Behind Her Innocence (Hughes Series)

Chapter 11: No Spark

The head of financial and marketing department applauded after Aaron presented in front of the three of us. I invited them to hear his presentation, so they would know how he did.

So far, I was amazed by how much he learned from only a span of two weeks of his training.

Aaron was really intelligent.

"Congratulations, Aaron Loyzaga. You've done a great job. Diba, Maam Gwen?"

I just nodded in response.

Aaron smirked at me like he had proved something to me. He was being arrogant again, wasn't he? He's too breezy.

"Thanks for being here. You can both go."

They got up and left the conference room after hearing what I said. Naiwan nalang kaming dalawa ni Aaron dito sa loob ng room.

Nakapamulsa siyang nakatayo sa harapan habang ako ay nasa pinakadulong upuan. Magkaharap kaming dalawa.

"You've passed the requirement. As your supervisor, I was impressed. Now, I am comfortable in allowing you to progress into a higher level of your training. Starting on Monday, you'll be assigned in sales and production department. Doon ay malalaman ang diskarte mo when it comes to business. Let's see how you can convince people to invest in you, trust you and buy anything you could offer. This is the tricky part of your training. It's not easy to learn the strategy of product marketing kaya you'll be spending a month doing this. Siguro naman hindi mo ipapahiya ang sarili mo at gagalingan mo pa lalo?"

"Bakit? Kailan pa ba ako hindi gumaling? You know what I can do, Gwen."

"Stop being so arrogant and just put it into actions. I want to see it rather than hear what you are capable of."

Nakakairita na kasi minsan ang kayabangan niya. He's always so full of himself.

He bent down slightly and leaned his hands on the table while looking straight to my eyes. He had that signature grin on his lips.

"Ang tapang mo na talaga ngayon, Gwen. You've changed so much. Minsan parang hindi na ikaw ang nagsasalita. You're not the same woman I was with years ago. Dahil ba yun sa kanya?" He sounded like teasing me.

Hindi naman agad ako nakasagot dahil hindi ko gets kung sino ang tinutukoy niya. Sino ang ibig niyang sabihin? Did he really hear my conversation with Rosetta yesterday? Alam na kaya niya ang tungkol sa anak namin??

I began to feel paranoid. It was possible that he heard something from yesterday's phone call especially that he mentioned the 'I miss you' thingy. But the question was, did he really find out about Rosetta? I needed to confirm.

"Sinong 'kanya' ang tinutukoy mo?"

He laughed again. "Oh, Gwen. Are you also denying him like how you denied me? Don't tell me you're dating secretly again?"

I was taken aback. He was definitely not talking about Rosetta, our daughter, he was talking about a special guy that never existed. But that was a relief though. I was glad to know na wala pala siyang alam.

"Spare me from that crap, Aaron. You're not making sense." I diverted my gaze away from his eyes. Nag-iisip ako if I should let him think that I was seeing someone para hindi siya maghinala about Rosetta.