Can't Help Falling In Love

Kabanata 59

           

Kabanata 59

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We stayed like that for a little while... Hugging each other while watching our reflection in the mirror. Nanatili kaming magkayakap na para bang ngayon lang kami nagkitang dalawa pagkatapos ng mahabang panahon. Ilang sandali pa ay mayroong kumatok sa pinto, sinasabing kailangan na si Kevin sa function hall. "Let's go?" Aniya at hinawakan ang kamay ko para ikawit sa kanyang braso.

I nodded then followed his lead. Iginiya kami ng isang waiter papasok ng function hall. Pagkabukas ng function hall ay namangha ako sa dami ng tao. Karamihan ng mga bisita ay mula sa iba't ibang branches ng The North, mga investors, department heads, family, friends... Natanaw ko ang mga kaibigan namin na kumakaway. Sina Margaery, at Myrcella naman ay kinukuhanan kami ng litrato.

"Ladies and Gentlemen... Now, I present to you... Kevin Rafael Valdez, the new Chief Executive Officer of The North Incorporated." Anunsyo ng emcee dahilan para tumayo ang lahat ng naroon at binalot ng palakpakan ang buong lugar.

Iginiya ako ni Kevin papunta sa table kung nasaan ang mga kaibigan namin. Pagkalapit ko doon ay agad akong niyakap ni Jeanne. "Kate, I'm so happy for you..." Ngumiti ako at niyakap siya. I'm happy for us, too.

Pagkahatid sa akin ay dumiretso sa harap si Kevin at agad na binigyan ng mic. "Good evening, everyone." He greeted everyone with a smile. "The North Incorporated is our family's legacy. My late grandfather, Alloysius Llanes Valdez built this now big empire from scratch. He used to say to me as I child..."

"Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, hardships... If something so great is so easy to have, then everything would be."

"My late grandfather, as some of the people here know, was a great but arrogant man. I think his motto in life as, don't mistake activity with achievement. Even as a kid, I was taught to be here to fight, to be able to push myself to my breaking point all the time. Lolo Louie was a great man, but he was an awful person." Nakarinig ako ng tawanan dahil doon.

Alloysius Llanes Valdez was a scary man. Nakilala ko siya noong 5 years old ako at talaga namang takot ako sa kanya. But that doesn't seem to be the case for him! He liked me! He buys me stuff like spoiled-me-with-these stuff, stuff my parents won't buy me. Takot ako sa kanya kasi kapag nakikita ko siya ay palagi niyang pinapagalitan si Kevin, telling him to do things Kevin doesn't even want to do.

But as we grew up, as Kevin grew into a fine young man, a man-whore but a fine, achiever, I realized that Lolo Louie was only doing that to make Kevin a younger version of him. He succeeded in that.

Kevin is a scary boss that's the truth. Kung hindi kami mag-best friend at hindi ko alam ang mga kalokohan at kiliti niya sa buhay ay baka tulad ako ng mga empleyado ng The North na takot sa kanya.

Kapag nasa office ay para siyang may kasunod palagi na dark cloud. He doesn't smile. He doesn't greet his employees back, because he said... You can't treat your subordinates like your equal. Hierarchy makes the world go round.

Kung iisipin ay may pagkaantipatiko talaga si Kevin kung minsan...

"That's what I thought... My late grandfather was a very uncongenial person. Someone told me I was starting to become my grandfather..." Kevin said accusingly then he shot me a glance. Tumaas ang kilay ko dahil doon. Is he talking about me? "She told me that I should always be polite to my employees... I would always say a man of high stature should never treat his subordinates like an equal..."

"Kevin has matured a lot, no?" Bulong pa sa akin ni Jeanne. Tumango ako.

"God, I sound like Alloysius Valdez." Dugtong niya na ikinatawa ng lahat. "The truth is, given the success that The North is in today, I have a friend who believed in me... And I didn't have the heart to let him down... That is friend is the other half of The North. The employees..."