Euphoria: Dosage of Rhapsodies

Chapter 30

"What? Gusto mong magpa-audition? For... what?"

"Lutang ka ba?" natatawa niyang sabi which makes me wonder if I throw a joke? "Ang ibig ko lang naman sabihin ay magpa-audition kayo para maghanap ng papalit for Eli. He's a popular artist at marami rin ang sumusuporta sa kanya so, once the management calls for audition, tiyak na maraming mag-a-apply."

"Nice idea," tumatangong sagot ko nang maliwanagan sa ibig sabihin ni Julia.

Actually, maganda 'yong idea na naisip ni Julia. Imbes na halukayin ko ang social media para lang makahanap ng papalit kay Eli, why not if magpa-audition na lang kami? Mas magaan pa 'yon kaysa sa ginagawa ko, sa totoo lang.

"Siguro ay pwede n'yo naman maabala sina Dylan at Warren para tulungan kayo sa pagpili ng auditionee na papalit kay Eli, bilang 'yong dalawa naman na 'yon ay may history na sa dancing. Pwede nila matulungan si Eli sa pag-de-decide," Julia asserted as if she's very sincere in persuading me.

"Okay, I'll let Eli know about this first," nakangiting sagot ko, kasabay rin no'n ay nagpaalam na ako kay Julia dahil dumating na si Theo to pick me up.

While I was sitting in the passenger's seat, I dialed Eli's phone number.

"Kung bakit naman kasi hindi ka nagdadala ng kotse tuwing alam mong hindi ka masusundo ng boyfriend mo," I heard Theo exasperated as he sighed heavily.

"Isn't part of your work to fetch me?"

"Come on, Corrine! I'm your manager, not your driver!"

"Whatever!" I rolled my eyes as a sign of being defeated.

"So, how are you? Kumusta naman ang pagiging isang wedding coordinator?" He asked, shifting the topic to my personal job. "May magandang dahilan ka na ba para iwan ang showbiz at piliin na maging isang wedding coordinator na lang?"

"Of course not!" Sinamaan ko siya ng tingin, while he was just laughing at me. "This job really burnt me out, kung alam mo lang. There are times that I feel like I'm an unworthy employee, I'm just a burden in their team. Feeling ko wala naman akong naitutulong sa kanila. It turns out that mas nadagdagan pa 'yong trabaho nila dahil dumating ako."

It's the saddest reality. Ayoko man na maramdaman ito but, life makes me realize that my worth only appears when I love what I'm doing. And that clearly explains why sometimes, I felt exhausted right after my duty. I ain't telling how I feel to anyone because I don't like disturbing them for my personal problem.

But yeah, sobrang nakakapagod talaga gawin ang isang bagay na sa una pa lang, labag na sa kalooban mo na gawin. But in the name of my career, I have to do this. I have to finish this. Mahirap nga lang ikaila na nahihirapan ako at napapagod rin but I think, all the hard works I did will have a trade-off someday.

"Stop saying that, Corrine. In fact, I received a call from Israel last time. Alam mo kung ano'ng sinabi niya sa akin?" He paused for a moment, para lang siguro akitin ako na lingunin ko siya. "You're doing great, Corrine. Galing na mismo sa team leader n'yo ang compliment na 'yon, ngayon mo pa ba sasabihin na pabigat ka lang sa kanila? Do you think Israel will give me a call to compliment you just for nothing?"

"If he complimented me, that only means he's expecting that the management will pay them higher honorarium."

"Do you think he's that kind of person?" And just like that, huminto ang makina ng kotse. "Ikaw itong mas nakakakilala kamo kay Israel so, you better know what kind of person he is. Kung 'yong compliment niya ba sa iyo ay ginawa niya lang para malaki ang ibayad ng management sa kanya, or it is truly a genuine compliment."

I just rolled my eyes before I went outside of his car. Ewan ko ba kung kailan nagsimulang maging hobby ni Theo na iwanan ako palagi ng isang makahulugang tanong. How sure is he about Israel, by the way? Kung makapagsalita naman kasi siya, para bang matagal na niya itong kilala.