Rainbow Connections [feat. RaMen]

Chapter Seven

Lui and Martee along with Pio and his security team arrived at the Office of the Vice President. While Martee and Samuel gathered their belongings and stepped out of the vehicle with the rest of the security team, Lui remained in her seat and waited for Pio to collect her. Pio did a quick perusal of the vicinity to make sure everything was to his liking before he opened Lui's door. To Lui's surprise, Iggi was out her door with her own security team. Pio offered his hand to Lui which the latter gripped so that she'd be able to dodge a possible trip or fall over. As Lui got out of the vehicle, Iggi greeted her with a cheek to cheek kiss before placing her hand on the small of her back. Together, they walked briskly indoors with the rest of both teams surrounding them on all sides.

As they breezed through the door, Lui can't help but be amazed by the modern artistry right before her eyes. It was not Lui's first time in the VP office but she couldn't help but take a second to absorb the scenery every time she comes in the office. Today was no different, except that it was. Journalists and various media generally hung around to get comments from different political personas walking back and forth the hallways as they finish their meetings regarding the current events of the day, but today, there seemed to be quite a lot of them milling in the halls with all of their cameras and equipment. Before Lui could even be spotted, Iggi detoured on a nearby door shutting the whole security team out.

"Tawagan mo head PSG mo and tell him you're okay. My team knows about this as my head escort was the one who instructed for me to do this, in case, the media would be gathered here today. We thoroughly planned the safety precautions with regards to your arrival. I want you safe. So, sabihin mo sa conference room na lang natin sila imi-meet," Iggi told her with a smile.

Lui grabbed her phone and called Pio. She told him that she was headed to the conference room and for the rest of the team to just meet up there. Pio agreed to this with a sigh of relief. It was a great idea too, as the media went berserk over Martee who they have known as Lui's campaign manager and best friend. Lui didn't mind speaking to the media, honestly. She wanted to communicate with people as much as possible and be transparent whenever she could. This morning though, she wanted to have just a little more coffee and get one meeting under her belt before she tackled the rest of the day and whatever obstacles it could throw at her. Also, she was not the one in charged yet. Until Inauguration Day, which is by the end of the month, any comments or statements she made to the press would be thoroughly analyzed and critiqued throughout all media outlets. The country was in a precarious state at the moment, and Lui had to be vigilant and practiced in her thoughts before she spoke off the cuff to bombarding microphones to her face. Of course, she didn't want to seem calculated, but she wanted to appear as diplomatic as possible whenever she could. After such a monumental election, and the course of the future tremendously change as two ladies run the nation, she felt the need to just be careful when emotions remained so high.

Leaning against the wall, Lui let her eyes fall closed for a second. She had just finished her conversation with Pio while her fingers were firmly entangled with Iggi's through the whole duration of the call. Letting her lids flutter open a minute later, Iggi searched her face and stepped closer, Iggi's free hand instinctively found her hip and squeezed it. Lui bit her lip to keep silent as her eyes widened at the action her lover just did.

"How do I keep my hands off of you, Lui?" Iggi ran her nose down the column of Lui's throat and inhaled deeply as she placed feather-light kisses in the hollow at the center of Lui's collarbone.

"I wish you wouldn't," Lui confessed in a breathy tone.

"What's to say I wouldn't? Ngayon pang pwede na, I mean behind closed doors. See what I did there?" Iggi said with a chuckle, "Kaso may meeting pa tayo. Let's get that over and done with professionally. Have a little patience. We have all the time in the world after dinner tonight," Iggi kissed Lui chastely before tapping the latter's bottom lightly and continuing, "For now, let me lead the way to the conference room, madam President."

"Another day, another desk then. Anyways, I have that delectable dinner to look forward to later," Lui responded with a smile.

"So, shall we?"

Lui nodded and they headed towards the back door leading towards a staircase that goes straight up to the conference room. One of the many perks of the revamped OVP.

After the day was done for Lui, she headed to her Intramuros house to freshen up. Luckily for her, Iggi's set dinner was at Casa Roces which was not too far from her place. Not long later, she headed out to the restaurant. She was greeted and escorted to a romantic candlelight dinner set up. Unbeknownst to Lui, Iggi had reserved the whole place for only the two of them. She walked towards the table with the escort and was assisted on her chair. Lui couldn't help but smile. Iggi's really going all out for her.

As their dinner finished, Iggi suggested a kalesa ride through Rizal Park, which Lui agreed to do. As they enjoyed the scenery, they talked about their families, life as children, and even things as trivial as their binge-worthy shows on Netflix, the quaint serenity of the Intramuros streets and the historic Manila Cathedral. The lights that projected and illuminated the streets made Lui's heart full. To her, it was one of the most romantic nights of her life. She couldn't help but shed a few tears. She couldn't believe how surreal the moment was, finding herself on this position at this point in time, being the president of the nation at the same time being in love with her right-hand woman.

"Hey, okay ka lang ba, Lui? What's going on? Talk to me," Iggi said as she wrapped Lui in her arms and brushed at Lui's cheeks with her thumbs. Lui exhaled and smiled at her. Busted, she thought to herself.

"It's nothing, Raegan. It's just... too good to be true, I suppose. In my head, sobrang daming nangyayari."

"Well, like I've told you this morning, we've got all the time in the world after dinner," Iggi gave Lui her full attention. This point, they were already seated on one of the benches in Fort Santiago, which was their final stop.