Chapter 3- Nahilo

Friday, the next day.

Luke looked over at Claire's desk. She was busy with a press release for another client, frowning at the screen. Late lang ito ng ilang minuto, pero halos sabay lang naman silang dumating sa opisina. Nakakunot ang noo nito habang panay tipa sa keyboard ng MacbookPro na katabi naman ng iMac na naalala niyang pinilit niyang ipagamit sa babae kahit may office laptop at personal laptop ito. Well, call him tech-savvy, but Luke wanted everything to work according to his standards. At kahit nakailang tanggi ang sekretarya niyang mabango naman pala ang buhok na gamitin ang mga gadget na binili niya, napilit niya naman ito.

He looked at her intently. Ngayon lang niya napagtangtong matangos naman pala ang ilong ni Claire. Ang pilik mata naman nito ay hindi na kailangan ng extension katulad ng mga babae sa buhay niya na halos dalawang oras kung makapag ayos ng sarili. Ito namang sekretarya niya ay halos lipstick lang ang palamuti sa mukha at may itim na eyeglasses pa. Cute. Kastigo niya sa sarili.

Claire is untouchable.

Paalala niya ulit sa sarili.

Napangiti naman siya sa nakitang pagsimangot nito. Kung ihahambing para itong si Maja Salvador, simple at unique ang ganda. Pilipinang pilipina, pero si Claire, siya itong, kahit naka Nerdy Look ay mapapansin mo. Lalo na pag-naka pencil skirt ito na laging suot at pinarisan ng puting blusa na halos naging uniform na ng una.

Sa halos limang taong paninilbihan nito sa kanya, halos kabisado niya na rin ang ugali nito. Madali lang itong mainis sa kanya at laging nakasimangot kaya lagi niya rin itong iniinis. Siguro nga, hindi na siya crush nito na tulad nung dating unang ilang buwan nito sa kanya na halos namumula-mula ang pisngi nito pag kinakausap niya.

Those were the days. Iling ni Luke.

Good for her, though.

He never wanted her to be on his list of flings. Claire is untouchable.

Luke checked his watch.

He watched the seconds tick down towards two o'clock with a strange, nervous tingling in his stomach, iinisin niya na naman ito. In fact, naging libangan niya na ang makitang pag-ismid ng mga labi at pagkukunot noo sa kung ano-anong mga request na naiisip niya.

He was fascinated to see what would happen; he wanted to see the unsuspecting girl in front of him drop into a mindless trance of annoyance while doing his bidding.

Two o'clock exactly. Luke looked across the office, but Claire was still typing, concentrating on her work. He felt a pang of disappointment, feeling foolish that he'd believed the good doctor, watching Claire carry on as normal. People weren't just programmable machines after all.

Tumayo siya at lumapit sa pintuan, binuksan ito at nagsabi, "Claire, natawagan mo na ba si Denmark?" Lapit tanong niya rito, alam naman niyang hindi pa nagagawa ng sekretarya.

"Wala pa po, sir." Claire's brow creased in irritation as she picked up her phone. Glancing quickly, she tapped the screen and put it down on her desk before resuming her work. "I've sent him the reminder, na po," sagot nitong hindi man lang lumingon sa kanya.

Luke sighed. He'd have to call his cousin and discuss something.

Claire's eyes flicked across the screen, still reading the press release. "Sir, nabasa nyo na po ba itong, press release ng kabila?" Tukoy nito sa kalabang company.

"I did,” sagot niya, “in fact, let Denmark handle it," diin niyang sagot, alam naman niyang kaya naman ito ng Relation Director nilang pinsan niya din sa ama.

"Ah, okay—" sagot ni Claire—bigla itong napahinto. All at once, her eyes went blank, and then her head dropped. Luke squirmed inside. Napakunot noo siya.

Claire's hands stopped moving as her eyes drifted closed. In less than five seconds, his busy assistant had become a silent mannequin. Nahihilo na naman yata ito.

"Miss, Garcia, did you take your iron?" Tanong niya, then he walked quietly to her desk and crossed the floor in second.

Luke stood by Claire's body, still upright in her chair, legs casually crossed at the ankles, her hands resting comfortably either side of her keyboard.

"Magpahinga ka muna, tilt your head down and close your eyes. Huminga ka ng malalim." Ani Luke na nakatingin sa sekretarya niyang mababa ang dugo or matigas ang ulo at hindi ininom ang resetang gamot ng uncle Sebastian niya.

The only outward sign of anything amiss was Claire’s bowed head and her slack expression. Luke leaned closer, hinahawakan niya ito sa balikat, looking for any sign, any tell-tale that his assistant was about to wake up and resume her activities. He had a powerful urge to touch the frozen woman but held back, unsure what to do, whether it would interfere with her breathing.

"Oh, ano? Okay ka na?" tanong niyang nasa tono ang pag-alala. "Or should I call a doctor?"

"Huwag na po. Nahilo lang ako bigla."

"Are you pregnant?"

Napataas naman ng kilay si Claire at tumingin bigla kay Luke.

Grabe, nahilo lang, pregnant agad? Di ba pwedeng kulang lang sa tulog at kulang sa kain? Or di kaya lasing lang siya kaya nahilo? Grabe naman kung maka judge ang herodes na ito.

Napakuyom ng kamao si Claire, "Paano ako mabubuntis? Boypren nga wala. Buntis pa kaya?"

"Oh— well, so okay, kana? Nawala na ang hilo?" Saad ni Luke na gustong mapangiti dahil sure na sure siyang nainis ito sa tanong niya.

Point to Luke. Ngiti niya sa sarili.

He smirked as he thought how he liked it when he got into her nerves.

Instead, Luke perched on the corner of Claire's desk, shuffling her trim bottom chair until she was comfortable, and settled down to watch.

"Hey teka lang!" gigil na pabiglang sigaw ni Claire.

"I'm just trying to make you comfortable. Relax. Breath in, breathe out," ani Luke, halatang hindi naman nababahala. "Mahuhulog ka sa upuan mo. We don't want that, just close your eyes, mawawala rin yang hilo mo."

“Hays!” reklamo naman ni Claire habang pinipikit ang mga mata.

Nakatingin naman si Luke sa mapupulang labi ni Claire.

Something about his assistant's blank face fascinated Luke in a way that took him completely by surprise. His business was all about changing people's minds, and he always got a little kick whenever he heard an idea he'd expected come out of the mouth of another person, but this was different. Claire meant so much to him that he even asked his uncle to take care of her well-being. Umupo si Luke sa tabing bakanteng upuan. He crossed his legs, feeling a little hard down below. Entirely unexpected.

Ilang minuto pa ang nakalipas, nagsalita na muli si Claire. "O-okay, na po a-ako, sir. Bigla lang akong nahilo nung biglang yumuko, but I’m o-okay now," ani Claire na pinipilit imulat ang mga mata. 

 "Are you sure?"

She nodded her head.

After a few minutes, Luke decided that there was nothing much more to see and that she had a ton of stuff to get on with.