CEO'S GIRLFRIEND IS AN AGENT

FOOLED BY A DECOY Ten hours ago, the NBI received an intelligence report that a cargo vessel containing smuggled human organs was leaving the country from the Manila Port. After hours of coordination and conferences, an operation was launched. Sirens ripped through the stillness of the night at the port. Tires screeched from a distance, followed by the opening and slamming of car doors. Agents from the National Bureau of Investigation, the Philippine National Police, and the Bureau of Customs emerged from the vehicles and took their respective positions in the operation. Among the NBI Agents is Georgina Angeles or George to her colleagues. She is a 33-year-old Special Agent, 5'4", with black shoulder-length hair. She has a strong physique that would make anyone hesitate to pull a prank on her. George's face is square and small, which makes room for her medium-arched brows, almond-shaped eyes, small and round nose, and wide lips. Although many people would agree that Georgina is beauty queen material, she does not take a lot of pride in that. She values her mind more than her looks. Georgina graduated from San Beda with a degree in BS Accountancy and was included in the Top 5 when she took the CPA Board Exam. After working for two years, she decided to study law at UP Diliman and was again included in the list of top notchers when she took the BAR exam. It has only been a year since Georgina joined the NBI. While George has been modest about it, nobody would contest that she has started to build a positive reputation among her colleagues. It did not come as a surprise when she was included in the team that investigates the booming human organ trafficking in Southeast Asia, particularly the Philippines. "In here!" Somebody shouted, pointing at a pile of white refrigerated cargo containers at the back end of the port. The containers are being lifted and transferred by a huge crane onto a cargo ship that was docked nearby. The sudden intervention of the uniformed personnel startled the people manning the shipment. While Agent Ricky Espinosa, another NBI agent, questioned the people who were found at the scene, George decided to go inside the cargo container along with the police officers. The cold air met her skin as soon as she stepped foot inside the container. Her brows furrowed. In front of her are stacks of storage boxes, but they were nothing she expected. She could not put her finger on it, but she sensed something wrong. Georgina covered her nose with a hanky when someone retrieved a box from the pile and opened it. The officers seemed as confused as she was. They opened two more boxes and they all contained frozen animal meat. Georgina ran her hands through her hair. Her team had studied the movements of the shipment for weeks. She was sure they were at the right time and date. But were they at the right place? A decoy! Georgina went out of the cargo container as fast as she could. Agent Espinosa shook his head. On his hand were copies of documents proving the legitimate shipment of frozen goods. A representative from the National Meat Inspection Services is already present on the site. He confirmed the authenticity of the documents, testified that the shipment followed the required process, and denied any fraudulent activities involving human organ trafficking. Georgina walked away from the scene, took out her phone, and called their informant. She cursed under her breath when she couldn't reach him after many attempts. Meanwhile, somewhere in the middle of the West Philippine Sea, an unidentified cargo vessel sails freely toward India. Several armed men, including a short man in his forties who has a deep scar running from his temple toward his ear, are on the phone. Kneeling in front of him is a young man in his late twenties, a white sackcloth covering his head. The man does not have his shirt on. Anyone can see the blood dripping from his visible cuts and the bruises covering his torso. “Yes, boss. The items have been successfully loaded and are on their way to our India laboratory.” He signaled one of his men. A gunshot fired and echoed, followed by a loud thud. The man who was kneeling fell forward on his face. The sackcloth covering his head turned scarlet red in an instant. Two men quickly moved to lift the body and did not hesitate when they threw the body into the sea. The man with the scar pointed to the blood stains left on the floor. Two of his men nodded and understood. He walked away still talking on his phone. Somewhere in Makati, an old man in his sixties looked through the glass window of the thirtieth floor of his condominium residence. He cleared his throat and then smiled. Standing beside him is his detailed security, who also acts as his secretary. The security officer took the phone from the man. Then, he walked to the table where the laptop was turned on, flashing an excel file. He opened an email and cross-referenced and adjusted the existing data on the excel file. Then he typed an email, attached the excel files, and sent it to the CEO of GenBio Laboratories. A FEW DAYS LATER AT GENBIO LABORATORIES A black BMW parked in front of GB Tower in BGC. When the door opened, it revealed Enrique Sebastian or Eric. He is the 40-year-old CEO and President of GenBio Laboratories, an emerging biotechnology company in the Philippines. Enrique graduated from the University of the Philippines with a degree in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology. For an average Filipino, Eric is already tall at 5’10”. His short, light brown hair is always kept tidy in its place. Eric has an oval face. His brows were dark and thick, surrounding his almond-shaped and dark brown eyes. His thin and small nose had a high bridge that complimented his thin lips. Eric used to be thin and lanky when he was still studying at the university. Although he admits that he started working out because it used to be a fad, it took him a great deal of discipline to maintain his toned muscles through a strict diet and regular exercise. Eric did not come from a rich family, but because of his intelligence, someone who has remained anonymous to him to this day has sponsored his scholarship and sent him to study for an MBA in Biotechnology at Harvard. With more than enough financial help from his anonymous sponsor, and the technical and business skills he further gained from Harvard, Enrique was able to create and establish GenBio Laboratories. Looking back, Eric thought that he had been fortunate since he met his anonymous donor. When he presented his proposal at a science summit years ago, investors and donors began approaching him, as if he was destined to create the company. Since GenBio started, the company has been collaborating with the premier universities in the country to produce locally-manufactured vaccines and medicines, and lead the country in the fields of biogenetic and biotechnology engineering. Eric takes pride in GenBio’s most notable accomplishment— successfully growing a functional human liver in the lab, making it the first in the country. Eric had never thought he would run his own laboratory company. Although his heart has always been for research, he thought he would be a professor at a university, teaching college students molecular biology and pursuing his doctorate. But despite who and what he had become, his feet remained on the ground. He even waited and rode the same elevators with his employees. Anyone who does not know him would say that Eric is easygoing. He had even heard enough rumors about him from people he met in the elevator, not knowing that he was the CEO they were all talking about. According to them, Eric is a puppet CEO and he doesn’t own GenBio Lab. Those words used to hurt his pride when he was just starting. But when plaques and recognitions started to fill up the walls of his office, he learned to let the gossip slide. Maybe it was because of this attitude that people mistakenly take Eric to be someone soft and easy to manipulate. Although Eric appeared to be easygoing and generally flexible, there was one thing that he could not stand– incompetence. Eric has been an achiever since he was in grade school. He takes competition seriously. And to be the leading biotechnology lab in the country, Eric believes he should also have the best executive assistant. For the past eight months, Eric has already hired and changed four Executive Assistants. The first one was competent but attempted to seduce and drug him so they could have s*x. The second one demanded a salary raise after working for two weeks. The third suddenly went AWOL. The last one was almost perfect. She was competent, smart, diligent, and resourceful. But she suddenly got pregnant, married her boyfriend, and decided to work from home as a freelancer. When Eric reached his office, the first things that he reviewed were the resumes and application requirements on his table. The HR has already screened and interviewed the applicants and left to him the decision of hiring from the top three candidates. Eric smiled when he saw that HR had prepared a matrix detailing the educational background, skills, strengths and weaknesses, and other vital information of the top three candidates. He did not bother to look at the resumes. He took a glance at the information in front of him. All three look competent enough. His brows furrowed when he read the name of the most competent candidate, who top-notched both the BAR and CPA examinations. “Hmmm. I have never hired a male EA before.” Eric dialed the HR number and gave the manager his instructions. “Let's hire George Angeles. Tell him to report ASAP.”