Tú Eres Mi Sol

XXVII

In the last few months, Dei and Richard hardly spoke to each other but what confused Richard it seemed that Dei kept on going back to New York.

Michel-Jan, one of Dei's University classmate, the Montenegro's family friend, would post, walking in Central Park with the gorgeous Dei Mendoza or the week after, watching a play at broadway.

Though, Richard himself was travelling most of the time, too. Japan, Switzerland then Japan again. Sometimes Dei didn't know where he was so she'd check on Victoria's social media account and there she'd see, Kyoto with the handsome Richard, Mt Fuji with this one right here or visiting Geneva with Mr Faulkerson, though the last one irritated her, how dare she come to my turf.

***

This is it, Richard tells himself. No more excuses.

Richard sends Dei a message: "Free on the 2nd week of February? Geneva?"

Dei: "I think so, lemme check"

Dei: "8th, Good?"

Richard: "Yup. Block your calendar. 8-12?"

Dei: "Done"

Richard books a hotel in Lake Geneva.

***

"Tom, may mga meetings pa ba ako?"

"Sir, isa na lang"

"Pa-block pala ng 7-13 ng February. Vacation Leave"

"Ay, sir. Naka-book na kayo for 9 - 14 ng February"

"Ha?"

"Naalala niyo Sir yung event niyo sa New York, yung conference, yung tinawagan kayo noong professor niyo dati sa Singapore? Tumawag siya to move the event to 9-14. Free pa naman kayo so nag-confirm ako."

"Oh", he says with a very disappointed tone

"Tom, can you check if I can take a flight from here to Geneva then to New York? I'll take 5th to 8th as vacation leaves."

"Sir, may meeting po kayo sa 4th and 5th in Beijing. I can block off 6th to 8th if you want?"

"Sige, yun na lang muna"

Richard sends Dei a message: "I checked, I apparently have an event in NY on the 8-12, Can we do 7th and 8th instead? MNL - GVA - NYC. I'll leave on the 6th, so that we can spend the whole day of 7th and 8th."

Dei: "I was just going to send you a message. I can't make it on the 7th and 8th 😞"

Richard: "What? I haven't seen you in 4 months! It's the longest that we haven't seen each other!"

Dei: "I know! If we don't see each other in the next 3 months, the next time we see each other I need to bring a huge sign "Dei Mendoza" You might not know me anymore! 😢😭"

Richard: "I'll bring our childhood photos. I'll label them in case you forget me, I'll put in labels and arrows, this is Dei, this is RJ"

Dei: "RJ!! 😭"

Richard: "Dei! 😭"

Dei:"Got to go. Thesis defence"

Richard: "Thesis defence? Isn't it a little early? But Good luck! Well, I know you won't need it anyway! Kick a** in there!"

Richard opens a photo of him and Dei.

*coughs*

"Uhmm.. Sir, kakatitig niyo baka matunaw na si Ma'am Dei. Sir, ligawan niyo na kasi. Bagay na bagay naman kayo. Tsaka mabait naman si Ma'am Dei, kayo din maunahan pa kayo ulit." Johnny tells Richard

Malapit na, Malapit na. Richard mumbles to himself

"Ano Sir?"

"Ha?" Richard still hasn't looked up from his phone

"Uwi na po ba tayo?"

"Ha?"

"Uwi na po ba tayo?"

"Ah, Oo."

***

"Dad,Mom, Pupunta po pala ako sa New York sa February. I have a conference to attend. I promised one of my old professors that I will go "

"Sure! Rob, Lia, will one of you be here to cover RJ right?"

"Dad, wala pa naman akong travel, so I'll tell my assistant not to accept any travel during that period", Rob replies to his father.

"RJ, di ba usually you'd meet up with Dei every 2 or 3 months, it's been awhile since you travelled to London or Switzerland", Lia asked her brother

"Oo nga e, I was talking to her earlier. I was thinking to make a 2 day trip to Geneva before I head to NY but she isn't free on those dates. Anyway, Dad, we've finished overhauling the video, audio , CCTV cameras and we also upgraded the data cables in the office."

"Dad, RJ here did really good. I had a video call with one of our clients, really clear. HD Quality", Lia added.

"Good job, Hijo! We're really proud of you!"

"Thanks, Mom!"

"Dad, Mom, Lia and I think that RJ can handle more responsibilities in the company. The work he's done at the farm, the solar panels and the wind turbines have brought us great savings. We think we should replicate the technology in our other farms, the initial expense would be high but the savings in the long run be more beneficial for us."

"I've actually looked at the numbers and I agree, the numbers do not lie. I also visited the farm, the staff seems really excited with this technology! Great job, Hijo! What do you want as a bonus, Hijo?"

"Mom! You're spoiling RJ!", both Rob and Lia called their mother's attention

"Children, I have seen the numbers. The target amount that we are going to save this year is about 10 million.  It's just January and we're already 30% there. The projection in the long run is we'll save more as we convert more and more of our production to renewable energy. So I think my little RJ here deserves a little bonus? Everything we threw at him, he's done exceptionally well. We wanted him to increase sales, and he did. Remember that the sustainable renewable farm was only a theory among the 4 of us and we didn't know how we were going to do it but when RJ stepped in, all fell into place"

"Now that you've presented it like that Mom, you're actually right. We didn't really know how to implement the renewable stuff. When the four of us looked that the requirements and the technology we all said, is this in Greek? Hahaha. Little brother, name your bonus?" Rob tells his brother

"I think I know my brother, I don't think he's going to ask for a sports car or even a house. I think he wants cash as always."

Richard smiled and said, "Always on point, dear sister."

"What do you do with all your money, we all have two trusts each, from Mom and Dad. And you are the most thrifty person here! I don't think you've ever taken money from your trust funds" Lia tells Richard  

"Invest? Besides I'm planning to buy a house"

"Hijo, we have a big house and I am not letting you out of this house until you're married"

"RJ, your mom is right, we all want you to stay here until you get married"

"Mom, Dad, Lia, Rob, I'm not going to buy a house here. It'll be overseas. I'll let you know more details once it's done."

"Honey, why is your son like that?"

"Like what? Always trying to keep things from his parents"

"Mom, Dad. I'm just looking for now, nothing final so nothing to share."