The Love Exchange

ii

"Good Morning, Ms. Aya." Bati sa akin ni Jas. Tinangguan ko naman ito at binati pabalik.

"Ah, Jas. Ano bang mga gagawin ko today?" Agad naman nitong kinuha ang sched notebook at sumagot.

"By 10:00 a.m - Photoshoot, 11:30 naman po is meeting ng board of directors which is a must na pumunta ka, then 1:00 pm po is lunch with the owners of Macau's Hotels and last is the 6:00 pm which is the dinner date niyo po ng anak ni Mr. Montefiel."

"So I only have four things to be done today, am I right?"

"Yes po, Ms. Aya." Tumanggo naman ako.

"Thank you, Jas. By the way, kain ka muna. Sabay na tayo." Kinunan ko siya ng upuan at tumabi sa akin.

A Few Hours Later:

"Its a wrap! Thank you so much, Aya." Saad ng direktor na sinagot ko naman ng munting salamat.

"I need to go, direk. I have a meeting to attend. If you may excuse me."

"Okay. I'll just call your assisstant for the next photoshoot, okay?"

"Okay po, direk. Thank you po."

Naglakad na ako palabas ng studio nang may lumapit sa akin na batang lalaki. Tinignan ko ito at napamangha sa taglay nitong kagwapuhan.

"Hey baby. Are you lost?" Tanong ko. Pwede ko ba 'tong kurutin, ang tabaching-ching ng mga pisngi eh.

"No, am not. Can I take a picture with yo---" Bigla itong naputol ng may mga security na lumapit sa amin.

"You're not allowed to take any photo of her, kid. Get lost!" Pasigaw na saad ni kuya guard sa bata. Matalim ko itong tinignan at hinarap.

"Mind your words! He's just a kid. You can talk to him politely." Nilingon ko muli ang batang lalaki at kinuha ang hawak nitong cellphone.

"Can I take a photo of us?" Tanong ko rito na ikina ngiti nito ng pagkalakilaki.

Kukurutin ko na talaga ito eh.

We took photos as many as we could, I kissed his cheeks, then he kissed mine, and lastly dahil hindi ko na kinaya, kinurot ko ang pisngi nito. Of course with his permission naman.

"Thank you, Ms. Aya. I'm Nico, by the way." Inilahad niya ang mga munting kamay nito sa akin at agad ko namang tinggap.

"Hello, Nico. I am Thaliya, it was nice meeting you. I am sorry, but I really have to go." Saad ko rito na ikinalungkot niya.

"Okay, but I have something to give you." May hinalungkat ito sa munti niyang bag at ilang segundo ay may inilabas siya na sandwhich.

"Eat this, Ms. Aya. My brother made that. He's a huge fan of you, he said if someday I'll encounter you, I should give this to you." Tinggap ko naman ang sandwhich at nginitian ito.

"Aww, thank you, Nico. Tell your kuya I said thank, okay. Also, I hope to see him soon. Take care." I kissed Nico on his forehead for the last time and walked away.

Tinignan ko ng maigi ang sandwhich at marahan itong binuksan. Pagbukas ko pa lang ay nangingibabaw na ang napakasarap nitong amoy. I took a bite and was amazed of how it tasted.

It feels like dinadala ako pabalik sa nakaraan. It tasted just the same.

"Thank you." I mumble into the thin air as my car started to move.

ANONYMOUS:

"Big bro! Big bro!" tawag sa akin ng nakababata kong kapatid na si Nico.

Tinignan ko naman ang malaking pintuan sa opisina ko at sakto naman ang pagpasok nito na may malaking ngiti sa kaniyang labi.

"You're late. Where have you been?"

"Big bro, you're no fun. Something good happened to me today!" Here we are, again. Magsasalita na naman ito tungkol sa crush niya na kaibigan niya. Tinignan ko ulit ito at sinamaan ako ng tingin.

"It's not about Milly, kuya." I shrugged and went back to my laptop, ignoring him. I continued what I was doing a while ago and I can clearly see him getting his phone out of his bag.

"I went to see Uncle Agu today and I saw a very famous person. I asked her if we could take a picture together but some guard scolded me." Napatingin naman agad ako rito at tinaasan ng kilay.

"What did they do to you?" Tanong ko rito ng pagalit.

"They just told me to f**k off, but she defended me. She scolded them instead and told then to mind they're words cause Im just a kid." He then smiles sheepishly.

"Then she asked me if we could somehow take a picture together. Can you imagine that kuya? A very famous person asked to have a photo with me " He handed me his phone and showed me the photo.

"Isn't she lovely, bro?" Napatingin naman ako sa litrato at nanlaki ang mga mata ko.

Now I regretted not going with him.

"f**k! Why didn't you call me?!" Pagalit kong saad rito.

"I tried, but you weren't answering your phone." Napasabunot naman ako sa buhok ko.

"No worries kuya, I gave her the sandwhich you made and she told me she hopes to see you soon." I looked over at Nico and smiled.

"She wishes to see me? Her wish is my command."

I mumbled.

"Just wait for me, Aya. I promise to get you back. I promise to fix you."

I smiled to myself planning on how I should show myself to her.