Time flies when you have so much work to do – some of it enjoyable, the rest tolerable. That’s how Fran felt as the next week quickly passed. She still had her ongoing projects for Gavin’s department, plus the writeups for the Davao summit, plus the dance rehearsals. It was Friday once again and they’ve had a total of three rehearsals so far, with Pierre introducing more complicated routines each time. There was a scheduled rehearsal later at 6 PM but Gavin would not make it as he had to fly to Hongkong very early today for an urgent deal.
Now Fran was facing something urgent as well.
“Sir Henry, did I hear you right?....Ako ang pupunta sa Davao?” She wrinkled her brow at her boss as she sat in his office.
“Yes, Fran. JSL and I need to go to Singapore to meet with a potential business partner. Problem is, they’re only available next week. Conflict sa Davao schedule… so, ikaw na lang ang pumunta sa Davao with Gavin—“
“Pero sir…ang dami ko ding gagawin dito. Kailangan ba talaga ako doon?”
“Kailangan ni Gavin ng support from us. See Tek’s IT representatives will also be there. If there are technical questions, ikaw ang sasalo nun.”
“Sir, bakit hindi na lang si Sheryl? Kaya naman niya yun.”
Henry wrinkled his brow. “Why do I sense hesitation from you, Fran? Anong problema?” His voice was gentle, almost like a dad.
Fran wasn’t prepared for this line of questioning. “Umm…wala naman sir—“
“Alam mo, I have complete trust in you. If there’s anyone here who can take my place at that summit, ikaw na yun, Fran. Besides, it’s only three days. You can still monitor your team remotely, hindi ba?” Henry smiled.
“Yes sir.” Fran nodded reluctantly. Managing her team remotely was the least of her concerns right now.
“So that’s settled. Actually, I’ve already emailed Gavin about it and he’s okay with it. I’ll ask HR to arrange your flight…. So that will be Tuesday afternoon. Wednesday whole day and Thursday morning are for the demos and presentations. Thursday afternoon will be the meeting with See Tek. And then depending on what happens in the meeting, Friday morning will be for detailed discussions with See Tek and hopefully we, rather you and Gavin, close the deal. Friday evening is free time but I heard that See Tek is hosting cocktails. Your flight back here will be early Saturday morning. Okay?”
Fran nodded obediently. “Okay sir.”
“I’ll email you the complete itinerary later. And you know what to bring – business clothes…cocktail dress…alam mo na yun.”
Fran gulped. “Pati sa cocktail, sir?”
Henry grinned. “Oo naman! You also need to do some PR for the company. Don’t worry, you’ll be with Gavin.”
Fran forced a smile. “No worries, sir.”
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Gavin looked worried and tense as he hunched over his laptop during the entire flight to Davao. Except for a couple of questions addressed to Fran, he kept to himself. Fran took a peek at his laptop screen while he momentarily closed his eyes, deep in thought. If he wasn’t reviewing their presentation materials, he was pouring over some product whitepaper or other.
