["PLAY THE KING" IS ACT TWO OF THE "PLAY" SERIES. PLEASE READ "PLAY THE QUEEN" FIRST.]
It's been four months since Priam Torres, the once unpopular president of the Elysian University Student Council, assumed office. Thanks to his chief-of-staff Cas...
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CASTIEL
IF I could only rip the latest Herald issue into shreds, I would have done it already. But other students were present around me, reading the same newspaper. Two Herald staffers were also in front who handed me a copy. Instead of creating a scene, I went on my way to the admin building.
What caused my blood to boil this morning? The headline. Alaric the Prick for vice president?! If I were a conspiracy theorist, I would think that they paid the writer or our student publication to publish that article. But The Herald was not known for being a paid news media on campus.
Well, whatever. There would not be any special election for the VP spot. The Constitution and By-Laws granted the USC president—who happened to be Priam—the power to choose, not the student body. We could ignore that survey and use the newspaper as a tissue paper instead.
Something did not feel quite right when I entered the USC office today. Rowan was in his cubicle, preparing the media brief for later. Tabitha was in her cubicle, preparing the budget requests for the upcoming campus fair. Sabrina was in her cubicle, preparing letters to be sent out to sponsors and concessionaires.
When I got to mine, I realized what was wrong—or missing. Valeria. The cubicle on my left was vacant. It had been a few days since she resigned as vice president. Noong una'y hindi ko masyadong ramdam. Baka dahil inisip kong naka-leave siya o nag-absent ng ilang araw? But today, the realization that she was gone for good from the USC hit hard.
I should have been the one out of this office, not her.
As much as I wanted to mourn her departure for a bit longer, we had a student government to run and a student body to lead. Makikita pa namin si Valeria sa campus at puwede pa naman siyang bumisita rito. We had to move on and move forward.
Knock! Knock!
I knocked twice on the wing panel of Priam's cubicle. As usual, his eyes were glued to the screen of his laptop, his fingers flying across the keyboard as he was making addendums in the campus fair plans. He had been working on it for the past few weeks. If it weren't for the distraction that was the impeachment trial, he would have been done with it.
Mabuti't agad na umangat ang kaniyang tingin sa akin. Huminto rin ang mga daliri niya sa pagta-type. He had become more attentive since the start of Oplan First Lady. Good. Being with Fabienne had changed him for the better.
"Are you ready? We have a meeting in five minutes?" I asked him after checking the time on my phone.
He checked his wristwatch, his eyebrows moving. "Oh, is it time already? I did not notice." He shut down his laptop, sprang from his seat, and fixed his blazer. He bobbed his head toward me and we walked side by side to the conference room.
Everyone in the council gathered in the aquarium. I sat in the swivel chair left of Priam. The one on his right remained vacant, out of respect for Val. Sigh. The council felt incomplete without her. It's like Christmas without the chilling breeze of December or New Year's Eve without the fireworks.
