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Thursday.

Sabi ko kay baklita ay after ng last class nya ay makipagkita sya sakin dito sa Starbucks. Actually, dapat kaninang 4 p.m ko pa sya pinapunta dito, pero sabi nya ay 5 pa ang end ng class nya at ayaw nyang mag absent dahil may quiz. Of course, I hate waiting for others, pero napag-isipan ko ding at least I have an hour to myself to think about stuff kaya pumayag na lang ako.

Honestly speaking, this still feels a little surreal to me. I couldn't believe that time went by so fast. To think that one week na ni baklita ngayon? Funny. He made it seem like taking the position as my "best friend" was easy.

But still, hindi ibig sabihin non ay kampante na ako sa kanya. Paano kung binabackstab nya din pala ako diba? He may look innocent, but I can never be so sure. Pagkatapos kong mapagdaanan ang iba't ibang klaseng panloloko, pagsisinungaling at pagtatraydor, sa tingin ko nakalimutan ko na kung paano magtiwala.

Believe me. Kung kayo ang dumaan sa posisyon ko, matututunan nyo ding maging manhid.

"Good afternoon ma'am!" I heard the guard greet a customer a lot brighter than usual kaya napatingin ako. Oh, si baklita pala iyon.

"Good afternoon din!" Baklita greeted back, obvious na natutuwa dahil tinawag syang ma'am. So close na sila? Wow, ok.

"Oh Kate, anong hanash?" Ngiting aso sya as he took the seat in front of me.

"Here," sabi ko as I placed the white envelope on the table.

"Ano to?" Pabirong tanong nya at dahan dahang kinuha ang envelope para i-inspect.

"Your weekly salary." I stated as-a-matter-of-factly. Then I flashed a cold smile. "Congratulations on being the first person to reach one week."

"Huh???" Napatigil sya. His smile suddenly disappeared. Nagpalipat lipat ang tingin nya between sa envelope at sa akin. "Kate... anong ibig sabihin nito...?"

I laughed coldly and rolled my eyes. "Oh come on. Don't pretend to be so surprised. Have you forgotten that what you're into is just a contract?"

Napabuka ang bibig nya, but he didn't say anything. Then he just stared at me as if he was trying to read my mind. Or rather... as if he already knew what I was thinking.

Nag-iwas ako ng tingin. See? See? This is basically the reason why I can't fully trust him. When he's serious, it definitely feels like he knows something about me. Mas gugustuhin ko pa yung maingay sya, makasat at mumula-mulala.

"Just take it. Hindi yan suhol o kung ano. It's your money."

"Pero Kate..." nakakunot pa rin ang noo nya habang tinitingnan ang envelope. Konti lang ang pagkakabukas nya but surely with just one look, nakita nya na agad kung magkano ang nasa loob. "Sobra sobra yata 'to? Daig pa nito pang isang bwang sweldo ng mga professor natin! Ayos na ako sa 1K o kahit nga 500 lang, pero Kate..."

Luminga linga pa sya sa paligid as if to make sure nobody was listening.

"30 thousand?!!! Seryoso ka ba???"

He whispered harshly. Napapikit ako. Is he seriously complaining about this?

"Okay then. Let's be technical about this, baklita. Your job requires time, privacy, physical, mental, and emotional strength. Your work hours is not set for certain hours. You have to be on-call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You're basically sacrificing your personal life. You should understand the nature of your job, baklita. It's that kind of job where I can make your life miserable kung gugustuhin ko."

I paused, at nanatili syang nakatitig sa'kin.

"Your job is much more demanding than being a professor. But still, I'm a fair person. I pay according to the difficulty of the job I'm offering. Walang nakakatagal ng one week sa pwesto mo, baklita. That proves that your job is no joke. I don't know how you did it but you're the first person able to survive a week. Which means, that's the right amount you should recieve and you don't have to feel guilty about it."

Umiling sya.

"Kate, hindi ko to ginagawa para sa--"

"Look, can't you just take it?" Iritable kong sagot. Hindi ba dapat matuwa sya dahil ganyan kalaki ang sweldo nya? Masyadong pabebe!

Nagbuntong hininga sya at winagayway ang envelope. "Fine. I'll take this. Sa isang kundisyon. Next time, bawasan mo 'to. Jusko Kate! Mapapagkamalan akong drug pusher ng pamilya ko kung ganito kalaki ang perang iuuwi ko linggo linggo!"

I rubbed my temples. Pati ba naman sa sweldo nya ay ini-istress nya ako? God!

"Fine! Magkano? 25,000?"

"1,500!"

"Oh my God baklita! I'm not cheap!"

"Sige, 3K!"

"20K!"

"What the hell Kate?" He stared at me incredulously.  "4K!"

"Fine! 15K!"

"Huling tawad! 5K!"

"13K!"

"Final, 7K!"

"12K!"

"10K!"

"DEAL!!!"

Napahampas ako sa lamesa at napatayo tuloy bigla dahil sa sobrang stress. Pinagtinginan tuloy ako, but I don't care! Feeling ko tumanda ako ng ten years dahil lang sa nangyari! Like seriously? I couldn't believe tinawaran pa nya ang ganun kalaking halaga ng salary! I feel so cheap! Pero eto naman ako't pumatol sa kabalbalan nya!

"Okay, deal!" Baklita grinned triumphantly.

NAKAKAINIS!

"Whatever! Get up! May pupuntahan pa tayo!" I shouted as I stomped out of the cafe. Dire direrto ako papuntang parking lot at nakasunod naman si baklita. As soon as we entered the car, nagmaneho na agad ang driver papunta sa destination.

"Uy Kate, galit ka?" Medyo nang aasar na tanong ni baklita.

"Shut up!"

"Hala. Bakit galit ka?" Biglang naging concerned ang tono nya. "Galit ka ba kasi--"

"JUST SHHHHHHHH!!!"

Buong gigil kong tinapat ang hintuturo ko sa kanya. Sa sobrang gigil ko ay feeling ko isang dinig ko pa ng boses nya ay mapapakain ko na sya ng takong ng sapatos. Pero buti na lang, nakaramdam din sya't nanahimik na lang din.

I savored the silent moment and took deep breaths to calm myself down. Relax, Kate. Relax. Masyadong maliit na bagay para masaktan ang ego mo. He's not worth it. He's not worth for you to lose your composure.

"Um Kate san tayo pupunta?"

Kung may world record siguro ng pinakamabilis na pagtanggal ng sapatos at i-amba ang 5 inch heels para itarak sa pagmumukha ng ibang tao ay ako na siguro ang panalo.

Napatili si baklita.

"HOOOY HOOOOY GRABE SYA OH!" He tried to shield his face with his arms dahil mukhang readying ready na talaga akong tagain sya. As in ready na talaga.

"GRABE, NAGTANONG LANG NAMAN KUNG SAAN PUPUNTA E MYGAHD KATE! NASOBRAHAN KA NANAMAN YATA SA KAPE!!!"

"SA BOTIQUE! MAGSUSUKAT AKO PARA SA GOWNS ANO OK NA?!!"

Sigaw ko. Nanlalaki ang mata ni baklita habang dahan dahang tumango. Umayos sya ng upo at tumingin na lang sa labas ng bintana. Na-trauma na yata.

...
...
...

"Gown para saan?"

"BAKLITA I SWEAR TO GOD--"

I shut my eyes. Ugh, whatever. Oo nga pala't walang sense kung makikipagtalo pa ako sa taong to.

"Debut." I answered in the most calm voice I can muster.

He gasped. "Talaga? Kailan debut mo?"

"Matagal pa."

"Kailan nga?"

Tiningnan ko sya ng masama.

"Okay, fine, fine. I'll back off." He lifted his hands up in defense pero tumatawa pa sin sya.

Umirap na lang ako at di na sya tiningnan. He keeps pushing all my buttons pero hindi ko mawari kung bakit ko pa sya pinagtatyagaan! Nakakainis!

NAKAKAINIS TALAGA!

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[A/N]: Ewan ko sayo Kate. Pareho kayong abnormal. 😂😂😂