Baby Madness

Chapter 31

I hastily left the meeting room, wishing nobody would look at me, until I found the room where Greg let me stayed. Pagkapasok ko sa loob ay agad kong ni-lock ang pinto at pinunasan ko ang pisngi ko pero tuluy-tuloy pa rin ang mga luha ko. Bwisit.

At least, no one could see me—

It felt like someone had poured me a bucket of cold water when I saw a guy at the desk, staring right at me. We were both frozen, unsure of what to do in this awkward situation. All of a sudden, he spun his chair and faced the glass wall, as if he just saw something embarrassing.

"Sorry. Uh, are you okay—"

Hindi ko na siya pinatapos at agad akong lumabas sa kwartong 'yon. Do'n ko na-realize na sa katabing room pa pala ang dapat kong pupuntahan. Damn, what an idiot.

Pumasok ako at nakita ko ro'n ang shoulder bag na dala ko. Napaupo na lang ako sa couch at dahil sa mga nangyari. Isang oras pa lang ang nakakalipas mula nang lumapag ako sa bansang 'to pero gusto ko nang umuwi. I couldn't stand being in the same place as that guy.

Huminga ako nang malalim at kumalma muna dahil ayaw kong lumabas nang ganito. I applied a bit of concealer and foundation below my eyes to cover the redness. After that, I went out to find Greg, hoping that he would already take me to the hotel.

As I was wandering around this floor, I noticed some employees were staring at me as if they were checking if I was real or not. Naalala ko ang sinabi ng isang board member kanina. Maybe I really looked like the younger version of my mother.

Binilisan ko na lang ang paglalakad ko at patuloy na hinanap si Greg. Napadaan ako sa ilan pang executive rooms at balak ko sanang pumunta sa kabilang wing nang narinig ko bigla ang pangalan ko. I immediately stopped, walked backward and looked at the room in front of me.

"Are you really sure about this, Crisostomo?" an old voice asked and I let out a scowl when I heard my father's name.

"I have no choice, Peter," he said.

"But she seemed bewildered earlier," the old guy reasoned, "and disappointed. She's your daughter, you know."

"I can't be a father in front of the board members," he retorted. "You know that they will use that against us. I have to protect my family and this company, Peter."

"You will lose your chance to get close to her."

"If that will protect them, then by all means, I'll be the bad guy in her eyes."

I heard the shuffling of their feet so I immediately ceased eavesdropping and left the area. My heart was pounding painfully against my chest after hearing their conversation and I don't know if I should believe him or not. It didn't make sense. How could someone like him utter those kind of words? Protect? His family? It sounded like a bad joke.

My head was spinning from thinking too much so I went back to that room. All I wanted was some peace of mind yet hearing him made me nauseous, as if I was in a maze, lost and tired from all these drama.

Bigla ko namang naalala ang sagutan namin kanina sa meeting room. He didn't tell me about the situation and that made me mad. He was already a disappointment as a father in my eyes and he wanted to be worse than that? To protect me? The company? From what? From whom?

My train of thought dissolved into thin air when I heard someone entering. My face turned into a frown when I saw my father standing on the doorway.

"Chloe . . ." he called but his voice faltered and I remembered telling him not to call my name anymore. "I didn't know you're here."

Tumingin naman ako sa kabilang direksyon. "Greg said I should wait here," sagot ko naman.