Three Men Plus She (Completed)

13 - Contract

Several minutes have passed and Gabriel just remains staring at his laptop. He is thinking of the design of TLG's entry to JACP contest. He promised her a book cover once she wins the contest and he know in his heart that her entry will win under the romance category.

For weeks that he was conversing with Lily on hang-out, he finds her smart and focused. His days are no longer complete without chatting with his favorite wattpad author. He is looking for the chance to finally meet her in person and get to know her more. He wants to know what is in her mind as well as in her heart. Despite not meeting her personally yet he feels that Lily is a good person because her stories has values and positive outlook in life. He believes they will be good friends in the future or even more than that.

In every conversation he has with Lily, her witt was always evident. Conversing with her never bores him and he always looks forward to their chattime every night. He admits crushing on his favorite wattpad author. He closed his eyes thinking that how Lily looks like will form in his mind but to his surprise Emily's face flashes on his mind.

But he wonders how Lily will take it once she learned the truth about Riel's identity. He hopes that she will not take the lie negatively. Deep in his heart he knows what he did was wrong, but he has his reasons for doing that.

He came back into his senses when an email suddenly pops-up on his laptop. The message came from Grace of JAC Publishing with subject, "Result of Deliberation". His heart suddenly beats fast because of excitement on the list of winners. He opted not to join JACP project team in their deliberation on the shortlisted entries. He does not want his biases with TLG affects his judgement. He wants her to win because he wants that coffee date of TheAbandonedChild and TheLostGirl.

His smile widens upon seeing the winning story in the romance category. He has no doubt that TheLostGirl will win. He finds the story very promising and he even doubted that the story was written by a professional author.

Suddenly, Gabriel's phone rings and Grace's number flashes on the screen. "Hello, Grace, I already got the email, ngayon lang," he said.

"Great, I just want to know if you have any violent reaction," Grace said.

"Sobra ka naman sa violent reaction. I trust your judgement so whatever the result is, I respect it the team's decision." Gabriel uttered.

"I want to know your honest opinion, Boss Gab," Grace said.

"Honestly, I don't have problem with the result, Grace. You may proceed with the announcement of winner. Lolo is expecting the list of the winners. He wants it included in the annual magazine," Gabriel uttered.

"Great, I will send the list to the office of the chairman para maihabol sa final layout ng annual magazine," Grace said. "I will also send a congratulatory message to the winners to inform them about our offer of an exclusive contract," she added.

"All right, ikaw na ang bahala dyan," Gabriel said.

"I will also send Sir Yago the summary of the stories para magkaroon naman sya ng idea on how to design the book covers," Grace said.

"Bakit kay Yago?" Gabriel surprisedly asked.

"Boss Gab, nakapirma na ng contract si Yago sa atin to design the book covers," Grace said. "How can you forget that?" she asked.

Only then that Gabriel realized how he turned-down the offer of his grandfather to design the book covers so it was offered to Yago instead.

"What if hindi magustuhan ng mga authors yung design ng book cover?" Gabriel asked.

"Yago will create three designs for each story para may choice yung author," Grace replied.

"What if may ibang design na gusto ang author?" Gabriel asked.

"Only those design by our resident designer will be used for their books, that is part of the authors contract," Grace said.

"Can we amend that part of the contract, let's give freedom to the authors to decide for the design of their book cover?" Gabriel asked.

"I think you have to talk to Mr. Chairman about the clause in the contract. Galing sa office of the Chairman ang draft nung contract, and it was approved by the legal department," Grace said.

"All right I will talk to Lolo about that clause in the contract. When are we meeting the authors?" Gabriel asked.

"The Chairman and I agreed to give liberty to the authors if they want to hide their identity or not. I discussed it with you the other day. I can't believe na pati yun nakalimutan mo, Boss Gab?" Grace asked.

"My understanding is, JACP will protect the identity of the authors to the readers but not to the JACP staff. Paano tayo magpipirmahan ng kontrata kung hindi sila magpapakilala sa atin?" Gabriel asked.

"Only the JACP Chief-Editor and the Head of Legal Department will have the priviledge to meet the authors in person. Yun ang napag-usapan namin ni Chairman at pumayag ka. Ako at si Atty. Sarmiento lang ang haharap sa author for the contract signing," Grace uttered.

"I misunderstood," Gabriel said.

"This is very unusual, Boss Gab. You sound unfocus, are you all right?" Grace asked.

"Yes, I am, Grace," Gabriel replied.

"Naninibago lang kasi ako sa iyo. This is the first time na nakalimutan mo ang mga pinag-usapan natin," Grace said.

"It is not that, only now that I realized some points. Parang ikinukulong natin ang mga authors, baka matrauma ang mga iyon," Gabriel uttered.

"Boss Gab, only the use of book cover design is the only demandable clause in the contract. The privacy of their identity are their discretions," Grace said.

"They are new authors, Grace. For sure they will just agree on our demands kasi sobrang excited sila sa contract," Gabriel said.

"I suggest you discuss those points with the Chairman before we finalize the contract," Grace said. "And remember, we only three days left before the announcement of the winners. Kailangan ready na ang lahat before that big event," Grace said.

"I will immediately talk to Lolo for those concerns. I will get back to you tomorrow morning," Gabriel said.

"All right, I will wait for your advice, Boss Gab," Grace uttered before they both hang up.

Gabriel's excitement turns into frustration after his talk with Grace. He must convince his grandfather to remove the clause in the contract about the author's choice of the book cover design. He wants to design the book cover for 'Bridesmaid Forever' authored by TheLostGirl. In fact, he wants to get involve in everything associated to her.

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Hala, Boss Gab, parang hindi lang crush ang meron ka para kay TLC. 😉😊

Please stay safe guys. 😊

Pagpasensyahan nyo na ang wrong spelling at grammar, maitatama ko rin yan kapag may panahon na ako. 😁😙😜.

Let me know what you think of the update guys and thank you for the reads and votes 😘😊😘😊😘😊.