Le Penchant

26| now or never

I didn't have much sleep that night, ang daming nangyari sa iisang gabi. I kept on replaying the things that happened awhile back. Pero hindi pa rin maproseso ng utak ko lahat ng nangyari.

Hindi pa rin ako mapakali. Parang, hindi ko pa rin magawang maniwala.

It felt foreign to not see Calixto the next day. Maybe, it was because I got used to our daily routine of seeing each other as our day goes by, isang buwan na palang nangyayare 'yon.

Who wouldn't get used to that?

Hindi ko manlang namalayan na gano'n na pala kabilis ang panahon.

It was supposed to be my day off, but work called me in for something urgent, I didn't have any choice but oblige and present myself. Wala naman sa'kin 'yon, it's not like I have an agenda for the day.

Baka makagawa pa ako ng katangahan kapag naiwan lang ako sa condo.

"Then, I suggest we can partner all the head directors together, their areas would collaborate together and will throw their gathering as they please," Engineer Delos Reyes announced.

Napuno ang board room ng mga pagbulong pagkatapos nito, tumikhim ako at napainom sa kapeng sinerve sa'min. Sinenyasan ng head namin ang sekretarya niya, the whispers died down when he started announcing names.

"Ramos with Hesquintes, areas I to IV collaboration," my brow raised up, I caught Kevin already looking at me.

I gave him a questioning look, but he just shrugged, ignoring me.

"We already have a lot going on in our plates, why do we even have to to set a gathering and host it?"

"Chill. It kind of became a firm tradition, whenever the departments hits off the top statistics, increase their sales, and showed off their performance in projects," Kevin remarked.

I hummed, asking him to continue.

"And apparently, our department would never miss these kind of events," tumawa siya. "Because, apparently, everyone in the civil department is such a show off," he added while whispering.

Tumawa siya at napailing, I chuckled along with him.

I wasn't convinced though. Napakarami na kasi naming ginagawa as head directors, tapos kami pa ang magaasikaso ng event na 'to?

But I should listen to Kevin, as far as I know, matagal-tagal na rin siya sa firm na 'to, kaya siguro gamay na niya lahat ng inaugurations and events that are traditionally held here.

"Masanay ka na, don't you want to have some fun? Makakahalubilo mo rito ang mga tauhan mo. Ayaw mo bang magustuhan ka nila?" He laughed, shaking his head while he drank his coffee.

"Why would I—"

"Because half of your team hates you," he shrugs.

I gave him a death glare. I've only known this man for such a short amount of time and his mouth had no filter at all. Gusto ko ung pagka-prangka niya, pero gusto ko rin naman siyang hampasin dahil do'n.

"And why should I make them like me?"

Tinanggap ko na 'yon. Kung ayaw nila sa'kin, then so be it. Sabi ko nga, I have to drop the newbie attitude and start acting like their head director.

I shouldn't be living other people's standards and expectations... Someone made me realize that.

"You gotta have some people who you could use for future purposes, to like you. You gotta prove yourself as a leader, not as an enemy," my stare at him prolonged.