The Perfect Revenge

Thirty-eight

Jake

"Okay ka lang?" tanong ni Kurt when he saw me massaging and stretching my shoulder.

"I'm fine."

My cousin and project manager looked skeptic at my answer. "Where have you been these past few days, Jake? I don't have to remind you of the deadline on the Costa project—"

"I'm aware of that, thank you," I snapped.

Nag-sigh siya. "I know you've been going through a lot in your personal life. Tito Vince told us to give you a break. Pero business will not wait for you, Jake. Maraming nakabantay sa bawat kilos mo since you're the President's son and I don't want you in a position of vulnerability to the point na maging liability ka ng kompanya."

I heard what he said but chose to ignore his concerns. Those were the same sentiments I've been telling myself for the past week and a half pero hindi ko magawang bigyan pa ito ng pansin.

I used to think I've got my shit together. Boy, was I wrong. All it took was for one woman to sucker punch me with her wit and her purity and I'm a goner. Never kong na-imagine ang sarili ko na magha-hike sa bundok at magtatanim ng mais, aakyat ng puno para mamitas ng prutas, o magsuga ng baka but I did all that to show AJ that I am sincere. Kahit na hindi niya talaga alam, I'm willing to wait her out. However long it may take.

I just hope that we can fix this soon because hindi ko alam kung gaano pang kirot ang kayang pagdaanan ng mga muscles ko.

And that includes the most sensitive muscle—my heart.

Tinitigan lang ako ni Kurt at umiling, maybe making up his mind that I am already a lost cause. He tapped my shoulder at inabutan ako ng hard hat. "Okay na yung perimeter for inspection. Let's go."

Nakasunod lang ako sa team while performing our inspection. May mga kasama rin kaming students from my alma matter for their on-the-job training. I usually give the pointers sa tuwing ganitong klaseng inspection but let our senior architect do it. At one point, we had to stop and look over the blueprints kasi biglang nagtalo si Kurt at yung project engineer sa design nung upper level parking lot na magko-connect doon sa lobby nung building.

Tinanggal ko ang hard hat ko then joined their huddle, trying to figure out a way to settle the mess. By my calculations, kung matutupad yung orders ko for remediation, we will be pushed back for about a week or two and that's not a good sign. Pressured for time na kami sa client na 'to and that means more overtime work. More overtime work means less time to check on AJ.

I can feel the stirrings of a headache coming. The day just keeps getting worse.

The team agreed to finish the meeting in the office and finished the inspection.

It was nearing lunch when we walked out of the building.

Ano na kayang ginagawa ni AJ ngayon? Ang Itay kaya, kumusta na?

Napailing ako sa thoughts ko. I know it is near impossible na maging father-in-law ko siya but I can't refer to AJ's father as anything else. I have learned a lot from him the past few days na sinadya ko siya sa dwelling place niya even though halos panay grunts and "oo" or "hindi" lang ang naririnig ko mula sa kanya.

Somehow, we're two peas in a pod, contemplating and reflecting kung paano kami nakarating kung nasaan man kami at that point in our lives—lonely at hindi alam how to move forward in our lives.

"I'll meet you at the office. Sa shuttle na lang ako sasabay," paalam ni Kurt, still pissed at my distractedness.

I nodded and headed towards my car, opening the trunk and storing my equipment. For a moment, everything was fine but then it happened.