Teacher's Unexpected Move: Married Life (boyxboy)

Chapter 7

Naglibot kami ni sir Hyde para sa station section namin hanggang sa makarating ako sa sarili kong cubicle.

"And here is your own workstation, you'll receive multiple copies in regards of work and other stuff such as reports... oh and requests as well like- photocopying and many more."

"Right. I'll do my best."

"Good. Well, for your first job is to proofread all these and re-check it, send it to me then re-copy it digitally with the mistakes. And finally make a report about it."

Matapos akong bigyan ng mga instructions ay agad akong pinaupo at ibinigay ang makapal na gawain, "Right. Here you go."

Naka-upo na ako sa aking upuan at nagsimulang magtrabaho. Kinailangan ko ng katihimkan, at kapag sinasabing katahimikan, dapat may musika; kaya aking inilabas ang earphones at cellphone para magpatugtog.

Sa pagkaka-alala ko pa lamang ngayon, naaalala ko nandito na nga pala ako sa ibang bansa kaya naiispan kong magpatugtog ng OPM.

'Ito na ang ating huling sandali 'di na tayo magkakamali...'

'Kasi wala ng bukas, salitin natin, ito na ang wakas...'

'Kailangan na yata nating umuwi...'

At least dito hindi ako masyadong makakpag-isip since Ingles ang babasahin ko.

Sa pagbasa ko ng ibingay sa akin na papeles ay napansin ko na ito ay ukol sa mga kabataan; children's book kumbaga. Kung sino man ang gumawa nito ay halatang nangangailangan ng proofreader; maraming mga grammatical errors pero okay naman pagdating sa spelling.

Hindi rin naman kasi madaling gumawa ng children's book, kailangan mong ikumpara ang sarili mong mga pananalita sa mga salitang dapat naiintindihan ng mga kabataan.

Kailangan hindi rin ito gaanong mahaba, sobrang concise rin dapat.

Halos naka-isang oras na ako kaka-proofread hanggang sa matapos ang unang limang pahina, yun na ang mismong children's book pala, sa bagay. May kaonting kahabaan  nga lang. Baka naman para sa mga library session.

Matapos ko ang section na nakalagay na ang children's book ay pumunta na ako kaagad sa re-copying. Ngunit pagdating ko rito ay para siyang xerox machine pero mas advanced ang mga pinipindot.

"Hm? Gonna recopy?" Bungad sa akin ng isang ubod na tangkad na lalake.

"Ah-- yeah... this one please." Bigkas ko naman sabay abot ng papeles.

"Hmm... ahh Kassandra, no wonder. She writes children's books but doesn't want us to assign her for an editor to do the job, instead she wants to be the one to correct everything with a proofreader. Good thing you came in." Paliwanag ng lalake habang ginagawa niya ang pag-recopy.

"Oh-- right! Winchester by the way." At inabot niya ang kanyang ubod na laki ng kamay para makipagkamayan, tinanggap ko naman ito.

"Yes, um... Vincent."

"Nice to meet you, Vincent. If you ever need any recopying or photocopy, I'm just here doing my job." At binigyan niya ako ng ngiti bago niya iabot ang mga papeles kasama ang isang floppy disk.

"... May gumagamit pa pala nito..." Bulong ko sa aking sarili.

"I'm sorry?"

"Ah-- no it-it's nothing. Thank you very much."

Agad akong yumukod sa aking pagsasalamat at bumalik na sa aking upuan sabay buntong-hininga.

Nagpatuloy ako sa aking gawain hanggang sa makita ko ang oras na lunchtime na, pero hindi ko alam kung bakit hindi ako nagugutom pa kaya ipinagpatuloy ko pa ang aking trabaho hanggang sa, "Hey, Vincent. It's lunchtime, not eating yet?"

Bumungad sa akin si Iris, isa sa mga ka-officemate ko nga pala, "Ah-- yeah. Sorry, was too into it."

"Watcha reading?"

"Um-- proofreading a horror book, I'm... kind of uncomfortable reading it and proofreading at the same time."

"Ooh, not your type of genre huh?"

"Yeah..."

Tumayo naman ako matapos kong ayusin ang earphones at tinanggal mula sa'king phone at tumungo kami sa elevator.

"Oh, you might not know me, I was sir Kanlen's assistant a few months back, I just 'graduated' from his training. Iris, by the way."

"Um-- Vincent, yeah, it's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too. So what was it about?"

"About...?"

"The book you were proofreading."

"Oh- it's about a teenage girl who recently lost his older brother. Now she's trying to solve his mystery since his death was very unlikely and all."

"Hmm, I see. What else?"

Natungo kami sa elevator at pumasok, kami lamang ang nasa loob at ipinagpatuloy ang kwento hanggang sa makaabot kami sa cafeteria.

"Ooh, scary."

"I know, right? The fact stands that the girl may be mature enough unlike other horror films who has the teenage girls all giddy and all is enough to be a character model for her, but she stuck with something that is worth reading rather than sticking with the quota."

"You'd go well for an Editor."

"An Editor?"

"Yeah. All novelists and writers have editors."

"Oh... well, I'm still Sir Kanlen's assistant so I still have some training to do and learn much from him."

Natapos kaming mag-order at umupo sa isang pang-apat-an na table, ngunit pag-upo namin ay, "Hm? Ah-- Qal! Join us!" sigaw ni Iris.

Sabay akong lumingon at nakita si Qal dala ang kanynag tray. Nang siya'y makalapit ay tumabi siya kay Iris, "Good to know you two became friends."

"Yeah, he's Sir Kanlen's new assistant."

"Hyde, yeah. Be careful, Vincent. He's dangerous."

"Oh c'mon, don't say that."

"Um--" Sinubukan kong itanong, "Why? I don't think he's dangerous though."

"Just don't give him chocolates nor milk, he hates them, very."

"He likes his coffee black. So that's a tip; if you want some praise with your work, bring him one."

"I--I'll keep that in mind."

Nagsimula kaming kumain sabay ang ilang mga kwento, pero ako ang topic since nga alam na rin naman na nila na taga-Pilipinas ako.

"Ooh, I've never had vacation in the Philippines. So what islands or resorts are there worth visiting?"

"Hmm... if it's vacation maybe... El Nido or Boracay."

"I've heard of those. Very popular indeed." komento ni Qal.

Nagpatuloy ito hanggang sa matapos kami kumain at sabay na bumalik sa opisina.

"Goodluck with those papers, Vincent." Paalam ni Iris.

"Yeah, thanks."

Pagbalik ko sa aking upuan ay sinuot ko muli ang aking earphones matapos isaksak ito sa aking phone at nagpatugtog bago ko ipagpatuloy ang trabaho.

Katagalan ay nakatapos din ako't sa ngayong araw ay ito na ang aking nagawa. Tumungo ako sa opisina ni Sir Kanlen at kumatok. "Sir?"

"Hm? Oh, Vincent. Right, come in."

Pagpasok ko ay inabot ko kaagad ang tatlong floppy disk at, "Here are the disks containing the recopied. The papers I marked are already at storage for future use as well."

Kinuha niya ang floppy disk mula sa aking kamay at sinabi, "Very good. This is only your first day but you managed to complete all of what I gave you. No assignments for now. You may go home. Tomorrow, you'll start with a fresh new batch plus others, not only novels and children books, but also rules and stuff."

"Right! Thank you!" Kabado kong pasasalamat at binigyan niya lamang ako ng ngiti.

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