Meeting Halfway (Under Revisions)

Road Twenty-Seven

Janella's POV

"Are you really sure about this Jea?" tanong ulit ng manager ko sa'kin.

Nilingon ko siya na nakapameywang habang matiim na nakatitig sa'kin.

I know that kind of look, she knows something's up that I'm trying to hide from her.

I tried to give her my sincerest smile and act normally. "Of course, why wouldn't I? At pwede ba, pang-sampung ulit mo nang tinanong sa'kin yan", kunway biro ko sa kanya.

Pero hindi nagpatinag ang manager ko, I averted my gaze away from her dahil nagui-guilty ako.

"Tell me, is this about Mr. Elmo Magalona?" diretso niyang tanong sa'kin.

Napalingon agad ako sa kanya ng marinig ang pangalan na lalaki.

Lumapit ako sa sofa at napaupo doon.

The mere mention of his name brought me back to our short escape in his resthouse with my Mom two weeks ago.

It felt like its been ages.

From then on, di ko na siya nakita ulit.

More like we deliberately avoided each other and chose not to see each other again.

When we took our separate ways that night, wala kaming napag-usapan about sa situation namin, it was like we know already deep down na hanggang doon lang kami at hiram lang yung ilang oras na nagkasama kami.

Instinctively, I smiled bitterly.

"So it was really because of him right?" my manager's voice snapped me out, nakaupo na siya sa katapat kong arm chair.

I faked a laugh. "Come on Liz, what made you think it's because of him?"

She just shrugged. "We've been together for how many years already Jea, kilala kita. Besides, you can't get away from my sharp eyes with your lousy act, don't you think I wouldn't notice it?" sagot ni Liz na matiim na nakatitig sa'kin, occasionally sipping tea from the table beside the arm chair.

I crossed my legs. "Notice what?" I answered, acting clueless to what she meant.

"That you've been avoiding Mr. Magalona for 2 weeks now and don't deny it, you started acting like that since that day you went missing with your Mom and coincidentally Elmo too. Something happened that I didn't know right?" patuloy na kuwestiyon ni Liz sa'kin.

Napangiti ako ng tahimik. Kilala nga talaga niya ako but I'm not ready to disclose to her everything that happened.

Masyadong sabog pa ang puso't isipan ko sa napakaraming tanong na hindi ko masagot-sagot.

Or pinipili kong di sagutin.

"There you go again Liz with your overthinking – don't you think you're overanalyzing everything? Besides, there's no reason why I shouldn't accept the modelling gig from Paris. Liz, that's Paris, that is a one-time opportunity. I'm doing this for my career growth, wala ng ibang rason pa." I answered her decisively.

Liz stared at me for a while before she let out a sigh.

"You're really sure about that?" tanong ulit ni Liz.

Tuluyan na akong napangiti. "That's already the eleventh time Liz", biro ko sa kanya.

**

ELMO's POV

"What?! Ms. Salvador terminated her contract with us?", gulat na tanong ni Mama pagkatapos kong sabihin sa kanila ang naging desisyon ng team ni Jea.