Chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR: MAYBE SOME OTHER TIME

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“Mr. Writer, you’re here!

Luis immediately smiles widely when he is welcomed by his mom’s sweet smile. She’s wearing a floral long dress and she looks like a radiant flower in the spring right now.

“Hello, mom. has I interrupted your reading?

“There you go again, calling me ‘mom’, Mr. Writer.” She giggles and pats the space beside her. “No, you didn’t interrupt me but I must tell you that I feel like you’re about to give me some great news. Come on, don’t be shy now.

He chuckles nervously. He never really understands how his mom can feel it whenever he is about to say something. “It’s a love-hate great news, mom, but you were right the last time. I've got a big break.

“Oh, that’s great then! But…?

Even his mom can hear the inaudible “but” of what he just said.

“This is a huge gamble, mom. I don’t think I can do this as perfect as I always do.

His mom smiles kindly and that warms his heart and it was almost enough to erase all his doubts. “Whatever’s holding you back with this big break, Mr. Writer, I know you can overcome it. I loved all your articles and I think this one is going to be great again.

He can feel himself tearing up but he fights back his tears. He wants to hug his mom but he also doesn’t want to scare her away. Hearing all her words of encouragement is more than enough now. This moment reminds him that he will be doing this for her.

He needs to carve into his heart that when he does finish this challenge successfully, he can finally have his mom home. He can finally hug her like what he always wanted to do. He needs to repeat this over and over again—he’s doing this for both of them.

“Thank you, mom, for believing in me.

“You can do this, Mr. Writer, I know you can.

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“Well, are you ready? Are you sure you have prepared everything you’ll need? Papers, your suit…”

It’s the third time Ma’am Tin walks back and forth in front of him. She’s wearing her casual attire for today which is a pair of high-waisted jeans and a red shirt with a dangerously high pair of Prada red stilettos. That’s casual for their boss and no one pulls casual like her.

Luis couldn’t help but laugh at their lady boss’ mom-like worries. “Everything’s okay, Ma’am Tin. No need to worry about anything, I can do this.

Sir I grins. “Your Ma’am Tin already had her sixth iced coffee for the day which means she’s really anxious, Luis, and I am very much pressuring you right now. I know you will do your best but know we are really pressuring you.

Speaking of iced coffee, another cup has arrived and Ma’am Tin immediately drinks it. “You need to get this job, Luis. I trust you but still, you’re Sir I is right. We are very much pressuring you right now because the fate of our success lies in you.

He does feel the pressure right now because tomorrow is their D-day. Like what he said, everything is prepared now and he even bought a new suit for this. Not that he actually has a lot of suits to choose from but he rarely wears them so he really needed to buy a new one. Ma’am Tin even said he should have it personally tailored for him but he refused it in the best way that he can. He couldn’t afford that, to be honest.

After his meeting with their bosses, he was dismissed early for the day and by dismissed, they really meant that he should take the day off to prepare more for tomorrow. But he really didn’t have anything else to prepare except for himself.

He keeps checking himself if he’s really ready and he is. Maybe he’ll just sleep when he gets home and try not to be nervous for tomorrow.

“Sir Luis! I’ve been waiting for you!

He smiles and waves at his co-worker. “Anything I can do for you, Miss Erika? Sorry, the meeting took a little while to finish.

She smiles guiltily. “Oh, this wasn’t as important than you’re meeting, sir, but I did something bad.

“Uh-oh, what happened?

“I misspelled your name with the order you asked me for, Sir Luis! I spelled it as ‘Louise’!

It wasn’t a big deal for him but for all the sad reasons in the world…

He remembered something else.

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[Flashback…]

“I mean, come on, if I didn’t know you’re a guy, I’d probably think you’re a girl when I hear your name. Luis Ashley—very girly. I’d imagine too that the spelling of your name would be L-o-u-i-s-e.

Luis nudges Miguel’s arm which makes the guy laugh even more. He shouldn’t have asked because this is exactly what he has expected to happen—him getting teased even further for his name, and about that spelling of the name? Yup, that’s the exact spelling of name written on their cups.

This isn’t new for him anymore, that at first heard of his name, anyone would indeed think that he’s a girl. Like what happened when they were ordering their coffee just now. The other lady barista, who wasn’t the one who took their orders, called him a “miss”.

“We should’ve just used your name.

Miguel grins. “I like your name. If you respect my newly discovered fondness with your name, you’ll let me use it every time we go out for coffee.

Okay, first of all, to be honest, he doesn’t really get why this “popular guy” in their university is still sticking with him like this. Miguel already established the fact they are indeed friends but to him? It still feels… weird. Not because of Miguel himself but the fact that he is having friends like this. That’s what feels weird for him. Who would’ve thought that having your first ever friend would feel weird?

Second, going out like this is even newer for him. He has never spent his time going out like this. If he did, his orders will be on taking out.

Third—Miguel. Again, he doesn’t really understand this guy.

“Why did we get out again?

Miguel looks at him as if he is kidding but he really isn’t because he totally forgets why they are really here for.

The guy, being very good at acting, makes it look like he just stabs him on the heart. “You cause me the deepest pains there are in the world, Luis Manalo.

He chuckles and fixes his glasses. He even grins. “Stop being overdramatic, Migs. I can’t really remember why we are here.

“Damn, Luis, if you’re always going to look that confident—damn really! Everyone will see how hot my friend is!

“W-What?” He only fixes his glasses, what’s with this guy’s sudden hype about?

Miguel turned from an excited boy then back to being serious again—really just a few seconds apart. “Oh wait, forget what I just said. I’m still not ready to share this other side of you to the world. Besides, you’re still too thin to be this hot.

Well, he can’t really understand this guy’s sudden mood swings and side comments. He just shook his head and went back to his question of why they are here today.

“You’re really hurting me! We’re here because you asked for an interview with a med student!

That took him a while to sink in what Miguel just said… “Oh! That interview!

“Oh yes, dum-dum, that’s why we’re here. Come on, hit me with those questions now.

He fought back the urge to laugh because Miguel looked really look like a kid who’s expecting for something right now. “I did say something about an interview with a med student but I didn’t say…”

He purposely didn’t finish his sentence and just like what he expected, Miguel sulked like a kid again. That made him really laugh now.

“Luis Ashley Manalo!

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[Present…]

“Miss Louise Ashley Manalo?

Luis stood up knowing that it’s him even if he can perfectly imagine that in that lady’s mind, the spelling of his name is ‘Louise’. “Luis Ashley Manalo. I’m a man, ma’am.

“Oh! Sorry, Mister Manalo. Please proceed to the panel room to your right.

He simply smiled and went inside the room as the lady instructed.

Is he nervous? Yes.

Can he pull this through? Yes.

Is he 100% confident about this? Yes.

There’s no room for other plans and there’s no room for failures. He will get this job.

The ‘House of Kings’ has an amazing interior design and it is what kept him distracted for a little while. In the entirety of his career, this is the actual first time he had the reason to be in here, in this very building. Once he gets the job, he’ll appreciate everything more of this.

“Hello, Mr. Luis. I’m Sixth, secretary of the Kings. We’ll start whenever you’re ready.

Luis immediately felt the warm welcome from the man in the middle of the three-panel table. He didn’t mean to be rude but the man who just spoke looks so young that if he didn’t introduce himself as the secretary to the big bosses, he might think he shouldn’t be here. He looks even younger than him!

He cleared his throat and smiled, too. He has already stalled too much time. “I’m ready, Sir Sixth.

The questions were typically the questions you’ll hear from an interview and he made sure to make introduce himself well through his answers. What made him calm was that the panel liked his sample photos.

Part of the job description was that photography skills were needed. Good thing that it became a hobby of his and he really liked things you could do with cameras. Aside from writing, photography shares a part of his passion.

“Well, thank you for your time, Mr. Luis Manalo. We’ll make sure to call you for updates—” The secretary was interrupted by notification from his phone and smiles. “Oh, it seems like the big boss is headed here.

That made him want to faint.

The big boss is coming?

As in ‘the’ big boss?

The lady who assisted them called the other interviewees to join them and that made him more nervous than the moment he stepped in this building. The buzz of excitement of everyone is suddenly deafening. He’s internally panicking. He needs to get out of here—quickly!

Very discretely, Luis made his way to Sixth. “A-Are we required to stay here, Mr. Sixth?

The kind man smiles. “Not really, Mr. Luis. But don’t you want to meet the big boss? It’s kind of rare that someone didn’t want to meet him.

“C-Can I be excused then, sir? I-I mean, I a-actually have an emergency?

Sixth chuckles. “Are you asking me if you have an emergency?

“I-I mean…”

“You can go, Mr. Luis. Relax, it’s not like you’re required to meet the boss already. Again, thank you for your time. Don’t be too nervous about excusing yourself because it’s really okay.

He thanked the kind secretary and went on his way out even if it seemed impossible with everyone gathered in here. He even received some glances because he was leaving already. He can understand the looks because if he didn’t have a side agenda about being here, he’ll surely be the one to stay longer in here to have the possibility of meeting, or just simply seeing, the man behind the company.

But today, his heart and whole being cannot handle that. He’s not ready for that.

Maybe… Maybe some other time.

The moment the elevator opened, he immediately got in and prayed that he would get the job even though he’s leaving earlier than he should be. The elevator’s doors were just about to close when in that perfect moment…

He saw Juan Miguel King.

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