The Last on the List [completed]

Chapter 5

The first couple of things I did in the morning were to prepare my uniform, check my email and shower. Pareho ng approved ang manual na ginawa ko, to be binded na lang, which Sir Richard asked of Miss Noemi. I felt proud of my accomplishment. In a way, parang may legacy na ako sa company.

In my nakedness, I stood before the mirror, smiling at the name on my chest reflecting back at me and imagining Dylan run his fingers through my name and smiling just the same. This was going to be a part of his morning ritual much as it was a part of mine.

Nagsuot na ako ng uniporme, magsasapatos na nga sana kung 'di lang ako tinawagan ni Dylan. "You up?"

At that instant, hindi ko na tinuloy ang pagmemedyas. I clearly forgot na naka-leave nga pala ako for two weeks. Nonetheless, I couldn't deny his voice felt good in my ear. "Hm. Good morning."

"Good. So kagabi naglista ako ng limang potential activity for the second item. Ngayong umaga lang ako nakapag-decide. And I want to tell you as early as now para mapaghandaan mo."

Why did I feel like ako ang gagawa ng bucket list niya instead na siya? "Ano bang next item mo?"

"I want to teach fighting."

"As in online games fighting."

"No, silly. Actual fight," sabi niya. "I want you to gather up as many children as possible. Preferably mga streetchildren and find a place where I could teach them at six. Siguro naman doable 'yon, ano?"

Ginawa akong public relation officer ng lalaking 'to. Of course, it's doable. But I didn't think I would want that. I got it. Siya naman ang magtuturo, but if I did as he said para na rin akong nag-consent at nagperpetuate ng violence.

"Uhm, Dylan, puwede ko bang malaman kung ano 'yong apat na iba? Baka mas less brutal 'yon kaysa dito."

"Actually, ito na nga ang pinaka-weak, eh." Proud pa siya niyan. "Ano kaya mo ba? Kung hindi, I could ask Reggie to do that for me –"

"Hindi, kaya ko," sabi ko. "Ako ang accountable sa bucket list mo, 'di ba?"

"Good. Text mo sa'kin ang logistics not later than five. Pag-aaralan ko pa mga ituturo ko."

And then he ended the call. With no 'Good morning.' The only reason why I said 'kaya ko' was because I was scared with what Reggie could do. Hindi lingid sa kaalaman kong bully 'yong lalaking 'yon at prankster and I was sure, kung 'di ko 'yon pipigilan, he would raise a new generation of bullies. I didn't want Dylan to get credited.

But now ano ng gagawin ko kung hindi ako mangangalap ng mga bata? Not that I knew how. Nagpalit ako ng pambahay. I was supposed to think what to do pero heto ako't nagscro-scroll down sa newsfeed, mostly, posts ni Cathy at Reggie lang ang laman, puro katarantaduhan pa at mga share for good luck. Til out of the blue, naisipan kong i-search ang name ni Sir Richard. Nang lumabas, I immediately added him. Five seconds later, my friend request got accepted.

I had this notion na nagiging ibang tao ang tao kapag nasa social media. But seeing Sir Richard's posts made me want to doubt that kasi kung gaano siya ka-okray in real life, gano'n rin siya sa account niya. Then he sent me a message.

'Finally naisipan mo rin gumawa ng account!'

'Hindi po masyadong busy, eh,' reply ko.

I continued scrolling to his timeline until I stopped at a video of some of my girl officemates in their zumba outfit. It was like a vlog, done to promote this H.R. wellness initiative. Basketball ang sa mga lalaki. Before, it was yoga. Sumasali pa ako. Pero no'ng naging mas active na ang mga activity hindi na ako um-attend. And from there, I got an idea.