Sober

Chapter 6

“You’re Daddy is right naman. Did he teach you all of those things?”

Aya nodded, “That’s why more than anything else, Tita, I’m lucky that Daddy is my Dad”

Lea smiled as she looked at her daughter, “He really did a great job in raising you.”

_______

Aga was at their restaurant’s kitchen, trying new dishes to put on their menu. Wala pa ang mga cook at server nila dahil mamaya pa naman sila magbubukas. Nauna lang silang dalawa ni Dawn ngayon dahil may kailangan silang i-meet ukol na rin sa ipapatayo nilang new branch.

“Aga, engineer’s already here” Dawn came and informed him that.

“Okay, just a minute.” he said and transferred the food from the pan to the plate. When he’s done, he removed his apron and immediately went outside where she found her sister talking to a woman who, in his perspective, is in her late 20s.

“Hi, good morning” bati niya sa dalawa at nangiti sa kanilang bisita.

“Engineer, this is my brother slash co-owner, Aga. Aga this is Engr. Hael M. Rivera, the engineer that’s very in demand so we’re lucky that we were able to hire her”

“Aga?” tanong ng inhinyera.

“Yup, Aga as in morning. Hael right? Please take a seat”

Simple lang naman itong tumango at naupo. Inilatag niya sa mesa ang isang blueprint, “So, Miss D, we’ve come up with this structures and designs. Please take a look and tell us if everything that you asked us to do was there”

“Wait, you had a plan already?” tanong ni Aga. Ngayon lang kasi sila nagkita kaya nagtataka siya kung bakit may ganito agad.

“Yeah, I already met her before this. Busy ka kasi masyado.”

“Don’t worry Sir, if you still need changes, just let me know so we can work it out immediately”

Aga took a look at the proposed structure for the new branch and to far, he has no complains, “Well, I trust my sister with this. Beside, you have this restaurant as your guide already”

“Yeah, everything is perfect. Just as what I imagined to be,” Dawn said with a smile, when suddenly, her phone rang. “Uh, I’m sorry, I have to take this call. Aga, ikaw na muna ang bahala.”

“Sure”

“You’re easy to work with. I’ll just inform my team about this so we can start as early as we could” the engineer said.

“I just hope my sister did not give you a hard time with all of her demands, engineer” pagbibiro ni Aga.

“It’s okay, Sir. You have all the rights to demand for the best for this project, and I can assure you that I can give more than that,” kumpyansang sagot naman nito. “And just call me Hael, I don’t really mind the formality.”

Habang nag-uusap silang dalawa ay napapansin ni Aga ang kakaibang tingin sa kanya ng inhinyera. He doesn’t know if it’s just him, but the way she looks at him— it’s like she’s adoring him. May crush ba sa’kin ‘to?

“Engineer, ha? ‘Yung tingin mo... Taken na ako”

Natawa naman ang dilag dahil sa sinabi niya, “Taken na rin ako, Sir. Just got married actually.”

Aga sighed in relief. Oo, maganda ang inhinyera pero may model na siya, “‘Yung tingin mo kasi, nakaka-intimidate”

“It’s because you remind me of someone very close to my heart”