Monday Blues

It was a normal Monday morning for Margaret. She went to the office and did her usual routine while waiting for her boss to arrive. As she was reading and replying to some of the emails she received, Kayla approached her table.

“Hey, Girl! How was your Friday night with that cutie?”

Margaret stared at Kayla. It was the first time since Friday that she ever thought of the guy she met at Pure Act Café.

“Did you have a fun and steamy night with him?” Kayla asked again.

Margaret looked back at her laptop. “No. Nothing happened.” She continued doing her emails, secretly hoping that Kayla stops asking her about the guy and just leave.

“Nothing?! Ohmygod! You’re so hopeless, really.”

Margaret just tried to ignore Kayla, but the latter seems to can’t stop bugging her.

“That guy looked like a very good catch,” Kayla said. “That’s why when we saw you were having a good time with him, we immediately left even though all of us wanted to have a chance with him instead.”

Margaret looked up to Kayla. “Why did you even think he was a good catch?”

“Because of the way he carried himself,” Kayla answered. “And that suit! Girl, it sure is a designer piece, and not everyone has the money to buy that kind of suit and wear it in a bar like it was just some ordinary shirt and pant suit. Ordinary men only wear that type of suit during special occasion.”

Margaret almost rolled her eyes on her friend’s prejudice.

“You didn’t even ask his digits?” Kayla asked.

Margaret is starting to feel annoyed. “Should he not be the one to do that?”

“There you go again!” Kayla said instead. “How many times do we need to tell you that you should learn to initiate sometimes? You gotta learn how to flirt, you know.”

Margaret is officially annoyed. She was about to yell at her officemate if only she didn’t talk again.

“Seriously, Marga, you will never get a boyfriend with your idealistic views on love and romance. I mean, this is the new millennium. Baby boomers are out and the millennials are in. You have to learn how to act like them, or else you’ll end up as a grumpy old maid all your–”

“Good morning, Kayla!”

Kayla’s blood on her face seems to totally disappear as she saw Fatima approached them. That is also the reason why Margaret stopped herself from reprimanding Kayla a while ago. It’s because she saw the arrival of their President and CEO.

“G-Good morning, Ma’am!” Kayla suddenly seemed flustered.

“Marga, in my office. Now,” Fatima said as she walked past Margaret’s table.

Margaret followed her boss to her office, letting out a smirk because of Kayla’s reaction.

Fatima does not seem to be annoyed when she faced Margaret inside her office. Anyway, she knows that it was Kayla who is not on her on cubicle and is wandering during office hours. She actually saved Margaret from her officemate’s nagging.

“Tell Edmalyn that her subordinate is gossiping during office hours instead of doing her job.”

Margaret smiled. “Will do, Ma’am.”

“And, this is for you.” Fatima put down a red paper bag on her executive table. “Sorry if it was late, but happy birthday!”

Margaret was touched at her boss’ generosity. “Thank you, Ma’am. You shouldn’t have.”

“My life here would be terrible without your help, so that’s the least that I could do,” Fatima said as she sat down at her chair.

“I just do what I need to, Ma’am,” Margaret said. “But, thank you very much.”

Fatima smiled curtly. “How was your birthday celebration?”

“We had lunch, the whole family, last Saturday.”

“You didn’t celebrate on Friday?”

“I went out with Kayla and the others,” Margaret answered.

“Let me guess. They tried to set you up with a guy, huh?”

Margaret was surprised at the accuracy of Fatima’s guess.

“Marga, I know you’re a strong woman, and you don’t usually get affected by those swaying, but I still would like you to remember that you don’t have to force yourself to love someone just because all the people are telling that to you. You don’t need to be desperate to find true love. It will come on its own perfect time.”

Margaret smiled.

“I know you already know that. I just hope you won’t lose that knowledge and give in to their persuasions,” Fatima added.

“I’ll try my best to be strong against the coaxing.”

“I know you’ll win.”

Margaret just smiled again.

“I remembered I need to talk to Edmalyn about something. Call her in, and I could also report her subordinate to her myself.”

“I will, Ma’am.”

Margaret went out of Fatima’s office and did as told.

*************************************************************************************

Meanwhile, it was Auguste’s first management committee meeting as the CEO of the Ortega Group. He was the one who presided the meeting, and he did it excellently as everything went smoothly for their meeting that month. The next one will be on the following month, as the management team meets up every month to talk about the status of the company.

“It sure feels weird to see you preside the meeting as the new CEO,” Thirdy said to him as they were walking back to their respective offices. “But, I might say you looked like you have been doing that all your life. You were very good back there, Cousin.”

“You know this is not the first time I attended this meeting,” Auguste said.

“Yes, but this is the first you did as the CEO. And the presider,” Thirdy said. “Well, it’s a given that you’ll perform very well as the CEO. The only thing that you will have a problem with, I think, is how to make your brother go to the office regularly. Like, where is he even right now?”

Auguste could not answer Thirdy’s question because he himself is not aware of his brother’s whereabouts.

“Hey! Mr. CEO!”

It was Iñigo. Auguste was a bit annoyed that this cousin of him was able to catch up with them, making it possible for him to engage in their conversation.

“I’ve seen the post about you on the Elite,” Iñigo started. “Man! You really had a good time last Friday, huh?”

Of course, Iñigo saw the post even though the Ortega Group’s IT team was able to remove it from the web as immediately as Auguste wanted. He is not surprised about that.

“Although, the post seems to be taken down already. Just proves how powerful Auguste Ortega is, and how competent the IT department of the Ortega Group is.”

“Were you the one who uploaded that photo to the group?” Auguste asked Iñigo.

“Me? Oh, ho ho ho! It seems, my dear cousin, that you are desperate already to not reveal your personal matters to the upper class of the province. You even accuse an innocent man like me about something I did not do.”

“You are the only one who is motivated to do that,” Thirdy said to Iñigo.

“Here goes your ignorance again, my dear cousin,” Iñigo said. “Why would I even do that, when I know that it would only make Mr. CEO here more famous within our class? I’m not that dumb.”

“I’m glad you are not yet that desperate to defeat me in an invisible battle only you know about,” Auguste said. “Now, if you will excuse me, I have a lot more important things to deal with aside from a nonsense social media post only worthless people gush about.”

Auguste could feel the wrath that Iñigo felt as he turned his back on him, making him smirk secretly. But he didn’t even manage to totally leave him when he stopped on his tracks as he saw a familiar face a few meters away from him.

The woman smiled as she saw him, and she was the one who approached Auguste since he stopped dead on his tracks. She stopped three feet away from him, then smiled.

“Auguste.”

Auguste blinked as he tried to speak. “Astrid.” His mind went blank as the world around him seemed to stop.