My Only Exception

Chapter 21

"Mas sanay sila doon," he said. "Anyway, basta sa kahit anong problema, just let me know and I'll listen."

Days went on and on. Dumaan ang dalawang linggo na tawagan lang ang nangyayari sa kanila ni Cali. He misses his child badly pero kailangan nyang magtiis. Hindi pa natatapos ang issues relating to employees and he has a lot of other things to work on. Madalas na inuumaga na sya sa trabaho para maisingit ang paperworks na kailangang ayusin.

He fired his manager and deducted from his last pay what he owed the company. He allowed him to explain but he would never hire him again.

It took him a month for him to fix his employees issues. Maayos ang araw araw na dumaan na nandoon sya to supervise them. Bumalik ang sigla ng mga empleyado, bumalik din ang mga regular customers nila simula ng itinayo nya ito. Sure, he was still trying to mend some relationships with clients but at least, he got half of the work done. He visited his printing company which was on a stable state and he was relieved na maayos ang nakuha nyang tao para doon.

He called Cali that night to tell him that he needed to extend dahil hindi pa nya naaayos ang lahat. Cali was sad but he understood that his father needs to do this for him. Lagi pa din naman syang kinakausap ni Ethan and he was always pausing from work kapag kausap ito. He also sent him gifts while he was away.

A month became two. He was able to settle what he needed to settle but he was not able to leave. Hindi nya na magawang magtiwala na may kakayahan ang ihihire nya na tao para imaintain ang mga patakaran at paraan nya ng pamamalakad pero hindi naman nya pwedeng pabayaan ito lalo pa na dito sya magsimula and the bar gives him good earnings. Hindi naman nya pwedeng hatakin ang manager na nangangalaga sa printing business nya dahil masyado ng komplikado pa ito. Thus, he was stuck with his property.

Two extended to three. He was enjoying the responsibility of managing his people personally. He saw their strengths and weaknesses and he was able to address them and develop them. He gave opportunities for those who excelled. Naging maganda ang pasok ng pera sa negosyo nya when he came back. Hindi sya nagkulang sa pagbibigay sa kanila kahit na hindi sila naguusap ni Raffy. He would tell her if he needed to extend but she wouldn't say anything and just let Cali speak to him.

He went home that night to his parent's house. Hindi nya madalas na makita ang mga ito kahit na tatlong buwan na syang nasa Pilipinas.

His mom was on the dining room when he arrived and was surprised with what he found.

"Seff? Kelan ka dumating? Why didn't you tell me?" gulat na tanong ni Ethan. He wasn't expecting him to be there. He hasn't seen him since Cali's birthday.

"I've been busy. I'm sorry... Something just came up and... I didn't get the chance to tell you and Cali," he said.

"Do you have a problem?" he asked. He knew that Seff was having a private conversation with their mother. He seemed to have drank alcohol. Mugto din ang mga mata nito. Seff doesn't get drunk and doesn't cry when he doesn't have a big problem.

"Me? N-no, I'm okay," Seff answered. "What made you go home? Buti pumayag sila Raffy and Cali?"

"I needed to fix something here. Kelan balik mo?" he asked his brother. "Are you sure you are okay? Hindi mo ako tinawagan nung nandoon tayo. I'm here if you need me."

"I gotta spend some time home. I missed Mom," he said. "I'll go up now."

Sinundan nya lang ito ng tingin. His mom didn't speak until Seff was out of sight.

"How's the bar? Naayos mo na ba yung problema?" she asked him.

"Yes. Pero I'm not decided what I will do next."