Beautiful, Beloved [feat. RaMen]

One

Rachel was pissed. Galit siya at inis na inis. She felt really outraged. Tinignan niya ang mobile phone niya na lalo pang nag-painit sa kanyang ulo as she cursed under her breath. How dare Lea just ignore her? She knows the rules.

"Miss Zimmerman?"

"WHAT?!" asik niya sa sekretarya.

After seeing her young secretary flinch, she immediately felt a wave of guilt rush over her.

"I'm sorry, Nadine, bad timing. Pasensya ka na."

"O-okay lang po ma'am Dawn. Gusto ko lang po sana ipaalam sa inyo na cancelled po ang 10am meeting n'yo."

"Okay, thank you, Nadine."

Rachel sighed deeply as she heard the door shut behind the young girl. Hindi niya alam kung anong pumasok sa utak niya para asikan ng ganoon ang sekretaryang si Nadine. Siguro ay dahil na rin mainit ang ulo niya kay Lea. Speaking of Lea; nasaan na nga ba ito? Rachel checked her phone once again, and still wala pa ring reply si Lea sa mga texts at tawag niya mula pa lang pagpasok niya ng opisina. This is very unacceptable and there will be consequences, Rachel thought to herself. No longer being able to handle being ignored, tumayo si Rachel at kinuha ang bag niya.

When Rachel pulled up sa apartment complex, halos di niya na naipark ng maayos ang sasakyan niya, kaagad siyang bumaba mula rito at mabilis na umakyat ng hagdan. By the time Rachel reached the third floor ay mas lalo pa siyang nakaramdam ng inis. "I should not be walking up three goddamned flight of stairs wearing heels. For God's sake..." she muttered under her breath before pounding on Lea's door with her fist. Nakarinig siya ng kaluskos mula sa loob ng apartment pero wala pa ring nagbubukas ng pinto.

"LEA! YOU BETTER OPEN THIS DAMN DOOR!"

Kumatok siyang muli sa pinto but this time, it was louder, "THIS IS SO RIDICULOUS AND EQUALLY FRUSTRATING I CAN HEAR YOU AND IF YOU THINK THAT-"

A young girl with dark brown eyes and shoulder-length black hair opened the door, Lea. Rachel took in her appearance; namumula at namumugto ang mga mata nito, magulo ang buhok at mukhang isang linggo na itong walang tulog. Naramdaman naman ni Rachel ang paglambot ng kanyang puso, she felt more for this girl than she would ever admit to herself.

"Okay ka lang ba, Lea?"

Lea was about to open her mouth to reply but instead she shook her head and burst into tears.