Game 1: The Ice Princess
“hey have you heard guys? ngayon daw dadating yung bagong publications manager naten from transcom.”
“tama! I think they said her name was irish. irish nadora.”
“ha?! si miss nadora?! oh my goodness guys tapos na tayo.”
“bakit?”
“havent you heard about her? terror sya. ive heard rumors about her from a friend na ngwowork sa branch naten dun and she said that she’s the devil incarnate. mas strikto pa sa lola nyo.”
“srict lang naman pala eh.”
“sabi din nya there was one incident dun na nagkamali ng dating ung isang staff dun sa spelling ng name niya. ayun ligwak kaagad.”
“what?! date lang ligwak na?”
“yup. cold hearted, pati daw balat eh malamig. parang galing sa freezer. yun daw si frigid damsel.”
“really?! oh my god, patay nga tayo nito. bakit pa kasi naisipan ni sir rick magresign eh…”
“so, what does she look like, this miss nadora?”
“at first cute daw sya, glasses and all that. great hair, always let down, medyo matangos ang ilong, tapos yung lips daw eh full naman, pero laging naka simangot. neat manamit, prim and proper. never wears a skirt. yan ang sabi ng friend ko.”
“parang ganito ba?”
bumukas ang elevator, sabay labas ng isang lalaking kasama ang dalawang babae.
“oh great miss nadora, you’re already here. welcome to the main office,” bati nito.
lingon lahat ng nagchichismisan. after a few seconds bumagsak mga panga nila. ang babaeng kanilang pinag kkwentuhan ay kanina pa pala nakikinig sa kanila. hinarap nito ang lalaki.
“thank you mister chambers. I see the main office is quite lively.”
“well we have our days. I see youve met some of our staff. guys this is miss irish nadora. she will be handling rick’s team, which means most of you. I hope all of you get along well,” chambers addressed them. “well then, let me show you your office miss nadora. if you would come with me?”
“thank you mister chambers. you are most kind.”
and he led her to her new office. naiwan ang grupong tulala, ang ibay namumutla na.
“patay.”
——————–
“well, here we are miss nadora. your office. I hope it is to your satisfaction?”
“very much, mister chambers. thank you.”
“well, im glad to hear that. I do hop you enjoy your stay here in the main offices. i have to warn you though, it will entail a lot of work for you, but our team here is very helpful.”
“i understand mister chambers. I wont let you down.”
“jolly good! well, ill leave you and miss ramirez here. if you need anything, feel free to ask. cheerio!”
at lumabas na nga ang brittish national na may ari ng kumpanya.
“waaaah! grabe ang luwang ng office na to! chris, we made the right coice.”
im irish, and as you might have read, ako ang publications manager ng outsourced europe holdings, isang business process outsourcing entity dito sa pilipinas. hawak namin ang ilan sa mga call center companies dito, like asia pacific outsourcing, general pacific and transcom, to name a few. contrary to what other might say, hindi naman ako strikto. seriously misunderstood pwede pa. im 25 years old, with a degree in business administration and a certified public accountant.
“y-yes we did make the right choice ngayon cuz,” chris, my personal secretary, said. si chris ay pinsan ko, at kasama ko na simula pa nung high school kame. mahiyain, may pagka introvert, cute pero may pagka utal din. she bears a resemblance with erich gonzales. ako ewan ko ba kung sino kamukha.
“well chris, we are going to make own this place! plus, nakita mo ba yung magiging team ko? I can use them! mwahahaha! more specimens!” bulalas ko sa kanya.
“h-hindi parang mga chismoso’t chismosa sila? narinig mo naman kung ano at sini p-pinag uusapan nila,” aniya.
“yun na nga eh cuz! magagamit ko tlga sila! konting obersvation lang, and ill get what I need from them, you’ll see. theyll be pawns for my kingdom! mwahaha! oh before ko malimutan, kailangan ko na silang ma isama, baka malimutan ko pa mga karakter nila. my story must progress!” sambit ko.
“o-oo nga pala. I checked the status kanina, y-your story is number one ulit. pero you still have w-work to do diba?”
“well, we need to maintain number one first. give me an hour, ill check for comments from my fans. yiiiih! cant wait!”
oh yeah that’s right. im also a writer. online nga lang. I publish stories, and over time had gained a serious following. now, im starting a new one, kaya I need models for my characters. so, I logged my account sa site, koi-san, and checked on some of the recent comments. well! ang gaganda ng mga comments tlga!
‘koi-san is the best! ang galing tlga ng mga stories nya!’
‘shite! the characters are so real! the stories are so touchy!’
‘well for me, I dont like them much. ay kulang sa stories eh.’
‘yup I agree. koi-san’s stories are great, friendship and all that, but they lack romance. walang love.’
such lovely comme—
“whhaaaaaaattttt??!!!!!!!!” sigaw ko, na mukhag narinig ng buong floor. kapansin pansin ang pananahimik sa labas. pati si chris muntik na malaglag sa upuan. after a few seconds bumukas ang pinto at sumilip si mister chambers.
“is anything wrong miss nadora?” aniya.
“oh! uhm, it’s nothing mister chambers, just a prank phone call,” sagot ko.
“oh. well, we do get those a lot. better get used to them. well, ill be heading out for a meeting. if you need anything ask miss sommers ok?”
“thank you mister chambers. you take care now.”
at sinara nya ang pinto. di naman ako napakali sa nabasa ko. I paced up and down the carpet, muttering a few choice curses, which made chris flinch.
“kulang sa romance? walang love? shite! shite shite shite! fuckness! bubutasin ko ulo ng ng comment nun. ano username nun?”
“e-easy ka lang cuz. dont take them too seriously. c-comments lang un,” sabi ni chris.
“grrrr! they dare criticize my work?! sila kaya magsulat!”
“c-cuz, easy lang please…”
huminga ako ng malalim at sinubukang kumalma. grabe! sino sila para sabihin yun? inis na tanong ko sa sarili ko. pero I do have to admit, they have a point. almost all the stories ive published so far are stories about friendship and brotherly love. there are some romantic scenes, pero the stories always end up the same. why? well, I cant write about love. I dont know how to write anythihg about it, because ive never experienced it myself.
sad but true, in my 25 years ive never had a boyfriend. siguro isa na dun ung pagka frigid ko, as they say. guys take one look at me, especially my eyes and poof! it became cococrunch! naglalaho na lng sila bigla. may magagawa ba ako kung sadyang mukhang masungit ang mata ko? or kapag natiis nila yun, one touch from me kumakaripas na ng takbo. freezer daw ako. kasalanan ko ba na lamigin ako? and hindi naman sa ayoko magka boyfriend. I do! pero seeing as that always seem to be their reaction to me, pano ako magkakaroon ng syuta? haaayy. hindi naman ako pwedeng humila ng kung sino na lng dyan at–
“wait. bakit naman hindi?”
“h-ha cuz?”
“oh. wala cuz. hahaha. I just thought of something.”
“s-somehow I dont like what youre thinking cuz. if im right, its nothing good. b-baka maulit pa yung incident before cuz,” ani chris.
“dont worry cuz. this is nothing like that, I assure you. hihihi. this will be my best story yet,” bulalas ko.
so I went on with my work, at habang ginagawa ko yun sumisipat na din ako ng pwedeng specimen. I went around the floor, pero wala pa rin ako makitang pwede. hanggang sa umabot na and end of shift namen, wala pa din. dismayed, me and chris went down to my car to go home.
“shite naman! mission failed! well may bukas pa naman.”
“i-i really dont like what youre thinking cuz.”
at umuwi na nga kami.
the next day medyo nahimasmasan na ako sa frustration ko about the comments dun sa storiee ko, so I started the day with paperworks. labas pasok ang mga member ng team ko sa aking office, si chris naman andun na sa desk nia sa harap.
“okay mister suelto, I need this spread finished within the day. coordinate with your team, pati na din with the arts division. who’s in charge there? I didnt get to meet them yesterday.”
“a-a-ah ma’am that would be m-mister rivera. he was on leave yesterday, kaya hindi nyo po sya nakita,” paliwanag nito.
“okay. just cordinate with them, and report back to me after lunch. inform the whole team ha? I want them in the board room ready for pooling.”
“y-yes ma’am,” aniya bago lumabas ng pinto.
haay. cute sana yun leindle suelto na yun. ano ba yan! bakit un iniisip ko? bumalik ako sa trabaho ko. half past noon I got up and called chris para makapag lunch na. after about an hour dumiretso na kami sa boardroom for the pooling. andun na ang team ko, pati na ung spearhead team ng art division. first time ko sila makikita, so introductions were made. I noticed na nung si mister rivera na ang magpapakilala almost all of the girls present swooned.
“hi im aaron rivera, and as you can see I handle team spearhead from the arts division. this isnt the first time that we’ll be coordinating with your team, but I do hope we’ll get along well and get the job done,” paglitanya nito. gaya ng napansin ko, kumikislap kislap pa mga mata ng mga girls na kasama ko. aba! mukhang may sariling cheering squad pa ah! in fairness naman kasi sa kanya, gwapo sya. nicely cropped hair, straight nose, great eyes, tanned, ganda pa ng physique. sayang nga lang plastik. I noticed that immediately. didnt I mention im a good observer? the smile he wears is so stiff.
so we went on with the pooling, every now and then may lumalabas na good ideas for the spread. we went on for a couple more hours, then we called for a break, then tuloy na lang after thirty minutes. isa isang naglabasan ang mga tao, kasunod na ako. malapit na ako sa office ko ng maalala ko yung spread sample eh naiwan ko pala sa boardroom. so binalikan ko iyon, and bubuksan ko na sana ung pinto nito ng mapansin ko mejo naka awang ito, and there were voices inside. ok, chismosa na kung chismosa. di ko mapigil eh, so sumilip ako. ayun, si mister rivera kasama ang isang girl from my team.
“u-uhm, aaron, tagal ko na gusto sabihin to eh.. ngayon lang ako nagka lakas ng loob.. kasi.. alam mo.. crush na crush kita eh..” aniya.
“hmm. naku naman karen, thanks ha..but im sorry, friendship lang kaya ko ibigay eh..isa pa we work for the same company..pangit naman tignan kung..alam mo na. sorry talaga,” sagot ni ‘mister popular’ aaron rivera.
“ahh.. haha..ok lang un..haha..alam ko naman yun eh..uhm, sige, miryenda lang ako,” sabi nito, sabay talikod at lakad palabas sa isang pinto ng boardroom. aba! teary eyed pa ang loka! I looked back at mister popular, nakita ko naka sandal ito sa table, hawak ang scrapbook niya at parang may sinusulat ito. naka ngiti pa! so I sneaked at his back para silipin kung ano kinakatuwa niya, and medyo nagulat sa nakalista.
names of almost all the girls sa office. all crossed out. I also saw my name, parang bagong dagdag pa nga eh, and yun na lng ang hindi crossed out. nakuha ko agad kung ano iyon. an idea formed in my mind. found you! magagamit kita! mwahahaha!
“so, ako na lang pala ang hindi umaamin sayo na crush ka ha,” bulong ko sa kanya. pansin namang gulat na gulat sya. ikaw ba naman bulungan ng ganun, di ka mapalundag.
“what the…?! ohh. ikaw pala miss, uhh, miss nadora. what brings you back here? di ba you called for a break?” sagot nito, hindi makatingin ng diretso.
“i did, pero naiwan ko ung spread sample kaya binalikan ko. I also saw that cute little scene. ganun pala ha. you lead them on, wait for the girls to confess to you, tapos reject mo sila. well, lets see what they say about that,” I turned to go out, but he grabbed my arm para pigilan ako. huli ka! isip ko. mwahahaha!
“dont, miss nadora. dont tell them about this.”
“and why the hell not? alam mo bang pambabastos yang ginagawa mo?”
“well…”
“ok I wont tell.”
“really?!”
“yes. but youll have to do everything that I tell you to do kapalit ng pananahimik ko.”
kitang kita na nanlumo mukha nito at nagdududa.
“a-anong gusto mo m-mangyari? I mean what do you want me to do?”
mwahahaha! huli ka na talaga!
“i have the perfect thing for you to do, mister rivera. kiss me.”
itutuloy.