Chapter 17

Kay aga-aga, kagigising ko pa lamang ay ay kumakatok na kaagad sa pintuan. Hindi naman ako papasok ngayong araw kaya hindi ko na inabala pang mag-alarm at gumising ng umaga. Mabigat ko namang binuhat ang katawan ko para lamang tumayo sa kama. I wore a robe just to cover up myself and headed to the door to meet the person behind the door.

As I widely opened the door, Berkeley showered up a little sweaty on his fitness outfit. He's holding a holder of cup of coffees on his other hand while a tumbler of water on the other hand. His face plastered with confusion as his eyes squinting, probably guessing why am I still in this attire.

"Good morning, KC," he greeted, but somehow a little confused to his tone.

I wasn't that fully awake, but it's enough to greet him. "Good morning, Berk."

"Why... uh... you're not coming to work?" he asked and I shook my head, yawning. "Oh, shit. Did I wake you up?"

Napangiwi na lang din naman ako sa sinabi niya. "It's alright."

"No, my bad. I thought you're—anyway, here's some coffee." Inabot naman niya sa akin iyong kape. "I thought you'd like one, I bought one for you as I'm headed back to my flat."

"That's nice, thanks, Berk." I smiled. "But where did you go? You're so sweaty right now."

He laughed. "Oh, I went for a quick jog just around the area. I was trying to get fit, you know? I'll be joining the London Marathon so I needed to be ready."

"And when will that happen?"

"Around October," he said.

"That's a few months away. We're just coming in to the first week of May. Don't you think it's a bit early to do that?"

He shrugged off. "No, I don't think so. Many athletes and other people who annually joined the marathon takes a few months for them to prepare their body and other stuff that would make them run 26.2 miles and some people would even take five hours or so just to finish the run. So I guess, it's quite the discipline and motivation of one person and measuring how their capabilities would go. So as early as now, it's good to train while it's not too late."

"And it seems like you're doing it right, Mister Jones."

He chuckled. "Thank you, miss. Uh... so, you're really not going to work?"

Umiling naman muli ako. "No, Connagh told me to take the day off so I could get some rest from the past few days we've been out."

"Uh... so you're calling only by his name now?"

"Oh, no! Of course, Sir Macek. I just—you know what, it doesn't matter," I said and then took a sip on the coffee he gave to me. "Thank you for this though. I appreciate the effort."

"Sure, but I still woke you up from your sleep so my bad," he chuckled. "Did you came up yesterday? Or just this midnight?"

"We got back here yesterday afternoon. I think it was past five. Yeah, maybe that's it. Why do you ask?"

"Nothing, I was just wondering if you were the one I saw yesterday when I came home from work. Thought I was seeing things, but it's you. And I thought you'll be away for a week?"

"Sir Macek has to cut it short because of his work, obviously. He doesn't wanna get piled up and it's not a problem. We enjoyed everything so it was really a nice experience for me. I've never been to the states so it's another achievement for me to be there. But yeah, we were supposed to be back by weekends, but here I am, taking the day off. But I'll be going to work tomorrow. Con—Sir Macek just told me not to."

"I see," he simply responded, nodding his head. "So, what did you do there? Not to be so intrusive and nosey. It's okay if you don't tell me, it's totally fine for me."

"No, it's fine. Actually, it's a pretty personal—private event which those who were invited there was closely-related to them. It was Connagh's best friend's baby gender reveal party. He said it might not be a work-related, but I've learned something else that I might take with me as well."

"Good for you, KC," he smiled. "But I wanted to talk about something else to you. Something that we never got to talk about that day you left."

I sighed and plastered a smile on my face. "It was just a kiss, Berk. It doesn't really mean anything, right? We can still be friends and forget about what happened that day. It's alright... not really a big deal for me."

He smiled and nodded. "Great, KC. Thanks..."

"So, what you should be doing now?"

"Oh, I'll be heading to my room now. Take a bath and go to work. I'll miss you in the office today—well, me and Arden."

"Don't worry, I'll be going to the office tomorrow. We'll spend some time at the pantry and we're going to talk about what happened in Vegas, alright?"

Berkeley nodded to me and he leave me alone a moment after. Pagkasara ko ng pinto ay dali-dali akong tumungo sa bintana at sinilip ko si Berk na tumungo sa building ng room niya. Kabang-kaba ako habang sinisilip ko siya, good thing he didn't look back.

I really don't know how to talk it through to Berk, but it's good to know that he didn't feel bad about what I said to him. At sana nga rin ay hindi magbago ang pagkakaibigan naming dalawa with that kiss. Siguro, I might do what Connagh did to me. Na para bang wala lang sa kanya 'yon at kinalimutan na lang din ang lahat. I can definitely do the same thing.

If it's nothing for Connagh, it should be nothing for me as well. What Berk has done with me should be mean nothing as well. Simple lang 'yon. I won't take meaning out of those situations.

I wasn't able of getting back into sleep 'cause I'm already filled with caffeine so I tried calling tita and if she would pick it up, magku-kwentuhan lang kaming dalawa. Even though I would bother her work, alam kong gusto niya rin namang malaman kung anong ginawa namin ni Connagh sa Vegas.

Good thing, Tita Gina answered the call after a few seconds I ring it up. She answered the call because she's not piled up with house choirs so she sneaked into the balcony and answered my call. Nakinig naman si tita sa kwento ko at hinayaan niya lang ako magsalita all the time. She's trying to keep her kilig by herself at the moment. For sure, nababaliw na 'yon mag-isa ro'n, but what should she be reacting to it?

Connagh's attractive and a gentleman, but he didn't really make me feel kilig. He thrilled me. He intimidated me. He's so much more confident than me so I guess I won't ever cross the boundary of liking him in a possible way of breaking our relationship as my mentor and his intern.

"Oh, ano ng plano mo ngayon?"

Napakunot-noo naman ako sa naging tanong ni tita. "Ano—ha? Para saan 'yong plano?"

"Kiers, alam mo naman, foreigner ang sagot sa kahirapan!"

I laughed at her remarks. "It does... but not always. Saka hindi naman pera ang habol ko kay Connagh. Never was. Siguro iyon ang tingin ng iba dahil parang all in one na siya pero iba naman talaga punto kung bakit nandito ako ngayon. I have no plan of moving forward with Connagh, but as an intern, I would move forward as if it's the only thing I can do now."

"Naku, girl. You're missing out on the fun in here."

"Tita... I'm having fun. It's not just what you thought it be."

Napabuntong-hininga naman si tita. If she's with me right now, she would be rolling her eyes at me every time I argued about her with this. Hindi ko na lang din naman inulit ang rason 'cause she will keep insisting me that she's right. Connagh would be good for me. That he could actually make my dreams come true. Kung nagawa niya nga iyon no'ng nasa Las Vegas kami, what else can he do?

One thing I'm sure was I can't exceed the border between work-relationship and that's final.

I can't fall in love with someone that's far from reality to happen.

When tita had to go back to her and I had to think about what she had said to me. Hindi naman ako nalilihis sa totoong pakay ko rito sa London. If Connagh gave me an opportunity to work on his company after my internship, I absolutely would take it. Hindi ko sasayangin 'yong opportunity na 'yon.

If tita meant to happen na biglang mag-jump from rugs to riches. But I would probably take the ladder and climb slowly and reach the top. Alam kong wala namang imposible sa mundo. Ang imposible lang ay may mangyari sa aming dalawa ni Connagh because in this world. It will never ever happen.

Just like what I was told to do today and that's to rest, I spend most of my time watching a series on Netflix and I was so hooked that I forgot to eat and take a bath. Tinatamad din akong kumilos at napakalamig ng kwarto ko dahil all-day ding nakabukas ang aircon. Suot-suot ko ang sweater na binili sa akin ni Connagh, every stuff he bought for me became a necessity for me.

While I was laying on my bed, my phone rings. Tamad ko namang inabot 'yong just to see who's calling me. Handa na akong ipagpaliban ang tawag nang makita ko kaagad sa phone screen ko ang pangalan.

Sir Connagh Macek is calling...

Mabilis akong napaayos sa pagkauupo ko. I paused the movie I was watching and cleared my throat and then finally answered his call. I wonder why would he be calling me right now. It's an hour past noon so I'm guessing what could it be?

"Ah—Con—sir, pala! Hi po!" pagbati ko pa. Gusto kong kurutin ang sarili ko dahil sa pinagsasabi ko. "Bakit po kayo napatawag?"

"I need your help," he directly said to me. Wala nang paligoy-ligoy pa niyang sinagot ang tanong ko. Hindi na agad ako nakasagot sa kanya nang sundan niya ang kanyang salita. "I parked near where you live. Please come see me."

"Hala, sir! Hindi pa ho ako naliligo!"

"Uh... why aren't you—anyway, you can just take a shower in my flat. I just need your help. It's urgent, Kiersten. I just hope your free today. You are, right?"

"Yes, sir."

"Then please come with me," he pleaded. "I'll be waiting here."

"Okay, sir, I'll be there in five."

"Splendid. Thank you, Kiersten. See you."

He ended the call and I jumped out of my bed and grabbed a bag and put some clothes there. He told me I can take a shower in his home so I'll just bring some clothes and then I'll take a shower there. Ngayon ay pinagsisisihan ko na kung bakit hindi ako naligo.

I also didn't expect for him to call me at this hour. Wala akong ideya kung anong help iyong kailangan naming gawin, but I didn't waste any time at nagmadali rin akong umalis ng room ko at tinungo ko ang lugar kung saan siya naka-park.

It's not hard to see where he parked his car kaya tumakbo na rin ako papunta sa direksyon ng sasakyan niya nang makita ko siya. He didn't step out of his car kaya ako na lamang ang pumasok sa loob ng sasakyan niya.

"I know before you say anything," I said when I showed up on a sweater and shorts then on a flip flops. Nagmamadali na rin ako. Hindi ko alam kung anong susuotin ko.

"That's absolutely fine, Kiersten," he said that made me feel fine. "But thank you for coming with me. I know you're resting and here I am taking you out again. So, I appreciate you, Kiersten. This is already a big help for me."

"Sure... that won't be a problem, but what kind of help do you need?"

"That's what you'll see when we get there..."

"Oh, alright. Is it an emergency?"

"Yes," he answered.

"Then if its, we should go then. Maybe I don't need to take a shower, let's just go wherever that emergency is."

Connagh nodded and then drove away. Napuno naman ng kaba ang dibdib ko at kung ano man ang pupuntahan namin ngayon, I hope this isn't bad. But why do I feel like something's wrong?

Mayroon nga ba dapat akong pangambahan? I looked at Connagh and the worried plastered in his face. Whatever that emergency is, I hope we'll make it.

***

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