Programmed Wife

Chapter 25

"What? Hindi mo parin ako kakausapin?" Rui tried to break the silence between him and Leyla as they were left in the meeting room alone. Hindi na kasi siya pinansin ng sekretarya matapos ang kalokohang ginawa nito kahapon.

Dahil naisipan niyang biruin si Leyla sa harapan ni Roca, halos matanggal na ang tainga ng dalaga sa kakatili ni Roca sa buong biyahe nila pauwi. Matapos noon ay hindi pa ito nakuntento, pinilit pa niya na doon siya kakain sa unit ni Leyla para mas makapag usap sila. Kaya naman para maramdaman din ni Rui ang bigat ng problema, naisipan niya na hindi niya ito papansinin, puwera nalang kung kailangan.

"Sometimes I wonder where you get your guts from," he teased. "Parang ikaw tuloy ang Boss ko, kapag nalaman na naman to ng kumpanya panigurado ang balita na susunod, kasalan na."

A loud bang almost made him fly off of his chair. It was Leyla forcefully slamming the collected reports on the table. She did it with the biggest fake smile and dead eyes while looking at him directly. It was a clear signal for him to stop or he will regret it.

"Sir, mukhang natutuwa ka sa pangbibiro sa atin ha?" asked Leyla. It made Rui gulp. She saw a glimpse of him getting a bit shy and worried. "Baka naman Sir may crush ka sa akin ha?" it was her turn to tease and by the looks of it, she's already winning.

"Crush? What? We're in the office-"

"We are, tapos sasabihin mo na nakita kitang half naked. At itutuloy mo pa doon sa inabutan kita ng towel!"

"Well that was true tho! Hindi ba?"

Umuusok ang ilong ni Leyla habang nakanguso at masama ang tingin sa lalaki, "Sige, so wala kang crush sa akin?" just as she thougt, hindi talaga makasagot si Rui dito sa tanong niya.

"Uh- well- we're not five! Sino pa ba ang may mga crush ngayon?" he reasoned.

"Well Keith has a crush on me so its pretty common still-"

"Who the f*ck is Keith?"

Leyla was both surprise and puzzled by his sudden anger. She did not say anything that could trigger him or anything, but still he looked extremely upset about something.

"Keith, 'yong empleyado mo. 'Di mo kilala? Doon siya sa may-"

"Should I fire him?"

This made her jaw drop. Rui noticed her concerned face, "Why would you fire him? Hindi mo nga siya matndaan tapos biglang gusto mo siyang-"

"Bakit mo siya pinagtatanggol?"

"No- no, what do you mean by that?"

Rui caught himself pissed at hearing her sound really biased towards Keith, but what he doesn't understand is his reasoning. Tama nga naman si Leyla, ni hindi nga niya matandaan ang kawawang lalaki pero balak na niyang patalsikin dahil lang narinig niya na may pagtingin ito sa kan'yang sekretarya. Hawak ba niya 'yon? Hindi. Kailangan ba na dumaan sa kan'ya ang mga ganoong bagay? Hindi rin naman. Pero may pakialam ba siya? Oo, meron. At kahit ayaw niyang aminin sa sarili niya, sapat na ang inis na nararamdaman niya para maintindihan ito. Sadly, Leyla can't seem to process that.

Even though she's too smart and too good at reading into things, when it comes to Rui's romantic feelings, she's lost. There is no way she could figure out things like this on her own, she knows nothing.

"You know what, let's just forget it. Mukhang hindi mo naman ako maiintindihan."

"Yes Sir, I'm so sorry pero hindi talaga kita maintindihan. The initial issue was you exposing a bit too much to Roca. Kung anu-ano na ang iniisip niya at wala akong control sa kung sino man ang makakarinig ng kuwento magmula sa kan'ya. Can't you see how big of a problem that would be? Not for me, but for you and the company. It would make headlines I bet," Leyla made sure to clearly voice out her point and concerns.

"Nobody could take that against me, they don't own my private life."

"But too much can be at risk if we let others to create rumors about you. I know what happened before when you were linked to an actress, the company was shamed. Iniisip nila na ginagamit mo ang powers mo para doon sa babae."

Rui shook his head and directly looked at Leyla's eyes. Her deep brown eyes were glistening, she looked sad, concerned, and confused, "What's so bad if it's you?" he whispered.

Leyla seen his lips move to say a few words, but none of it reached her for he made sure to make it as silent as he can, "I did not catch that."

"Nothing- I said, why are you so serious all of a sudden? Kanina lang may pa-crush ka pa d'yan."

"How can I not be? I can't seem to read what you honestly mean. Of course kung biruan, wala namang problema sa akin. But something doesn't click."

"Aren't you thinking a bit too much over it?" he tried his best to sneak out of the conversation but Leyla already started to come closer and move her seat an inch away from his. Their knees are already touching as they look at each other eye to eye.

"Mr. Rui," she called. She moved a strand of her hair to tuck in behind her ear as she watched him follow her every move with his eyes. Sa pagngiti niya, siya ring pagngiti ni Rui, "Why doesn't it feel like a joke?"

Rui was taken aback from what he heard, her voice was clear but he's not completely sure if he really heard her say that line for he was mesmerized by her beauty, "May sinabi ka ba?"

Isang malaking ngiti lang ang ibinalik ni Leyla sa kan'ya bago ito bumalik sa pag aayos ng mga gamit para makaalis na sa meeting room, "Sir Rui, I am here to keep you safe and to let you do everything with ease. So don't act surprise when I become a bit too over protective of you. Do you really think I would let you be vulnerable? Hindi puwede 'yon, not on my watch."

"Was that it?" he thought to himself. But he did not expect Leyla to leave him words that would literally make him even more confused.

"Perhaps someday it wont be that way, one day we might watch red tulips bloom."

He watched her secretary confidently walk out and leave him alone while thinking out loud, "The heck? Red tulips?"

"Sir Rui!" someone called out outside the door. It was one of the managers, Carl.

"What is it Carl?" he asked.

"Okay lang po ba kayo? Nakarinig po kasi kami ng kaunting ingay sa labas kanina."

"If I'm not okay then what? Can you do anything about it?"

Carl tensed up hearing his loud and authoritative voice, "Wala po Sir pero ako lang po ang may lakas ng loob na mag check, plus one naman po sana 'yon?"

On her way back to her desk up until the entire afternoon, Leyla could tell that something has been leaked around the office. Like she get it, some of her office mates are just extremely talkative and always on the hunt for new gossip but this one, she can feel it in her bones, it's something about her and it is intense.

She did the only thing she knows to gather up some information and she strut all the way to the front desk where Roca is currently out of her mind, currently painting on her cute little coloring book. Her spot is too boring and free that she basically comes to work just to hang around and sometimes entertain visitors that are unfamiliar with the building.

Halatang- halata kung gaano siya kahusay sa pagtatago ng ginagawa na walang kinalaman sa trabaho. Anino pa lang ni Leyla ang nakita niya sa may desk, her coloring materials are already inside her cabinet.

"Good affternoon po, welcome to- shuta ka girl! Akala ko naman may biglaang dumatin!" reklamo niya nang makita ang mukha ng kaibigan. Mabilis niya itong hinila papasok sa may maliit na pintuan sa gilid para makaupo ito sa kan'yang tabi.

"Roca..." she sadly called out. "Parang may pinag- uusapan na namana ng mga tao sa likuran ko. Hindi ko alam kung bakit naiinis ako."

"Meroon talaga. Ang dami ko na ngang dapat ibalita at itanong sa'yo! Kaya lang hinihintay ko na sanang mag uwian mamaya para hindi na abala at putol- putol." Roca cleared her throat to get ready for her story. "So eto na nga, nabalitaan ko kaninang umaga na nakita ni Shiela daw maaga kang pumasok tapos halos isang oras ka raw doon sa office ni Sir Rui. Ang sabi pa nga niya naririnig niya na parang tumitili ka daw doon sa loob. Parang pinu- push niya sa mga kasamahan natin na nilalandi mo si Sir Rui tapos ngayon nahuli niya kayong dalawa na nag-cheat. Kaso walang naniwala kanina sa kan'ya."

"Mabuti naman! Sino naman kaya ang maniniwala sa ganoon kabulok na reasoning? At sino ba siya para umakto na kawawa dito-"

"Hindi pa tapos..." pigil ni Roca dito. "Noong umaga tingin ng mga tao naloloka na si Shiela sa mga pinagsasabi niya 'di ba? Kaso kanina pagkatapos daw ng meeting nin'yo doon sa bagong director yata, parang nagsigawan daw kayo ni Sir sa loob ng meeting room. Tapos parang ang sabi pa noong nakarinig, kung makapagsalita raw kayo parang nag aaway na mag- asawa. Tapos may sabi pa na binigyan ka raw ni Sir Rui ng red tulips tapos hindi mo nagustuhan-"

"Wait what?"

"Oo 'yon daw narinig nila. Parang sabi mo raw ayaw mo sa binigay niya na red tulips or whatever. Ang problema lang dahil sa kagagahan ni Shiela, alam na ng buong office na siya ang secret jowa ni Bossing. Kaya ayon, kabit ang tingin sa'yo ngayon ng halos lahat."

Leyla's heart ached. She knows that non of these made sense, but she couldn't just take it easily. Of course it would hurt if you would be seen by the public as something that ridiculous.

"They don't even have any proof. All baseless accusations, tapos ako pa ang tinitignan nila nang masama? I don't get it. Where? At what point did it all go wrong?"

"'Wag kang paapekto sa mga 'yon! Hindi mo kailangan na malungkot okay? Hindi sila ang binigyan ng tulips kaya wala silang-"

"He didn't. They heard it all wrong, hindi niya ako binigyan ng tulips."

Roca's disappointment was so evident when her shoulders dropped down, "Akala ko pa naman binigyan ka niya ng red tulips, excited na sana ako. Kasi nabasa ko sa google kung ano 'yong meaning. Alam mo ba?"

"Confession of love."