My Love In Her Past (3rd Book Of 'In Her Past' Series)

Chapter 1

"Franz!!! What the hell is this?!", sigaw niya habang inis na winawagayway ang isang folder na may lamang mga papel.

Humahangos namang pumasok sa kwarto niya ang babae niyang assistant at muntik pa ngang madapa dahil sa pagmamadali. Dali-dali nitong nilapag ang kaniyang pina-order na Starbucks coffee. Nakasunod sa likod nito ay ang baklang manager niya na si Franz na nakataas ang kilay.

"Here's your triple, grande, vanilla, two percent, extra hot with whip Mocha drink, Miss Betty.", ani ng babae habang pinupunasan pa ang tumutulong pawis sa noo nito. Mukhang tumakbo dahil sa takot na kagalitan niya.

"I know. Halata naman diba. Anong akala mo sa akin? Walang mata?", inis niyang sabi dito na mas nagpatakot sa kaniyang assistant.

She's well-known for being an impatient, cold-hearted b*tch that fires people without second thought. If they can't keep up with her then they have no room in her life.

"May, thank you. Lumabas ka muna at may pag-uusapan kami ni Betty.", sabi ni Franz sa kaniyang assistant habang pagod na tiningnan lang siya. Parang sinasabi na huwag niya na namang i-fire ang bagong assistant dahil ito na naman ang mamomroblema sa paghahanap ng bago.

She just crossed her arms while leaning back at her condo's pristine-white sofa and then lifted her perfectly arched eyebrows at Franz.

Sa lahat ng nakatrabaho niya ay ito lamang ang nakatagal sa kaniya kaya naman alam na niyang immuned na ito sa pagtataray niya.

Her assistant, who apparently is named May, scurried out of the room. She doesn't bother remembering any of her assistant's names dahil lagi namang napapalitan ang mga iyon.

Remembering their names are a waste of space inside my brilliant brain.

"Pinadala ng management iyan.", ani ni Franz habang tinuturo ang folder na binato niya sa glass table ng condo niya. "They want you to take the role of the leading lady.", dagdag nitong paliwanag.

Agad naman siyang naguluhan sa sinabi nito.

"What the heck?! They already knew that I stopped accepting movie projects ever since last year!", hindi niya makapaniwalang ani sa sinabi ni Franz.

"I knew that already, Betty.", exasparated nitong sabi. "I told them that there's no way you will accept the role and besides, you still have an upcoming documentary project here in Australia. Sabi ko sa kanila na if as a producer ay baka pumayag ka pa but they insisted that you play the leading lady role. Ayaw daw ng director ng ibang actress unless it's you.", dagdag na sagot nito.

She used to be a popular actress but an issue of her flirting with a co-actor that already had a girlfriend made things complicated for her. Lalong-lalo na at anak ng governor ang girlfriend nito.

She doesn't really care about the hate comments but the company handling her think otherwise. So she chooses to be a producer and continue in this industry but not as an actress anymore.

They could hate me all they want but I'm still better than them. Mga inggetera! Hindi iiyak ang isang Emmy awardee sa mga walang kwentang comments ng mga pipitsuging tao na katulad nila.

"I thought that they don't want me to act anymore?! Why the sudden change?", hindi niya makapaniwalang tanong kay Franz.

"Kahit ako nagtataka especially because of your attitude problem-", sagot nito but she suddenly interrupted him.

"Franz, I don't have an attitude problem. I'm just truthful. You know me, I don't appreciate fake, plastic people. Kaya nga I don't sprinkle flowery words in what I say. If panget sila then I'll say they look horrible. If they can't understand a simple instruction then I'll call them stupid. That's how this harsh world works.", pagtatama niya dito.

Franz just rolled his eyes at her bago nagsalita, "Betty, you should also know that their are certain times that you can't just mindlessly say whatever you wanted to say. Tingnan mo ang nangyari. You are asked to take a break in acting just to calm that governor's daughter."

"Franz, hindi ko kasalan na ako ang pinili ng director na maging leading lady ng boyfriend niya instead of her.", pagtatanggol niya sa sarili.

"I agree naman sa sinabi mo, Betty but you still flirted with her boyfriend while filming that movie.", saad ni Franz habang lumalapit sa katapat niyang sofa para umupo.

"I didn't flirted with him. Masyado lang assuming ang boyfriend niya. Can you even consider winking as flirting?!", hindi papatalo niyang wika.

"You didn't just winked at him, Betty. Don't you remember? You kissed him too.", pagtatama nito sa kaniya.

"Eh ano naman?! It's just a kiss! You can't consider that as flirting!", ani niya while crossing her arms again.

"Let me rephrase it then. You FRENCH-KISSED him infront of his GIRLFRIEND.", diin na sabi nito.

She opened her mouth to defend herself but realized that she got nothing to say back.

"Ok. I'll admit to that.", sabi niya dito. "But still it's not flirting for me! Nainis lang ako sa babaeng iyon dahil kung ano-ano ang pinagkakalat tungkol sa akin so I decided to get even. She kept on saying that I'm a slut so why not do what she kept on saying about me! At saka it's not my fault that her boyfriend moaned when I kissed him right in front of her.", inis niyang dagdag.

"But that's the exact reason why all of these happened to you! People started calling you names and saying sh*t like, wala kang delicadeza at ganda lang meron sa iyo.", Franz pointed out.

"Franz! Nahihirapan rin ako! It's hard to be beautiful, hot, intelligent and perfect like me. Do you know how many messages from hot guys that I have to read?! Do you even know how frustrating it is to be constantly asked for a date by bachelor billionaires?! Ang hirap maging maganda!", seryoso niyang sabi dito.

Napabuntong-hininga na lamang ito sa sinabi niya at napahilot sa sintido.

"Sige na. Ikaw na ang tama.", suko nito. "But please read a few pages of that script today and then tell me your decision tomorrow morning para naman makabigay na ako ng final decision sa management.", dagdag nito habang tinuturo ang puting folder.

He stood up and walked towards the door and left her after giving her some reminders.

Napabuntong-hininga siya ng malakas at tiningnan ang folder na may lamang script. After awhile ay napagdesisyunan niyang basahin na iyon.

When she flipped the first page of the script, the first thing that greeted her are the words:

"Ikaw lamang ang makakapagpabago sa mapait niyang tadhana."