Crazy for You

Two

Two

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“Good morning, Ma’am!” sunod-sunod na bati ng staffs. I nodded sleepily and smiled after mumbling, “Good morning.”

Ang sakit ng ulo ko. Damn that vodka. I’m never going to drink again. Nahihilo pa rin ako at inaantok. Ngayon pa talaga when I have to be in my most competitive self because our new boss would be coming in today. I must not look like I’ll be easily intimidated by the new and sexy controller that will head our new division.

I immediately dropped my things on the top of my table and fled to the powder room to re-touch. I put on my blood red lipstick and styled my long and wavy brown hair with my hand.

This is it. Today, I will meet my rival.

I left the powder room with poise kahit na medyo tipsy pa rin ako. I should have drunk medicine, but I left my condo in a hurry. Okay lang. Kaunting lakad lang, makakarating na ako sa area namin. I was about to make a left turn when my left heel snapped.

“Oh, my f—huh?”

Somebody caught me, so I immediately looked up para makita kung sino iyon and saw an unfamiliar guy. After muttering my thanks, nagulat ako noong bigla siyang nagsalita. Pero mas nagulat ako sa sinabi niya.

“Don’t thank me. Thank my manners.”

I blinked. After he said that, he turned his back on me and walked away. Excuse me? What did just happen? Ano ‘yun? Tinarayan ako? Sinungitan?

“Ha,” I said, blinking. “I can’t believe that guy.”

“Ma’am!”

I turned around to see my secretary running toward me looking haggard. Agad ko siyang inunahan. “Please get my other pair of heels, Olivia. Pakibilisan, please.”

“Ma’am, late na po kayo sa meeting,” natatarantang sabi niya.

I fought the urge to roll my eyes. Instead, I pointed at my broken shoe heel. She gasped and hurriedly went to get my spare pair of shoes. When she returned, agad akong nagpalit ng sapatos.

“Ma’am, sa Meeting Room 25-1 po,” she reminded me.

I nodded, walking calmly and gracefully papunta sa meeting room. Of course I should walk calmly and gracefully. When did I ever walk otherwise? Pagdating ko sa meeting room, sarado ang pintuan kaya binuksan iyon ni Olivia. All eyes fell on me. I smiled in greeting even though alam ko namang minumura na nila ako sa mga isipan nila dahil late na naman ako. Huh. So what if late ako? They would not be able to start without me. Proof? None. It just looked that way and I verified it when Sir Nathan chuckled and said, “Since Miss dela Vega finally graces us with her presence, we can now start.”

Umupo ako sa tabi niya while Olivia sat behind me. Tumayo si Sir Nathan at pumunta sa harapan.

“As I have said during our last meeting, our group will undergo a re-organization. All accounting departments will be centralized, shall be called the Central Accounting Division, and will be under a newly hired controller. Renz,” he said, nodding at someone near the back.

I was about to scan the crowd of faces kasi hindi familiar ang name sa akin. I thought maybe he was his new assistant or a staff from another department, pero when I saw kung sinong kausap niya, my jaw almost dropped.

It was the guy from earlier! That well-mannered guy—sarcasm intended—who left me in the hallway after catching my fall.

“Welcome to Finance, Renz. Finance people, this is Renz Sy. He will be the Controller of Central Accounting Division,” Sir Nathan announced.