Baby Madness

Chapter 58

"Happy birthday, old guy," I greeted when I saw him walking toward me.

"Thanks, middle-aged woman," he retorted.

He just turned 27 and he was becoming more anxious since he'd reach 30 in a few more years. Smirking, I reminded him how old he was and he arm-choked me. He demanded s free lunch so I bought him his favorite food and a cake.

"Who are you?" he asked. "Why are you suddenly nice to me?"

"They say we should always be nice to elderly."

"Ha ha very funny."

Inasar ko lang siya nang inasar hanggang sa mapunta ang usapan namin sa love life.

"You're going home this year, right? You're finally going to see your husband," he teased.

I threw a crumpled napkin on him. "Idiot."

"Hey, respect your superior!" he whined.

"I don't want to."

"Is this the effect of being a wife?"

"Whatever, girlfriendless old man."

"Hey!"

Pagkatapos naming kumain ay dumiretso ako sa office ko. Yup. I already have my own office as the deputy chief information officer. The HR reviewed my curriculum vitae when I applied right after I graduated and they conducted a series of interview to assess if I was qualified for the information officer position. It would be easier if I had Dad's recommendation but I that would just cause rumors. Besides, I didn't want to be just known as his daughter. I wanted to have my own name and identity.

After two years, I applied for Master's degree and got promoted as deputy chief information officer. Of course, some thought I pulled some strings to be promoted in such position just after two years. I learned not to care about those rumors since the people around me knew how hard I worked to reach this place.

Being a deputy chief was too demanding and carried a lot of responsibilities. For the first few months, I had a hard time adjusting since it involved overseeing all IT operations and project management functions. In addition, I had to report to the CIO, which was Mr. Gives who was part of the Mao faction. But I persevered, and a year later, the CIO position was given to Shang. I was beyond happy when I learned he was my new superior. Everything became easier and more comfortable.

Of course, rumors arose once again. As a young inexperienced woman, who's also the daughter of the CEO, I had to be tougher than anyone else to survive this kind of world. But sometimes, it gets too suffocating.

I had to breathe.

***

Umuwi ako noong Christmas two years ago at last year. I was so happy when I saw my siblings again. Czanelle grew taller and Clark could already talk. Mom, on the other hand, just stared curiously at me. It was still hard to look at her like that but I learned to accept everything. We could not bring her memories back anymore or create new ones. We had to bear the fact that she was just merely existing, not living the life she wanted to.

Lumabas din kami noon nina Queenie at Katrina. We updated each other about our lives and it seemed like they got closer so I kept teasing them.

"Hindi mo ba hihintayin si Jazer?" Queenie asked, shifting the attention to me.

Katrina smiled. "Oo nga. Christmas vacation kasi kaya umuwi 'yon sa kanila."

"He should spend more time with his family," I replied. "Besides, aalis na rin naman ako bukas. I still have a lot of unfinished paperworks."