Fiercely

Chapter 29

"Miss Monteniel."

"Yes?" Napatuwid ako sa pagtayo. Natalo ko pa yata ang tuod sa hindi paggalaw. I'm so stiff, I swear!

"Halika rito," aniya at iminuwestra ang espasyo sa tabi niya.

"Bakit po?" Tanong ko. Mas lalo lang akong nabalisa. Unwanted thoughts started to flood my brain. Ever since, my mind has already been stained. Pero, seryoso? Ang tanda-tanda mo na, Nazrene! Control the flow of your thoughts!

Still... that sinewy body, though.

"Okay lang po kung nandito lang ako," sabi ko.

Tumulis ang labi niya. Bigla niya lang akong hinatak dahilan kung bakit ako napaupo sa tabi niya.

Nanindig ang balahibo ko dahil magkadikit na kami ngayon.

Parang hindi pa sapat na nagkadikit na ang aming braso ay mas lalo pa siyang umusog. Kung pwede lang umusog ako palayo sa kanya, ginawa ko na ngunit wala na akong magalawan.

My left arm's already touching his biceps.

With his light gestures, his firm arms flexed. Dahan-dahan niyang ipinakita sa akin ang laman ng kanyang laptop.

Habang may ipinapakita siya sa akin ay nakatingin lamang ako sa mukha na na sobrang lapit na sa mukha ko. Kapag binatukan ako, mahahalikan ko talaga 'to! Bwiset! Magkadikit pa naman iyon braso ko sa biceps niya.

Good lord! I cannot! So, help me god!

Tangina! Parang aatekihin ako sa puso!

"Nazrene, look," aniya sa akin.

Binagsak ko ang tingin ko sa laptop niya. Ipinakita niya sa akin ang interface. Pastel green was the background color. It has large icons. Kahit walang text ay malalaman mo naman sa mga larawan ang ibig sabihin ng icon na iyon. It was far simpler than the previous but I like this better.

"Hindi na mahihirapan ang kahit sino," sabi niya.

I let my eyes be glued on the laptop screen. Kaysa naman sa tumingin ako sa kanya! Kung ganito na magwala ang sistema ko, paano pa kayo kung titingin pa ako sa kanya?! Jusko! Matutunaw ako sa lapit namin!

"It's nice," I said. Alright! I sounded so stupid!

"Tell me more, Miss Monteniel," he said. I don't know if it's just me but his voice sounded sexy.

With trembling fingers, I touched some buttons to explore more of the interface. Napalunok ako. Act normal, Naz!

"The commands are still familiar. Umiba lang ang hitsura niya."

"Ikaw na nga ang nagsabing hindi pwedeng mawala ang previous interface," he said.

I pursed my lips. I'm trying to contain myself and he's making it hard for me. Namamawis na ako ng malamig at naninigas dahil sa mga hininga niyang dumadampi sa tainga ko. Hindi ko alam kung sinasadya niya ba ito!

Blangkong-blangko ang isipan ko. Wala na yatang pumapasok sa kokote ko. I'm good as a shutting down computer! His presence... his closeness... Everything about him is fucking distracting me!

Napatikhim ako. I have to say something, right?

"So, Miss Monteniel?" Sa gilid ng aking mga mata ay nakita ko ang pagtaas ng kanyang mga kilay.

So, ano? Is he pressuring my dying brain cells to generate more thoughts?

Napalunok ulit ako. "Mr. Vernan, you're too close."

Hindi ko na kaya. My brain is lagging. My stomach is celebrating. Kung ano'ng pagpapanic ng utak ko ay siya namang ipinagdiwang ng mga kulisap sa tyan ko! Mababaliw na yata ako!

He's gestures are fucking making me lose my sanity!

He slightly moved away from me. And, when I said slightly it means about one centimeters away.

Although, atleast I was able breathe now.

He smirked with such vague meaning behind it. "Sorry. Don't you find it uncomfortable to be close to guys?" He asked, satirically.

Napayuko ako. Hindi ako makapagsalita.

Siguro ay nakuha niya namang hindi na ako kumportable. "Anyway, I also have to show you that this can contain personal informations. Password won't be needed since we know that elder people tend to be forgetful so we develop a new way of security. This is a two-way security process. First is face identification and thumbmark." He started talking about business again.

"Paano 'yan? May ibang gadgets na hindi touch screen," sabi ko.

"This new interface is for the latest technological model of NXT. It will not apply to the earlier versions of gadgets. The latest products are touchscreen computers and, of course, has a built in camera."

I was actually thankful that he changed the topic.

He kept discussing and explaining while I did all the listening and asking.

Ano'ng pinagkaiba niyan sa ibang produktong nasa market?" Tanong ko.

"This interface is only intended for Philippines. Pero, kung magtatagumpay rito ay baka ito rin ang gagawin ko sa ibang bansa," sabi niya.

Bahagyang kumunot ang noo ko. "Ano ba ang gagawin mo?"

"In this case, we want to negotiate with the Philippine government. We intend to let the Filipinos have safer and reliable online transactions with the government if the government would let us have an access to the personal files of the citizens. Built in applications for government transactions and personal files will be possible. There would be little possibility for phishing and pharming. They don't have to wait all day and line up for appointments in the government bureaus. Documents will be online. Everything can be paperless."

"Baka mabigyan niyo lang ang mga manloloko ng ideyang gumawa ng fake documents through some apps."

"We'll make sure to use codes which are hard to copy. We could always have barcodes."

"You're proposal would benefit the people and it targets their needs. Pero dahil sa proposal mo, parang mapipilitan yata lahat na sa'yo bumili ng produkto," sabi ko.

"It's a good thing, isn't it?" He replied. "Aside from that, other companies will have to pay me to use the this system."

Napailing ako sa kanya. Ngumiti siya na parang nasigurado niya nang sa kanya mapupunya ang tropeyo.

He sure wouldn't skyrocketed to the zenith for nothing. He has his own ways of doing things.

👓