Romancing The Ice Prince

Chapter 7.

Chapter 7
Power

Miguel was staring blankly at the pen in front of him. His face expressionless yet very intimidating. It wasn't broody. Blankong blanko iyon. Yet everyone was twitching in their seats, pretending not to look at him kahit iyon mismo ang ginagawa ng mga ito—trying to get his pulse.

You could feel the heavy atmosphere. It was so palpable. Walang ingay na maririnig maliban na lamang sa nagsasalita sa harapan. No one knew what he was thinking, no one knew when he would speak.

Nasa loob sila ng meeting room ng mga oras na iyon at kasalukuyang may nagrereport sa harap ng board of trustees. Miguel was seating at the opposite end of the table, across the big screen. Hindi siya nakatingin doon, instead he was staring at his pen, prenteng nakasandal sa kanyang Herman Miller swivel chair, habang nakapatong ang mga siko sa magkabilang armrest at magkasiklop ang kamay.

If the board didn't knew him, iisipin ng mga ito hindi siya nakikinig at lumilipad lamang ang isip. But they knew better.

Everyone inside of the room were the most brilliant minds and most efficient businessmen. He made sure of that. Except the one speaking and it irritated the hell out of him.

"Stop" he stated. Everyone froze, a chill slides over their skin nang marinig ang boses ng kanilang boss. Lahat yata ay napatigil sa kanilang paghinga.

Tumigil naman ang nagsasalita. Napalunok ito at nagsimulang pagpawisan nang malapot. "S-sir?"

"Account 30023 is 200 239 562 790" he stated, still looking at the pen.

Nanlaki ang mga mata ng lalaking nagpepresent at napatingin sa notes at supporting documents na hawak nito. Ilang sandali pa ay namutla ito. 

Nababaghang napatingin na din ang mga tao sa kani kanilang documents.

Dahil mali iyon ay ibig sabihin ay mali na ang lahat ng computation na naipresenta nito. They were talking about a hundred accounts na may kani-kaniyang number code.

Yet somehow, Miguel remember every last digit of every single account and every penny it costs.

It was his gift. He remembers everything. He could answer any question thrown at him and he can solve practically anything in just a few minutes. He was a walking calculator. A walking thesaurus. A walking dictionary. Hell, he was a living Google!

So it may have looked like he wasn't listening but his brain was processing word per word so he noticed the discrepancy right away.

"I-i'm sorry, s-sir. I—"

"You're fired" putol niya sa sasabihin nito.

Tuluyan nang nawala ang kulay sa mukha nito at nanghihinang napaupo.

"You have 5 minutes to vacate this area. I don't want to see your face again" he said in a dead and authoritative voice. 

One thing he hated the most was stupidness. He was paying them a lot so they should be doing their job right. Billions—heck, trillions is at stake here. One wrong move ay mawawala lahat ng iyon.

Nang makalabas ito ay tahimik lamang ang lahat ng nasa loob ng meeting room na iyon. Damang dama ang tensiyon ng bawat isa, hinihintay ang susunod na sasabihin niya.

Dahan dahan siyang sumandal sa kanyang swivel chair. "I wasted an hour for that. I hate wasting time. His job was very simple yet hindi niya na gawa nang maayos" sabi niya habang nakatingin sa mga tao doon.

"Next presentor" malamig na sabi niya. Bumaling siya kay Mr. Gonzales, ang supervisor ng kakaalis lang na empleyado. "I want a revised report an hour after this meeting." He titled his head slightly. "I was counting. That's his 3rd mistake. Double check. If I see another mistake on that file, i will fire the whole department. Understood?"

"Understood, sir. We'll make sure that everything is correct" Tumango tango ito.

Natapos naman ang sumunod na mga oras nang maayos at nagpaalam na ang mga ito.

"Sir, here's your schedule for next week. You have a meeting on Tuesday with the design team of Infinite Global and AMDesigns, the designers of airport," inilapag ni Monica, ang kanyang sekretarya, ang isang itim folder sa harap niya. Kinuha at pinasadahan niya ng tingin iyon.

"Alright. Thanks" sagot niya. Tumango lamang ito at lumabas na.

Tumayo na siya sa kinauupuan and went to his mini bar inside his office. Kinuha niya ang isang scotch bottle at isinalin iyon sa isang glass. He walked towards the window. Isa iyong glass wall and because his office was at the top floor and a corner office, his spot got the best view, overlooking the city.

He loosened his tie and looked at his watch, it was 8 in the evening. Madalas na ganoon natatapos ang mga meeting niya. His schedule was always hectic, he has so much business to attend to. Madalas ay siya na lamang ang natitira sa loob ng building na iyon bukod sa mga security guards at janitors. Minsan nga ay doon na rin siya natutulog.

He's been living like a machine, he admit. He would wake up at 4am, do runs then go to work and he would go home at 10, 9 was the earliest.

Nagbunga naman ang lahat ng iyon. He's now one of the richest man in the country, or maybe in Asia too. Sinong magaakalang hindi naman niya iyon pinangarap noon. He used to be a simple man. All he wanted to do was to become a pilot. Maybe put up a small business just so when he wanted to retire, may gagawin man lang siya. He never wanted to be here, tinanggihan nga niyang patakbuhin ang kumpanya ng kanyang pamilya kaya nagalit ang mga ito sa kanya, yet here he is. A fucking business mogul.

A part of him knew it was to prove himself. Gusto niyang magtagumpay nang magtagumpay until no one has power over him. Hindi na niya uli hahayaang magkaroon ng kapangyarihan sa kanya ang ibang tao. He hated not being in control. If you did, people will destroy you.

Like a girl did to him. Christ, he couldn't even say her name, even in his head. Naming her was acknowledging her and everything she did to him, every pain she caused and everything that was destroyed in him the moment she left. And that's giving her power over him. Hindi niya hahayaan iyon, not again.