Chapter V

-Alex-

I watched her as she walked towards inside the hotel. I watched her until she was out of my sight.

All of a sudden ay napangiti nalang ako sabay iling.

'What a crazy encounter' I said to myself.

I get inside my car and drive right away to the hotel I am staying in.

It was just a few minutes drive kaya nakarating agad ako sa hotel. Unlike kanina na ako mismo kumuha ng kotse, I just drove in front of the hotel and let the valet park my car.

I checked the time and it's already 12 noon. My meeting is 1:00 PM pa naman kaya I still have time to prepare.

Nasa elevator na ako when I unconciously started to count how many hours Ally and I spent together. 13 hours. Well, technically it's just 6 hours for you minus the time we slept. 

Napailing naman ako sa ibang imahe at ideya ang nag flash sa isip ko when I thought about sleeping. 

Nang makarating na sa floor ko ang elevator, agad na akong nagmadaling pumasok sa kwarto at nagsimula ng mag prepare.

There's nothing much to prepare really because I already let my secretary prepare my suit for the meeting. All I need to do is take a bath and get that suit on me.

I was just adjusting my tie when my phone rang. It's my secretary.

"Speak" I answered the call with my usual office mood voice.

"Sir, Mr. Robles is already here and he was about to enter the restaurant."

I hanged up the call without saying a word. Lumabas naman na ako sa hotel room ko para bumaba sa restaurant ng hotel nato kung saan gaganapin ang meeting namin. This will be my first business meeting here in Greece. I still have a lot to attend to.

When the elevator opens, may iilan na itong sakay. Most of them are tourist I guess. Pumwesto naman ako sa may unahan at sinandal ang likod ko sa gilid ng elevator.

"Excuse me, are you married?"

A lady in a slutty black dress asked the man in a suit gaya ko na nasa harap ko lang. That question made me smirk in my head. The lady is obviously a foriegner in this country basing in her accent. I'm guessing australian siya. She has this flirty smile while sobrang lagkit ng pagkakatingin sa lalaking nasa harap ko. 

Few seconds passed at wala syang narinig na sagot sa lalaki. The guy is obviously acting like she's not even there.

"Yes he is."

A pretty lady in a summer long dress answered with a smile. 

Parang hindi pa naman na gets agad ng australian accent na babae ang sinabi nya kaya napa 'huh?' ito sa kanya.

"You asked if he's married and I just answered yes" malumanay na sagot ng babaeng naka summer dress.

That line pisses the other girl and glared at her.

"And how would you know that? As if you are with this handsome creature over here?"

mataray na tanong nang australianang babae.

Lihim na napailing naman ako sa nasasaksihan at sa mga naririnig na pinagsasabi ng naunang babae. 

'Typical bitch' I commented inside my head.

As I observe, not that nakikichismis ako pero obviously napakaliit lang nitong elevator para di ko marinig, the guy they are talking about is not interested to butt in.

"Bitch" I heard the australian accent lady said that. She's pissed

Napatingin naman ako sa kalmadong babae na ngumiti lang pagkatapos sabihan ng bitch.

"Ikaw na gago ka pag hindi mo ako ipagtatanggol sa bruhang babaeng ito isusumbong kita sa tatay mo at tingnan natin kung hindi ka malagot dun pagkatapos mo akong dalhin dito at pinapabayaan lang" mahinahong sabi nya habang nakatingin sa australianang babae na ngayon ay halatang nalilito sa sinabi nya.

I'm guessing the wife is the calm girl and those words she just said are for the guy who's still quiet.

When I arrived at the ground floor, agad naman akong lumabas ng elevator at nagtungo sa restaurant. 

I saw my secretary, Andrew, waiting for me outside. I gave him a small nod at nauna ng pumasok. Sumunod lang sya sa akin hanggang marating ko ang lamesa namin ni Mr. Robles. he stood up when he saw me and extended his hands for a shakehands. 

"Good day Mr. Sarmiento" he greeted me. I just gave him a nod at sumenyas ako kay Andrew to get us coffee.

"Thank you for meeting us Mr. Sarmiento despite of your busy schedule in Manila." he opened a conversation.

"It's fine a long as my time will not be wasted so be sure this proposal is worthwhile" I said formally.

Tumango naman sya bilang tugon. 

Napagdesisyunan namin na simulan agad ang meeting para matapos na agad.

Actually, I already reviewed their project proposal and i'm quite impress but i am concerned about the length of the said project.

Napag-isipan ko na rin ito and I already have an answer. Pero I still want to meet the people I will be working with to know how to deal with them. Business world can be messy at times.

After the meeting, we decided to order something to eat for an early dinner. We still talked about business while we eat. Which all of a sudden, reminds me of Ally. Ever since nag take over ako sa kompanya namin, I never had a meal that doesn't talk about business over it. Ally was the first to break the record.

"Mr. Sarmiento? Are you okay?" Mr. Robles asked. Guess I spaced out for a while.

"Yes, I'm good." sagot ko naman. 

Misteryosong ngumiti naman ang kaharap ko.

"I hope you don't mind me asking, but is it about a girl?"

I was taken a back sa taong nya. But I managed to answer him formally.

"Mr. Robles," he cut me off.

"Please, call me Arthur Mr. Sarmiento" he said while giving me a warm smile.

"Then Arthur it is." Tumango naman sya habang nakangiti.

"Arthur, are you married?" nang maitanong ko iyon sa kaniya ay umaliwalas ang kanyang mukha at ngumiti sya ng napakasaya at laking ngiti.

"Yes I am with two beautiful daughters" he said while seems to remember beautiful moments with them.

"Congrats and good for you" I said to him.

"Mr. Sarmiento, don--" this time I am the one cutting him off

"Alex" 

"Alex, don't you have special someone? Let's say, a girlfriend?"

I finished my food first before answering.

"I once had a fiance but turns out she's cheating on me. I never had a time to find love after that."

I guessed he didn't expect to hear what I just said.

"Well, my wife and I actually separated for years when we just got married. We thought that the sparks weren't there anymore and that we fell out of love. Thanks to a beautiful lady who helped us realized how idiot we were." he then laughed a little when he said that.

"What happened? And didn't you both find another person to be with in those years?" I curiosly asked.

"Actually, we were just being immature back then. And no, we never had any affairs to other people. We just thought that we were getting bored of each other. That's because we are both adevturous people but when we got married, we started to establish our very own business which took so much time from us being together. Guess that pushed us to decide and parted ways."

Nakikinig lang ako ng mabuti sa kaniyang pag kwekwento habang nag-aantay kung paano sila nag ayos.

"And years passed, I met Allyson."

Mag rereact na sana ako pero he stopped me from assuming things.

"Allyson is a professional escort. Not the filthy one you may assume. She's not paid to be bed but she only goes as an escort of some in parties and any events that she would agree on."