400 Days After Fina

Day 496

400 Days After Fina by JellOfAllTrades
Chapter 33

The lights turned back on and Francine ended her presentation with a proud smile on her face. She's been awfully cheerful the whole meeting and I'm starting to get envious. I asked her a few questions regarding her presentation which she answered easily and with nothing else to discuss, we ended the meeting.

As everyone started to gather their stuff, I remained seated while my eyes adjusted to the light. The throbbing pain in my head hasn't subsided since I woke up this morning and no amount of coffee helped ease it a bit. I tried my best to attend to my duties, but with the conscious look that everyone has been carefully giving me, I've probably been emitting an unpleasant aura the whole day.

The staff started to leave so I collected my papers and approached Francine on the way to the door.

"Keep up the great work," I said to the marketing head. "Pa-forward na lang ng file sa akin later before you leave."

"Thanks, boss." She replied, packing her laptop into her bag. "By the way, can we talk?"

"About?"

"The Flores project," she muttered, following after me. "I need to send a team to Tagaytay."

"And?"

"Pwede ba akong sumama?"

I opened the door to my office and gestured for her to enter. "From what I remember, you hate going out on the field especially when you're not required to do so."

"Yeah, pero Tagaytay kasi yun."

I turned to look at her pretty face and she just gave me a look that reminded me of the puppy dog eyes I made at my mom all those years ago when I asked her if I can attend a concert with my high school buddies. "What are you planning to do in Tagaytay?"

Francine gave me an embarrassed smile and raised her left hand to show me her shiny new engagement ring. "Wedding plans,"

My jaw dropped, not noticing the engagement ring during the meeting earlier. "Holy shit, congratulations!"

I reached for her hand to look at the ring and she gladly showed it off. "He finally proposed to me last Friday and gusto mamanhikan ng family niya. I know we're swamped with work kaya naisip ko isabay ko na sa Flores project yung pagpunta kong Tagaytay para two birds with one stone."

"Francine, you've been with Matt since high school. Take the day off and don't worry too much about the project. I know how much you've been waiting for this time to come."

"Thank you, Jell!" She hugged me. "Can I make you wear a dress at my wedding?"

"Hey, sumusobra ka na ah!"

Francine giggled and playfully hit my arm. "Joke lang, ito naman!"

There was a knock on the door and Kate peeked in. "Sorry to disturb you po, ma'am. Pero Angel is on the line and she's asking for you. Urgent daw po."

"Tell her I'm busy," I replied, remembering the numerous calls and texts from Angel that I've ignored the whole day.

Kate frowned suspiciously at my answer but nodded and left.

"I hope that wasn't a client," Francine said, taking a seat in front of my desk.

"You know I'd never treat a client like that,"

She raised an eyebrow at me. "One of your girls then?"

"Sort of, kinda. I don't know." I muttered, making my way to my collection of whiskey in the other side of the room.