Clay's P.O.V.
"That's all for us today gentlemen." Wika ko bilang pagtatapos ng meeting.
Isa-isang naglabasan mula sa opisina ang mga board of directors at ang ilan sa mga magagaling na game developers ng kompanya. Nang makaalis na ang lahat ay sumalampak ako pabalik sa executive chair at saka napahilot sa leeg ko. This day is tiring and stressful.
Humugot ako ng malalim na buntong-hininga saka napatingin sa wristwatch ko. It's past 2 pm now and I haven't had my lunch yet. I wonder what Nati is doing right now. Did that woman had her lunch already?
Tumayo ako mula sa upuan ko at saka lumabas ng conference room. Tinungo ko ang aking opisina kung saan ko ito iniwanan kanina. I hope she did not wait for me. I didn't expect for my meeting to be this long.
Pagpasok ko sa opisina ay naabutan ko itong nakayukyok sa harap ng laptop ko. I let out a smile seeing her peaceful expression. I close the door as silent as I can and walk towards her. That is when I saw that she is playing some Mr. Bean cartoon episodes in my YouTube account. Napangiti ako saka napailing habang nakatitig sa pinapanood nito. She must have fallen asleep while watching.
Doon ko naramdaman ang pagkulo ng tiyan ko. Seeing her here makes me think that she haven't eaten anything as well since this morning.
"Nati, sweetheart. Wake up." Wika ko saka bahagya itong tinapik sa pisngi upang gisingin ito.
Her eyes fluttered open with confusion in it. I can't help but smile upon seeing her innocent just wake up face. This is the woman that I am set to spend waking up in the morning for the rest of my life. I think that is not too bad after all.
"Ow, you're here now." Pupungas-pungas na wika nito saka umayos ng pagkakaupo.
Umayos na rin ako ng tayo at saka bahagyang lumayo rito.
"Yeah, I'm sorry it takes this long. Have you eaten lunch already?" Tanong ko rito.
She let out a yawn first before shaking her head. I can't help but feel arouse while looking at her simple innocent reactions. If there is no thick wall built between us, I'm pretty sure I would prefer to have her for lunch that going out in a restaurant. Bahagya kong ipinilig ang ulo ko upang alisin ang agiw na bigla na lang lumitaw sa kung saan. I can have all those dirty thoughts of her after our wedding, for now it is so much important for me to get her trust and her love. After all, those two are the one that I've lost before she left.
"Let's go. I know a good seafood restaurant nearby. Let's have lunch." Pag-aya ko rito.
Her eyes sparkles in happiness at my words. Just like how I remember her, she haven't change a bit. She still easy to please and she loves crab. It is one of the food that she's actually addicted into. She used to tell how heaven loves her for not giving her a seafood allergy.
"Yup, now I'm hungry." Wika nito saka tumayo mula sa upuan ko.
She walk towards her bag that is on a single sofa near my bookshelf. I turn off my laptop and open the drawer where I usually put my phone. I unlock my phone and see few messages from my friends and 4 miss calls from George.
I have a feeling that George won't give me a call unless it was something important. I am about to return his call when I noticed that he also sent me a message. Curious, I open the message only to frown upon seeing that it is an invitation.
"Ready?" Tanong sa akin ni Nati dahilan upang magangat ako ng tingin rito mula sa screen ng phone ko.
"Yeah." I answered and put my phone on my pocket.
Nagpatiuna ako upang pagbuksan ito ng pinto. I have a feeling that she won't like the news that I am about to bring to the table so I better tell her about it after our lunch. I don't want her to lost her appetite just because of the unexpected news.
I drove us towards the restaurant and let her order. As expected, she ended up ordering crabs and lobster meal with mango juice. Though as lot about her have changed already, some old habits are don't die easily I guess. She's still that sweet shy woman I used to know.
"Is there any problem?" Tanong nito habang nasa kalagitanaan kami ng pagkain.
I turn to look at her with a questioning look.
"The food is great, but you eat like as if it taste awful or gruesome. Is there any problem?" Paglilinaw nito.
I release a sigh and put down the cutlery beside my plate. I guess even if I try to hide it, she will still feel that something is off about me. It's just that I am not comfortable of informing her about it because it might end up ruining her mood. She just starting to loosen up to me, I don't want us to go back from where we started the first time we met again back in her house.
"Listen, first off, if it's okay if you don't want to say yes to it." Pagsisimula ko rito, silently praying that she won't take it negatively.
She raised her left eyebrow on me. Mas lalo akong kinabahan sa reaksyon nito. I don't want her to hate me again simply because of this invitation.
"Sure, what is it?" Hindi napigilan nitong tanong ng hindi ako agad nagsalita.
"Since our wedding announcement is all over news. Astrea organized a get together with our friends back in MCYT." I hold my breath as I watch different emotions in her eyes until it completely turns blank. "Look, if you are not comfortable of going. It's totally okay–."
"I'll go." Putol nito sa sasabihin ko.
Saglit akong natigilan. She'll go? That's it? No drama?
"Are you sure about that? I'm pretty sure that Alanah will be there as well." Wika ko saka dinampot ang baso ng mango juice upang lumagok mula roon.
She shrugs and turns her eyes back on her plate. I can't help but notice how she is purposely avoiding my eyes, making my believe that she's not totally okay with it.
"I can stand her for one night. It's not really a big deal for me." Sagot nito saka ipinagpatuloy ang pagkain niya.
I nodded at her to agree. If ever Alanah try something, I will be beside her to protect her so I'm guessing I shouldn't worry much about that. What I don't like though is that this get together might end up reminding her about the main reason why she left. She says he hates me for lying to her, but then she haven't really said a single word to burst out her anger towards me. Hinihintay ko na sumbatan ako nito. That way I will know which part is broken, which part of her I need to reach out and heal. She's too hard to read now unlike before.
Tumango ako rito bilang pagsang-ayon sa rito.
I have a feeling that this get together is not going to end so well in my favour. Though Nati might not admit it, she just has so many insecurities in general. She's more beautiful now that she used to be, but she's not really confident of herself like she used to be. The old Nati I knew don't really care about superficial things. She's too obsessed with her crafts to pay attention to the vanities of the world. It makes me sad to see how she felt inferior now than her old version. And I have nothing to blame for all of it but myself. I'm pretty sure that her inferiority only sprouts because of me.
This is why I can't really blame her for hating me and the idea of us getting married.
YOU ARE READING
Arranged Marriage With A Game Developer
Romance(MCYT Series book one) She left, feeling defeated at the fact that the man she trusted with her heart and soul turns out to be the one to destroy her. Six years later she come back to the country with a much more confident personality. Only to be s...
