Control The Game (COMPLETED)

Chapter 55

"Iñigo," I called.

"Hmm?" sagot niya habang kunot noo pa rin sa pamimili. Pareho lang naman silang puti sa paningin ko.

"Baba mo muna 'yan. Usap muna tayo," I said.

Iñigo placed the boards down and looked at me. Kahit na magkasama na kami, halata ko pa rin iyong pagod ni Iñigo dahil puyat siya talaga palagi sa trabaho niya. Palibasa alam nila na topnotcher si Iñigo and he's just a victim of bad publicity. They're really making him work for his salary. Sa kanya halos bagsak ng mga case na handle nila. Ngayon lang ako nainis sa bilis ni Iñigo magtrabaho. Ang dami kasing binibigay sa kanya dahil ang bilis niya ring maka-tapos.

"Tapos na next week 'yung contract mo, 'di ba?"

"Yeah..."

Deep breaths, Cha.

"Let's start a law firm."

Automatic na kumunot ang noo niya. "What?" agad na tanong niya.

"I'm serious," I said. "I know it's going to be hard, but we need to start somewhere..."

Personally, ayoko na magkasama kami ni Iñigo sa trabaho dahil alam ko na magiging conflict iyon. Nangyari na dati. Ayokong maulit. There were things that we do that are not nice... And I understand that it's just part of the job, pero hindi naman ako robot na walang pakiramdam.

But we needed manpower. Mahirap magsimula ng firm. Paulit-ulit na sinabi sa 'min 'to dati sa school—na hindi advisable ang magsimula ng firm kapag bagong abogado ka pa lang... pero hindi na iyon ang kaso ngayon. We all had work experience—lalo na si Jax at Iñigo. They're all pretty known in our field dahil laging malalaking kaso ang nahahawakan nila.

We just needed to start... no matter how scary it was.

"It'll probably be a slow start, but we just need to win a good case and word of mouth and I'm sure we'll be fine," sabi ko sa kanya. Iñigo remained silent. "What are you thinking?" I asked.

He looked at me.

"Ginagawa mo ba 'to dahil sa 'kin?" he asked.

"Yes," I honestly replied. "Because you deserve so much more than that crappy job."

I wanted us to be brutally honest because lies do no good. Hindi ko gusto iyong trabaho niya. Alam naming dalawa na hindi niya gusto 'yun. Wala lang siyang choice dahil sa mga Ramirez na 'yan.

"Cha..." iyon lang ang nasabi niya.

"I don't want you to think na naaawa ako sa 'yo, Iñigo. I just know how smart you are and you can do so much more. You deserve so much more."

Hindi pa rin siya nagsasalita.

"Jax and Yago already agreed," I continued. "They already resigned—"

"What?!" gulat na sagot niya. "Are you fucking serious?"

"Yes. Hindi ko sila pinilit."

Iñigo nervously ran his fingers through his hair. "Cha..." pagtawag niya na naman sa pangalan ko. It's almost like saying my name calms him down. Pansin ko na lagi niya iyong ginagawa.

"We already have few clients," I told him. "Mataas ang retainer fee ni Jax, so we'll surely survive for at least a year."

Malakas ang paniniwala ko na magiging okay kami... After all, even the biggest law firms also had to start somewhere else.

Iñigo drew a deep breath. "This is happening, right?"

I nodded. "It's happening."

He briefly closed his eyes and nodded. "Okay. Let's do this."