Of (Heart)Beats and Bylines [Completed]

Chapter 7

"How was your day, Nicomaine?"

"Not now Mom," I snapped.

"I mean, talk to you later mom," I backpedaled as I ran up the stairs to take a shower.

I didn't mean to sound disrespectful to my mother. I was just upset about the day's events.

Letting the warm water cascade down my body calmed my nerves a bit. After all, I was still able to beat my deadlines, albeit narrowly.

I was 10 minutes late in showing up at Senator Lee's office. Luckily, Samantha was there to make the excuse of taking photographs first prior to the interview. This did not sit well with his Executive Assistant, Amy, who thinks that it should be simultaneous with my presence. Yes, the EA is stricter than the boss!

But RJ- his royal clumsiness -spoke to her over the phone and told her the story. She let it slide but I felt no sympathy from her. I highly suspect she only agreed because RJ called her.

I remember RJ's face upon spilling that drink on me. I was mortified. But he... he looked as if he was going to have a heart attack. His face and ears were beet red and the shade even crept up to his neck. He was very, very, apologetic. My crotch area was soaking wet, as I heard some gasps and suppressed chuckles all around me. He ran to the counter to get a ton of tissue but it was too late. My lower body reeked of coffee and from afar, it looked as if I peed on my pants.

For a moment, I was paralyzed. But level headedness and common sense won over as I called up Sam to hold up the interview first by taking photos.

Ok, I can handle this. I can handle this. I repeated this mentally. I had an extra dress in the car: my supposed outfit for tonight's date with John. But it was a sleeveless dress with low back. Good thing RJ lent me his jacket to wear around my waist and cover the super embarrassing stain. I could use it again during the interview to make my outfit look more appropriate.

I walked to the car to get my dress and changed in the coffeeshop's rest room. I then realized something.

"Hello, Sam. Are you near a convenience store?"

"Yes. Need anything?"

"Umm, disposable underwear...?" Even my underwear had coffee stains.
"Okay. I'll get you a piece."

I stepped out of the rest room first 'cause I didn't want to hog it. I stood around the corridor just outside the rest room to wait for Sam. When she got to the coffeeshop, she had 10 minutes to rush back to Senator Lee's office.

I went back to the rest room and examined the underwear. It's flimsy and transparent and loose and... looks so uncomfortable. Yuck. YUCK! I spend the next two minutes deciding if I should wear it or not. Bahala na. Kesa naman wala. Naka dress pa naman ako. Lord, what have I gotten myself into!

When I went to the dining area of the coffeeshop, RJ was still there. "Hey, again, I am so sorry." He had these puppy-dog eyes and was starting to get flushed again. "I swear, it was an accident. I-"

"I'm sure it was," I interrupted, a little too brusquely.

He continued, "I called up Amy, I told her about the accident, so everything's going to be fine."

"How did you know...?"

"I asked your photographer," he said quickly, as if reading my thoughts.

I stepped out of the shower, still cringing at the memory of today's events. I put on my sleep wear and lie down the bed.

Never in my life have I been so uneasy doing an interview. I felt worse than a student reporter in the midst of my discomfort but I forced myself to calm down. I was still able to see the interview through.

I thought the day couldn't get any worse.

It did.

When I got to the office, I realized the coffee also spilled on my laptop. I didn't want to turn it on for fear of destroying it and losing my files. So, I resorted to using the ultra old- and ultra slow -- spare laptop in the office. I finished all my work with barely a word to anyone, not even to Sam and Andy. Thankfully, they didn't ask me to spill (pun intended) what was bothering me. They knew me well enough to tell I was in such a foul mood that I would rather keep quiet.

Today was such an unnerving day for me that I even cancelled my date with John. Did I say the day couldn't get any worse?

I got up the bed and went down the stairs to look for my mom. "Hi Mom. My day's fine," I lied because I'd really rather not talk about it. "Want some pizza? My treat."

"Sure sweetie."

Ikakain and itutulog ko na lang to.

A/N: Hi all. It looks like I can see this story through.  First time to write fiction!  Thank you for reading! :)