University Series Drafts

Chaze: What happened in GST 19?

CHEVY

"Why is it so hard to see you even when we're in the same place? I'm going back to Manila tomorrow."

Napailing ako habang sumusunod sa akin si Haze. Kakatapos lang ng internship ko at dala-dala ko ang mga nakarolyong papel kung nasaan ang mga sketch ko. I was just too busy because my internship was about to end. It was my last week. I had been working hard because I couldn't disappoint my parents and my professors. I was the top one of the batch. Everyone was expecting so much from me. I always needed to do my best. 

"Good afternoon, Sir," bati ko sa isa sa mga boss ko sa internship. 

"Good afternoon, Mister Peña. Good afternoon, Sir," bati niya rin kay Haze na nasa likuran ko. I was working under FlyAsia, so my bosses had high respect for the son of the owner. 

"Good afternoon, Engineer," bati rin ni Haze bago sumunod sa akin papasok ng office ng FlyAsia. "Hey, am I invisible to you?"

"Don't you have a flight scheduled today?" nagtatakang tanong ko sa kanya. "Good afternoon po," bati ko sa receptionist sa office at ngumiti. 

"Good afternoon, Chevy! Good afternoon, Sir!" Umayos siya ng tayo nang makita si Haze. Sunod ay tumingin ulit siya pabalik sa akin, mukhang naguguluhan kung kanino niya itutuon ang atensyon niya. I smiled at her again and she held her chest like she was having a hard time breathing. I got worried for a bit. 

"Afternoon," sagot ni Haze, nakasunod pa rin sa akin habang naglalakad ako. "I just landed this morning. You didn't even read my message." 

"I replied," maikling sagot ko.

"Yes, an emoji." I sent him an emoji of a cat smiling. 

"Better than nothing."

"Are you seriously still mad at me for what happened yesterday?" 

Hindi ko siya pinansin at nilapag na lang ang folders at iyong mga hawak kong sketches sa desk ng boss ko. After that, I clocked out of my internship. I can finally entertain a conversation with him. I had to focus on my work first. Kapag nasa trabaho ako, dapat trabaho lang. I should not mix my personal feelings into it. 

When I left the office, he tried to hold my hand, but I put my hands inside my pockets. His lips parted, shocked at what I had done.

"Seriously?" hindi-makapaniwalang sambit niya. 

"Seriously," I repeated while walking. "Naghihintay pa rin ako ng 'sorry' mo." Hindi ko siya tiningnan at tuloy-tuloy lang akong naglakad papuntang parking lot. I was using FlyAsia's company car for my internship dahil kailangan kong magpabalik-balik sa school, headquarters, at sa airport. 

He groaned in frustration before getting inside the car with me. Alam kong dinala niya ang sasakyan niya pero pinili pa rin niyang sumakay sa passenger's seat ng ginagamit kong sasakyan. Pinagkrus niya ang braso niya sa dibdib at tumingin lang sa harapan, mukhang naiinis na. Pinagkrus ko rin ang braso sa dibdib ko para ipaalam sa kanyang hindi lang siya ang galit.