She's So Extra (Kiligserye Book1) | ✅

Chapter 23

Huminga ako ng malalim habang nakakulong na naman ako sa women's CR. Ano to, hobby? Hobby ko nang magpanic at mag-kulong sa banyo?

Nag-clear muna ako ng throat ko at sinagot ang phone, "Hello?"

"Oh thank God you picked up, Andi. I'm so sorry to do this to you on a weekend but it's an emergency." Mejo panickera talaga tong boss ko.

I sighed, "Yes ma'am? It's no problem."

She asks, "You know I'm an idiot when it comes to my schedule, I seem to have missed a big event today. I see this untouched dress sa cabinet ko and I think I forgot to go to a wedding yata." She seems to hesitate pero inantay ko talaga ang sasabihin nya, "Uhm, did you get any calls from Charles from IT? I can't remember if he cancelled or what."

Para kong nalunok ang vocal chords ko kasi hindi ako makasagot, tinuloy nya pa rin ang ramblings nya, "We used to... you know? I knew we made plans before when we were still together, I'm not sure lang sa date coz I'm really bad with my schedule so I just, I don't know I think I forgot. I never actually asked him if we were still going but I guess its auto-cancel when you break up?"

Holy crap, how awkward is this? Sa totoo lang, super bait nitong si Ms. Claire, she's down to earth and she never made me feel like I was dirt under her shoes unlike some of the rich people I know. So now I feel twice as bad for being here, sya pala dapat ang kasama ni Sir Chuck pero ako yung nandito, tapos nagsasabi pa sya sa akin ng problema nya, lalo tuloy ako nagui-guilty kasi hindi ko naman pwedeng sabihin ang totoo diba?

"Actually ma'am ako ang kasama nya ngayon, don't worry di nya nakalimutan yung kasal." Alangan namang yun ang sabihin ko. This is such a messy situation.

Dagdagan ko pa ng fact na I think she still loves him, diba? Kung ako yung babae at umaasa akong matutuloy pa rin ang plano namin kahit na break na, hindi ba sign yun na may feelings pa?

"Hello, Andi? Did I lose you?" Tanong sa akin ni Madam.

"No. I'm still here ma'am." I say.

Nag-sigh sya, "I told you to just call me Claire, I feel so old when you call me Ma'am."

Ngumiti lang ako, "Mas matanda ka naman talaga sa akin ma'am, pero a few years lang."

Tumawa sya, "Oh I need to smile more often, tatanda talaga ako ng maaga sa ginagawa ko." Nagtanong sya, "Am I stupid for assuming we'd still go together? God, I'm going crazy na yata. Sorry, I need to calm down, he's probably forgot rin siguro."

Kinagat ko ang labi ko at nag-wish kay Lord na hindi naman malaman ni Madam na nandito ako, "I didn't receive any messages from him cancelling an appointment, maybe you should call him."

"Oh no. I promised myself I would never call him again. I think I've reached my quota on idiotic moves when he's concerned." Parang mejo kumalma na sya pero naririnig ko pa rin ang loneliness sa tone nya.

"Mukha namang okay kayo last time you talked, pag nagkikita kayo sa office okay rin naman." Sabi ko.

She laughs a little, "I'm not saying he's perfect, but you know what? He's pretty close." At nadurog na naman ang puso ko sa sinabi nya, "I was really lucky but I screwed it up with my big dreams and I failed to look at it from his point of view."

At kahit na curiosity killed the cat, tinanong ko na ang matagal ko nang gustong malaman, "Ms. Claire, if you don't mind me asking bakit po ba kayo nag-break?"

Nag-antay ako sa kanya at nang sumagot sya kumirot na naman ang puso ko for them, "He was an IT support staff when he was hired and I was already a Manager in Training at the time. We met and we clicked. He could have been at a better job or in his father's business but he chose an entry level job at an unknown company. That's one of the reasons why I was so impressed with him. It's not like he didn't work hard pero syempre since he's new there was no way he was going to get promoted immediately. Lalo na he's the newbie and there were other senior staff in his department."

Oh no. Parang alam ko na kung saan pupunta to ah.

"So I pushed daddy to give him a shot, gave him a project that he led and sure enough, successful yung project na inimplement nya singlehandedly. Pero it didn't matter if he did a good job kasi lahat ng tao judged him for being the boyfriend of the owner's daughter." Huminga sya ng malalim at tinuloy ang kwento, "He and I fought over what happened since then. Paulit ulit ang away namin coz I didn't tell him the truth – that I had done something for him to get promoted. I told him that he worked on that project and that he deserved it but he just didn't want to hear it. He felt like I was looking down on him and his position, that I wanted us to be on equal footing para maging bagay sya sa akin. But it was never about that, I just wanted people to see how great he is."

She continues, "I just went about it all wrong and it was hard to tell him the truth so hindi ko na inamin. He never got over it and he felt like he was stuck in the relationship with me. Paano naman sya makikipaghiwalay diba kung malaman ng ibang tao na nakipag-break sya sa akin dahil sa ginawa ko then he's an asshole? I mean, parang ang lalabas it's the position he's after, so he was stuck and he wasn't happy anymore. I could see it every time we're together. I killed the relationship so I did the right thing – for once – and I broke up with him. He didn't fight it. He understood what I was doing and he let me go."

Nag-deflate ako at nakaramdam ng lungkot para sa kanila, I feel like ngayon mas may rason na ako para umiwas kay Sir Chuck, parang hindi pa eto ang katapusan ng storya nila at dito sa pagkakataong ito ako ang contrabida. Naiisip ko rin paano kung malaman ni Ms. Claire na may 'something' sa amin ni Sir Chuck? How will she react? I don't think she'll take it against me, pero she might misunderstand na I'm deliberately doing it behind her back. Hay naku, I don't know what to do na.

"I think may feelings pa kayo sa kanya." Yun lang ang nasabi ko dahil ayokong magsinungaling sa kanya and to make her feel like I'm being dishonest. Nagsisinungaling naman talaga ako, lying by omission pero pano ko sasabihin diba? Naguguluhan na talaga ako.

She laughs pero parang sad ang laugh nya, "It's irrelevant at this point, coz he's already moved on. Ewan ko ba kung bakit pa ako nag-assume na he would at least cancel our date properly but he's the type of guy who wouldn't leave a girl hanging."

Moved on na? Alam ba nya kung anong klase ng moving on? As in may bagong girl na ganun? Syempre di ko kayang itanong.

Kinagat ko ang labi ko pero alam kong kailangan kong magsabi ng totoo, yung kaya kong sabihin without feeling any guilt, so sinabi ko, "Ms. Claire, I can see naman na you had good intentions when you did what you did so you don't need to kick yourself every time you remember it. People make mistakes and maybe that was one mistake that you needed to learn from – in the worse way. Pero you deserve to be happy and if he's happy then maybe you should look for your happiness rin."

I look up at nakita kong nasa loob na pala ng CR si Sir Chuck, nakasandal sa pader malapit sa pinto looking at me with a soft expression.

Nagsalita ulit si Ms. Claire, "Thanks Andi. You're a good friend."