Chapter 7 Seven

• “Oh no! That ugly doll is staring again.” I almost fell off my seat if I hadn’t grabbed the edge of my table because of the strong blow I received.
• “Why?! And I told you not to call me that!” I almost shouted back, tucking the fallen hair away from my face.
• “Because you’re a witch! What’s your problem? You’re always staring into space? And why? Elara is too long! What a waste of my saliva!” JC, the witch, yes, he’s gay, he’s my co-department head, and I was with him during my last year in college, asked.
• “Nothing, I’m just tired. I’ve been interviewing for 3 days straight, and please, fix your attitude.” I just replied, not in the mood to chat right now.
• “Anyway, oh yeah, congrats girl, the President liked the applicants you selected, but before I forget, he issued a memo.”
• “What memo? I’m not doing anything, why would he issue a memo to me?”
• “Not sure, but he said to see him before lunch.” I quickly checked the wall clock near my desk.
• “Shit, it’s already 11 am.”
• He nodded as if to say yeah, you’re stating the obvious.
• “Go on, go see him.” He pushed me gently and walked back to his cubicle. At first glance, he doesn’t really look gay, he’s not a cross-dresser. Wherever we are, he said he doesn’t need to wear women’s clothes, he’s gay but he respects himself, and I agree with that. I’m not against cross-dressers, it’s just that maybe it’s not suitable for others, but why do I have to care about that? It’s their lives anyway, if you want to do things like that, then go ahead, as long as you’re not hurting anyone.
• I stood up quickly, as I might meet a lot of people in the elevator, and there’s a memo I didn’t hear about. I halted for a moment when I realized that Alex is nowhere to be found.
• “Where’s Alex?”
• The witch laughed, so I furrowed my brow. “I thought you wouldn’t notice because of the many things on your mind. Anyways, it’s his sibling’s death anniversary today, so she took a leave.”
• Oh right, it’s her sibling’s death anniversary. It felt like something got stuck in my throat when I remembered that, I took a deep breath and smiled slightly to hide what I was feeling.
• “Okay, I’ll just call her later. I’ll go upstairs first.” I said before leaving our department.
• I walked quickly towards the elevator, it would be embarrassing to make the President wait. He’s too kind to be abused by anyone. I counted five more minutes before I reached his door, so I fixed my hair and brushed off the part of my clothes that had wrinkled. I knocked three times and waited to be let in.
• “Come in.” He said softly, so I opened the door slowly.
• “Good morning Sir, I’m sorry for being late.” I immediately apologized upon entering.
• He smiled and shook his head. “No, it’s okay. Please take a seat.” He said, which I immediately followed.
• “Sir, why did you call me?” I asked immediately, taking a deep breath to cover my breathlessness from running.
• “Ah yes, about one of the applicants you accepted.” He said and sat on the swivel chair, arranging the folders in front of him.
• “Who among them, Sir?” I asked because I didn’t know who he was referring to. We hired forty applicants this month, so I was very tired.
• “That guy named Zander Vanth?” He seemed unsure if he read the name on the folder correctly. It must be Jaxon’s.
• I felt like I got electrocuted when I heard the name. “What about him, sir?”
• “I’ll go straight to the point, include him in the team building next month.” My brow furrowed at what he said, but wait, us? We have a team building? Why wasn’t I informed? Am I that loaded with my past?
• “Wait, sir, do we have an event like that?” It might sound stupid, but I just wanted to clarify.
• “Yes, actually I told you first, but don’t worry, I’ll be the one managing that one, so I didn’t announce it. Anyway, these are the papers, I’ll give them to you, distribute them one week before the team building, so that everyone in the three departments can prepare.” He instructed, then handed me a pile of bond papers.
• “But sir, it’s embarrassing for you if that’s the case, I should be the one you asked to do this.” It really is embarrassing, because imagine? The President will be the one managing our event?
• “No worries, it’s okay.” He finished, making it even more embarrassing.
• “Which departments are involved in this?”
• “Oh yes, I almost forgot, I’ll give a memo to every department that I’ll include. The HR department, of course, the Accounting department, and the Visual and Arts department.”
• “Yes, sir. I’ll inform the department heads.” He nodded, so I stood up from my seat to bid goodbye.
• “And Miss Callista.” I stopped walking and looked at him.
• “Yes, sir?”
• “You’ll never find happiness if you don’t know how to forgive those who hurt you.” I didn’t know why, but I thought of only one person when I heard that, even though I have many grievances, there’s only one person I can’t stand to be with or see.
• Of course, I didn’t say that. I just took a deep breath before facing him and smiling. “It takes time to heal any wound, sir.”
• “I’ve been your professor since your second year in college, I know you well, Elara.”
• I smiled at what he said. Yes, he has been my professor since college, and I’ve really grown fond of him. He’s very kind, and I can rely on him at all times, including his children and his wife, they’ve become my second family.
• “Yes, uncle. Thank you for not forgetting me even though you’re busy.” He laughed and stood up, hugging me tightly.
• “I missed my baby girl, sigh. You’ve grown so much now. Before, you didn’t care about the world. I became your father in the university, Daniel entrusted you to me, so I hope you’ll be happy with all the decisions you make, my child.”
• I teared up because I’m so happy to have two fathers, my dad and Uncle Robert, who have been best friends since high school. I was in college when I met him, my dad was an OFW at that time, and we were supposed to go home together when they met in the hallway, and everything was history.
• “Okay, Uncle, I need to go, I still have papers to finish.” I bid him goodbye, because I really need to go down, I know he’s busy too.
• “Alright.” He lightly patted my shoulder. “Oh, by the way, the guy you just hired, I have this feeling, and I rarely feel like this, you know.” He said with a smile, “I know that you will end up together.”
• I gasped. “Uncle!” I almost shouted, I was surprised, he was saying all sorts of things.
• He laughed. “What? I’m watching you both while you’re doing the interview, that guy is into you, I’ll bet all my wealth.” He said then chuckled again, “He looked at you the same way I looked at my wife.”