He fired Josh for no particular reason.
Remember all the times he was rude to you.
He's arrogant, a brat, full of pride, and thinks he's better than everyone.
"Uh, Theo, are you okay? You look all mad." Janet says worrily. I finally return to my senses and realize that people have already entered the book fair. I stand up from the chair. "Yeah. I'm fine. Are the authors here?"
Janet nods. The venue is inside SM, with the curved bookshelves forming a circle and those artificial ferns serving as a fence. The venue and fair are pretty big. Some teenagers and adults are already entering, their eyes full of wanderlust.
I'm winning this bet.
The bandaritas are colorful above me, and the scent of books delights my senses. "I'm going to go look for Minnie," I tell Janet, managing the cashier area. She smiles and I go.
I scoot my way past people and shelves when I see a face so familiar.
But this time he isn't in a suit, but in a basic white shirt with a white cap.
I take the opposite direction.
Finally, I find Minnie near the food stalls eating a hotdog. When she sees me, she says joyfully. "These hotdogs are too good."
"Yeah well, you told me that before," I tell her. She smacks me in the shoulder. "Anyway, this fair looks pretty lively. It's amazing how you managed to plan all this." She acknowledges.
"Awww, shucks. It's nothing." I reply, smiling.
"An update on the Nina situation. Yesterday she took 17 mil. She might as well buy a whole ass mansion." Scoffs Minnie.
"She can, Minnie," I say and she shrugs. I really don't know what Nina is up to. Does her husband know? Hell, does Jeremy Dy know?
My phone dings and I quickly get it, hoping to see a notification from Josh, but it's someone else instead.
SATAN (Kyan Dy) •
SATAN: Nice fair you put up. I'll say, I'm impressed.
Me: Didn't know you were capable of acknowledging other people's successes other than your own.
SATAN: Aww. I hoped that wine would help you hate me less.
Me: I thought you were going to poison me.
SATAN: My God. That's a good idea.
I chuckle.
"Hala. Someone's messing up the books over there, Theo." Minnie points. I follow her index finger and see a couple of teenage boys playing with the books and damaging them. Bunch of deliquients.
I make it past the crowd and when I get near to them, I scold them. "Hoy! Nag unsa man mo dira!" They turn and look at me, laughing. "Bayaran na ninyo ha!" Eyeing the books on the floor, the edges folded.
Unexpectedly, the three boys quickly run away. "HOY!" I shout and chase after them. Not far from the fair, they bump into a tall guy in a white t-shirt and they stop. When I stop running, out of breath, I realize who it is.
"You boys should know better than to run away from the consequences of your actions." Kyan's voice is deep and serious. He then gestures to the guards and they handle them. When they walk away, Kyan catches my eye. I fold my arms on my chest. "What are you doing here?"
"Why just coming to see the exciting Big Bad Fox book fair." He says nonchalantly.
"RODRIGUEZ!" Someone shouts from afar and I jolt. Hans jogs towards me. "We need some help with the boxes. The truck just arrived."
"Sure, I'll be there in a minute."
"Want help with that?" Kyan asks rather innocently. I narrow my eyes at him.
"Are you sure you can handle it?" I sneer.
He leers. "I can deadlift 500lbs, I definitely can't"
Ლ
The fair is getting more and more crowded, with people browsing books and buying them with much excitement.
"Theo!" Gigi, one of my co-workers, calls me. "We've fully placed all the books. Stock is full."
"Good, good." I give her a closed smile. Behind her, I see Kyan walking from lifting all the boxes, and I all of a sudden feel dizzy.
He's all sweaty, his white shirt clinging to his body and revealing parts of it that I probably shouldn't look at. If there's one thing I will admit, it's that my partner director is pretty fit.
He's taken off his cap and his hair is all wet and disarranged. Stop staring.
When he arrives, I suddenly feel hot. "Thank you." I thank him, genuinely politely as I try not to avert my gaze to his chest as he tries to recover his breathing.
"You're welcome. You did help me before the conference, so I figured I'd help you too. To be fair." He shrugs, his eyes playful.
I forgot the way I gave him an inspiring speech. Ugh.
Ლ
Minnie chokes on her tea. "YOU WHAT?" She gasps.
I ruffle my hair in frustration. "I don't know!"
"You mean to tell me you're finding Kyan Dy attractive?" She repeats what I said earlier. I avoid her gaze and nod guiltyly.
"Well, maybe he was always attractive. He is attractive! But these days we've been less, curse eachother here, argue there. I really don't know, Minnie. This will pass."
She shakes her head in amazement. "Wow, you are living the cliche, enemies-to-lovers novel life."
"I am not." I retort. Oreo comes to sit beside me and I pet him in the head.
"Ingna nya ko kug mag kuan namo-"
"Hoy, bastos!" I interrupt her and throw a pillow at her. She yelps. After a couple of seconds, she starts, "How about Josh?".
"Exactly. I still like him... I guess."
"Ehem, when you shouldn't"
I throw another pillow at her. I do still like Josh, but these absurd, chaotic feelings for Kyan are new. And I don't know what to do with them.
Minnie adds, "Depende ra jud na nimo dae."
YOU ARE READING
ANTAGONIST
Romance"THE MORE YOU HATE THE MORE YOU LOVE." If Theo's life was a novel, Kyan Dy would be his antagonist. It isn't surprising to know how much the two directors of Dy Publishing dislike each other. However, with corruption in the company sparki...
