Of (Heart)Beats and Bylines [Completed]

Chapter 4

"Hah!!"

I said a little too loudly then proceeded to look around our area by twisting my head left and right.  I smiled at some of my co-workers who smiled back knowingly.

After a year of working here, they know when I'm happy about my output. 

I just finished reading The Post after I've scanned through all the other newspapers.  Well because... save the best for last.

Take that Faulker guy.

"Welcome back Nicomaine.  After a few blunders, you're back to writing the best articles on paper today," Sir Andy said with a smile as he looked over my cubicle, his forearms dangling on the partition.

"Grabe ka naman sa blunder, Sir," I said, just a tiny bit butt-hurt.

He laughed.  He was teasing me a little; he was aware of my somewhat perfectionist nature.  He turned and gestured for me to follow him in his room.  "Alam mo," he began as we sat down, "nangyayari talaga na kahit mas magaling ka sa contemporaries mo, hindi laging sa yo yung best.  Ang importante at par with standards pa rin yung gawa mo."

"Opo naman sir," I responded with a bit of a scowl.  "I respect my fellow reporters from both the Chronicle and from the other newspapers.  Sometimes, you can't help but have a friendly competition to spice things up a bit."

"I learn from my colleagues and I hope they pick up something from me too.  I just want to be the best reporter/writer that I can be.  I want to succeed based on my own merits and without stepping on anyone's toes."

My boss chuckled again.  "That's a great attitude to have.  Yan ang dapat sa journalists-- may integridad.  Pagpatuloy mo yan.  O sige na.  It looks as if it's gonna rain.  I'll let you call it a day before you get stuck here."

Too late.  Well, it wasn't flooded yet but the downpour was so heavy that I stayed in the shaded area of our parking lot first, waiting for the rain to let up a little.

"Grabe yun lakas ng ilan no?"

I turned around to see whose voice that was.  It was John's and he seemed to be addressing me the question.

"Oo nga e."

"San ka ba umuuwi?"

"Pasig."

"Oh.  I'm from Ortigas... are you going to the movie premier tomorrow?"  He asked after a few minutes.

Our paper's entertainment section is sponsoring the showing of the latest superhero film.  "I'll be there," I said trying to suppress my giddiness. 

"See you then," he said as the rain let up and we both made our way to our respective cars. 

My oh my.  Tomorrow's going to be so interesting.  I giggled a little. 

~~~~~

"Will this road project connect to the south?"

I was just thinking about that.  This guy beat me to asking this question at a press conference. 

I raised my hand to ask my next question.

"So, if this is the case, where will the connection be?  Will there be a provision for this?," he continued. 

Yikes.  This guy is taking all my questions.

I leaned my body towards the left and craned my next.  Who's this guy?  I couldn't get a clear view of him but he seems to be a very faired skinned fellow based on his nape. 

He left the microphone stand and I looked down to check on my recorder.  I caught a whiff of his manly-- and pleasant-- scent as he walked past me.  I looked to my right just as he turned to my direction and smiled. 

Oh. My. God. 

A/N: I'm unsure where this is headed.  It's more of an experiment for me.  Thank you for reading.