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Thank you for reading. Hope you like this update. God bless everyone.

Again, this is unedited. :) :) :)