After Work [Rodrigo Duterte x Leni Robredo]

I. His Favorite

The other cabinet secretaries actually hated her, some of Rodrigo's subordinates didn't like her at all. They were all jealous that she's taking most of his time and attention effortlessly.

Leni has been aware of the nice things that Digong say to her during the campaign period despite that they came from the opposite sides. She has always been grateful and appreciative of it regardless if he was serious or just joking around. Little did she know that he has been crushing on her a long time ago even when he was still a mayor and he heard that she became a widow. He just didn't push through that time because her former husband was his good friend and he was just a mayor of Davao City while she's the congresswoman of Camarines Sur.

Despite of her awareness of his admiration, she didn't expect him to continue his admiration after he won the presidential elections. She was used to politicans using each other, including her, for publicity. The moment she met him in person and had a courtesy call with him, that's when she knew he was really fascinated by her and surprisingly, she was equally amused by him too.

His presence gave her a different kind of comfort. He was a very famous public servant, a very influential president compared to the other but he was indeed very humble and not to mention, he has a great humor that he never fails to make her laugh. He was like a home in the midst of war zone and she knew that if there's anyone she would want to be with during her term, it's with him.

It's been a long time since Leni felt appreciated by her boss at work. Since she won as her district's congresswoman, the ones holding a high office in her party never cared about her. She was just a typical subordinate to them with a small value but with Digong, she felt like he was his favorite despite that her mandate actually states that she's a spare tire.

Her typical life became colorful when she won the vice presidential elections and it became even more colorful when Digong started to formally ask her out. At first it felt like a dream, she found it hard to take it seriously because she never thought that the president and the most famous one would actually like her and be that affectionate of her.

He was known to be a womanizer yet, the moment he confessed to her, she knew he was sincere. Sure he had other girl crushes but it was just that and it was something that he never denied to her. He was completely honest and faithful even if she never asked him to.

She also felt Digong's huge appreciation of her because he always make her the topic in the meeting room. He was proud of her, he would always brag about how beautiful she is, how charming she is, how much he gets inspired for having her around. He didn't care if he's talking to the past presidents at the NSC meeting or just his security staffs, he will brag about Leni like she's the best thing he ever had.

Being the apple of his eyes was both overwhelming and flattering to her. Digong was very charming, he had that power to make her fall in love with him. Leni barely noticed how she's slowly falling for him. Her day doesn't seem to be complete if they haven't seen each other eye to eye, her day isn't complete if she received no message or calls from him and she can't call it a day if she haven't spent some time with him.

Digong trusted her as well and gave her secret agendas and informed her of his discreet plans. They were required to keep their blooming relationship private because they had to portray that they weren't in good terms so that Digong will still have a hold of his enemies on the opposite side. He made her his trojan horse.

He gazed at her while she was busy scrolling on Twitter. She was bothered by his staring, "bakit?"

"Hindi na kita makita araw araw." His eyes appeared gloomy as they recalled that they have to follow their plan of asking her to desist from attending the cabinet meetings.

A fainted smile grew on her lips, she held his hand. "Bakit ba kase kailangan pa natin yang resignation?" She inquired.

He shook his head, "kailangan talaga or else they will push you further. Iipitin ka yan nila." He kissed the back of her hand.

"Hindi man ako papayag na ganon gawin nila." He added. She exhaled heavily, "ikaw kase eh."

"Sinanay mo akong lagi kang nandiyan. Ang hirap tuloy nitong gagawin natin." She flirted.

He blushed, "kung maari lang magresign ako sa presidente tapos dalhin na kita sa Davao. Doon na tayo."

She laughed and tapped his arm playfully. "Anong resign ka diyan! Marami pang umaasa sa'yo. Hindi pwede." She reminded him.

One thing he loves about Leni is that she's always been understanding. If he was with other girls, they would normally ask him to step down and leave his responsibilities for their benefit. They want to keep him for themselves but Leni was different. She supported his love for the people and she pushed him to be the best version of himself as much as he pushes her.

He suddenly found himself staring at his lady's face again. Only God knows how much butterflies swarm his stomach for every time he looks at her lips. He always yearned to kiss her but even if they had mutual feelings for each other since late July, they never shared a kiss yet and for the record, it was the longest time that he haven't kissed any woman.

Si Leni lang ang babaeng niligawan niya na umabot na ng lagpas isang buwan at hindi pa niya nahahalikan o nagagalaw.

That's when knew she was different. He could have lead her to it but he haven't. He always had a feeling that she's extremely precious and it's very uncomfortable for him to lead her to being intimate unless she initiates it.

On the other side, Leni appreciated his huge respect for her. One thing that she worry about when they started dating was being pressured to engage into something physical since Digong was known to be very aggressive, mapusok, and sensual however, he seemed to be different from what she thought he was.

He was very respectful of her. He never forced her to do the things that makes her uncomfortable. He never demanded her to be physical with him.

Like he always tell her. You're not my girl, you're my lady. I've waited for you for years bago ka dumating sa buhay ko. Ano ba naman yung hintayin kita maging handa to advance this (relationship).

—

A/N: Next chapter will be posted on Wednesday!! It will have a little bit of mature plot. :p Please keep on sharing and supporting this story! Thank you!