Leni immediately shut her eyes. She thought to herself,
Crap! Ito naaa. I'm gonna get ATTACKED! Lord, ikaw na ang bahala sakin.
She waited for something to happen to her.
.
.
.
But nothing did.
.
.
.
Suddenly, she heard Bong Bong laugh.
Leni slowly opened her eyes and saw Bong Bong smiling at her as he said,
"Relax, Leni... I'm just kidding."
Leni was stunned. It turns out that she had been afraid of nothing.
Feeling slightly embarrassed, she spoke to him.
"Pinakaba mo naman ako. Akala ko... Kung ano nang gagawin mo sakin."
Bong Bong suddenly got curious. He asked her,
"Huh? What do you mean? Ano ba sa tingin mo ang gagawin ko sayo?"
Leni paused for a second. Once again, she thought about the unspeakable things that she read last night.
She shrugged as she gave him a vague answer,
"Ewan... Bad things."
"Bad things? Like what?"
Leni felt like she was in a hot seat interview. Bong Bong's question put her in an uncomfortable position.
Before she could come up with an answer, Bong Bong smirked and teased her,
"May pagka-dirty minded ka rin pala."
Leni's jaw-dropped. She didn't expect that he'd say that. She got flustered as she retorted,
"Ano!? How dare you..."
Bong Bong just chuckled. He proceeded to unbutton his shirt. Leni panicked,
"Wait lang! Anong ginagawa mo!?"
Bong Bong stopped after the third button. He looked at her and said,
"Calm down. Naiinitan lang kasi ako. I'm not gonna do anything to you... Even if you want me to."
Leni scoffed. She was now starting to feel annoyed.
"Feelingero ka din, ano? Tsaka kung naiinitan ka, dun ka sa ilalim ng vent."
Bong Bong was amused by Leni's frustration. He replied,
"Ayaw ko... I'd rather feel hot than catch pneumonia. Mahirap na."
Leni can't believe that she's having this conversation with Bong Bong. She glared at him.
Sensing Leni's annoyance, Bong Bong's expression turned sincere as he said,
"Look... I'm sorry, Leni... I just wanted to kill the awkwardness between us."
Leni frowned. She replied,
"And you think teasing me is the best way?"
Bong Bong slowly smiled.
"No... but I have to admit - it's the most fun."
Leni rolled her eyes. She knew that she should be angry at him but something about Bong Bong's smile made her smile too.
Bong Bong offered his hand and said,
"Truce?"
Leni looked at his hand and asked him,
"Truce?"
Bong Bong explained,
"Yeah. Like a peace offering..."
Leni felt reluctant. She decided to voice out the unspoken truth between them,
"I thought... we dislike each other."
Bong Bong sighed.
"I'm aware... I'm not asking you to like me and it doesn't mean we have to be friends... but we can still be at peace together. Don't you agree?"
Leni thought about what Bong Bong just said.
She thinks that his offer seemed like a fair deal.
Leni stared at Bong Bong and could see the genuine look in his eyes.
Finally, she took his hand.
"Sige na nga... Truce."
The two of them shook hands.
It was a pretty nice moment.
For the first time, things no longer felt as awkward or tense between them.
===
After a while, Bong Bong asked Leni,
"Kapag nakalabas na tayo dito, what do you plan to do?"
"Huh? Ang random naman ng tanong mo."
Bong Bong chuckled. He said,
"I think we should celebrate. Let me treat you to lunch."
"Wait lang... Kala ko ba sabi mo, we don't have to be friends?"
"That's true but at least let me thank you."
"Thank me? For what?"
"For being my companion."
Leni paused for a moment. She thought,
Companion? Ano ako? Aso?
Bong Bong smiled at her and asked,
"So? What do you say, Leni?"
"I thought busy ka."
"One hour lang naman. Tsaka my schedule for today has already been ruined, anyway..."
Bong Bong looked away from her and tried to look upset.
"Pero kung ayaw mo... edi wag."
Leni can't help but laugh. She remarked,
"Para kang bata..."
Suddenly, the elevator lights turned bright once again.
They both shielded their eyes from the sudden brightness.
Bong Bong remarked,
"Great. Naayos na nila..."
They heard a soft ding as the elevator doors began to slowly open.
Bong Bong helped Leni up as they stood. After dusting off their clothes, the doors were finally opened wide.
===
That's weird.
It was Bong Bong's first thought upon seeing the door open.
Both Bong Bong and Leni expected to be greeted by somebody but to their surprise, no one was there.
The two of them stepped out of the elevator and looked around the place.
The maintenance tools were left on the floor as well as a car key, familiar to Bong Bong.
Bong Bong picked it up. He told Leni,
"Susi 'to ng kotse ko. Imposible na iwanan nalang 'to dito ng driver ko."
Leni replied,
"Baka nahulog niya lang accidentally?"
Bong Bong frowned.
"I doubt that... Where is he and your staff anyway?"
The place was eerily quiet. As if no one else but them were in the building.
Bong Bong and Leni gave each other a worried look.
"I'll go back to my office. Kukunin ko lang yung phone ko." Leni said.
"Okay. I'll walk with you. Baka makita natin sila on the way." Bong Bong replied.
They started to walk and look around for other people.
Eventually, the two of them have reached Leni's office but haven't seen anyone else so far.
Leni quickly grabbed her phone from her desk as Bong Bong waited for her by the door.
After getting her phone, she closed the door then looked at her watch.
It was exactly 12:00.
She turned to Bong Bong and suggested,
"12 o'clock na. Maybe they went for a break?"
Bong Bong replied,
"All of them? Pati yung staff mo? All at once?"
Leni knew deep down that it was impossible. They continued roaming around the building as Bong Bong walked beside her, trying to contact his driver.
===
After a few minutes of looking around the building, Bong Bong and Leni completely failed to find anybody else.
Bong Bong tapped on his phone and said,
"I can't contact my driver... or anybody else for that matter. Walang signal. Down din yung wifi niyo."
Leni was surprised.
"Really? Never yun nangyari. Tsaka malakas din ang signal dito."
Leni pulled her phone out and tried calling people from her contacts.
However, none of them answered. She tried messaging them too but all her messages failed to sent.
Bong Bong let out an exasperated sigh. He then walked out of the building.
Leni looked up from her phone and said,
"Wait lang! San ka pupunta?"
She walked hurriedly towards Bong Bong till she caught up to him. He said,
"I'm going out. Surely, may tao dun... Right?"
Leni nodded. She followed him till they reached Bong Bong's parked car in the driveway.
Bong Bong was about to get in his car when Leni said something,
"Wait! Wala ka bang nahahalata?"
Bong Bong paused for a moment and looked at Leni. He asked her,
"What do you mean?"
"Diba dapat, naririnig natin yung traffic sa labas?"
Leni was right. Bong Bong can't hear any vehicles passing by or the sound of cars honking.
The world was too quiet.
Everything suddenly felt more weird for Bong Bong and Leni.
Leni spoke again with a worried look on her face.
"Pwede ba ako sumama sayo?"
Bong Bong stared at her, beginning to feel worried as well. He replied,
"Sure... I'll drive. Get in the passenger seat."
===
Minutes have passed since Bong Bong and Leni started driving around the city.
To their surprise, no other vehicles were on the road aside from those unattended cars parked at the sides.
While Bong Bong was driving, Leni looked through window and felt more confused, seeing the streets empty of people.
Leni felt like she and Bong Bong were the only two human beings left in the world.
Bong Bong put the car on neutral as they stopped in front of a stoplight.
He tried turning on the radio but all that he could hear are static noise.
Leni looked at his dashboard and got surprised. Sensing Leni's shock, Bong Bong looked at her and asked,
"What's the matter, Leni?"
Leni pointed at the time.
"Y- yung oras... 12:00 parin... Pati sa relo ko."
Bong Bong looked at the time and got confused. He said,
"You're right... Kanina pa 12 ah..."
He then looked at his watch and to his surprise, it's also stuck at 12:00. He looked at Leni and said,
"Pwede mo ba i-check yung oras sa phone mo?"
Leni nodded as she pulled out her phone. Bong Bong did the same and both of their eyes widened as they checked the time:
12:00.
Bong Bong gulped. He thought,
This... This can't be a coincidence...
He looked at Leni and could tell that she's thinking the same thing. He said,
"Where the hell are we?"