Kim leaned back on her chair and closed her eyes for a minute to rest them. It was almost lunchtime on a very busy day at the office, with deadlines left and right. She glanced at the picture frame on her desk. It was a picture of her and Xian, cheek to cheek, grinning ear to ear. Kim smiled faintly, remembering a year ago when they broke up because of Gaby.
Christie peered into her cubicle, interrupting her reverie. “Kim, may emergency lunch meeting daw tayo sabi ni boss. May problema daw yung Powerpoint presentation na pinagawa niya sa ‘yo.”
“Ha? Ano daw problema?” Kim was worried.
“Hindi sinabi eh. Sa meeting na lang daw.” Christie retreated to her own desk.
Kim sighed and typed in a YM message for Xian : “hindi ako sasabay for lunch…meeting daw kami =( “
There was no reply. Kim shrugged.
“Baka nasa meeting.”, she thought. Xian was neck-deep in his own projects as well.
Soon enough, Christie called to her. It was time for the meeting. They proceeded to the adjoining conference room where a laptop and overhead projector were already set up. Their boss, Au Fang, was already seated, his face stern. Their other team mates were also present, as well as some people from the Loans team including Kiko and Louie.
“Baka andito sila?” Kim wondered to herself. Au Fang let her sit beside him, nearest to the white board which doubled as a projector screen.
With everyone seated, Au Fang started the meeting. “Good afternoon everyone. As you all know, we will have a joint project between the Treasury team and the Loans team…” Several people nodded.
“Bakit hindi ko alam yun?”, Kim thought.
Au Fang continued. “But before we proceed…” He turned to Kim. “Kim, I asked you to make a presentation about our mutual funds project.”
Kim nodded, feeling nervous. Au Fang continued. “But you give me a different file lah.” He was shaking his head.
“What do you mean Au Fang?” Kim double-checked the file she sent him this morning.
“You watch.” And he double-clicked on a file on his laptop and they all turned to the white board.
Kim was shocked at what she saw.
It was some sort of music video with pictures of her, mostly taken in Malaysia.
“Wait! Where did you get this?” She turned to Au Fang. He dismissed her and signalled for her to just watch it.
Next came pictures of her with Xian.
“My God, ano ‘to?” She covered her mouth.
She glanced at Christie who looked surprised as well.
She almost fell off her seat with what came next.
Kim,
Will You Be My Wife?
Xian
She didn’t hear the gasps of delight from the others as her heartbeat was pounding in her ears.
She didn’t see him approach her as tears were clouding her vision.
He was now on one knee, holding before him an exquisite diamond ring.
Everyone fell silent.
He cleared his throat.
“Kim, will you….marry me?” His jaw hardened from the tension.
Everyone in the room held their breath.
Tears were streaming down her face.
“Hindi na yan ‘Practice Lang’?”
He shook his head, letting out a nervous laugh.
“In that case --- Oo.”
And they kissed to the loud cheering from the others.
