It's You, Always You

The Unexpected NGO

At that moment, Lily's world suddenly blurred and Anton was the only thing she can see clearly. She couldn't talk nor she couldn't move. Seeing someone having a big part of her past before her eyes. They were like that for a few seconds that felt like minutes.

"Anong nangyayari dito?" a familiar voice broke their moment which made Lily pull her head back to see who it is.

"Oscar!" she immediately stood up and fixed herself.

The PSGs and other staff picked up the scattered documents on the floor and handed them to Lily. "Thank you" she stated as she received the documents.

"What happened?" Oscar asked in a serious and questioning tone.

"Si Lily kasi---" Anton tried to say something but he was cut off by Lily.

"Ano kasi Oscar...uhm...nakatulog kasi ako kanina tapos bigla akong nagising thinking that I was already late for our meeting." Lily stated.

"And?" Oscar asked wanting to know the whole story.

"I stormed out of my office and suddenly bumped into..." she glanced at Anton, "...him" she continued.

"Kung ganon, okay ka lang ba?" Oscar stated worriedly and held Lily by her shoulders.

"Okay lang ako." she answered, giving Oscar a reassuring smile.

"Glad I was fast enough to catch you." Anton said, making the atmosphere around them awkward.

"Thanks" Lily said just him a slight smile.

"Don't mention it." Anton smiled back.

Oscar noticed that something is off between the two which made him curious about who is the unfamiliar man that so-called 'caught' his woman from falling to the ground.

"I'm sorry, I didn't get your name. Who are you again?" Oscar asked Anton.

"Oh, I haven't introduced myself. I'm Anthony R-" he was cut off.

"Mr. Reyes! There you are." Secretary Olegario said, once again cutting Anton off. The three faced her as she went towards them. 

"Reyes? Anthony Reyes?" Oscar said in his mind.

"I was looking for you at the entrance pero some staff told me you went at this aisle." Secretary Olegario stated.

Oscar having his own world and thinking where could he heard this familiar name. He looked at Anton who is already looking at Lily. His eyebrows furrowed and averted his gaze to Lily who is currently listening to Secretary Olegario. And then he remembered, "Lily's ex..." he snaps in his mind.

"Ms. Cortez, Mr. President, andito pala kayo." Secretary Olegario greeted. "May I introduce to you, Mr. Anthony Reyes. One of the heads of Hope For Children PH. He's one of our presentors."

"Oscar Hidalgo." Oscar stated plainly and shook Anton's hand. 

"It's nice to finally meet you, Mr. President." Anton answered and smiled at Oscar.

"Uhm...L-Lily Ann Cortez" Lily said and reacher her hand out. Anton stared at her hand for a while before shaking. "There's no need to introduce yourself, Ms...Cortez." he grinned.

"It's a pleasure meeting you again." Anton added in a dark whispery voice that gave Lily shivers. It was like she couldn't find her voice so she just nodded with a smile. It took a while before Anton released Lily's hand.

Lily cleared her throat trying to break the awkwardness in the air again. Oscar then suddenly wrapped his arms around Lily's waist and pulled her closer to him which made Lily glance at him and saw him steadily staring at Anton.

"Shall we proceed to the board room?" Secretary Olegario suggests that Lily is thankful for.

"Let's go?" Lily responds. "Oscar?" she whispered that made Oscar look at her. "Tara?" she added. Oscar answered with a nod.

And they all went to the board room.

------

On the way there, Lily seems to replay what happened earlier which makes her lose her focus.

The doors to the board room opened. Of course, Oscar gets to go in first. Lily was about to go to her usual spot during meetings, which is in front of Oscar, but suddenly Oscar grabbed her waist and led her to the seat next to him. Which is supposed to be Secretary Borja's seat.

"Oscar bakit?" Lily asked in a light tone, not understanding why Oscar did that. "Doon ka umupo." Oscar responds to avoid Anton and Lily sitting next to each other.

They all take their seats while the other officials come into the room.

The last person has entered. All of them surrounded the large wooden table. Oscar started the meeting by greeting all of them and listened to their presentation.

It was time for Lily to do her thing and so she stood up and showed the gentlemen how it's done. She gave comments, recommendations, and many more to the presentations. Anton took the opportunity to focus his eyes on Lily properly.

The presentation went on and on to the point that they had to serve dinner during the meeting, the president insisted. Oscar excused himself to visit the bathroom for a moment. Lily was standing at the edge of the table when Elizabeth accidentally poured the drinks directly at Lily. Which caught the attention of everybody in the room.

"Naku po! Pasensya na po Ms. Lily. Hindi ko po sinasadya!" Elizabeth expressed in a shocked and worried tone. "Okay lang Elizabeth." Lily responds.

"Naku Elizabeth, dapat nag-iingat ka." Secretary Olegario contended.

"Okay lang Secretary, konting buhos lang naman 'to." Lily responds while wiping her top off with a table napkin. "Pasensya na po talaga Ms. Lily." Elizabeth continues to reply and helps Lily in cleaning herself.

"Anong nangyari?" Oscar asked coming from the bathroom as he sees what Lily and Elizabeth are doing.

"Aksidente po kasing natapunan ni Aling Elizabeth si Ms. Lily ng juice." Doray reported.

The two men then noticed that Lily's top is becoming see-through which made them act fast and remove a part of their clothing. Anton removing his suit and Oscar removing his barong, leaving his white shirt behind. The two stormed after Lily but Oscar being the closest, has been first. 

"Ako na." Oscar said to Anton and covered Lily's front. The people in the room are shocked by what the gentlemen did, just stared at them muted.

"Excuse us." Oscar states while holding Lily both on her shoulders, almost hugging her, to support his barong from falling. The two left the room and went straight to Oscar's bedroom.

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In the bedroom...

Oscar ordered Captain Salonga to find a nearby boutique and get something for Lily. Luckily, there was a boutique open and he was able to get a few tops for Lily to choose from.

"Here, mamili ka nalang." Oscar offered. 

"Andami naman nito." Lily answered with a chuckle. 

"Okay na yan, para makapili ka ng gusto mo. Lalabas muna ako."Oscar then left the room and Lily started to look through the bags to find something that fits her and found one she likes. She removed her current top, leaving only her brassiere on, and again wiped her chest.

She then noticed that someone entered the room. In which she didn't have to turn around to know who it is. His soft smell somewhat gave her a clue on who it is.

He enclosed her in between his arms. Oscar being bare-chested, since he already removed his shirt, pulled Lily closer to him. Lily's cold back contrasting Oscar's warm chest, feeling each other's skin.

"How about staying tonight and picking up from where we left off." Oscar whispered seductively on Lily's ear.