Chapter Five

Angela

It's already Monday morning and I'm already wearing corporate attire and in the passenger seat lies the folder that contains my resume.

Maaga akong umalis sa apartment na tinitirahan namin ni Asher. Pag-alis ko ay tulog pa siya but Ellisa's with him.

"Do your best shot, Sag. This is our only way to get near him."

Pagdating ko sa eleventh floor kung saan gaganapin ang final interview ay iilan lang ang nandoon, which only means that out of hundreds of applicants, only a few passed the initial interview yesterday.

Ilang sandali pa na tapos na ang lahat ng applicants at ako na ang natawag. There is only one guy doing the interview.

Narinig ko na tumunog ang earpiece na suot ko. It was actually an earpiece and at the same time, a micro-camera that is disguised as a simple earring. "That's Ian Diaz. The Chief Operating Officer. He handles all the operations and major transactions of the company."

"Good day, Ms. Cordova." he offered a handshake which I gladly accepted.

"Good day, Mr. Diaz."

"Shall we start the interview? Are you ready?"

I gave him a confident smile before saying yes.

Come on, Angela. You already faced some of the big bosses of the black market. You don't have to feel nervous about this.

"It says here in your resume that you used to work as a part-timer in a call center?"

"Yes. But it's only for a short period of time since I need to move to a place."

But of course, it is a lie. Indeed, I worked as a call center agent but it was for a mission. It only lasted for about two weeks.

"I see."

Saglit niyang pinasadahang muli ang resume ko.

"You can speak four languages?"

"Yes."

"Filipino, English, Mandarin, and Spanish. Quite interesting."

I just smiled at him as he continued to assess my resume. I didn't think that learning those languages when I was a kid would help me with this. I used to cry during those lessons especially in the Mandarin class whenever I didn't get the tone mark right. But I guess all of those hardships were worth it.

He asked me a few questions and I answered all of them confidently. After a few minutes, he smiled at me.

"The interview ends here. Can you wait outside for a little bit? I just need to talk to someone."

Nagtataka man ay nagpasalamat na lang ako at lumabas.

That was weird. All of the applicants that are being called inside go straight home. Why do I have to wait?

After a few minutes of waiting in the lobby, Ian's secretary called me again.

"Congratulations, Ms. Cordova. You're hired. You can start tomorrow." Once again, he offered his hand.

I smiled widely at him before accepting his handshake. "Thank you for the opportunity."

"You can now go home."

"Thank you."

Palabas na Sana ako ng pinto nang tawagin niya ulit ako.

"Yes?" sagot ko.

"Did anyone tell you that you looked like the heiress of the Belcher Corporation?"

Sandali akong napatigil. I didn't expect that someone would notice that immediately.

"Well, science says that there are about seven people on this planet who look exactly like you. I guess I belong to those seven people who look like the Belcher Heiress."

Napatango tango naman siya at tipid na ngumiti. "Makes sense. Anyways, I'm looking forward to working with you."

"Thank you. Same goes for me. Goodbye."

Lumabas na ako ng company building at napabuntong hininga.

I wonder what will happen now. I hope I can finish this mission as soon as possible. And I hope I won't encounter any Belcher as I'm staying here.

***

I was preparing to go to work when Asher gently tugged my shirt while he's rubbing his eyes

"Yes, Honey?"

"Mommy, when are we going home?"

I sat on his level and patted his head.

"Maybe in one or two months? Mommy is not really sure. But I'll do my best to finish this immediately."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

"Are we going to the HQ?"

"Sadly yes. I will leave you there and I will pick you up later."

His eyes widened and he jumped in excitement. "Can I go to the barracks?"

"As long as you're accompanied by other agents."

"Yey!"

"Now, go and prepare your backpack."

"It's already prepared!"

"That's nice. Shall we go?"

Pagpasok namin sa Headquarters ng Zodiac Organization ay sinalubong agad siya ng mga agents. Si Ellisa naman at Ken ang sumalubong sa akin.

"Good luck on your first day." Sabi ni Ellisa. Dala-dala ang isang case ay binuksan niya iyon.

"This is a new set of our weapons."

"You won’t be wearing any devices from now on, and since we can't contact you, you need to write a report by the end of this day.  For the following days, you will submit it weekly."

Sunod naman ibinigay sa akin ni Ken ang isang pen.

"This is a pen but at the same time, a weapon." Inikot niya ng isang beses ang barrel ng pen at Lumabas ang pinaka tip ng ballpen. "Twist it once, a pen will come out. But once you twisted it twice," Inikot pa niya muli ang barrel at napalitan na ng maliit na needle tip. "It becomes a tranquilizer. It is enough to knock out a man for about an hour."

"And the third twist?"

"There's no third twist."

"Come on, Ken. I know you. There's a lot more about this pen."

He sighed before twisting the barrel once again. He aimed it at the target board at the ceiling. "The third twist enables the laser beam." He twisted back the barrel three times before handing me the pen. "Be careful using that."

"Quite useful. Thank you." inilagay ko na sa purse ko ang pen bago kinuha ang huling item sa case.

"A watch?"

Isinuot sa akin ni Ellisa ang relo bago magsimula magsalita.

"There are four buttons in this watch. The first button sends us a distress signal together with your location. The second activates Athena, the third one allows you to see the delivered messages into this device and the last one is just an ordinary button that shows the menu. This gadget is disguised as a smart watch. It shows your pulse and body temperature. Once something happens to you, it will also send us a notification."

"Your watch is paired with the watch that I'm going to give to Asher. It has the same functions. Asher can see your statistics even if you're miles away." dagdag ni Ken.

Sakto naman na tumakbo papalapit si Asher kaya kinarga siya ni Ken. "What's up, handsome?"

May ibinulong si Ken kay Asher bago sila mag-apir. Ano na naman ang kalokohan na binabalak ng dalawa na ito?

"You should get going. You don't want to be late on your first day, right?" Sabi naman ni Ellisa at inihatid na ako sa parking lot.

Karga-karga pa rin ni Ken si Asher pagdating namin sa parking lot. I gave Asher a kiss on the cheeks.

"Behave lang, ha? Huwag masyadong pasaway at Huwag guguluhin ang mga tito at tita mo pag may ginagawa sila."

"Yes, Mommy." He waved goodbye before I go.

This is it, Angela. You can do this.

***

Pagdating ko sa company ay napansin kong pinagtitinginan ako ng employees. I even heard some of them gossiping about me.

"How long could she last?"

"She's just going to seduce Mr. Lawson."

"I'm sure she's one of those secretaries who has hidden agendas."

Pagdating ko sa fifteenth floor kung nasaan ang office ng C.E.O. ay nasa labas si Ian. The top floor is like a penthouse and office of the C.E.O.

"Good luck." He opened the door for me and I saw a man in his mid-twenties signing a pile of papers. He looked at us as we entered.

"Mr. Lawson, this is Angela Jade Cordova. She will be your secretary."

"Ian, I thought I told you that I want a secretary. Not another woman."

"Excuse me, Mr. Lawson. I am a secretary. Not just another woman."

Ugh, here goes this attitude of mine again. It's a good thing that the HQ can't hear anything. Or else they will be frowning right now.

"Oh, it's just your first day but you're already showing your attitude."

"I'm sorry for my attitude. But I think it is better to clear the misunderstanding. Am I right?"

"Why did you even get hired again?" he looked at Ian who is just right beside me.

"She has the qualifications that we are looking for. She can even speak Mandarin and Spanish. It can be useful since we have clients as well as major investors that speak that language."

Napa tango na lang siya at bumaling sa akin.

"Alright. Shall we start working?" He offered his hand for a handshake which I gladly accepted.

"I will be going." Lumabas na si Ian sa office at kaming dalawa na lang ang natira.

"Since you are working as my secretary now, you should know my rules."

Oh here comes the long list of the rules everyone is talking about.

"First of all, you cannot disclose my information to the public. That includes my appearance."

I nodded like a three year old kid as he spoke.

He went back to his seat and continued signing and reading the papers on his desk as he told me his rules.

"Second, once you try to do anything funny, you're fired."

My eyebrow arched this time. "Excuse me, Sir. But what do you mean by that?"

"Trying to do something like seducing me, poisoning me, or even stealing something."

I rolled my eyes and nodded for the second time.

"You can't talk to me unless you have to say something important. Just do your work and stay at your table. You have to arrange my schedule ahead and you have to pass a report weekly."

He's just stating his rules and I'm just listening from my table. Since his office is quite spacious, two office tables is enough for both of us. As if I care about his rules. I'll make sure to finish this mission as soon as possible.

"And lastly, you have to prepare a warm cup of tea every eight o'clock in the morning. Remember to put a half teaspoon of stevia when you serve it."

Half teaspoon of stevia? He's just like Asher. I looked at my watch and saw it was nearly eight in the morning. The sun rays passes through the window and when I looked at the man at the table, my eyes widened.

"Ms. Cordova, is there anything wrong?"

Now that I've got a chance to take a good look at him, I can see a strong resemblance between him and Asher.

His eyes, the shape of his face, his nose and even his hair. They look exactly the same. As if they were blood-related.

"Ms. Cordova, are you paying attention?"

I blinked a few times and I realized that he's already in front of me. He's leaning on my table and his eyebrows were furrowed.

"I'm sorry. It's just that I remembered something important." I looked away as my heart started to race.

Damn. I wish I was wrong about this hunch that I'm feeling.

"It's not the right time to reminisce. Focus on your work." He turned his back at me and I just stared at him.

He stopped midway and looked back at me. "And before I forgot. No one is allowed to enter my office without my permission. You must tell me first who wants to enter. If someone wants to give a file, you will be the one who will hand it to me."