"please make sure that everything is in place. today is a very special day for our company" jerome

"chloe naayos mo na ba yung staff assignment?" leo asked

"yes sir!" sagot ni cleng

"who did you assign to take care of our SVP?"

"i asked D to take care of him"

jerome and leo looked at each other then looked at nuel, greg and albert.

"what??? don't you trust my judgement?" cleng asked when she noticed their exchange of glances

"hindi naman sa ganun cleng... pero parang ganun na nga..." biro ni albert

"babe, ano kasi eh... uhmm pano ba" nuel countered

"ngayon pa lang i tell you, D will be our best choice". she said dismissively

"well undoubtedly, magaling talaga yung bata, matalino, madiskarte at maganda... kaya lang—" greg commented

"kaya lang...???" chloe asked wanting them to continue

"kaya lang parehong alpha ang personality ng dalawa" albert blurted

"hay naku ang laki ng problema nyo! relax guys, para namang hindi ko personally kilala ang SVP"

"si D lang naman ang inaalala namin baka kasi mag-resign yan pag napikon, sayang naman ang galing" nuel added

"she will not. kayang-kaya yan ni D" she said while smirking, she knows the kid

"well, if that's the case wala naman kaming magagawa, that's your division" leo commented

"guys, he's here" je announced

"let's do this guys" albert said then stood up

^^^^^

D walked aimlessly, looking at her watch

"shit! 6:45 na bwisit kasing MRT yan ngayon pa talaga pumalpak!"

she cursed at herself. she was never late. and just when she was given a great opportunity at work, this happened. her mind is now overthinking. paano kapag binawi sa kanya ang opportunity na to. she needed this. she needed so she can save up for her masteral after graduation. wala ng scholarship kahit na maging magna cum laude pa siya.

and since she was so busy thinking of every possible scenario, she bumped to someone which caused the coffee on her hand to spill on her pristine white blouse, lucky the guy she bumped with caught her waist

great! oh just great! sa lahat talaga ng araw! she thought

"BULAG KA BA?" she asked without looking at the guy while looking for any wet ones in her bag "HINDI KA KASI NAG-IINGAT!"

"ako pa talaga ang hindi nag-iingat? ikaw kaya ang hindi nakatingin sa dinadaanan mo!" the guy countered

"ah ganun! kung ikaw ba nakatingin din eh di sana hindi mo ako nabangga! besides ikaw yung kung saan-saan sumusulpot! oh pano ngayon itong kape ng boss ko?! bayaran mo to kasi pag ako natanggal sa trabaho ipapa-hunting talaga kita!" patuloy na singhal ng dalaga sa binata

the guy was caught off-guard seeing the girl's face. he got captivated by her hazelnut doe eyes. had not for the current event he would have asked her name. but since their meeting was presented in a different way hindi naman siya magpapatalo.

"wow! ang tapang mo naman yata masyado miss. sandali lang baka naka—"

your mom did not raise you to speak like that to a lady

"dad kasi—"

no excuses young man. apologize to the young lady!

when D looked over the direction where the voice came from, she saw the owner and CEO of their company, and she's smart enough to figure out this day is not going to turn out well, for her at least

"miss... miss?" the guy is now looking at her but she just stood there frozen

oh dear earth! bakit di mo na lang ako kainin ngayon!

"miss? i... i'm—"

and just before the man could apologize

"hindi po sir, ako! ahmm... ako po talaga yung may kasalanan! hindi po ako tumitingin sa dinadaanan ko, pasensiya na po"

he was surprised by the sudden change of her demeanor.

"sorry po... sorry po talaga." then she hurriedly made her way towards the opposite direction

after walking for a good five minutes, she realized something.

"shit! yung coffee cup!!!!"

—— inside the elevator.

"huh? dad sorry... you were saying?

talaga ba? kanina pa ako salita ng salita dito wala kang narinig? i'm asking did you get to apologize?

"apologize?"

to the young lady. mapapagalitan tayo ng mommy mo nyan eh!

"dad i tried pero nagmamadali kasi siyang umalis"

you have an excuse now, but if you get to see her again make sure you do his father said with finality

"oh will do dad, will do" he said then drank the coffee in his hand.

bakit mo iniinom yan? hindi ba dun yan sa babaeng nabangga mo? his father asked

"sayang naman dad, paborito ko pa naman, papalitan ko na lang pag nagkita kami ulit" he told his dad

by now he cannot stop himself from smiling and staring at the hand-written message on the coffee cup.

vanilla-hazelnut latte for sir alden
enjoy your first day

your EA - dei 🦋

#####

😉