Art of Serendipity

58

Napa-irap na naman ako sa kawalan nang maisip ko na magkikita na naman kami bukas. Can I just have my f*cking rest first? Puro stress lang nararanasan ko lately. Wala na nga akong day off para sa sarili ko tapos dumadagdag pa sila. Letseng buhay 'to. Ang sarap talaga humimlay sa mga ganitong pagkakataon, e.

Kinabukasan ay wala akong magawa kung hindi ang makipag-kita sa kaniya. I am wearing a white off-shoulder top and a mom jeans. I'm now comfortable wearing my white sneakers. I sent his secretary an email to meet me at the near coffee shop and I got stunned when I saw that he's already there. Wearing a white polo and a slacks. I frowned when I noticed that we are both wearing white. We did not plan this, huh. Nakakainis talaga palagi ang pagkakataon. Magkaaway kami niyan palagi!

"Hand me the designs now," that's my greeting for him. I don't want to waste more time.

He stopped sipping his coffee when I suddenly appeared. Napatingin din siya sa suot naming dalawa bago binaba ang baso niya. I sat in front of him without his consent. My face is numb with extreme coldness.

"Good morning. Let's have breakfast first." Then, he smiled. Napataas ang isang kilay ko.

Ah, wow, good mood si Velez.

Ako? Walang good sa morning ko especially that he is the first person I am going to see early in the morning.

Hindi na lang ako umangal dahil paano pa ako makaka-angal e nagtawag na agad siya ng waiter para mag-order? D*mn his confidence and guts to annoy me in my day off!

"By the way, I might book in your hotel one of these days because one of our art dealers are there and I have to be with her," he suddenly talked after the long moment of silence.

Sa hotel namin? Tsk. Saan naman kayang branch 'yon? I hope it's not the hotel I'm staying in.

And her? Babae? Na naman? Who is that? Kailangan talaga na siya ang sumunod? Big time ba?

Okay, I don't hella care.

It looks like he is treating his clients just like how he treated me. Personal niya talagang pinupuntahan ang mga clients niya or whoever na may business sa kanila. Nothing so special about me, I'm just assuming things na hindi naman dapat.

I shrugged and looked away. "Yeah, whatever."

"Aya?" A woman suddenly appeared somewhere.

Napa-angat agad ang tingin ko sa kaniya at nagulat ako. I familiarized her immediately. She is one of my friend na cabin crew.

"Shaira, hey," bati ko sa kaniya. "It's nice to see you. What are you doing here?"

"I am right. Sabi na ikaw, e. I just met with my friends." She giggled. I consciously glanced at Levi when Shaira looked at him. "Oh, you are with your boyfriend. I am sorry."

My eyes widened and shook my head in extreme in denial. "No, he is not my boyfriend. You got it wrong, Shaira."

Hindi naman ako makatingin kay Levi kaya hindi ko makita ang reaksyon niya. Shaira's mouth formed an 'o' and glanced at Levi again.

"Oh, sorry, I thought..." she chuckled nervously.

"Uhm, here... You can join us," I insisted and handed the chair beside me. Bumaling ako sa kaharap na lalaki. "I hope it's okay with you, Mr. Velez."

"It's fine," he answered briefly. Great! I am glad that Shaira is here! I won't spend my awkward amd boring breakfast with this brute!

Umupo naman sa tabi ko si Shaira, still staring at Levi. I think, she is amused by Levi's presence and appearance. I rolled my eyes secretly, kahit saan at sino talaga, nakakabingwit siya. Ganoon talaga palagi.

"By the way, Aya. Do you have flight for tomorrow?" Shaira asked.

"Yeah, four legs." I sighed. Alam ko kasing magsisimula na naman ang pasakit ko bukas.

"Ah, same! Grabe! Monday na Monday tapos four legs agad tayo! What are those flights?"

I checked my phone. "Manila to Clark, Clark to SG, Singapore to Cebu, then Cebu to Japan. Layover for twelve hours. Wala nang uwi-uwi, flight ulit kinabukasan kasi magka-cargo flight naman ako." I smiled to her while saying my schedule.

"Aww. Oh well, bufi ka paa may domestic tsaka puro Asia lang," Shaira stated. "Ako kasi puro international flights and those are all outside Asia!"

While talking to Shaira, I suddenly caught Levi staring at me, so I looked back at him pero hindi siya natinag. Nanatili ang titig niya kaya ako na ang namagandang-loob na umiwas. I could not look at him straight. Napapaso ako sa mga titig niyang ganiyan.

"Well. Just have a safe flight for the both of us," I said to her.

Tumango siya. "It is tiring, yeah. Ikaw, I heard you are also leading La Vegas Hotels. Grabe ka, 'te!"

I just gave her a small smile. I had enough of the compliment ps like these. Sa iba kasi ay maganda na maraming pinagkakakitaan while in fact, kahit ganoon ay sobrang nakakapagod. Yes, I have to produce money but my health is still my greatest wealth.

Minsan talaga ay hindi ko alam ang desisyon ko tungkol sa trabahong pinili ko. Hati talaga minsan ang opinyon ko tungkol sa mga ganitong bagay. Buti na lang at may fixed plan na ako tungkol dito.

Shaira and I talked more a bit about rude passengers and papalapit na rin pala ang recurrent training namin, then she went away dahil may gagawin pa raw. Hindi ko naman siya pwedeng pigilan dahil sa gusto kong may kasama maliban kay Levi. Naiwan kaming muli ni Levi and the table went silent again for a moment. It was so awkward to be here with my ex. I did not saw this coming, huh? Hindi ko talaga naisip na mangyayari ito kahit kailan.

"You still pursued your dream..." he suddenly said.

I bit my lower lip before talking. "Yeah, so what?"

He tilted his head to the side "I am glad that even it's hard, you're still enjoying what you are doing."

Napakunot ang noo ko. "And so, what?"

Why does he has to point that out, anyway? Ano bang pakialam niya? Hindi ko naman siya pinapakialam sa kung anong mayroon sa buhay niya.

Yes, he is the one who pursued me to achieve my dream. Siya ang nagpakilala ng salitang pangarap sa akin pero hindi ibig sabihin no'n ay tinupad ko ang pangarap ko para at dahil sa kaniya. He has a big factor but that doesn't mean that I am still into him. Utang na loob ko pa rin naman na naipakilala niya sa akin 'yon.

He smirked sadly but before I could manage to notice that one, it already fades away.

Binilisan ko nang tapusin ang pagkain ko at agad-agad na tumayo. I really can't breathe at the same air with him right now.

"I'll go now," I said coldly, not even looking at his way. "Hand me the samples na."

He didn't look at me too and just handed me a mini-album like book. Mga gawang sculptures ang laman nito. I know because I already witnessed how their gallery works. Perks of having to tour around their gallery.

I was about to walk away but he suddenly talked which makes the butterflies in my stomach go wild again.

"Don't stress yourself too much, Aya. Take care always," he almost whispered but just enough for me to hear.

Or it was really intended for me to hear. Hindi ko nga alam kung tama bang narinig ko na nanghihina ang boses niya.

~~~