Green is My Favorite Color

Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Text Mate

03/21/18 7:55 am

"Punta kang bahay tomorrow. 2 days akong off," bungad kaagad ni Mauwi pagkasagot ko ng  tawag.

"Oh. Bakit? Anong meron?" tanong ko. Malimit lang kasing umuwi iyan, lalo't kakauwi lang niya nung 12.

"Ay wait. Busy ka? Please say no."

I scrunched my nose and heaved a deep breath before answering. "I... actually am. Ano ba kasing meron?"

"Uuwi si daddy. Konting salu-salo lang naman. I know you're coming because duh, it's me, it's dad, but I just called to make sure. Bye." then she hung up nang hindi man lang ako pinagsasalita. But yeah, tama naman siya. I can't really say no.

"Hey El! Andun na lahat ng staff, ikaw na lang kulang," tawag sa 'kin ng assistant kong si Heaven. In this company, we don't refer formally to each other. It's not like we're a corporation plus kokonti lang din yung staff so I prefer treating each other as friends and close acquaintances.

Pagkarating sa meeting room ay nadatnan ko ang 8 kong mga empleyado.

"Morning! Kumain na kayo?" bungad ko sa kanila. Some answered yes, some no. "Sa mga hindi pa, tiis muna ng konti at sa mga pumarty kagabi na alam namang may opisina ngayong araw, wala akong pakialam."

Nagsitawanan ang lahat at nilingon ang isang nasa sulok at minamasahe ang sentido. Tumingin ito sa akin saka nagpeace sign.

"I love my social life as much as I love this work, El." depensa ni Trey sa sarili. "Just," ikinumpas nito ang kamay sa hangin na animo'y may pinapaalis. "stop minding me at magsimula na."

I raised my hands bilang sign ng pagsuko. "'Kay. I guess you already know what this meeting is about-the summer exhibit and our other summer plans. I have a few ideas in mind but I'd like to hear yours first."

"So, do we start sa exhibit muna?" tanong ni Alfred, one of my Directors and also my sales associate.

"Ah, sorry, I said that in a confusing manner. Well, whatever's convenient so, exhibit muna?" They all agreed so iyon muna ang pinlano namin.

As you can see, kahit sa meetings lang namin ay wala ding proper flow and I like it this way. Also, dahil pawang mga artist ang kasama ko sa management, they're not normies so we all agreed. Buti nga rin at nakakaya rin ni Heaven na magcatch-up sa democratic style of management that we implement dito sa kompanya.

Agad na nagtaas ng kamy si Sasha, Director din slash curator. Sila ni Alfred ang nagte-take charge sa mga events like this. "Before anyone starts suggesting themes, exhibition titles and such, there's this artist who reached out to me i think like a few weeks ago and I think his artworks are a breath of fresh air because it's really far from the usual paintings na dinidisplay natin. His paintings are colorful so it fits the season and I was thinking, we could make a theme out of it. What do you say?"

We all nodded.

"If that's the case then, that's really good news. That person may have just saved our whole summer," sabi ni Trey habang nakangisi na tila ba may malaking pinaplano. By the way, he's our Editor. He's in charge of the catalogues, and all media promotions.

"Parang iba ang ngiti mo. Let's hear what you have to say."

"Let's do Sasha's suggestion, but let's take it to a far greater reach." Kumunot ang noo naming lahat at hinintay siyang iexplain ang ibig-sabihin niya sa sinabi. "Let's use that man's artwork as our official summer theme. Not only the exhibition's theme but theme for all our summer activities. Meaning, all our summer activities will revolve around it."