The Boss' Fault

CHAPTER 13

"Ma'am? Lunch break na po. Tara na?"Alice called out from the entrance of her office. She nodded and followed her to the cafeteria.

She was massaging her temple while holding the spoon with her other hand. Sumasayaw na sa paningin niya ang mga letra at numero sa mga tinatrabaho niyang papeles kanina.

It's been four days since she came back from her trip. It's also been four days since she last talked to Byron and Julian. Four days of feeling shitty. At kaysa naman matutulala at mauwi na naman sa mga malalim na isipin, ibinunton niya na lang ang emotional frustrations sa trabaho.

It took superhuman effort to pretend to be happy in front of Sir Mario when he asked about how the conference went. Ikinwento niya dito ang mga natutunan sa mga speaker at kung sa paanong paraan nya maaaring iapply iyon sa sa operations nila. When he seemed contented at last, he dismissed her. Pero may mga pabaon itong assignments sa kanya. Which she gladly accepted. Kahit ano basta ma-distract lang siya sa mga nangyari nung weekend.

Muntik na nga rin sya pumunta kay Sir Ed para humingi ng mga dagdag na trabaho eh. Tumigil na kasi ito sa pagpapahirap sa kanya nang makabalik na ang boss nila.

Her brows furrowed when she saw someone familiar in front of her room. Kagagaling niya lang kasi ng cr para magretouch. Kung hindi niya kasi gagawin yun ay papasa na syang zombie. Ang putla ng mukha niya at ang lalim ng eyebags niya.

See? That's why she is strongly against having feelings. It's not good for her beauty and wellness.

"Stop flirting with my secretary"she told Zaldy. He was leaning sideways against the wall, facing her secretary's desk. Poor Alice was blushing furiously at something he said. This heartbreaker! Hindi siya papayag na mabiktima nito ang sekretarya niya!

"Ah, Nadine! Look at you! You're such a girl boss now. I'm so proud"he exclaimed upon seeing her. Mukha na itong nakapikit dahil pati mata nito ay nakangiti na habang nakahalukipkip at pinapanuod siya papalapit.

She rolled her eyes at him.

"Anong kailangan mo?"diretsong tanong niya dito. Nagpatiuna na syang pumasok sa loob ng office niya at umupo.

Natigilan siya nang biglang nagseryoso ang mukha nito pagpasok ng kwarto. Hindi talaga sya sanay na seryoso si Zaldy dahil parang hindi ito marunong mamroblema sa buhay. But then again, so was Byron. And she knew for a fact that his life isn't perfect.

"W-what's the problem, Zaldy?"she became alert in an instant.

Zaldy heaved out a huge sigh before slouching on the chair in front of her desk.

"I'm sure you've already figured the reason why I'm here"he started. She gulped. Ito na naman ang problema at umiibaw kahit na ilang araw na nya iyong nilulunod.

"How did you know?"she asked. There was no point in stalling, anyway.

Zaldy picked up her paperweight and played with it before answering.

"I went to Byron's pad to drag him to play ball but for some unknown reason, he was beside himself. I can't even get a proper word out of him because he just kept on throwing his things around"iiling-iling ito habang nakakunot ang noo.