Chasing Fire

Kabanata 50

Cold Man

"What?!"

Bakit ngayon lang ako nainform na partner din namin ang Mercadillo sa resort in Bataan?!

Hindi pa ako ganoon ka-ready para makita ulit si Scion! Hindi pa ako nakakapagplano ng maayos kung paano ko sila magagantihan!

"Bakit ganyan reaction mo? You should be happy. Close ka naman sa mga Mercadillo diba?" Sagot ni kuya.

"Yeah. Anyways, sino sa Mercadillo ang maghahandle?"

"Kairus."

Kuya told me the details and kung saan kami magkikita. Medyo busy daw si Kairus kaya nakiusap ito na kung pwede ay sa office nalang niya. Pumayag naman si Kuya.

After I got the details, agad akong dumiretso sakanila para mapag-usapan na ang tungkol sa pagpunta namin sa Bataan.

"Good day Ma'am! How may I help you?" Tanong noong babae.

"I'm Alexandrine Nardovino. I'm here for a meeting with Kairus Mercadillo." Sagot ko.

"Oh okay. Mr. Kairus had an emergency earlier. But he said na someone will take over naman po. I'll lead you to his office ma'am." Sabi niya.

Someone?

"Uhm.. do you know who will take over?"

"Sorry, ma'am hindi po eh. Ang sabi lang ni sir Kairus ay yung magtetakeover raw po ay nasa office niya lang." sabi niya.

Hmm... I don't feel good about this. Something's wrong.

"Here we are ma'am, pasok nalang po kayo."

"Okay. Thank you."

Bakit ako kinakabahan?

Sana naman ay hindi ang taong nasa isip ko ang nasa likod ng pintong ito.

I took a deep breath before I knocked and entered the room.

And guess what? Si Scion ang tumambad sa akin.

Okay, Chill Drine. You got this. You prepared for this.

He was looking straight into my eyes so I tried my best to maintain the contact and smile as I walk towards him.

"Hi, Mr. Scion! I guess you'll be the one who'll takeover for the supposedly meeting of me and Mr. Kairus." Sabi ko. I can see the shock in his eyes.

"Uhm. Yeah. Please take a seat." Sabi niya at ibinalik ang malamig niyang awra.

Umupo kami sa may sofa set.

"Do you want coffee, juice or something to eat?" Tanong niya.

"No, I'm fine. Thanks for the offer." Sagot ko at ngumiti.

Okay, ipakita mo na hindi ka na naiintimidate. You can do it, Drine.

"Oh okay. About what you said earlier, I just want you to know that I'm not just taking over this meeting but I am not really taking over on handling our partnership with you."sabi niya.