["PLAY THE KING" IS ACT TWO OF THE "PLAY" SERIES. PLEASE READ "PLAY THE QUEEN" FIRST.]
It's been four months since Priam Torres, the once unpopular president of the Elysian University Student Council, assumed office. Thanks to his chief-of-staff Cas...
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CASTIEL
I WAS not born yesterday. I knew exactly what I was doing. I knew exactly the consequences of my actions. I was ready to face them. Alone. Fabienne was getting worried about nothing. Kung ako sa kaniya, hindi ko na pakikialaman ang mga isyu sa USC. Mas bibigyan ko ng pansin ang audition para sa susunod na theater production. Between the two of us, I was not the only who needed to make amends and repair my reputation. May atraso rin siya sa teatro.
Within twenty-four hours, news of my officers' temporary suspension reached The Herald. This morning, when I walked up to their circulations desk at the entrance of the admin building, I grabbed a copy of their latest issue and spread it before me. There was no need to look for the placement of the article because it happened to be the banner story.
USC Acting Pres suspends 3 officers
The Herald staffers stationed at the desk stared at me for a few beats. Inirolyo ko na ang diyaryo at inipit sa aking braso bago nagpatuloy sa paglalakad. They must be thinking, "this guy must be the wannabe dictator!" They would be half right if they did.
I would not lie. Indefinitely suspending Sabrina, Rowan, and even Lavinia was not easy for me. We had been through so many ordeals together—except the lady chief-of-staff who was relatively new. But it must be done. For people in power, it would sometimes take the toughest of guts to make the hardest decisions. Little did they know that I was doing them a big favor. They needed not to carry the burden of what I was about to do next.
When I arrived at the USC office—the second time since I assumed the acting presidency—the atmosphere here was no longer the same compared to when we took our oaths. It had drastically changed over the past two months. First, Valeria's resignation. Next, Priam's attempted assassination. Now, the suspension of three USC officers. Whether or not I would serve long as acting president, the feeling that this place gave would never be the same again.
I walked past the vacant cubicle of Rowan. He was a walking ball of sunshine in this office. Now that he was gone for a while, it started to feel a bit bland. It started to feel a bit darker. I wished that we parted ways temporarily on good terms, but I only made our working relationship worse.
After the public information officer's area, Tabitha's cubicle was next. She was seated there, drinking her daily dose of coffee from Astra Blend Cafe while scrolling on her phone. She did not raise her gaze nor pay me any attention. Maybe she did not notice that I was already here. Or maybe she did not care at all.
I would sorely miss Sabrina. She was quiet most of the time, but she made her presence felt through her work ethic. I would miss the way she organized everything that we needed for our meetings. She was also the only person whom I could trust with secret missions. But alas, we had to part ways for now.
How about Lavinia? I did not know her that much, so I could not exactly say that I would miss her, too. Maybe her attempts to counter me and show that she deserved to replace me as chief-of-staff. But her temporary departure came as a relief. I could not gauge yet if I could fully trust her, so her absence unburdened me of my suspicions.
