"God!" Leni swore as the light blinded her eyes and her head endured a stinging pain; she returned and laid back on the bed.
She covered her eyes with her palms and tried to recall what happened earlier and why her head hurts so bad.
"I didn't expect you ha?" She told her as they stood next to each other at the buffet table. "Ah, ikaw rin, I didn't expect you here." She didn't mean to sound disrespectful but it appeared like a low key rudeness to her.
"Lakas ng loob ha?" She hinted her mockery. Leni picked up her aura, she paused for a moment and decided not to engage.
"Were you invited or pumunta ka lang?" She triggered her. "Binigyan nila ako ng invitation." She replied briefly. "Sabagay, VP ka nga pala. Reasonable naman." She tried to justify. "Pero kung hindi ka vice president, do you think maiinvite ka?" She followed with a sarcastic chuckle, it irked Leni so bad as she was never fond of her ever since.
"Alam mo, Let, wag na sana natin palakihin 'to." She placidly replied.
"Let." She scoffed. "Have a sense of respect naman, Leni. We're not close para tawagin mo akong 'Let' I'm the first lady of the country you're serving." She added.
Honeylet - 1 point
Leni - 0 point
"Sorry, Ms. Honeylet." She replied sarcastically. "Apology accepted." She retorted. "Kung respect rin naman yung pinaguusapan, sana irespeto mo rin ako bilang vice president." Leni rebutted.
Honeylet - 1 point
Leni - 1 point
"Well, apologies VP kaya lang kase, VP ka nga but you don't have the president's back." Honeylet refuted.
Honeylet - 2 points
Leni - 1 point
Leni remained silent. "I have his back. Do you?" She followed. "Ay, bakit ka nga ba baback upan ng pangulo, niloko mo nga pala siya." She added.
Honeylet - 3 points
Leni - 1 point
"Honestly, taas kamay ako sa'yo for having the guts to show up here considering yung sitwasyon niyo ni Digong ha? Daring." She uttered softly so no one would know how they are arguing.
Suddenly, Digong walked towards them. "Umupo ka na sa table, ako nang kukuha para sa'yo." He informed Honeylet and tried to avoid Leni's eyes. "Ah, sige." She replied.
He left and approached the buffet table leaving Leni and Honeylet again.
Honeylet - 103 points
Leni - 1 point
"I hope you don't mind me asking, 'di ba you live to serve the people?" She stated and handed Leni her plate. "Pakibalik naman, madam VP." She uttered cockily as Leni took the plate from her.
Honeylet - 203 points
Leni - 1 point
Leni watched her walk away with pride as she held her plate. She sighed painfully and handed her plat to one of the waiters. "Thank you." She told the waiter.
The night pushed through, Leni stayed at her table and socialized with the guest but it was inevitable for her not to feel affected witnessing Digong interacting with Honeylet instead of her. "Drink?" She proposed to her friends on the same table.
Leni barely noticed how much she was drinking as she was too distracted by the view of Rodrigo with Honeylet.
"Jusko," she uttered as she recalled everything.
—
"Excuse me." He told his guests during the meeting as his clerk handed over the last documents necessary for the guests.
On a separate scenario, Leni's meeting with Yasay and their partners at the Palace ended; despite that it wasn't Rodrigo who called for her presence, she hoped to see him around.
"Ah... Bong." She smiled mischievously upon seeing him. "Mam! Good evening po." He gladly greeted her. "Nasan si sir?" She asked immediately.
Oh, not again.
"Ay nasa meeting pa po, sa room three pero patapos narin po siguro in fifteen minutes." He informed her, Leni felt a bit hopeless as she no longer have any reason to stay for another fifteen minutes, she wanted to see him but she couldn't determine how.
"Mam, nakita niyo si presidente?" One of her PSGs asked. "Hindi eh. Nasa meeting daw." She sighed and saw Bong busy chatting with some guests. Her eyes moved over to the meeting room's hallway and saw an opportunity.
"Dito ka lang ha?" She handed him her bag swiftly. "Saan kayo pupunta mam?" The PSG asked. "Basta. Pagtakpan mo nalang ako. Mabilis lang ako." She replied hastily.
"Ho—?" The PSG panicked. "Hayaan mo na." The other PSG stopped him from running after her.
Leni sneaked through the hallways of the palace to have a glimpse of Digong. She just couldn't get through her day without seeing him, at least.
Minsan na nga lang ako makapunta dito sa palasyo, papalagpasin ko pa ba yung makita ko siya.
She felt so motivated and looked for meeting room three to check on him.
Yes!
She exclaimed in her head as she saw the room's door slightly opened. She looked around to make sure nobody was around before she slinked quicky and peeped inside the room.
Nasaan kaya siya? Bakit parang wala naman—
Someone cleared his throat from a distance.
Shé—t
She panicked and withdrew from peeking inside. She turned around in a blink, she didn't know that he was standing right next to her.
"O!" He uttered out of astonishment. His reflexes immediately responded to her panicking reaction. His hand supported her back to keep her balance intact as she bumped her body against his.
"Ah!" She yelled out of surprise. She wrapped her arms around his neck, his body tilted towards her as he carried her weight.
She haltered for quite a while, her eyes grew as she saw him. She panicked, she was stunned and astonished that she started to lose her voice.
"Wha— Oh." The guests were alarmed to hear her from the inside but upon seeing them so close, they knew it was a false alarm.
Leni's face turned so red out of embarrassment. She rushed and stood away from Rodrigo to keep him from humiliation. Bong and the other PSGs rushed upon hearing the yell.
"Sorry, we didn't mean to interrupt." The guests chuckled making Leni feel more humiliated.
"No. Uh. No." She stammered; didn't know what to say, she felt so small as everyone looked at her. "I'm sorry!" She could no longer handle the mortification of her impulsive actions, she ran quickly to the ladies comfort room to escape the shame.
"Sorry, Digong. We didn't mean to interrupt." The guests apologized. "No, it's okay." He chuckled. "It's not a big deal. My vice president is really mischievous." He covered her up.
"Anyways, we got the document. We'll go ahead narin siguro." She informed him and expressed their goodbyes to one another.
"Escort mo sila. Ako na bahala dito." He directed Bong and headed towards the comfort room where Leni ran to.
Diosko, Leni ano bang ginawa mo. Sobrang nakakahiya! Pinahiya mo pa si Digong sa harap ng bisita niya! Ang tanga mo!
She condemned herself as she pressed her back against the locked door.
Ano nang gagawin ko? Wala na akong mukang maihaharap. For sure galit na yun lalo saakin. Anong sasabihin ko— Shet!
"Leni." He knocked on the door. Her eyes grew in panic.
Si Rody! Hala, lalabas ba ako? Magpapanggap na nahimatay dito? Eh papano kung buksan, di ko kaya magpanggap na walang malay—
"Leni, buksan mo yung pinto." She couldn't determine his mood through his voice. It took her a while before she was able to establish her courage.
"Sir?" She uttered nervously to make sure it was him. "Oo. Labas ka muna diyan." He replied. "Sorry, sir." She begged from the other side. "Labas ka muna, usap tayo." He negotiated.
She gulped roughly and slowly opened the door. She looked at him in deep humiliation, he looked back at her morosely — he wasn't mad, he was just trying to act blank.
"Sorry." She apologized in forlorn.
"Ano mang ginagawa mo kanina, mam?" He asked as warm as he could. "Sorry, sir." She bowed her head.
"Sorry, sir. Napahiya ko kayo sa mga bisita niyo. Sumilip lang naman ako kaya lang nagulat ako." She followed, he remained silent.
"Bakit ka man sumisilip, mam?" He asked. "Sorry, sir. Sorry talaga, hindi ko naman gusto mageskandalo. Gusto lang naman kita makita" She expressed sadly, little did she know that he loved her little efforts to see him.
"Sabi ni Bong mga fifteen minutes pa raw bago matapos yung meeting mo eh wala na akong rason para magstay for another fifteen minutes para lang makita kita kaya sumilip nalang ako." She explained detail per detail. "Alam ko, sir, mahirap paniwalaan pero hindi ko naman talaga intensyon gumawa ng eskandalo. Sorry talaga." She explained. "Kung gusto niyo kakausapin ko yung mga bisita mo kanina, i-eexplain ko sakanila—" She haltered as she thought it's a silly bargain.
"Hindi, okay lang." He aimed to bring relief. She looked at him with her sad eyes and he was staring back at her making her world stop for a moment.
Upon looking at her face filled with humiliation, he felt so weak. He wanted to grab her and hug her tight, kiss her forehead and make her feel right but then the thought of their broken past lapsed all his feelings.
He sighed painfully. "Ayos lang." They both turned silent for a moment.
Her line of sight moved up from his chest to his eyes. As they locked sights, they started to feel weak, they were both clueless of how feeble they make each other — they are each other's weakness.
Leni has always been a little bit smaller than him making it inevitable for her not to have a glimpse of his lips, seeing her glance makes him so tempted to kiss her.
"Sige na, mam. Baka gabihin ka pa." He cracked the lure shifting the mood into a more shallow one, her rising hopes turned upside down. He escorted her until the lobby.
"Wag mo na ako ihatid, sir—"
"No. It's a man's obligation na ihatid ang babae. Hanggang so lobby lang naman." He insisted and continuwd walking with her.
As her car arrived in front of the main entrance, she shyly thanked him. "Good night, sir." She bid — missing every night she used to tell him good nights. He just smiled in response and watched her pace away.
To be continued...