Jecho's POV
Nandito ako sa bar ngayon at naglalasing. Di ko alam kung anong resulta ng pag uusap ng aming nga magulang. Basta umalis na lang ako doon kasi di ko na maatim na makita kung anumang klaseng pagtatalo ang mangyayari sa pagitan ng pamilya namin at ang pamilya ni Maui.
"So, what are you planning now dude?" Angelo asked. Kasama ko siya ngayon dito kasi bukod sa gusto ko ng kausap ngayon, balak ko ding maglasing at di ko magagwang mag drive pauwi.
"I don't know. It's...fucking hard. I feel so fucked up," sabi ko at nilagok ang basong puno ng alak saka ko nilagyan ulit ng panibago. "If I will push through with the wedding my Mom will get hurt becauss she knew this is not what I wanted. If I will not, my Dad would be so dissapointed to me. I am the only hope of the company tapos di ko pa maipaglaban."
Angelo sighed. "What if kausapin mo ang Mama ni Athena? You know sabihin mo na mag broadcast siya ng positive views about your company para umangat ang ratings niyo?"
Inisang lagok ko ang alak sa baso ko saka tumingin sakanya. "You think she'll do me that favor? Me? The son of her husband's girl?" umiling iling ako sa sinabi ni Angelo.
"Then you don't have choice but to talk to your parents. Tell them what you fell. At the end of the day, sila parin ang magiging kasangga mo sa laban mong to. It's just a matter of communication."
I sighed. Maybe he's right. I need to talk to my parents. If I need to put more effort para mas umangat ang aming kumpanya gagawin ko. I stood up. "Maybe you're right. I will talk to them."
"I will drive you there," he said at inalalayan ako papunta sa kotse ko. He drove me to the mansion.
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Pagkarating namin, I immediately went inside. Bahagya naman akong nagtago nang marinig ko ang sigawan ng magulang ko sa sala.
"You don't understand me at all Ailee! I'm doing this for us!"
"No you're not! You're doing it for yourself! Naisip mo ba ang nararamdaman ng anak mo? Gusto mo ba siyang itulad sakin ha? Sa atin? You don't know how I suffered dahil sa pagpapakasal din because of business! At ikaw alam kong di moko minahal, right? Pinakasalan mo ako dahil din sa business. Dahil sa kagustuhan ng magulang natin na maging maganda ang business nila they arrange our marriage. And we suffered because of it! At gusto mo ulit gawin yun sa anak mo?!"
"I don't have choice! You know the standing of our company now Ailee. Pano kung tuluyan itong bumagsak? What will you do huh?!"
"There are a lot of solutions to it Garry. Don't ever use my son to be an accessory to this plan of yours. Siya nalang ang natitira sakin. Ayoko siyang mag suffer gaya ng naranasan ko. Please, listen to me. I'm begging you."
Di ko na napigilang magpakita sakanila nang marinig ko ang hikbi ni mommy. Tumingin naman sila sakin.
"My son," my mom went to me at niyakap ako. She is crying so hard. Niyakap ko siya ng mahigpit. "Don't marry her if you don't love her. I want you to be happy anak."
Nanatili namang tahimik si daddy sa isang sulok. Kumalas ako sa yakap ni mommy at pinunasan ang luha niya. "Calm down mom, ok?" sabi ko at pumunta sa harap ni dad. It's now or never. "You know how the company means to me dad. I will...definitely do everything para maging ok ito. But marrying someone I don't love is not an option. But I promise you, I will not dissapoint you this time. Give me one more chance, dad."
Di siya tumitingin sakin. Nanatili siyang tahimik kaya di rin ako gumalaw sa pwesto ko. Nakahawak si Mommy sa kamay ko at bahagya pang pinisil ito. Kapagkuan ay tumingin na si dad sakin. "Do what you want." Tumayo siya at lumakad papunta sa balcon.
Alam kong masama parin ang loob niya sakin pero I will do what I should do. I will not dissapoint him anymore.
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Athena's POV
Two weeks had passed again at ngayon ay malapit ko ng matapos ang ginagawa naming perfume. Yes, I involved myself sa paggawa ng perfume na to. Pumunta pa ako sa isang sikat na perfumer para lang magtanong ng kanyang opinion.
I looked at the files about the perfume. The lab has also given the result of the test since pina test ko na din ito last week pa.
'Three-Minute Love Perfume, -Experimental Result-'
This perfume is different from all the perfume product of the company. I can call it as hallucinatory magic also. Under sa perfume kasi na to is a stimulation. We test mice as it secretes distinctly more dopamine. It can last for theee minutes. Within that three minutes, it can cause as a hallucination of love. Simply put, it is a perfume that can let people fall in love. It is developed much more from the category as a simple perfume.
And now it's done. I just need to show it to the board for final testing then pwede ng i release.
Sinipsip ko ang kape na gawa ni Ashlie nang biglang mag ring ang phone ko.
"Yes? Who's this?" tanong ko since di naka save ang contacts niya sakin.
"This is Ailee Kang, Jecho's mother. Sorry for disturbing you Miss Athena, but can I talk to you?"
Nabigla naman ako sa narinig. Its her. Jecho's mom. My dad's girl. Bakit kaya niya ako gustong kausapin? About what?
"Okay. Let's meet at Riverbank's," sabi ko nalang. Riverbank's is a tea shop malapit lang dito.
I grab my jacket saka lumabas na ng office. I went directly to the place where we will meet.
Nagpalinga linga ako sa paligid para hanapin siya. Then there I saw a fine lady sitting at the table besids the window pane. Kilala ko naman na ang mukha niya since I researched about her the time I discovered she is dad's girl. Maganda siya. Di halata na nasa early 40's na siya.
I walked towards her direction and bowed. "I'm sorry for letting you wait," sabi ko saka umupo sa harap niya.
"No, it's ok. Nasa malapit na din kasi ako kanina kaya nakarating ako agad dito," she said. A waitter came to take our order. I ordered mango syrup tea and she ordered their special tea shake.
"So, what is it that you want to talk about po?" I asked. O diba may 'po'pa ako. I don't want to be bastos naman infront of her kahit na gusto ko na siyang kalbuhin ngayon.
"I wanted to say sorry for destroying your family. Alam ko galit kayo sakin for being with your dad. Kaya..." she paused. Mukhang nahihirapan siya sa gusto niyang sabihin. "Iiwan ko na siya. I will let your dad be with his family again."
Natahimik naman ako sa sinabi niya. Is she serious? Hihiwalayan na niya si Papa? She will let him be with us again? Is this my chance to make our family whole again?
"Are you sure Papa will be back to us pag iniwan mo siya?"
"Yes. Actually he still loves your Mom. He wanted to be with you again. Pero di niya magawa kasi pinipigilan ko siya. Aaminin ko na mahal ko siya. He was my first love since magkaibigan na kami mula pagkabata. But I was forced to be married to Jecho's dad kaya naghiwalay kami. Then bigla kaming nagkita dito. That's when...we started to see each other. I'm sorry," pumatak ang luha niya ng sabihin ang mga yun. Di ako makapaniwala sa mga naririnig ko mula sakanya. She's also a victim of a business marriage. What can I say? Kahit naman sabihing galit ako sakanya pero di ko maiwasang maramdaman ang nararamdaman niya.
Sakto namang dumating ang order namin. Agad akong uminom. "So you're saying na lalayuan mo na siya. Then, what can we do in return? Di ako bobo para maniwala na gagawin mo nga yun ng walang kapalit. We are businessmen here. Kahit sabihing kami ang may karapatan kasi kami ang pamilya pero I know he will not leave you that easily. Kasi kung ganun noon palang iniwan ka na niya. So I guess, nasa sayo ang susi para mabuo ang pamilya namin."
Huminga naman siya ng malalim. "I will just ask for a simole favor. Can you...please talk to my son? Alam ko na naging malapit kayo sa isat isa. Just try to talk to him kasi since na cancel ang wedding nila ni Maui hindi na siya tumitigil sa pagtatrabaho. He is over exhausting himself para lang tumaas ang rating ng kumpanya namin. Di na halos siya kumakain at natutulog kaya sobra na akong nag aalala."
Okay? So this is all about his son? But wait...na cancel ang wedding niya?
"What do you mean na cancel?"
"Their marriage is pure business. Gusto lang nila i merge ang company ng dalawang pamilya. But then, he cancelled it kasi hindi naman niya mahal si Maui. Ayoko namang matulad siya sakin kaya I supported his decision. Now, he is trying to prove his worth sa dad niya. But he is over doing it. Kaya lumapit na ako sayo. I tried to talk to him pero wala. Just be a friend to him, kasi wala na siyang ibang kinakausap maliban sa mga nandun sa opisina niya. Alam ko malaking pressure sakanya ang pagiging CEO lalo ngayon. Please do everything para bumalik yung dating sigla niya."
"Matagal na kaming di nagkita ni Jecho. We are not as close as you think us to be pero I will do what I can." Napahinga naman siya ng maluwag sa sinabi ko.
"Thank you. I promise that I will not bother your dad anymore," she said. Napatango naman ako. "And one more thing, can you please...tell your mom to atleast announce something good about our company. Sikat na media announcer ang Mama mo,I know na magiging influential siya para bumalik ang kumpiyansa ng tao samin. I know na it's so rude of me to ask this kind of favor from you considering na magkalaban ang companies natin, but let's face the truth, alam natin na di namin kayo mapapantayan speciay now na madami kang projects na ginagawa na nagpapabilib sa tao. I just wanted to atleast gain credibility kasi you know pagkatapos ng ginawang pag announce ng Mama mo ng tungkol sa kumpanya namin madaming nawalan ng trust samin." Alam ko ang nangyaring yun. Kaya bumagsak sila dahil sa isang news na cinover ni Mama.
"Ok. I'll try to talk to her about it," sabi ko. Ayoko din namang palaging nakikipag compete. Though sa larangang ito di yun maiiwasan pero I want a fair fight. I will prove my worth and they will prove theirs also. Ganun lang. Walang lamangan.
Gumaan ang loob ko pagkatapos ng usapan naming yun. I know this is the start ng pagiging ok ng pamilya namin.