What I witnessed the other day in the mall, specifically in the toilet room got me to realize one thing; their management sucks and needs to be redeveloped or reorganized. All the employees didn't do wrong. Stealing their products behind their knowledge. It was Mauricia who gave them no other choice. I felt pity for that woman who needed to steal in order to save her dying daughter. Mauricia did not even consider offering her a permanent position when he already worked seven years in the company. I mean, who does that? "Excuse me?" Mauricia blurted his objection. My objection engraved long curve lines on her broad forehead. "Who the hell are you to reject my proposal, huh? You were seated in your position for what? Three days?" Mauricia scoffed shortly as she drummed her fingers on the surface of the table as if she were gathering her next words. "I have been with that shopping mall for as far as you can imagine, and you dare question my decision? Who the hell are
As soon as the old witch disappeared from our sight, everyone expressed their full support by clapping their hands. Tears of joy were also evident on their cheeks. Everyone then approached me, one by one, and expressed their gratitude toward me until nothing was left in the room but me and Elaine. "Give me all their resumes, Ms. Elaine. Put them on my desk before the end of the night. I'll check them once I get back." I said before I departed my seat and slid to the doorway. "Do you have any other appointment that I am not aware of, Mrs. dela Vega?" she frowned shortly while checking my schedule from her iPod. "I am going to visit Norman in the city hall. Don't worry, I won't take long. I am going to tell him in person about what happened earlier instead of sending him a message." "This is noted, Mrs. dela Vega. I'll inform your driver right away." Elaine bent half of her body before she disappeared from my sight. On my way to the city hall, I kept on reach
"What?" I blurted, not because I was worried about Mr. Emilio's sharp stares, but about Norman's bothering pacing from side to side as if he had been searching for something. "Nothing," he defensively replied. "I'm just making sure if you haven't brought me something - flowers as you did in my office." His half-smirk annoyed me. "Cut the crap, Norman. I'm not here for that. Believe it or not, I have nothing to do with those flowers. Perhaps it was one of your women. The news about someone kissing you in one of these rooms flooded everyone's knowledge." Norman received and understood the message so he ordered Mr. Emilio to give us some privacy. "News indeed travels so fast, huh?" he said as he offered me a seat from the couch actors from him. Talking with Norman was my purpose in visiting him in his office so I dropped my butt on the couch. But instead of across from him, I sat next to make sure everyone could think we were indeed a couple. His noble image was a
"That's enough! Get back to your seats, NOW!" Tanner's anger reverberated throughout the hallways. I have known Tanner for eight years, and it was the first time I saw his eyes wide open and his veins pop out of his neck. He barely gets angry even if he gets humiliated all the time by Norman and his friends. But right now, he has become another person. The monster side of him. "Those who will not get back to their seats will get an F from me." he added, "At the count of three... One -- Two --" Some of the students disappeared from their spots before Tanner could reach three, but some of them who were not afraid of failing his subject, including Jennie and Jennifer remained. In fact, the two of them eagerly slide toward Tanner. Each of them grabbed Tanner's arms while giving me the tip of their brows being raised, believing our professor would take their side. Little did they know Tanner became my friend before he became a university professor and met them.
In the middle of my journey back to the mansion, my phone suddenly rang, breaking the walls between me and the driver who kept on stealing a glimpse of me from the mirror on top of him. The call came from Tanner as I expected. "Are you on your way to the mansion now?" he asked. I glanced at the driver as I cleared my throat and slid to the corner next to the door of the car. "Yes, I'm on my way home now. What's up? Did the news about what I did to Jennifer and Jennie already reach out to you?" "What do you mean?" He replied. "I'm on my way to pick up my daughter. Why? Did something happen earlier? Did they attack and humiliate you again?" "No, it's the other way around." I shortly chuckled. A kind of laugh who just brought the bacon home. "Sorry for not telling you in advance. But I poured the twins with a bucket of water earlier in the toilet room." "Come on, Yvanna. I told you not to do anything reckless. You're making the issue more complicated. What if they
"Are you and Dad arguing again?" Noah asked despite having a hard time breathing out those words. "OF course, not, honey" I defensively replied. Then I assisted him in lying down with me and wrapped my arms around him. "Your dad and I were simply talking about something. But we're not arguing, okay?" I caressed his shoulder to help him get back to sleep. Luckily, he stopped asking questions, instead, he wrapped his arms around me. "Don't get mad at Dad, please?" he replied as he squeezed off his face inside my armpit. "Dad said he loves you, Mom. But he said that you don't love him anymore. Why? Are you mad at him? Did he do something bad to you?" The last thing I want to happen is to comfort Noah with a lie so I nodded, "He did something bad to me, honey. And because of that, I couldn't find it inside me to forgive him." "Why?" he asked as I expected. "Because they turned our life hell, Noah, including your life. And I will not stop until your grandmother
"Are you sure Norman will not be attending the meeting?" I asked Elaine the second I stepped foot into the office. "Got his confirmation a few minutes ago, Mrs. dela Vega. I'm afraid he can't come to the meeting. But he'll be here afterward to discuss you with the updates of the shopping malls." "Please, get me a cup of coffee, Ms. Elise. Thank you." I ordered before I dropped my butt on my seat. "Is he kidding me?" I pointed the question back to Elaine. "How am I supposed to face those people alone?" "He said he trusted you will do a good job at the meeting, Mrs. dela Vega," Elaine replied, but those long curve lines on her forehead tell me the other way around. The meeting was about presenting our new products to our new investors from South Korea. Apart from that I only knew a few Korean words, so I was not that confident enough to get the proposal approved. "Fine," I snorted as I left with no other choice. "Another thing, Justine Stroem, one of the shopping
Justine glanced at the flash drive as it landed in front of him with his mouth sealed, telling and proving to me that he knew something about the incident. Guilty beyond a reasonable doubt is my verdict. Yet he never told me anything since I got discharged from the hospital after a long two months fighting in a coma. Instead, he advised me to forget about the incident and live with him for good. Whatever his reasons are, I wanted to know the truth, not his side of the story, but the truth. "Everything in this flash drive tells me a lot of stories, Justine," I continued, "and do you know what kind of story has been telling me right after seeing the footage? The side of the story where I believe you are the person behind the incident. So, if you are not going to tell me, to at least defend yourself, I will believe with what I know - that you have been lying to me all this time." Finally, Justine did something apart from being frozen while listening to my lecture a