In The Midst of The Crowd

In the midst if the flashing lights, he shone the brightest… There he is, the man that I madly fell in love with. The man that I cared for more than anyone. It makes me smile just by thinking of him. But how can I not maintain that smile while watching him shine and pose for the masses? is it because I’m just watching him from afar? or is it because of the other woman beside him?… “Kayden! Kayden Calderon! Please look here!” “Sir kayden! Is it true that you and Selena Lavina are finally dating?” “Sir Calderon! Why did you choose Ms Lavina as your partner for tonight?” He was bombarded with questions and flashing lights of cameras yet he stood firm and just smiled at them while assisting his partner and continued to walk on the red carpet. I was about to walk away and proceed to the venue but then I heard a question from an unknown reporter that made me stop my steps. “Mr Calderon, is it true that you once had a serious relationship with a famous public figure? And is it true that the said person is also attending this event? The reporters question made the others shut their mouth while I who turned my head met Kayden’s brown eyes for a moment and got lost in them. Those were the same brown eyes that I fell in love with… I shrugged off those thoughts and started walking away while he suddenly opened his mouth. “I…” … “Melody!!” A woman’s voice popped out of the boutique’s door. Melody didn’t even need to guess dahil kilala na n’ya agad ito boses pa lang. “Bunganga mo talaga Jade, kaya siguro hindi ako matapos tapos dito kasi aabalahin mo pa ako” mataray kong sabi sa kanya, wala naman s’yang pake kaya dumiretso lang s’ya at naglakad kung nasaan ako. “Kanina ka pa d’yan sa tinatahi mo, konti nalang at tutusukin ko na ‘yang tagiliran mo ng karayom!” Saway na naman n’ya sa’kin. Jade Alvares, A business woman and my bestfriend. I always wonder how she manages to nag at me even though she’s supposed to be at work. “feeling doktora ka sis? sige lang tusukin mo ako ng karayom mawawalan ka agad ng magandang kaibigan” mataray kong sabi sa kanya habang tuloy tuloy pa din ang pagtatrabaho. Nanahimik nalang si jade at nanonood nalang sa ginagawa ko, minsan magrereklamo s’ya sa nangyari sa araw n’ya, minsan naman nagseselpon lang s’ya at sumasagot ng tawag mula sa mga business partners n’ya. “Finally, I’m done for today” “Wow! Finally makakauwi na tayo!” She said with a sarcastic tone and got up from her seat. I rolled my eyes and just chuckled at her words. “Wala naman kasing nagsabi sa’yo na ihatid sundo mo ako, marunong naman ako mag commute” actually, my car broke down this week and Jade who happen to know of it was worried that I wouldn’t go home and just stay at my boutique while my car is getting fixed. Well… I did plan doing that hahaha “Tara na, driver ko. Parang taeng-tae ka na mag-drive eh” sabi ko sa kan’ya habang s’ya ay tinaasan lamang ako ng gitna n’yang daliri while mouthing f**k you at me. I laughed it off and closed down my store and followed her to wherever she parked her car. … The drive to my place was peaceful—and by peaceful I meant us bickering, laughing, and dissing each other. since it was a bit pate already there were less traffic than usual. We arrived at my condo’s parking lot and before I get off I asked her if she wanted to stay to for the night but she refused since may important din daw s’yang dadaanan pa. “Goodnight J, ingat sa daan!” I bid her goodbye and gave her light chu on the cheeks. I got on the elevator and while waiting for it to go up I suddenly received a text from a client. Oh, it’s the client that I was working on earlier… I think ito ‘yung manager nung isang celebrity, I forgot the name tho… Client Shen: good evening po! Regarding the customized suit that we ordered, can we have it delivered by tomorrow? we will pay extra just to have it delivered early. “Thank goodness at natapos ko na yung suit na yon kanina kung hindi babalik na naman ako sa store para lang tapusin yon” sabi ko sa sarili ko. Pero sino ang magdedeliver? My assistant is on leave because he’s getting married while the other workers are also busy. Despite being a well known fashion designer I only have a few workers with me, I’m too much of a perfectionist kaya iniiwan ko lang yung mga trabaho sa alam kong kaya naman nilang tapusin ng maayos. I guess I’ll do it myself… I’ll just charge them extra, pwede naman yon Melody: sure, I’ll deliver it myself tomorrow please state the address where it should be delivered and the time where you will be available so our schedule could match. Thankfully, the place was near the boutique I can get there with grab plus I’m free on the time they set so hindi konna kailangan mag cancel ng ibang plans, hopefully things would go well tomorrow. … I woke up earlier than usual so I got time to cook breakfast for myself, did my morning routine and waited for jade to pick me up at the parking lot. Nothing special occurred in my past time at work I was still as busy as usual. While I was reviewing the final touches that my employee’s worked on I didn’t notice until one of them reminded me about the time. “Boss-madam, it’s past lunchtime na wala ka po bang balak kumain? tumawag po kasi si miss jade sa front desk nagtatanong kung kumain ka na po ba” Alam ni jade na madalas hindi talaga ako nakatutok sa cellphone ko kaya kapag chinecheck n’ya kung buhay pa ba ako ay tumatawag s’ya sa front desk. “Sure-… oh s**t! May pupuntahan pa pala ako at this time! Damn, what time is it na ba?” pagmamadali kong tanong sa empleyado ko habang madaling inaayos ang mga kailangan ko sa pupuntahan kong cliente. “1:45 na po ma’am” she answered obediently. “s**t! 1:30 sabi ko pupunta ako dun, sige na kayo muna bahala dito ah” I said and took the box with the customized tuxedo that the client needed and head out outside. Magbobook pa sana ako ng grab kaso matagal pa daw dadating kaya naghintay nalang ako ng taxi, buti nalang may dumaan agad. Sinabi ko ang address na pupuntahan ko at nakahinga na din ng maayos. malapit lang naman ‘yon though hindi s’ya sobrang lapit na kaya ko s’yang lakarin. After some time tumigil na yung taxi sa harap ng isang mamahaling hotel, I got inside and told the front desk my reason of visit, thank goodness at inassist nila ako papunta don kanina pa daw kasi ako hinihintay nung client ko. I rang the doorbell as I was now in front of the hotel room, I was expecting the manager to open it or should I say na I was expecting a girl behind the door but it was a man, a good looking man to be exact. He was still in his robe while droplets of water are still visible in his wet hair, I guess kakatapos n’ya lang maligo pero required ba na ganyan ang get up?! if I’m weak to handsome faces I might’ve died seconds ago. “Who are you?” The unknown handsome guy asked, one hand on the door and the other is on his nape. Gosh, he’s so hot I’m not lying. “Oh, I’m here to deliver the customized tuxedo. Is Ms. Shen Dela Vega here?” I asked. “Oh, shen? She’s eating in the buffet downstairs, I think she’s too tired from last night” he said looking bored. wait - last night? did he just tell me that? isn’t that like telling me they did something naughty? Oh, so he’s that type of guy… The view of him looking like a handsome guy disappeared and I looked at him with lifeless eyes but still manage not to look rude. “Oh is that so? then would you like to sign this for me? It’s just a confirmation that the order was received” I handed him a paper and pen and told him where to sign while keeping up my polite appearance with a fake smile. “Yeah, sure. But what about the payment?” He asked while signing the paper. “It’s fine, I received it early in the morning” I was so surprised to see money wired in my account but it turn out to be from this order. I took the paper and pen from the guy and just left after saying thank you. “Now that I think about it… that guy looks familiar? I guess because he’s a celebrity that I might’ve seen his face somewhere” I said to myself while walking down the hallway … “Hey shen, the tux just arrived are you done getting food?” I said through the phone while blow drying my hair. “Yup, meron akong take out dito galing starbs na dinaan ko kanina” sagot n’ya sa’kin sa telepono. I feel bad for ordering shen around this day but it couldn’t be helped since this week was hectic. “I’m sorry about yesterday shen, if I just did better last night you wouldn’t have to stay all night preparing for today” last night, I had a taping and because of the hell like week I couldn’t perform well during the set so it took us till night to complete it. “Don’t worry about it, naiintindihan ko naman plus as long as you have projects and dramas where you can express your talent that also means na may trabaho pa ako” she said and laughed at the end I ended the call and recalled what happened earlier, that delivery girl was quite a beauty but it was funny kasi halatang peke lang yung ngiti n’ya sa akin kanina. Though at first mukhang namangha s’ya nung una n’ya akong nakita but as our short conversation goes on biglang peke nalang yung pinapakita nyang ngiti sa akin. You readers guessed that right, this handsome man right here is kind of slow and a big dumb. Okay lang yan pogi ka naman. CIENA | CH 1