Planned Coincidence

Chapter 20

Gazing at nowhere, sitting with crossed legs, ticking my fingers on to the arm rest, and been thinking about Zamora.

“Sigurado ka bang hindi mo siya kakasuhan, Sir? It’s a form of embezzlement. She used business, pero saan ang negosyo na ‘yon?”

Drac has a point. He’s sitting in the long sofa and we’re here, inside my office.

“I know, I know…but…I want to see her first.”

“For what? Sabi mo noon, you want to know the truth behind her lies. ‘Yon na po ang totoo. She’s a pick pocketer, she does illegal activities, she even involved her brother.”

I looked at Drac. Sometimes, he’s not just a bodyguard. In times like this, he becomes a nagger friend and an adviser.

“Hahayaan mo siya?”

Hindi na ako nakasagot nang may kumatok. It’s Rafa who peaked at the door.

“Sir, hindi pa ba kayo uuwi? It’s past 7. Mauuna na po ako.”

“Sure, you can go,” agad kong sagot.

“You’re going home, alone?” singit ni Drac at mabalis naman siyang tumango.

“Uhuh. Always. My apartment is just one block away.”

Drac stood up. “Hatid na kita,” he offered but she quickly waved her hand and shook her head.

“Ah no need, I can manage. You need to stick next to Sir, every time. Anyway, thank you for the offer.”

She didn’t even give Drac a chance to speak as she immediately went out of my office.

Drac sighed and sit back again. “She’s hard to get,” he commented looking at me.

I just mocked at him and invited him to go home dahil gabi na rin pala.

Pagkadating ng condo ay nagulat ako nang makita si Alex sa pintuan ko with something in her hand. She’s just wearing a casual jumpsuit.

“Alex…” I called her.

“Lourd, finally you’re here,” she said smiling and walking towards me. She gave me a loose hug while I am confused.

“What are you doing here?”

“Won’t you invite me inside first?”

Frowning, I opened the door and let her in. Dumiretso siya sa kitchen counter ko at binuksan ang dala.

“I bought a cheesecake for you.”

Nakatayo lang ako sa sala at taking-takang sa kanya. She looked at me and smiled apologetically. “I reflected my actions and I know…what I did is not so righteous. So, I came here to apologize.”

I seated in the couch while she sliced the cake and brought me a piece.

“I’m sorry.” She held my hand and looked at me intently. “I was just in too much shock that time. I was all over it, Lourd. I’m sorry.”

Kinuha ko ang tinidor gamit ang isang kamay dahil hawak niya ang isa.

I sliced a bit of the cheesecake using the fork.

“This is a big piece of cake but…” Inangat ko ang tinidor na may maliit na piraso ng cake na kinuha ko at tiningnan. “You always see me like this,” sabi ko at sinubo ito.

“Tastes good,” I commented.

Tumayo na ako kaya natanggal din ang pagkakahawak niya sa kamay ko at humakbang patungo sa kwarto, ngunit bago pa man pumasok ay nagpasalamat ako sa kanya.

“Thanks for the food. You're still the COO, so, please go back to your work,” sabi ko at tuluyan nang pumasok.

I paused after closing the door.

Huh, I don't now what she realized, but after all the words she threw on me, i don't think pwede na iyon sa isang apology lang.

Well, she's only pertaining to the scene she made, not those times I'm piling grudge because of her.

Hinayaan ko na siya sa labas . I did my things. I washed and changed clothes.

After a while, lumabas na rin ako.

Wala na siya.

I prepared my dinner and ate alone in silence.

Zamora came into my mind again.

Does she even think of me?

The Zamora was not that Zamora I last saw.

The eagerness in her face before it turned into a shock after recognizing me, hindi ko nakita sa kanya 'yon noong magkasama kami.

She's always has this vibe of being innocent, and entertaining when she's with me.

I want to see her. I want to talk to her before I would act in her actions.

I continued eating and I felt nauseous.

I frowned and felt dizzy after a while.

Then, I felt sleepy and everything went black.

I woke up with a white ceiling above me. I roamed my eyes around.

I'm in the hospital?

Sitting beside me is Dad and standing straight to me is Drac.

“Lourd, you're awake.”

Bumangon ako paupo. “What happened?” tanong ko.

“What's the last smell you remember after passing out?”

I shook my head slowly. “Wala. I didn't smell anything strange. I was eating dinner.”

“Do you turn off your air purifier?”

Umiling na naman ako ulit.

“You were exposed to too much carbon monoxide” pahayag ni Dad.

“Where does it came from?”

“From your leaked oven, that was according to the investigation.”

“How long I've been out?”

“It's already evening, so 1 whole day.”

“You mean it happened yesterday?”

Tumango lang si Dad.

“You sure you don't turn off your air purifier?” ulit pa niya.

“I am, Dad. 100% sure.”

“It was off when Drac found you,” aniya. Nagkatinginan kami sa sinabi niya..

“Did someone was in your unit or someone visited you?”

“Alex,” I simply mentioned.

“Si Alex? She was there?”

I nodded. “She brought me a cake and apologized to me. Nag-report na ba siya sa opisina kanina?”

“Wala po, Sir,” sagot ni Drac.

Sumandal si Daddy sa backrest ng upuan at marahan akong tiningnan.

I know we're thinking the same but we don't want to accept it.

“Anyway, you're fine now. They're still investigating in your unit kung saan pa nanggaling iyon. They're also clearing it.”

Tumango lang ako.

After that incident, Dad forced me to our house for a while for my safety.

My bodyguards doubled in number. Ws if they can do everything if we're just breathing the same air, if that case will happen again.

The enemies' move was scary. They did a bloodless attack to get rid of me.

I went back to work after two days. Just two days and I was welcomed with a problem.

There was an incident in the construction site of new Patri Homes and some workers are badly injured. Of course, they need to be treated and be compensated.

I was reviewing the incident report when Rafa came in.

“Sir, an invitation came for you.” She put down a black and white themed invitation on my table.

“Thank you,” sabi ko at lumabas na siya.

Binuksan ko iyon and it's an invitation for the annual get-together party of business firms and companies. By attending this party, one can actually acquire a high investment because it's a party full of politicians, high-profiled people, and the big names in the business world.

And for sure, Dad won't let me miss it.

That night has come and I'm coming with Dad and Alex with bunch of bodyguards.

Napilit ni Dad si Alex na pumunta. But, he didn't mentioned anything yet to her about that poisoning incident.

Arriving there, as expected, the party is elegant and everything screams wealthiness.

“The Patriardas, welcome.” It's Senator Mauro Celestino, a construction firm owner.

Unfortunately, hindi kami sa kanya kumukuha ng supply. Doon sa kalaban niyang construction firm din.

Dad doesn't trust him.

Nagkamustahan pa sila. “What a great twist of turning over,” aniya at nagpapalit-palit ang tingin niya sa akin at kay Alex.

“Yeah, but they're good,” Dad said.

We shook hands with him. In this place of elegance, it is also full of plasticity.

Everyone is smiling to each other, but gets stabbed once they turn their back.

Marami pang pinakilala sa amin si Dad and almost of them are threats to us, especially to me who's sitting on the position.

The last one who approached us is Mr. Danielo Hontiveros, the one Dad loathed a lot as he's one of the suspected person behind Mom's death.

Opposite to what I'm telling around, Mom didn't die because of giving birth to me. She was actually shot to dead and I was just 6 years old that time.

Dad fetched me and Alex from school and we're happily heading home.

“Did you got stars from school?” tanong ni Daddy.

Mabilis na ipinakita ni Ate Alex ang kanya habang ako ay wala.

“Good job, Alex. And for you, Lourd, you can have it next time if you do good in the class, okay?”

Tumatango lang ako.

“Daddy, did we get a new car?” sabi ni Ate Alex sabay turo sa puting van that was about to leave was outside of our house.

Dad speed off para maabutan sila but he didn't chase them that much. Bumalik kami sa bahay and Daddy quickly get off the car leaving us behind.

Bumaba nalang kami at nasa pinto pa lamang kami ng bahay ay dinig na dinig na namin ang pagpalahaw ni Daddy.

“Alyna!”

Nang makapasok na kami, we saw Mom pooling in her own blood in Dad's arms.

I maybe not as good as Alex, but one thing that I'm good at is that I can easily memorize numbers.

Ang pagkakatanda ko sa plate number ng puting van na iyon ay nakapagpabilis sa pag-usad ng kaso. And they found out that the van belongs to Hontiveros.

He was convicted but because of money, he was set free.

Dati pa man, he wants to Dad to lose everything from the company to the family.

Reasons? We're a big threat to him since then as he also owns Tierra Homes Co.

“What an interesting story I heard about your son, Lito,” aniya nang nakangiti kay Dad.

“I have an interesting story to tell, too, if you won't stop messing around your family.”

“Oh, calm down, Lito. Didn't you tell your son to never show his weakness?”

Tiningnan ako ni Dad. I don't know what is he talking about.

He tapped Dad on his shoulder. “Well, I got a surprise for your son. Don't worry, it's harmless.”

After gracing the party, umuwi na kami. We can't stay long with those bunch of f*cktards.

“Lourd, do you know what Hontiveros is talking about?”

Umiling ako. I don't know what weakness is he blabbering about.

I think I'm living 6 foot under the ground everyday.

I can sense people eyeing me, and cars following us around. They're just always behind us, and they're not yet doing anything.

Now, we're heading to the office and a black car is tailing us.

“Drac, do you think I should start to live every day as if it's my last?”

Drac glanced at the side mirror.

“You should start doing things that makes you happy,” he answered.

“Oh, oh, oh?!” seeing the car in a zigzag direction.

The car in the opposite lane lose its control when its back wheel bursted.

Drac tried to avoid it to prevent crashing pero pati siya'y nawalan ng kontrol at dumiretso sa gilid while the bursted-wheel-car end up in a post.

Napapikit ako at napahawak sa hawakan sa itaas. “Ah, damn,” I murmured.

Nang imulat ko ang mga mata'y may babaeng nakatayo sa gilid and is about to hit by our car.

A loud thud was heard when we end up in a side walk gutter.

“Sh*t!” Mabilis na bumaba si Drac at tiningnan ang babae. I unbuckled my seatbelt too and get off the car.

The woman was lying unconsciously. There's no sign of blood.

Nagkatinginan kami ni Drac. He squatted to check her.

Nang bahagya niyang hinawi ang buhok ng babae ay sabay naming nakilala ito.

“Zamora?”

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