Arctic Heart [#Wattys2018 Winner]

Chapter 19

Chapter 19
Security

"I'm sorry if I'm late!"

Bench arrived late for about ten minutes. We were already gathered in the meeting room.

Natigil si Jace sa pakikipag-usap kay Isha nang makitang sa akin kaagad dumiretso si Bench upang batiin ako at halikan sa aking pisngi nang walang pahintulot.

He smiled at me after kissing my cheek. "I missed you," he told me.

I glanced at Jace who was giving him a serious stare. His jaw clenched twice, and the paper that he was holding was slightly crumpled already.

"I think we should begin now," Jace stated impatiently. "We're wasting time."

The scowl on his face remained as he stared back at the papers he was discussing with Isha.

Hilaw naman akong ngumiti kay Bench bago humakbang palayo at tinungo na lang ang aking laptop na nakaset-up na sa harapan.

"Let's start this meeting," I announced.

They all settled down to pay attention with my presentation. I discussed the vision and mission of my project first before showing the slides of the places Jace and I chose from the ocular that we did.

"Out of all those four places, the 35,000 square meter lot in Pasay is where we really aim to build the waterpark," I said. "I also asked for a quotation of this lot. They're selling it for 5 thousand per square meter. A total of 175 million pesos for the whole lot."

Ngumuso naman si Isha na nagsulat sa kanyang notepad bago nagtaas ng kamay upang magsalita at agad ko siyang pinagbigyan.

"How much is the total budget for this project? Is it gonna be feasible if we're gonna buy that lot?" she asked. "Maglalabas kaagad tayo ng 175 million for the lot. I'm sure na mayroon pa namang mas mura around Manila."

"We picked this lot because it is located in Pasay. Mostly, tourists gather around the vicinity. Unlike other places here in Metro Manila, that's one of the most crowded area. Magandang lugar para itayo ang water park," paliwanag ni Jace. "There are also a lot of landmarks around that area. Mas mabilis makikilala ang waterpark, if ever."

I nodded at his comment. "We don't need to worry about the budget," I assured her. "We have a total of 300 million pesos allotted for this project. At kung sakali mang mali ang estimation, kaya pang maglabas ng pera ng kompanya. 300 million is only the minimum budget. We can push it up to 400 million. That's our limit."

After a few discussions, we've already came up of a concrete plan for the water park. Jace was able to work on some sketches in a short period of time. The way his hands move like with an unbelievable speed while sketching. His eyes were also burning in passion as he did what he loves to do.

I've never seen him work before, but it was making me fall for him even more.

I was actually glad that we were able to work everything out together. They were all professionals when it comes to work.

"Once Jace's already done with the designs, we can now already ask for the board's opinion," Isha said, and we all nodded at her.

Our meeting's duration lasted for almost four hours. I never thought it would last that long, but we made use of our time as much as we can. We were able to do a lot of things. It was a good thing that they didn't have other appointments after this. Well, except for Jace and I...

I felt someone moved from behind me. I turned around and saw that it was Bench. He smiled at me and raised both of his hands, maybe because of my expression.