Conference
"What?!"
I let out a deep breath and slightly moved away from the monitor.
"Is this serious, Miss?"
"Yes. I'm sorry. But there might be changes. Things are not going very well here. I'll arrange another meeting soon—"
"Then what about us? We have invested a huge money for your company. How will we be able to monitor the movement? How will we take part?"
My lips formed a thin line. Nakakastress na ang sitwasyon.
"Then you pull out, Mr. Arevalo."
Sabay-sabay silang nagreklamo kaya mabilis kong pinatay ang cam at nag-sign off na. Hinilig ko ang ulo sa headrest ng swivel chair at tumingala.
I have thought about this for a while now. The consequences are huge and I understand that the investors are having doubts regarding the moving of Wintrest's headquarters to the Philippines.
Maaantala ang international expansion ng brand. Marami ring magpupull out ng shares. We might have to start from scratch. And we might add and remove a few designs for the collection to fit what most of the consumers would want. In that case, hindi namin alam kung ano.
Gusto ko mang bumalik, hindi pa pwede. My life is still in grave threat. Hindi pa sigurado ang kaligtasan ko hanggang ngayon. And I'm not really sure if I still wanted to go back.
"Yna," a baritone voice called.
Lumingon ako sa pinto at nakita si Chaos doon na nakahilig at nakapamulsa habang tinititigan ako.
I raised a brow.
"What are you doing here?"
"Hindi mo 'ko na-miss?"
Umirap ako. Palagi siyang nandito. Ever since we kind of made up a week ago, he's always been here. At mukhang wala lang naman 'yong kaso kina Daddy at Tita. They even encouraged him to keep coming here.
And then, a realization dawned on me.
Bahagyang uminit ang aking pisngi nang unti-unting mapagtanto kung gaano ka-weird ang sitwasyon naming dalawa. I still haven't cleared anything between the two of us. And here we are, acting like a couple.
Tumalikod ako at hindi siya sinagot. I pretended to fix some of the things on my table.
"Ngayon, hindi mo naman ako kinakausap."
I heard his footsteps. The nervousness and shame I felt a while ago seemed to have escalated now that I can feel him near me.
"Ano'ng problema?" he softly asked.
Kinagat ko ang aking labi. Hindi ko lubos na maamin na naaapektuhan niya ako sa kahit ano'ng gawin niya. This is so unfair. Para akong patay na patay sa kanya!
"Wala naman," I smiled to somehow ease the feeling.
Gently, he held both sides of the headrest and turned me towards him. His eyes never left mine. He then knelt down and caged me between his two arms resting on either side of the swivel chair's armrest.
Yumuko ako at tinitigan lang ang aking flip flops. Hindi ko alam kung bakit hindi ko siya matignan nang maayos ngayon.
Inangat niya ang aking baba. Mabilis ko namang iniwas ang aking tingin. Tumawa siya.
"Ang cute mo."
Seriously?!
"Shut up," mahinang tugon ko.
BINABASA MO ANG
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