Unreachable Zacharius

3

Chapter 3

Saka lang ako nakahinga nang maluwag nang maisara ko na ang pintuan ng kanyang opisina. Hinang-hina ang tuhod ko kaya kaagad akong napasandal sa nakasarang pinto. Ilang sandali pa ay dumiretso na ako sa sariling opisina upang magtrabaho.

Marami akong hindi pa natatapos. I made myself busy by arranging meetings, coordinating conference room schedules, reviewing documents, and opening the out-going and in-going mail and faxes. I always have a hard time distributing mails to their appropriate recipients, but I guess I got used to it through time.

Halos magdadalawang oras na ngunit hindi pa rin bumubukas ang pintuan ni Zach. It's fourty minutes before 11 kaya't tumayo na ako upang mag-assemble ng background at i-set up ang meeting space para sa teleconference board meeting mamaya.

I graduated with a bachelor's degree in business administration. I may not have the customer service most office secretaries have experienced, but tita Leandra knows that I have the knowledge to be the administrative assistant of Zacharius. General office procedures, spreadsheet software and word processing, and the proficiency in proofreading, spelling, and grammar punctuation. I can do it all. I just don't have the experience.

Dahan-dahan kong binuksan ang pinto ng opisina ni Zach pagkatapos kong kumatok ng dalawang beses. Naabutan kong seryosong gumagawa ng kung ano si Zach sa sariling lamesa habang ang pinsan nito ay prenteng nakaupo sa kulay itim na leather sofa at may kung anong binabasa. Sobrang tahimik.

"Uhm... sir?" I cleared my throat while strutting towards Zach's desk.

Only the sound of my steps could be heard because of the silence. Sa gilid ng aking mga mata ay nakita ko ang pag-angat ng tingin sa akin ni Mr. Zabinzki. Si Zach ay nanatiling abala sa ginagawa at hindi man lang nag-angat ng ulo.

"Sir, I'll just set-up the space for the teleconference board meeting." Sabi ko.

He nodded without even throwing me a look. 

"Make sure that the equipments needed are present and in working order." Aniya habang busyng-busy pa rin sa ginagawa.

Ngumuso ako at tumango kahit hindi niya kita. Ilang beses ko pa siyang pinanood sa ginagawa bago naglakad patungo sa conference room.

"Leave now, Lilo. We'll talk some other time." Rinig kong aniya habang sineset-up ko ang mga visual aids.

Lilo? Nilingon ko ang kinaroroonan ni Zach. I saw him languidly standing up and fixing his suit. Inayos niya ang tabinging relo at seryosong sinulyapan ang pinsang nakapandekwarto pang nakaupo sa sofa.

"Fine, fine! Booze later at 9pm. We'll be expecting you there, dude." Ani Mr. Zabinzki na inubos pa ang baso ng wine sa lamesa bago tumayo.

Bahagya akong natigilan sa narinig. Nilipat ko ang tingin kay Zach. Hindi niya naman pinansin ang sinabi ng pinsan. Hindi rin siya tumango o umiling. Ngumuso ako at pinagpatuloy na lang ang ginagawa. His cousin is inviting him for a booze. Pupunta kaya siya?

I swallowed hard. There will be a lot of girls there. Is he gonna bring one again tonight?

"You haven't changed, Zacharius. You're still so fuckin' serious with everything. Could you stop creasing your damn eyebrows? You're hopeless!" Dire-diretsong anito na binuntutan pa ng nakakalokong tawa kaya napalingon ako rito.

Nagtaas ako ng kilay. This man has the guts to joke around with my husband. Well, if they're really cousins, and he grew up abroad just like Zacharius, then they must've been quite close, huh?

"C'mon, man! You should loosen up. You're boring, dude." The man whom Zach referred to as "Lilo" complained.

"You're one to talk." Zach said.