One
1587 Words
"Mauna ka na sa taas. I will just take this call." ani Manager Gina.
I just raised my eyebrow saka bumaba na ako ng sasakyan. Nagpahinga ako ng dalawang araw after the concert. Ngayon lang ako ulit papasok sa AbTV after my busy schedule. I heard pinakilala na through press conference ang bagong CEO ng kompanya. I wasn't able to watch it. Hindi ko rin natanong sa manager ko. I actually just remember it ngayong andito na ako.
Habang naglalakad papunta sa building, napansin ko ang reflection ko sa sasakyan na nasa tabi. Hindi ko napansin na nagulo na pala yung buhok ko while I was taking a nap sa byahe kanina. Tss. Why did no one tell me? I can't show people my flaws. They can consider it a weakness.
Humarap ako doon sa sasakyan. Tinted yung salamin so hindi ko makita kung may tao sa loob but since wala namang lumalabas or nag-iingay, I assumed na it's empty. Saka who'd stay in a basement anyway? Personal drivers have their own lounge kung saan sila madalas tumambay. I know dahil narinig kong kinuwento nung driver ko yun kina Cheska dati.
Nilabas ko ang lipstick ko from my bag. I can't go inside looking like I just woke up. Confident naman ako sa natural beauty ko but as a celebrity, kailangan kong iwasan lahat ng bagay na maaari nilang gamitin against me. Malay ko ba kung anong nakakatawang kwento na naman ang sasabihin ng bashers ko if they see me messy.
Napakunot ang noo ko ng mapansin na parang lumalaki na yung tiyan ko. Ugh. Did I gain weight o sinungaling lang talaga tong salamin na toh? I should really take care of myself more often.
Sinuklay ko ang pagkahaba-haba kong buhok at pinungko iyun. I really look cute sa ganitong hairstyle. People said I have a good neck line kaya dapat madalas kong ipungko yung hair ko. Even my stylist agreed. No wonder why people can't get enough of me.
"Tanya!"
Napatigil ako sa paga-admire sa sarili when I heard Manager Gina calling me.
"Let's go upstairs. You can't stay here for long. You know everyone's watching your every move." paalala niya.
Yeah. That's right. Noong isang buwan lang nahuli namin yung isang paparazzi na umaali-aligid dito sa AbTV. We caught him red handed dito mismo sa basement. He was taking pictures of me. I guess he was hoping to get some scope about me that no one knows about. They can try as hard as they want but hanggang try lang talaga sila. Sometimes people like them are scarier than stalkers. Those paparazzi just don't know when to stop. I understand that it's their job but as a celebrity, ang tanging trabaho ko lang naman ay ang i-entertain ang viewers. My private life is none of their business. They should cover my projects and concerts more, diba?
"What's my schedule for today?" tanong ko kay Gina habang naglalakad kami papuntang elevator.
"You have a guesting before lunch to promote your movie. And then we have a meeting for your new endorsement at 2 pm sharp but I can attend it alone. You have another guesting at 6pm. That's all. I didn't book a lot of schedule today since kakagaling mo lang sa concert mo. But next week, you will have to work 2 times harder."
Tumango-tango ako. Isasara na sana ni Cheska yung pintuan nung elevator when suddenly, someone stopped it. They were supposed to tell the person na it's for executives only but as long as they saw who it was, agad silang napahinto.
The guards asked us to move a little bit to give space sa amo nila. I looked at him. He doesn't looks familiar. I don't think nakita ko na siya dati rito sa building. Madalas kong makasalamuha yung mga big boss dito sa kompanya although hindi ako madalas nakikipag-interact sa kanila if it's not for work purposes anyway...
Tumingin siya sa gawi ko bago pumasok sa loob. Everyone in the elevator greeted him. He didn't respond though. But I saw him smirked or something through the mirror na nasa harap ko. He's standing right behind me so I moved a little bit towards the front.
Nagkibit-balikat lang ako. I probably just saw it wrong. Why would he smirk? Tss.
"But I don't have any important schedule this weekend, right?" baling ko muli kay Gina.
"No. Why? Do you have plans?"
"Obviously." I casually answered.
Hindi sinasadyang napatingin ako doon sa lalaking nasa likod namin. Is he looking at me or am I just imagining it since he's directly at my back? Pero ngayong napagmasdan kong mabuti ang mukha niya, he's actually very familiar. Is he an actor? A model? Sa ganda ng features ng mukha niya na halos perfec na, I'm sure he's one of those.
"Are you hanging out with them again?" tila hindi nito natutuwang tanong. "Alam mo namang nagka-issue ka noong huling buwan lang because of them. We already cleared that issue. And as far as I can remember, I told you to avoid hanging around them in public for awhile."
"It's Christian's birthday this weekend. You know I can't say no to them."
"Tanya..."
"Don't worry, we're not going into a bar. We'll just stay at Christian's house. Everyone will be there."
"I wish you'll listen to me kahit isang beses lang." frustrated niyang wika.
I chuckled. "Don't worry. Walang issue o scandal na makakapagpabagsak sa akin."
As I said that, agad na nagtama muli ang tingin namin nung lalaking nasa likod through the reflection doon sa mirror door ng elevator. He noticed na nakatingin ako sa kanya kaya ngumiti siya sa akin. Ngumiti na rin ako pabalik sabay taas ng isa kong kilay. I'm still wondering who he is. Mas lalo kasi siyang nagiging pamilyar tuwing tinitingnan ko ang mukha niya. But halos kilala ko na lahat ng artista't modelo na nagtatrabaho dito. It's impossible na di ko man lang alam ang pangalan niya. Lalo na kung ganyan kagwapong nilalang ang nasa harap ko.... Where have I seen him before?
Maybe he's an investor or something. It's not like I know every investors in this company. O kaya naman ay kamag-anak ng isa sa mga big boss ng AbTV. But it seems like everyone here knows him. Tsk. I can just ask them later.
Hindi niya inalis ang titig niya sa akin at since di ako nagpapatalo, di ko rin inalis ang mga mata ko sa kanya hanggang sa bumukas yung pinto ng elevator. Well, I guess we're on our floor. But that doesn't mean I lose.
Unang lumabas sina Gina saka sumunod ako. Bago sumara muli yung pinto, I looked at him again without any expression. He looks arrogant. Too bad, gwapo pa naman.
"Tanya?" tawag pansin ni Gina. "Let's go to the dressing room. We still have a meeting about the concert."
"As we predicted, the concert is a major success! Everyone loves your performance. I have yet to see a negative comment online but I doubt I'd ever see one. Saka some of the fans na hindi naka-attend sa concert ay nag-request na kung pwede mag-livestream daw tayo next concert mo." anang producer.
I flipped the page nung librong hawak ko. "Livestream? I think that's a bad idea. Yung goal nung concert in the first place is for everyone to see me live. If we decided to do a livestream next year, baka imbes na umattend sa concert ay doon na lamang sila sa livestream manuod. It doesn't matter if they have to pay for the livestream as well... If they want to see me perform from their phone they can just search my name on youtube." seryoso kong wika.
"But it's a good way to connect to your fans na malayo mula rito."
"Connect? Sa pagkakaalala ko, ang ibig sabihin ng connect ay joined or linked together. You can't really call it a connection kung sila lang ang nakakarinig at nakakakita sa akin. You can only call it a connection if I can respond to them as well. You're not asking me to skype them one by one, are you? Or interact with them through the video call while I'm interacting with the real crowd?"
Walang sumagot sa sinabi ko. Hays, sa ilang taon ko dito sa industriya I can't believe they still don't get it. It's good to interact with your fans but if you just offer yourself to them freely, the spice will be gone. They will not be thrilled to see me perform in real life anymore. You have to stay mysterious while being open. That's the secret.
- Writer
