"Good morning Miss."
"Goodmorning Miss."
"Goodmorning Miss Venus."
"Goodmorning." Pagbati ni Venus sa mga nakakasalubong niyang empleyado. Pumasok siya sa Elevator, at pinindot ang floor number ng kaniyang opisina.
Standing at 161 cm, with a supermodel figure and an angelic face, Venus was like a beautiful flower in bloom. She was in her spring years, at kahit wala siyang makeup ay maganda pa rin siya.
She's a constant subject of admiration with her good looks, especially among male employees. Because Venus and Cloud's marriage isn't publicized, and because they thought she was single most of them have a crush on their CEO.
Venus established her own design company named 'Pristine', when she was only seventeen. After five years, through her hardwork and effort, malapit na nilang maabot ang mainstream market— albeit, mahirap pa'ng makapag-break through bilang isang publicized company.
Nagbukas ang elevator, at sinalubong siya ng bestfriend slash secretary, Fei.
“Kate is already inside..” Fei paused inbetween her words, as if hesitating. “Sigurado ka ba'ng siya ang gusto mong maging representative ng Brand?”
Venus slows down her pace. “Oo naman. She's popular, and her social media followers are in great numbers too.”
Napansin ni Venus na tila ba may ibang ekspresyon ang kaibigan. Tila ba may nakain itong masama, na ewan.
“Bakit? Anong problema?” Pagtatanong niya.
“Wala lang... But i.. I met her earlier. May gut feeling lang ako na nagsasabing may mali sakan'ya.”
Venus was slightly surprised. Fei is usually a good judge of character, and right now, she looks bothered. She then decided to take Fei's warning seriously. Oobserbahan muna niya si Kate, bago ito papirmahin ng kontrata. Afterall, it was their brand' s image that she was going to represent.
Pagbukas ng pinto ay natanaw niyang nakaupo sa may table si Kate. Ng marinig ni Kate ang pagbukas ng pinto, ay sumilay ang ngumiti ito ng masigla.
“CEO Venus?” Pinasadahan siya nito ng tingin mula ulo hanggang paa, at tila ba bawat kurba at anggulo ng kaniyang mukha ay sinipat nito. Kate wore an expression of being dissatisfied for a moment, but it was gone before a fleeting moment.
Ito na ba? Ito ang ipagpapalit sa'kin? People were raving about her good looks. Halos kumanta na nga ng papuri ang mga tauhan niya ng magpaimbestiga siya sa bagong babae ni Cloud.
Ngunit hindi papayag si Kate na pipitsuging businesswoman lamang ang pumalit sakan'yang pwesto. Cloud is HERS.
“Hi, My name is Kate. Pleased to mee—” Akmang tatayo si Kate upang kamayan si Venus, ng 'aksidenteng' malaglag ang kaniyang cellphone. Dahil magkalapit na rin lamang sila, Venus kindly bent down to take her fallen phone from the floor.
Ngunit nakabukas ito. Venus' pupils shrunk when she saw the wallpaper, isa itong litrato ni Cloud na nakapikit ang mga mata, at tila ba natutulog. His long sleeve were messy, and a few of the top buttons were undone.
Kate unhurriedly took the phone from her hands, her expression was bashful.
“I embarassed myself infront of CEO Venus.” Tila ba nahihiya pa ito. Her expression was brimming with fond smiles, “But CEO could relate right? When you're in a relationship and you find your boyfriend irresistible you want to capture every moment of his when you're together.”
Pakiramdam ni Venus ay naninikip ang kaniyang dibdib sa bawat katagang binibitawan ni Kate. Hindi siya makapaniwala. Sila ang mag-asawa, ngunit ni pagtulog sa tabi niya ay hindi nito magawa.
“And he's.. He's so protective. He chose my wallpaper, para raw alam ng lahat na may boyfriend ako at.. Naangkin na niya ako.” Tumaas ang sulok ng labi ni Kate, at inilagay ang cellphone sa kaniyang dibdib. Tila baga niyayapos niya ito, at nagniningning ang mga matang tiningnan siya. “He told me he could never live without me, and i feel exactly the same way..”
Malinaw para kay Venus ang relasyon nila ni Cloud, their marriage was purely because of convience ngunit parang kutsilyong ibinabaon sa puso niya ang mga katagang binibitwan ni Kate. The stark difference between how he treats her, and how he treats the latter were so different.
Truly, daig pa niya ang isang bayarang babae. Isipisip ni Venus.
Nagpabalikbalik ang tingin ni Fei kay Venus at Kate. Nakita niyang namumutla na si Venus, kung kaya't isinali na niya ang sarili sa usapan.
“Miss Kate, please leave for now. Our CEO isn't feeling very well..”
Kate feigned concern. “Miss CEO, are you feeling sick? May kilala akong doktor, wait actually, my Boyfriend owns a chain of Hospitals. I could he—” Naputol ang kaniyang sasabihin.
“My husband owns chains of hospitals too, Gusto mo'ng magpa-check? Baligtad kasi yata yang utak mo.” Kalmadong saad ni Venus.
“What do you mean? ..” Nagbago ang ekspresyon ni Kate.
“Intentionally making me see his picture, showing off your affection and acting bashful.. What was your motive?” Saad ni Venus. “To show off? To harass me? Ang ironic, kasi ikaw yung kabit tapos ikaw yung dumadayo para mag-eskandalo.”
Namula ng parang kamatis ang mukha ni Kate. Nanduro ito, “Ako ang mahal niya! Ikaw itong sumiksik, kaya hindi ako kabit. Don't you dare try to call me that!”
Umismid si Venus. “Eh ano ka pala? Number two? Spare tire? Back-up plan o side chick? Ah! In telenovelas, they call your kind Ahas right?”
“You!” Nagdilim ng husto ang mukha ni Kate, ngunit hindi natatakot si Venus rito. Ngunit kumalma rin ito ng isaisip muli ang dahilan kung bakit siya nagpunta rito.
“Anyways, ngayong alam mo na naman gusto ko lang sabihi'ng akin si Cloud. Maaring kasal kayo, pero nasa akin ang puso niya. You could never fully have him, as long as i'm here.” Kate smirks, feeling as if she has won.
Alam niyang hindi mahal ni Cloud si Venus, And their marriage was only in paper. Sa isip niya ay mas matimbang siya kesa kay Venus dahil mas matagal ang pinagsamahan nila.
Ng umalis si Kate ay nanghina ng tuluyan si Venus. Her knees buckled underneath her, and she fell on the floor.
“Venus!” Pagsigaw ni Fei at dinaluhan siya.
Umiling si Venus habang tumutulo ang luha.
