She's So Extra (Kiligserye Book1) | ✅

Chapter 26

Parang nanginginig ang laman ko sa asar dito kay May. Mainit init pa naman tong kapeng hawak ko, pwede bang ibuhos sa mukha nya? Wait, wag na. Pangit na nga masusunog pa ang mukha.

Ipinatong ko sa table ni Ms. Claire ang kape at bumalik ako sa pinwestuhan ni May, I sat on the chair directly in front of her. Kung akala nitong babaeng to mai-indimidate nya ako, nagkakamali sya.

Uminom ng kape si Ms. Claire then she looks at both of us, "So, there's something I need to discuss with the both of you."

Tumingin lang ako kay May at nang tumingin sya sa akin pasimple akong umirap at humarap kay Ms. Claire, "Yes ma'am?"

She smiles at me, "I'm thinking of a way to introduce myself better sa mga tao. I think I've been here for some time pero I haven't been spending much time with everyone so I want us to have a Team Building of sorts, just so I can get to know the people here and they can get to know me too."

Jusko kala ko naman kung ano na, Team Building lang pala. I smile at her, "That's a really good idea ma'am."

She looks at May and me and smiles, "Well, I brought my best girls to plan this thing."

She rests her elbows on her desk and taps her index finger on her bottom lip, "I'm thinking somewhere fun? Beach? Tapos let's have it overnight para makapag-relax ang mga tao."

I nod and I look over at May na sige ng sige kakasulat sa notebook nya. Really? Kailangan pang isulat yung "Beach" at "Overnight"? I fight an eyeroll.

She claps her hands, "Well. I know you girls have a lot of planning to do so I'm going to let you go. Just send me a proposal next week?" I nod and smile at my boss and stand up. Hindi pa tumatayo si May so I tap her arm, hello? Clear dismissal na yung ateng, can't catch a hint?

Paglabas namin ng office ni Ms. Claire I turn around and look at her, "So, kelan natin pag-uusapan yung details? I'm free tomorrow morning."

Niyapos ni May ang notebook nya sabay sabing, "Oh I know you're busy so no need to worry yourself dito sa Teambuilding na to, I'll handle it."

If I trusted this witch siguro pumayag na ako, syempre sino ba naman ang gusto ng additional na trabaho diba? But she's being super enthusiastic about this and I smell something fishy. I know how this things work, being in Marketing before alam kong maraming karumal-dumal na red tape na nangyayari sa mga bagay bagay so I give her my best smile, "Oh that's nice. Pwede naman akong mag-beg off sa pag-pplan but I want to be the one to do the costing, after all I'm reporting to Ms. Claire and I'm sure she'd want me to sign off on everything bago natin ipa-go yan."

She looks livid, "Excuse me? Are you insinuating that I'm not to be trusted with the finances?"

I fake a shocked expression at nilagay ang kamay sa dibdib ko, "I have no idea where that thought came from May, I had no intention of insulting you. I'm just saying that since ako ang unang tatanungin ni Ms. Claire I need to be on top of things especially costs." I smile at her at parang gusto nya akong sabunutan, aba kung bata lang kami malamang pinatulan ko na to – parang nung elementary lang sa likod ng building.

Huminga sya ng malalim at parang inilagay ulet ang kaplastican nya on display, point Andi. She gives me a super fake smile, "Sorry. Anyway, mag-set na lang ako ng meeting this afternoon so we can discuss things. I'll also ask for some of the HR people para tulungan tayo sa planning." Tatalikuran na nya sana ako nang bigla akong bumanat ng, "Oh that's a good idea, I'll be bringing people rin to the meeting just to make sure lahat ng departments may representatives." Hindi nya napigilan ang pag-ngiwi ng very very light pero napansin ko pa rin, pinigilan kong tumawa, she just nods and walks away. I sigh happily; I'm going to enjoy this.

***

I knock at Ms. Claire's office, "Hi Ms. Claire, I'll be in the planning meeting lang po with the committee for the Teambuilding, if you need me I have my cellphone with me." She gives me a sincere smile and waves goodbye so sinara ko na ang pinto at nagsimulang maglakad papunta ng conference room.

I look around the room and see na parang buong barangay ng HR nandito, itong babaeng to talaga hindi marunong mag-isip, I sigh and look at the people na ininvite ko, I selected a mixture of individuals, mga matatanda, mga bata, mga bago, mga luma para lang siguradong lahat ng tao mag-eenjoy sa team building, e etong si May puro tropa nya ang sinama sa meeting. I need to get a handle on things bago pasabugin nitong babaeng to ang first team building session namin. Nag-iisip na ako ng game plan nang biglang pumasok sa office si Chuck, hindi ko napigilan ang reaction kong mejo nag-panic inside, sinama ko ba sya sa invitation? Parang hindi naman. I look at May at ang laki ng ngiti nya habang nakatingin sa shocked expression ko, aba naman talaga. Game on, May.

I knocked on the table to get everyone's attention and I stood up, kung akala nito ni May mapapa-back down nya ako dahil nandito si Chuck well she's got another thing coming. Naglakad ako papunta sa board at kinuha ang white board marker and started writing down things that we should consider grouping them into different categories like, venue, food, transportation, security, facilitator and others. I look back at the room full of people and addressed them all, "Hello everyone. So, Ms. Claire want us to plan a Teambuilding activity for the whole company, I thank you all for your time and for wanting to be part of this very special event."

I look down on May, "May, if you don't mind listing down the minutes of this meeting para lang meron tayong documentation na mapapakita kay Ms. Claire later. Thanks."

Parang gusto nyang baliin yung pen pero dinedma ko lang sya at itinuloy ang meeting, "It looks like we have a lot of planning to do so I categorized some important things we should consider for this." I point at the board, "Let's start assigning people so all things will be covered, we're accepting volunteers per category based on what you're comfortable in handling."

Nagtaas ng kamay si Sir Chuck at medyo ninerbyos ako pero I point the marker to his direction, "Yes sir?"

He leans back on his seat and says, "You forgot socials."

I look at the board and wala nga akong naisulat na entertainment or socials so I nod, "Yes, sorry about that." I scribble down Socials sa board and he talks behind me, "I'll take care of that one."

Umirap ako habang nagsusulat, syempre ang aasikasuhin ng mga lalaki is the booze. I look back at him, "Okay. Thank you sir. Anyone else?"

We took one hour to assign the categories but came out with a pretty solid plan for the next few weeks, everyone's excited pwera ako, dahil sa pagmamagaling ko kanina they put me as overall in charge.

Tama lang siguro yun dahil napunta sa mga taga HR ang big ticket items such as the hotel/resort to be booked, Team building facilitator at giveaways – I will watch them like a hawk pagdating dito. Wala silang maibubulsa ni singkong duling.

I go back to work with a few hours to spare at nag-bell na ang internal clock ko signaling uwian na para sa akin, mga six PM dali dali kong inayos ang gamit ko at nagprepare na para umuwi. I looked at Ms. Claire's office and see na naka-clear na ang laptop nya meaning she left already so I locked up her room and pumunta sa elevator para bumaba sa lobby.

I look at the elevator display at nakitang paakyat pa lang ito, bwisit tagal ko pa mag-aantay pero nang mapunta na sa floor namin ang display biglang bumukas ang pinto at nasa loob si Chuck with a knowing smirk on his face.

"Hi Andi."