KABANATA 5
"Two cappuccinos, two white chocolate mocha, three americano, one latte macchiato and one brewed coffee with extra shot of espresso, and make them hot, please," I said in one breath as I slid the card on the counter.
The barista smiled at me as she collected the card and politely reiterated what I just said.
"Rough day at work again, Miss Arianne?" she quipped after getting the receipt from their machine.
Nagbuga ako ng hininga bago tumango.
"Pakiramdam ko araw-araw kaming may marathon sa office," tugon ko habang minamasahe ang kanina pang nanakit kong leeg.
It's been two weeks since I started working for Fuuma Powers and until now, I have not spoken with the President. Nakailang balik na ako sa opisina niya dahil nga nakasaad sa kontrata na kailangang araw-araw akong magbibigay sa kanya ng update sa project pero hindi pa raw siya nakakabalik mula Italy. Hindi lang iyon. Dalawang linggo ko na ring sinusubukang pakisamahan ang Engineer naming obvious ang inis sa akin. She took pleasure in slaving me all day!
"Cross, where is the revised flowchart that I asked you?"
"Cross, bakit kulang pa rin ng process ito? Putang-ina naman, ayusin mo!"
"Cross, get me Starbucks!"
"Cross!"
Bahagyang natawa si Tasha, ang barista ko ngayon, sa aking sinabi.
"Ganoon po talaga kung minsan. Kahit dito, lalo na't may maraming mga customers, feeling mo talaga buong maghapon kang tumatakbo," aniya at pagkatapos ay natawa uli.
I laughed with her. I chatted with them for a bit until my orders were ready. Ilang araw na rin akong pabalik-balik sa cafe nila at kilala ko na yata halos lahat ng barista at staff nila.
"Bukas uli!" I waved them goodbye as I exited the cafe.
Tamang-tama namang tumunog ang cellphone ko pagkalabas. Ibinaba ko muna ang bitbit na mga tray sa pinakamalapit na lamesa bago ko sinilip kung sino ang tumatawag. It was Drake.
I swiped my phone to answer his call.
"Hi, babe!" bati ng boses sa kabilang linya.
"Hey, Love," sagot ko nang makilala ang kausap.
"Guess where I am right now?"
Sandaling umikot ang mata ko sa narinig na tanong. Kailangan ko pa bang hulaan?
"I think the right question should be, where did you go this time? Bakit ngayon ka lang uli nagparamdam?" sagot ko sa kanya.
"Ugh, why do you have to be so boring, babe? You should have answered my question with a 'where?' so I could answer you with 'I'm back!' That would have made it more exciting!"
Muling umikot ang mga mata ko sa mga narinig. Ang dami talaga nitong kaartehan sa katawan.
"Anyways, we should definitely date later. It's been so long since we last saw one another. Kating-kati na akong mayakap at mahalikan ka," maarteng deklara niya pa.
Bahagya akong natawa sa huli nitong sinabi.
"Sure thing. I'll be done with my work at five so we can meet a little after that at a restaurant of your choice. You know, to make up with my boring reply to your surprise-my-babe attempt," sabi ko namang tinawanan lang nito.
"Fair enough," sagot nitong natatawa pa rin. "But you'd still have to give me a lot of kisses to truly appease my wounded heart."
Ako naman ngayon ang natawa.
BINABASA MO ANG
Paper Moon
General Fiction"I do," he said and then the man declared their union in front of God and of every person that mattered in their lives. And she, like every girl, thought that the next lines in their story book would be 'and they live happily ever after'. But they w...
