It has been a productive morning then. Elai has given Alli a few tasks to look into and she is somewhat ace-ing it. She really found the passion to do it. Kaya't kahit kalahating araw pa lang ay halos makabisado na niya ang mga tasks na binigay sa kaniya ni Elai.
"Hayyy..." Elai sigh.
Napalingon si Alli dito.
"It's lunch. But I'm not done yeetttt...," parang batang maktol nito. Yumukyok pa ito sa harap ng laptop.
Natawa si Alli sa inakto ng boss niya. Nasabi na nito sa kaniya kanina na wala itong control sa oras. She works flexibly. Lunch is not noon. It is when she finished the task, then she can do lunch. Pero mukhang nababagot na ito.
"Are you hungry?" aniya. She's getting at ease with her.
"Not really. But I feel like eating."
Alli stood up. "Gusto mo bang umorder na lang tayo ng delivery?"
"I hate thinking about what to eat. I only want to do yum, yum, yum," anito na umaktong parang ngumunguya.
Natawa si Alli sa arte ni Elai. She was really a pure child-like. Nasa ganun silang akto nang biglang may kumatok sa glass door. Napalingon doon si Alli. And she was surprised nang makilala ang mga bisitang bigla na lang dumating.
Three men walk into their office. The first one has this mischievous handsomeness but softer features. The second has this prince-like feature that would make one starstruck by just looking at him. And the last one...
'JV?'
She remembers them well. They were her Seniors. Para siyang nagbalik sa pagiging kolehiyala upon seeing the three men. They seemed to be friends with Elai.
"It's lunch, Babe! I won't take no for an answer," bungad na sabi nang unag lalaki na siyang kumatok sa glass door. It was Thor, Alli remembers.
Matt was the second one, ito ang unang pumasok at dumiretso ng upo sa sofa na nasa side ng opisina. JV, remained standing at the door. Nakapamulsa at nakasandal.
"But I'm not done yet," ani Alli still in her baby talk mode.
"Oh! You're new?" tanong ni Matt na unang nakapansin sa kaniya. Napatingin din sa kaniya ang dalawang lalaki. Saka ibinalik ni Matt ang tingi ulit ito kay Elai.
"She's Alli, my now partner in crime. Alli, these are the three nut heads out of five of the Warrior Five. Thor, my boyfriend. Matt and JV," pakilala nito sa tatlo as she pointed at them one by one.
"You're familiar?" nakakunot ang noong turan pa rin ni Matt. "I think I met you somewhere."
"Aguimatt, she's off limits," sita ni Elai.
"Ah! You're Alliah Rodriguez!" It was Thor who remembered her name. "The Campus Beauty from Marketing!" Nilingon nito si JV as if asking for confirmation.
"Yeah! Right!" Si Matt ang sumang-ayon.
Nahihiyang napangiti siya. But gave a slight nod.
"Small world, huh?" turan ulit ni Thor. Lumapit na ito sa nobya at sumandal sa mesa nito. "So pano kayo nagkakakilala?" tanong nito na sa nobya nakatingin.
"You know I'm looking for an assistant. And she probably submitted her resume," sarkastikong sagot ni Elai.
"Aba, mukhang hindi ka nagkamali nang paghire ngayon ah. Atleast we know you made a judge of character at this time," turan ni Matt. Binato ito ni Elai ng ballpen. Tatawang sinalo lang iyon ni Matt.
"Arthuro, yung kaibigan mo!" reklamo niya sa nobyo.
Hinawakan ni Thor ang kamay ng nobya. "Eto naman pikon. Eh totoo namang pang-ilan mo na yan. They always disappoint you."
"Yeah," sabad pa rin ni Matt. "You always hire people because you feel good vibes. But Elai you are never good at judging characters. But I think this time, we can vouch for Alli."
"Wait, hindi kayo sure..." singit ni Alli trying to join in sa makulit na usapan. "I mean I might not impress Elai that much."
"Aside from being the beauty queen in college. We know you are a consistent Dean's Lister. I believe you graduated Magna Cumlaude. We still check on our Alma Mater as an alumnus," kwento ni Matt.
"Parang alam ko na bakit hindi niyo makalimutan. Isa ba si Alli sa mga pretty girls na nirarate niyo into ranking nung college?" tanong ni Elai.
"Hindi kami kasali dun no? Nasa Engineering kami. IT ang mga gumagawa un," apila agad ni Thor. "But we check it also. And you always rank 1," she pointed out at Alli again.
"Yeah, kasi Red won't allow Terrenz to be in it. Ipapa-expel talaga ang buong IT department if Terrenz will be in it," dagdag na kwento pa ni Matt.
They were like reminiscing the past when Alli realized na nakatuon pa rin ang tingin sa kaniya ni JV and he wasn't saying anything. Napatingin siya rito. Nasalubong niya ang titig nito and JV didn't budge. He remained standing at the door na nakapamulsa.
"Hui!" tawag sa kaniya ni Thor. "Wala kang react diyan. Hindi mo ba matandaan si Alliah?"
JV gave a somewhat smirked. At bahagyang tumuwid nang pagkakatayo.
"Hindi pa ba tayo maglulunch? I thought we came here para ayain si Elai," sabi nito. Tila wala itong interest sa pagkilala ng dalawang kaibigan nito kay Alli. Tinitigan lang siya nito nang matagal saka iniba ang usapan.
Ipinagtaka man ni Alli ang inakto ni JV, ipinagkibit balikat na lang ito yun. Si Elai na ang sumagot sa tanong ni JV.
"Fine. Nababagot na rin naman na ko. Pero parang awa niyo na, ayoko sa pantry. Tsak ka, Jayvs, wala ba kayo balak iimprove yun. Diyos ko naman, hindi na malunok mga pagkain dun," reklamo ni Elai. As she started fixing herself para lumabas.
JV owns the building na inuupahan ng negosyo ni Elai. Nasa top floor din ang pinaka-opisina nito.
"Nagrereklamo ka as if naman kumain ka talaga dun. You just went there nung pina-try sayo ni JV. And you never tried the food," sabad na naman ni Matt.
"Babe naman! Awatin mo naman yang kaibigan mo!" parang batang sumbong na naman ni Elai kay Thor.
Tinawanan lang ito ng nobyo.
"Join us," sabi ni JV na kay Alli nakatingin. Natigilan siya. He seemed commanding rather than inviting. Natigilan din ang tatlong kaibigan nito. "At lunch."
"Uhm... h-hindi pa naman ako nagugutom," alumpihit na tanggi niya.
"Come on, Alli. JV doesn't take no for an answer. Tsaka, by the way, masanay ka ng makita 'tong mga 'to dito sa office. JV owns the building and Thor is my boyfriend. Magkakadikit ang bituka nang mga yan. Kaya't palaging magkakasama."
Ngumiti lang siya. As far as she can remember, the Warrior Five have a solid friendship. Bihirang makitang mag-isa rin ang mga ito noon sa campus nila.
Tumayo na si Matt mula sa pagkakaupo sa sofa. "Let's go now. We can continue catching up over lunch."
Hindi siya agad tumayo sa pwesto niya. But when she realize that JV is waiting for her to stand up, alumpihit na napasunod na siya. In fact, hinintay pa talaga nitong mauna siyang lumabas bago ito sumunod sa kaniya. All throughout hindi inalis ni JV ang tingin sa kaniya.
She finds it weird how JV reacts towards her. Hindi naman siya nag-eexpect na makikilala rin siya nito gaya nang pagkaka-alala sa kaniya ni Matt at Thor but he is exceptionally cold towards her. Para itong dating kakilala na gusto siyang iwasan. And she can't understand why she feel it that way.
Dumiretso sila sa parking lot. Mukhang lalayo pa sila para lang kumain ng tanghalian. Ngunit di niya magawang magtanong. Nahihiya siyang umapila. Hindi na siya nagtaka nang sumakay sila sa isang SUV. It was Matt's. Si Matt ang nagdrive ng sasakyan. JV sat in the passenger seat. She was on the left window seat, nasa gitna si Elai katabi ang nobyo.
The three kept talking habang nasa byahe. Ang usapan leads to mostly tungkol sa kaniya and their college life. Since 2 years ahead sa kaniya ang tatlo, madaming tanong ang mga ito regarding sa campus nung grumaduate na ito. She graduated 5 years ago, halos marami na rin siyang hindi matandaan. But she still remembers how popular Warrior Five sa campus before.
"Do you know Terrenz?" Thor asked sa kaniya.
"Terrenz?" she heard about Terrenz. Hindi lang siya sure.
"Katrenza Hilario, kinabaliwan ni Red," sagot ni JV.
"Ah yes. I heard about her. I sometimes saw her sa campus pero hindi ko siya talaga nameet in person," amin niya.
"So you will get a chance to meet her also. She's Red's wife now," kwento agad ni Elai.
"Really? Wow! Na-seal na pala ang 2 sa mga kinababaliwan sa campus noon. Who would've thought. Na sila pa rin until the end."
"Tatlo na actually," Thor said. "Buboy married first. Itong dalawang pihikan na lang 'to ang hindi pa natitisod."
Napasinghap si Alli. It was supposed to be in awe sa nalaman niyang kasal na ang dalawa sa hearthrob ng Warrior Five at isang nakatali na rin, But she was more excited in the idea that JV is still single.
She used to have a major crush rito noong college. Isa siya sa napakaraming umaasang mapansin nito noon. Hindi man siya nag-expect na maligawan ni JV Alejandro. Pero ang mapansin lang nito, dream come true na.
She had her one chance na mapalapit rito nang maging muse siya ng varsity team kung saan ito ang captain. Nung una, todo tanggi siya na maging beauty queen ng campus. But nang si JV na mismo ang nag-alok sa kaniya, hindi siya tumanggi. Somehow, she thought it would be a start of something new for them lalo pa't nag-umpisa nang binabati at kinakausap siya noon nito sa campus. But eventually natigil din iyon. Specially nang halos pa-graduate na ito.
Knowing that JV is still single all this time, seemed to spark up a long-lost feeling. But she shrugged it off. Hindi na siya isang kolehiyala na nag-iilusyon dito. She's way bigger than that. But then she can't deny the fact that JV is still admirable. Iba pa rin ang charisma nito. Lalo pa iyong pinaganda ng maturity. He is a total hunk.
Dark deep eyes, slightly pointed nose, well-chiselled jaw, and thin red kissable lips. JV can still sweep her off her feet. Pasimpleng sinulyapan niya ito. Kahit nakatalikod, she can't help but admire him.
Natigil ang pag-iilusyon niya nang mapansin niyang huminto na sila sa isang parking lot. Napasunod na siya sa apat nang bumaba na ang mga ito.