Arctic Heart [#Wattys2018 Winner]

Chapter 6

Chapter 6
Bleed

"Bench! Oh my God, I'm very sorry for being late!" Hindi ako magkandaugaga sa paghingi ng paumanhin kay Bench dahil late ako sa aming lunch meeting.

If my secretary wouldn't remind me about my lunch meeting with Bench, I bet I wouldn't be even here right now. I was completely pre-occupied with loads of paper works that my mother wanted me to review. If those papers were sea water, I can say that I was literally drowning.

Nahihiya tuloy ako kay Bench. Siya na nga lang ang nadamay ko sa kayabangan ko na hamunin si Jace at ng kanyang Engineer pagkatapos ay ako pa ang late.

"Slow down! It's okay..." He chuckled and stood up from his seat to pull a chair for me.

"Thank you." I smiled at him while sitting down.

"You're always welcome," he said before going back to his seat just ahead of me.

I averted my gaze to the glass of water in front of him that was almost empty.

"Kanina ka pa ba rito?" tanong ko sa kanya.

"For about twenty minutes or so..." he answered.

I gasped and felt sorry once again. "I'm really sorry, Bench," I apologized. "I needed to finish some papers before I can leave the office. I admit that I kinda lost track of time... I'm sorry."

He shook his head and smiled. "I told you, Zarina, it's okay..." he assured. "I actually never thought that you'll come. Masaya na akong nakarating ka. Nagbaka sakali lang din ako."

Napakunot naman ang aking noo. "Bakit naman akala mong hindi ako dadating?" tanong ko sa kanya. "Ako kaya ang nag-imbita sa'yo rito."

He shrugged his shoulders and chuckled. "Thought that your message was some kind of prank or something."

"Well, it's not my nature to make someone wait just for a prank, Bench. And besides, I called you out for a lunch today because of business. I'm serious," I cleared things out to me.

He nodded. "I know," he said. "That's why I still came and here you are... sitting right in front of me."

Bahagya naman akong nag-iwas ng tingin sa kanya at nagkunwaring naging abala sa pagtingin sa menu ng gusto kong kainin ngayon.

"Anyway... I never thought that you'll actually consider me as the Engineer for your first ever project," he suddenly spoke again.

Muli naman akong nag-angat ng tingin sa kanya.

"Actually, there'll be two head Engineers for this project," I informed him. "The other one is Architect Sy's partner, Engineer Isha Horan. She's a part of his team. Does her name ring a bell?"

Tumango-tango naman si Bench. "Of course, I know her," sagot niya. "She's done a few remarkable projects with Jace. It's actually a rumor that Jace can't work without her as the Engineer so I'm not surprise that she's also a part of this project."

Napataas naman ang aking kilay. "Jace can't work without her as the Engineer?" ulit ko. "Is that a theory or a fact?"

Muli siyang nagkibit-balikat. "Theory? Well... it's just a rumor, Za. We don't know if it's true or not. But since Jace is a professional Architect, I don't think that his greatness is hiding behind that phenomenon."

Napansandal naman ako sa aking kinauupuan at pinilit na lang ding kumbinsihin ang sarili sa kung ano rin ang pinaniniwalaan ni Bench. That's just a rumor, Zarina. You know how people love to make gossips. Hindi sila nabubuhay nang wala 'yan.

But then, as I remembered how Jace was willing to back out from the project without any hesitation just because I didn't approve of Engr. Horan at first, I didn't know what to believe now.