It's You, Always You

First Meet-Up

-The Palace-

It was a beautiful sunny day. A usual yet happy day for everyone. Secretary Olegario starts her day at the palace by reporting to Oscar Hidalgo, the president of the country.

"Mr. President, here are the details regarding your meeting with Ms. Cortez." Secretary Olegario handed Oscar a black folder.

"Ms. Cortez?" Oscar asked curiously as he hears the unfamiliar name.

"She was the one recommended by  Secretary Padua" Secretary Olegario reminds him but it still doesn't ring a bell since Oscar was still wearing his curious expression. "Yung tutuloy ng mga iniwang environmental projects ni..." she hesitates but continued. "...Ms. Marissa."

"Ahh, siya ba 'yon. Anong oras ba ang meeting?" Oscar asked plainly.

"I called her earlier, she said she's on her way. Malapit na siguro siya." Secretary Olegario replies.

"Okay." Oscar replies, still maintaining his plain tone.

"Sige sir, just call me when you need me." Oscar responded with a nod then Diana left the room. Oscar carefully reads the folder that Secretary Olegario gave him.

-----

After a while, Lily arrived and was greeted by Secretary Padua warmly.

"Ms. Cortez! Welcome. I'm Secretary Arturo Padua." Arturo reaches his hand out.

"Hi!" Lily smiled as she took Arturo's hand and shakes it. "Late na ba ako?" Lily asked worriedly, thinking that she might be late to meet the President of the country.

"Don't worry Ms. Cortez, you're just in time. Please follow me." Lily felt relieved and followed Arturo on the way to the president's office. While walking to the office, Lily can't help herself to ask Secretary Padua.

"Have we met before?" Lily shoots him a curious face. "You seem familiar." she added.

"Ah yes! We met at my cousin's birthday." he reminds her but she furrowed her brows as she tries to remember who.

"Renato? Renato Hipolito." he name drops. "He was the one who helped me reach out to you regarding the environmental projects." he informed her.

"Ah! Of course, Renato! Sorry, akala ko kasi babae pinsan niya dito. Yes, he convinced na gawin 'to. Napapansin ko din na kailangan na natin bumawi regarding sa tree planting. The last time I checked, it's been a year since the last tree planting activities." Lily mentions.

"Yes, medyo matagal-tagal na nga." Arturo replies.

"I hope you don't mind me asking this pero sino pala ang nagsimula ng project na 'to at ba't hindi natapos?" she couldn't help but ask since she has no clue about this information.

"Si Ms. Marissa Gonzales, siya ang nagsimula nitong project na 'to. Pero dahil nagkaroon ng konting problema kaya hindi niya natapos."

"Problema?" she asked.

"Problema. Ito kasi nangyari---" Arturo was cut off by Secretary Olegario.

"Secretary Padua" she called out. "You must be Ms. Cortez, I'm Secretary Diana Olegario" Diana turns to Lily and introduced herself. She gave her a bright smile and reached her hand out for a handshake.

"Oh, I've heard so much about you. It's nice to finally meet you." Lily smiled back and responded to the handshake.

"If you'll excuse me, Ms. Cortez. Hanggang dito nalang ako." Arturo excused himself.

"Thank you, Secretary Padua." she smiled at him.

"This way miss." Secretary Diana points the direction to Oscar's office. Lily followed her as they went straight to Oscar's office.