400 Days After Fina

Day 435

400 Days After Fina by JellOfAllTrades
Chapter 14

The pile of papers on my desk would make anyone want to quit, and yet here I am, scanning every file, signing everything that needs my name, and muttering about how badly written some of the reports are. Maybe after this ordeal, I'll have to ask my employees to take an English proficiency test because it's taking quite a toll on me to read through reports with grammatical errors.

There was a soft knock on my door and Kate peeked in to check on me. I look up from my desk and see that she's clearly stressed by the project, too.

"Ma'am six o'clock na po kasi. Mag-overtime po ba tayo?"

"Pwede ka na mauna kung gusto mo," I reply. "Marami pa kasi akong gagawin."

"Ah, samahan na po kita."

"Hindi ka ba hinihintay ni Angel?"

Kate shook her head. "Itetext ko na lang po siya."

"Basta pag gusto mo na umuwi, sabihan mo lang ako."

I return my focus on the task at hand and heard the click of the door closing. I'm unsure how much time had passed when I heard another knock on my door. This time, it was Angel who peeked in.

"Hi," she greeted. She's wearing a yellow printed shirt and denim shorts, which made her look younger than she really is.

"Anong ginagawa mo dito?" I closed the folder in front of me and approach her by the door. When I did so, my body suddenly felt heavy and I realized I haven't moved much since I started working on my paper works this afternoon.

"Overtime daw kayo ni Kate, eh." She replied. "Nagluto ako ng dinner tapos naisipan kong dumaan."

I follow her outside my office and found Kate taking out containers from a paper bag. "Ma'am, kain tayo?"

"Kumain ka na ba?" Angel asks me, obviously proud of her cooking.

"Hindi pa."

"Kain ka muna. Para yan sa inyo ni Kate." Angel smiles at me.

My mind is swimming with thoughts about our project and I don't have any appetite. I give Angel a small smile. "Salamat na lang. Sige na, Kate. Kain ka muna."

I turn away from them and returned to my office, thinking about how to reduce the equipment acquisition cost at one of our growing manufacturing plants. However, the door of my office didn't close as Angel had stopped it.

"Kain ka muna kahit onti lang." She insisted.

"I'm not hungry, Angel. And I have a lot of work to do." I tell her, pointing at my desk filled with paper.

"Mamaya?"

I shrug, unsure. She accepted the reply and went out of the room. I plumped back to my chair and continue reading through the financial report I left earlier. After seeing that the expansion project was still within a reasonable budget, I signed it off and grabbed the next file. It was another financial report, but for a different project. I placed it on a separate pile of paperwork that is non-urgent and grabbed the next folder in the urgent pile.

I've probably gone through a few files when there was another knock on my door and Angel entered, holding a container of the food she made.

"Dinalhan kita ng pagkain."

I lean back for a bit and give her an apologetic smile. "Di talaga ako gutom, Angel. Palagay na lang muna siguro dun sa center table." I point her towards the other end of the office where I usually entertain guests.

"Sige na, kain ka na kahit onti lang." She pleaded, unmoving in front of my table. "Ininit na namin to sa microwave."

"Angel, I'm busy and I'm in no mood to eat."

"Kahit onti?"

I shook my head and continued reading through the file I have opened in front of me.

"Baka kasi malipasan ka ng gutom," Angel muttered as she went to the center table and put down the food container there.

"I'll be fine, don't worry about me."

"Ang payat payat mo na nga eh. Baka magka-ulcer ka niyang ginagawa mo."

I pry my eyes off from the file and give Angel an irritated look. "Bakit ba ang kulit mo?"

"Nagaalala lang naman ako sayo!" She justified, sitting down on the couch.

"I told you, don't worry about me."

"Lalamig yung pagkain mo,"

"May microwave naman kung gusto ko initin yan." I reply, returning my focus to the file.

"Alam mo, di magugustuhan ni Fina yang ginagawa mo."

I stopped at the mention of Fina's name and gave Angel a look that meant she's nearing the end of my patience.

"Sa tingin mo ba matutuwa si Fina na magkakasakit ka dahil di mo maiwan yang trabaho mo?" She continued, unfazed by my exasperated look.

Gritting my teeth, I closed the file I was reading and leaned back on my chair.

"Kumain ka na." Angel repeated.

"Get out." I calmly said.

"Ha?"

"Get out of my office," I repeated, closing my eyes and turning the chair away from her direction. I gripped the padded arm of my chair, feeling a little satisfaction as my hand dug through the faux leather and the foam and felt the hard metal underneath.

Jaime was wrong about Angel being my new Fina. I never felt this kind of irritation with Fina before. I only felt frustration, happiness, sadness, love, and longing with her. And so far, if I were to compare Angel with Fina, she has only managed to frustrate me with her irritating personality and her naivety.

"Nainis ka ba?" Angel's voice sounded worried and hurt.

"Yes, nainis ako. Kaya lumabas ka na bago pa ako tuluyang magalit sayo."

There was a pause before the sound of a door opening told me she's leaving.

"I'm sorry," Angel said before I heard the click of the door closing.

I took a deep breath, wanting to punch myself for being triggered so easily by the mention of Fina's name. And yet, I wonder if she would have been displeased by my lack of proper eating habits.

But I know my own body. If I'm going to force myself to eat even a little, I would probably throw it all up anyway. Would Fina have preferred I waste food by vomiting it after eating or would she agree that it's better to store away the food until my body is ready to consume it? I'm guessing the latter.

Maybe the stress of getting a lot of things finished today is affecting me. Maybe I could have handled that conversation with Angel with more patience. But mentioning Fina is out of the line. She has nothing to do with our conversation and whether or not Fina would be displeased by me is out of the question. Fina's not here to tell me to eat.

Finally regaining some of my composure, I turn to face my desk once more. Angel has left the food container at the center table when she left. I walk towards it and pick it up. Inside the container was spaghetti with a lot of grated cheese on it.

I return to my desk and look at the pile of urgent files I need to finish before the day ends. I raised the stack and carefully inserted the container underneath it. Hopefully, by the time I get to the bottom of the stack, I'll be hungry and Angel's spaghetti will be there waiting for me.