Carrying My Enemy's Baby (SSPG)

Second Time Around - Donovan's POV

Nakaharap ako sa glass wall at may hawak na wine habang naka-tingin sa skyline. I felt unease even if I know that I shouldn't. Wala namang problem sa company o hindi kaya ay bad feedback from our tech partners.

“Sir, nandito na po siya.”

Dahan-dahan akong napalingon sa aking likuran nang marinig ang sinabi ng assistant ng HR. Kahit kaiinom ko lang, napalunok ulit ako.

The moment I landed my eyes on her, I know things wouldn't be easy. I don't know what's with this woman. Her face didn't allow me to have a perfect sleep since the last time that we met. Since that day, I've been counting hours and days as to when we will meet again. Cliché and overrated for someone who thinks that he is the one who always live rent-free on other people's head, but now, it's the opposite. This woman got me. But I need to hold back. She might be up to something.

“Sit,” saad ko sabay turo sa upuang nasa harapan ko. “In case you don't know me, I'm Donovan Magnante, the CEO of this company. I'm the youngest CEO in the history of the Magnante company. I won't say much since this is not a meet-and-greet event.”

“Good morning, Sir,” bati naman nito saka yumuko bilang pagbibigay galang. Hindi ko man nais tingnan pero hindi ko nagawang ilayo ang aking mga mata nang napayuko siya. Her unbuttoned shirt had me looking at her swelling bossoms.

Itinabi ko muna ang aking wine saka napaupo. Kinuha ko naman agad ang folder na nakapatong lang sa aking mesa at saka binuksan iyon. It was the folder where her documents were compiled.

“Gysabel Avila,” saad ko at ilang segundong napatingin sa curriculum vitae niya bago ko siya titigan sa kaniyang mukha.

I knew how firm and emotionless my face was when I asked her. I even slightly raise my brows as if I was unsure with her name. But I felt like my solid rock emotions soften a bit when I saw her smiling—fully revealing her halo white teeth. Staring at her pink lips, I know it would taste like strawberry.

Shit! No. The way I give a damn on minor details about her. I need to stiffen myself.

“You can call me Ysa po instead of—”

“You don't get to tell me what name I should call you,” I cut her of, causing her perfect smile to dissolve and turn into a pressed thin lips. “Besides, you're not hired yet. You may have passed the initial interview but you haven't proved yourself worthy of the position.”

Kahit na malamig ang office, napansin ko ang tila pamumuo ng pawis sa kaniyang leeg. Napalunok din siya dahil sa sinabi ko.

Isinara ko ang folder at saka napasandal sa aking swivel chair. Ipinatong ko ang aking siko sa desk at saka napahawak sa aking baba. I caressed my stubbles and gave her a second-thought look.

“I have something to ask for you. More like a test,” her face started to brighten, “if you passed it, you're hired. If you failed, remember that you will no longer be allowed to set your foot in our building.”

She didn't wavered. She was smiling—hopeful and confident. I bet she's desperate for this position. Though the salary is highly competitive, she should have just used her beauty to find a rich man to marry. But I don't think she's that type of woman. She may have the beauty, but all she ever did was to effortlessly draw men's attention. Kahit hindi niya gamitin ang ganda niya, kusang magkakagusto sa kaniya ang lalaki.

“Your curriculum vitae says that you finished a degree in Business Management major in Management Information Systems,” tumayo ako sumunod naman siya ng tingin sa akin. I rolled up the right sleeve of my polo and dug my pocket with my right hand. In an instant, I pulled a flash drive.

I smirked and tossed it to her. “The flash drive contains internal report and one of them is a threat to our prototype launch. I'll give you thirty minutes to find and understand it, then explain why it is a threat. Use that laptop but searching in the web is prohibited. Trust you knowledge, if you have, and your instinct.” Inilapat ko ang kamay sa mesa. I leaned forward to her, my face is around five inches far from her. “Timer starts now.”

Ilang gabi akong binabagabag ng pagkatao mo. Tingnan lang natin ngayon kung sino ang hindi makakatulog mamaya dahil sa inutos.

She wasted no time and plugged the USB in. Folders open—technical logs, raw data, financial summaries, and system failure reports buried beneath vague titles like "Q3_Review" and "Lab-13 Notes." I smirked as I watched her seriously going through different folders.

Umayos ako ng pagkakatayo at saka naglakad patungo sa likod niya. I stood close to her right arm while my left hand rested on the back of his chair. As much as I want to focus on the monitor, I just couldn't. Ang dalawang umbok sa kaniyang hinaharap ay parang kumakaway sa akin—inaagaw ang aking atensyon.

I leaned forward and placed my right hand on the right table. With my posture right now, it's as if I am protecting this woman from any attacks that would come to her right. Sinadya kong ilapit ang aking mukha sa monitor. Gusto kong iparamdam sa kaniya na hindi lang ako nakatayo at basta lang nakatingin. I am paying attention to what she is doing.

But this woman is built different. I don't think she know what pressure is.

“You're not panicking. You've wasted a few minutes already,” paalala ko habang bahagyang nakayuko pa rin.

She suddenly glanced to my side, lifted her head a bit so she could meet my eyes. Isang dangkal lang ang layo namin. I could smell her and damn, she smelled like morning with fresh roses dancing along the waves of air. “I did not, Sir. Ginamit ko iyon para mahanap ito.”

Without breaking an eye contact, I heard her double-clicked the mouse. When I shifted my vision to the monitor, numbers flashed across the screen.

“Got it!” saad nito habang nakangiti. Ang kaniyang nakalugay na buhok ay hinawi niya papunta sa kaniyang kaliwang balikat. She slightly bent her neck to her left, revealing the right side of her neck. If I were a vampire, I would have sucked my teeth into her neck. It was inviting me.

Bigla siyang may pinindot na PDF na may file name na “Alpha AI - Memory Corruption Protocol” at nag-scroll ulit siya.

I lowered myself to even our height. I saw through my peripheral vision that she smirked. Did she already get it?

“Ito 'yong problema,” wika niya. Napasulyap lang siya sa akin at muling ibinaling ang mata sa monitor. Ako naman, nanatiling nakatitig sa kaniya. “The AI software's learning module has a memory retention issue. It misidentifies threats after prolonged exposure and begins to prioritize patterns it shouldn’t. If this goes live in our prototype, one smart hacker could trick the system into locking us out of our own servers.”

“Then what?” tanong ko.

Ngayon ay napalingon na naman siya sa aking gawi. Dahil magkapantay na kami at medyo inilapit ko ang aking mukha kanina, isang maling tulak lang ay tiyak na magtatagpo ang aming mga labi.

“Mawawalan ng pera ang mga investor. Hindi lang iyon—mawawalan din sila ng tiwala. Permanently.”

I could say that she is raised differently. How could our faces be this close yet she could still manage to answer in a soft spoken way. She didn't stutter and feel awkward.

I pulled back. Tumayo ako nang maayos saka naglakad papunta sa puwesto ko kanina—sa harapan niya.

“You're hired,” seryoso kong sabi. Nakaramdam ako ng tuwa dahil nakapasa siya. May mapaggagamitan din ang galing niya. Pero iyon lang ba kung bakit ako natutuwa? Ewan ko ba. Kahit ako nagugulahan na sa sarili ko.

“Talaga po?” tanong nito habang nakangiti. Bigla siyang napatayo.

Tumango ako at ang sunod na nangyari ang ikinagulat ko. “Thank you po, Sir!”

Bigla niya akong niyakap. It felt warm—warm enough to soothe the coldness of the office. Nanlaki ang aking mata sa kaniyang ginawa. Maganda at matalino siya. Pero parang may tama rin 'ata ang babaeng ito.

Sinong newly hired ang yayakapin ang kaniyang boss? O baka naman tactics niya lang ito para mayakap talaga ako? After all, I'm irresistible. She's no different to other women.

After a few seconds, she freed my body from her embrace. Namumula ang kaniyang pisngi at napayuko ito. “Sorry, Sir. Nadala lang.”

Hindi ko na lang iyon pinansin.

“As new executive assistant, you are responsible for schedule and calendar management, confidential email and file handling, meeting preparation and shadow presence, client and partner relations, crisis handling, travel planning and logistics, board and internal coordination, and personal tasks.” Parang wala lang sa kaniya na marami akong sinabi. Hindi nawala ang ngiti sa kaniyang mukha. “I know you're a fast learner. Madali lang sa iyo ang mga gawaing ito.”

“Sana nga sisiw lang,” wika nito habang natatawa. I just noticed, may dimple pala siya.

“You will officially start your work next week. However, starting tomorrow, you need to report in the office. There things you need to be familiar with to make your work easier,” wika ko saka napahinga nang malalim.

“Anong oras po?”

Nagtagpo ang aking kilay habang nakakunot ang noo. “What do you mean? Of course the usual time in. Eight o'clock in the morning.” Tumango siya. “One more thing. You're not allowed to enter the office kung hindi pa ako nakararating.”

“Noted, Sir,” sagot naman niya.

“I have a meeting in an hour. You can leave now . . .” napahinto ako, “Ysa.”

From now on, I'll call her Ysa.