Andrew's POV
“This Franco Lastimosa is some piece of work. First he wakes all of us too early in the morning then has us waiting here for God knows how long already. If his time isn’t just a privilege for us I would’ve left an hour and 45 minutes ago. We’ve been here for more than 2 hours already.” Napipikon na ako sa kausap naming tao. Hindi ako sanay na pinagaantay ako, my associates and the people in the business world knows me to be punctual and impatient, kaya talagang kinakanti ako ng isang ito.
“Would you stop pacing around and sit down Andrew, para kang batang di matae. Or para kang tatay na hindi mapakali sa panganganak ng misis niya” paninita ni Faith sa akin.What is it with women and they know far too well how to control us men.
“I wouldn’t know the feeling. I wasn’t there when my son was born remember?” pambabara ko sa kanya habang paupo ako. Alam na alam talaga ng mga babaeng ito kung saan kami tatamaan na mga lalaki.
“Leave it son, nahihilo na rin ako sayo. Stop pacing around. This place already has our attention thank you for the scene that you’re making” galit na tono na ni Daddy. Nagaantay kami sa lobby ng hotel dahil according to the receptionist hindi rin daw nagverify si Mr. Lastimosa where exactly he wants us to wait for him.
Hindi kalaunan just as I was about to stand up and head for the nearest exit. “I’m sorry to keep you waiting people, you must be the infamous Palafargan Industries board.” Lumapit sa amin ang isang matangkad na mama in his mid-50s. Kinamayan niya kami isa-isa and led us to the hotel bistro for a discussion over coffee.
Nang nakaupo na kaming lahat and settled for coffee. “Pardon me for my tardiness. I’m not really a man of no manners. It’s my wife, she can’t seem to keep her hands off me” may patawa tawa pa siyang nalalaman. This man just gives me the creeps. He looks 50 but acts 21 I can’t seem to fathom why he runs a multi-milllion empire and multi-national pa ito.
To break the bubble Dad finally spoke for all of us. “In behalf of Palafargan Industries and my family, best wishes. As they say, second time’s the charm.” Pareho silang tumayo and shook each other’s hands.
“Thank you. I’ve settled with just me and my daughter Mika for so long, I’m just glad I met my wife now. Life is good” nangingiti niyang sinabi sa amin lahat.
“Well, may I know who am I talking to?” biglang pagbabago ng tono niya. Finally we can get to business and what we really came here for.
“Oh sorry. Marcelino Palafargan, and this is my son Andrew. He pretty much runs everything now so you can immediately confide to him for anything that concerns you about business.” I willed myself to stand up and manage a handshake. Pinagpatuloy ni Dad ang pagpapakilala sa iba pa naming kasama. “That’s pretty much the board as you know it Mr. Lastimosa”
“Franco, call me Franco.” Pagputol niya sa pagsasalita ni Daddy. “I can sense that Palafargan Indsutries is mainly a family business. No outsiders. No other people involved in running the show. I don’t see the need for me in this set-up. You pretty much have everything covered.”
“Oh trust us Sir. We do. We need your market in Italy, We’ve been having trouble shipping our supplies from the Americas. The Customs issue in South Africa and the Middle East via the Suez Canal route is causing us so much trouble with meeting our deadlines. We need a faster and more convenient route. We decided that Panama is out of the question. So why not get supplies straight from the market. Your market. We can airlift from your side of the world to ours. It’s the same amount we spend and it’ll be faster for us since we’ll do it by air and not by sea cargo.” Nagulat ako kay Philip. I trained him well.
BINABASA MO ANG
I FELL FOR MY UNEXPECTED HUSBAND
RomanceMarga came from a prominent family, graduating student siya, head over heels inlove naman sa kanya ang school hottie ng basketball varsity. She had everything any girl could ask for. Pero magbabago ang takbo ng buhay niya ng isang araw, biglang pap...