Chapter 2

"Hi, miss?" Estelle called the first person she saw in the lounge.

"Yes?" the lady replied.

"Can you see that man standing near that bush?" she asked. She was watching Santi for almost ten minutes and no one's talking to him. She might be right. He might be a ghost.

"Yeah" the lady answered.

"Really?" she asked again just to make sure.

"Yeah" the lady confirmed. "The man near the bush, wearing a maroon suit" she added.

"Whew! Thanks" she sighed in relief. The lady looked at her from head to toe. She walked towards Santi smiling. Santi, on the other hand, is frowning when he saw her. "Hi" she greeted him.

"I was standing here for ten minutes" he said angrily.

"I know, I was watching at you the entire time" she answered still smiling brightly.

"What?" he asked in disbelief.

"Yeah" she realized what she just said. "Well, I was watching you because, you know, yesterday at the elevator you're alone" she knew she's not making any sense.

"So?" he asked. Estelle noticed Santi's ears turning red. Most of the time it's a sign of blushing, but not this time. He must be so angry.

"Well, you were alone. And when I saw you here yesterday you were alone again and no one's talking to you" she feels like she's digging her own grave the way he's looking at her. Santi just stared at her. "And now, I was watching you for ten minutes. Still not talking to any one, so maybe, I thought, no one can really see you except me" she said it in less ten seconds. And then she added awkward 'he-he' laugh. Santi rolled his eyes, losing his patience. "Come on! Don't be mad" she took his hand and pulled him across the street. There were lots of people also crossing since it's lunch. Normally, she's afraid to walk alone. "Since I am the one who invited you, lunch is on me" she proudly told him. Santi just remained silent and let her led him to a small restaurant.

Santi looked at his watch. "Aren't we going to be late? It's 12:42" he asked her.

"Didn't you logged in to the biometrics before going out of the building?" she asked back.

"What?" and the judging look on his face is back.

"You should've timed in the biometrics first before going out. Of course, we're going to be late" she told him. "Auntie, two goto please" she shouted at the owner. They heard the owner shout their order in the kitchen.

Santi stared at her in utter disbelief. He exhaled. "Do you always do this?" he asked referring about the way she clocked in but was out to eat lunch.

"Hey, I was only hired yesterday. There's no way I always do this" she defended herself. 

He was inhaling and exhaling long breaths to calm himself. "Don't make a habit out of this" he ordered her.

"Fine" she said throwing her hands on air and with matching rolling eyes. They stopped talking when their order came. The staff gave them each a big bowl of goto with calamansi and a pair of spoon and fork. "Thank you" she told the staff.

"This is just porridge" he commented when he saw what's on the bowl.

"This is not porridge, it's goto" she gave his spoon and fork. She saw him starting to eat, "hey!" she called him out. Santi stopped. "That's not how you eat it. Haven't you had this before?"

"Everyone had this before! This is just porridge" he raised his voice, irritated.

"You will have to squeeze the calamansi first, it will be nice if you put pepper and chili. But that depends on your taste" she squeezed the calamansi in his bowl and took out the seeds that came with it using her spoon. She stirred it and put the spoon in her mouth before giving him the bowl. He was watching it the entire time. "What? I didn't put the spoon back to your bowl" she said when she saw him looking so disgusted with what she's doing.

"I know" he answered.

"You know, my officemates told me that the elevator we used is for the executives. Maybe we shouldn't use it anymore" she casually told him.

Santi stopped for a while and continued eating. "You don't have to worry about that" he replied.

Estelle stared at him. "Why?" she asked. And then her eyes went large, Santi holding his breath at what she realized. "You were assigned at the executive office?" she asked him. He sighed and nodded. "Oh, that's too bad. So, that's why you're always angry" she sounded like she finally understood. "It's okay" she tapped his shoulder. "This Ate will be very patient of you" she said smiling at him which just annoyed him more. He just rolled his eyes. 

They went back to the building running and walking. Before they parted, she whispered to Santi, "I will wait for you again there" she pointed at the bush he waited for her earlier.

"Why?" he asked.

"Why not? We're friends now, where do you live? Maybe we ride the same jeepney" she answered.

"You can just wait for me there" he pointed the loading and unloading zone in front of the building. She nodded and waved at him. He waved back.

Estelle continued doing her works. She went to and fro the storage room to look at their data base, had it encoded according to year. And so far, she's just starting from the year 2000. She sighed. Another long day. She's developing her excel format when someone sat beside her.

"Hi" an unfamiliar voice greeted her.

"Hi" she greeted back without looking at the person who greeted her. She continued encoding.

"Where did you eat your lunch?" he asked.

He still didn't look at him, continuing encoding. "Out, with my friend" she replied.

"Oh" he answered. "We're having lunch here tomorrow. You can invite your friend" he invited her.

"Really? Here in the office?" she asked.

"Yeah, it's time efficient" he told her.

She stopped encoding and looked at him. "Yeah, you're right. Okay, tomorrow I'll invite my friend" she answered. "What's your name again?" she asked.

"Richard" he answered.

"Thanks, Richard" she smiled.

After office hours, she walked at the spot Santi told her to wait. Not long after, a black Mercedes stopped in front of her. "Estelle" a low familiar voice called.

She looked and saw Santi from the backseat window. He opened the door and she got in. Santi slightly moved to make room for her. "Did I tell you my name?" she asked when she realized he called her name.

"Of course, how else would I know?" he asked her.

Huh. She thought. She shrugged and saw the direction they were taking. "Where are we going?" she asked.

"What's your address? Of course, we're going home" Santi replied.

"No, pull over there" she pointed at the street side. "Come, I'll treat you" she smiled.

"Wow, you have lots of money. How much are they paying you?" Santi asked in a sarcastic tone.

"Hey. I told you I was just hired yesterday. When we get our first salary, you'll be treating me for a month, okay?" she told him.

"Goto again?" he asked when he saw the stall they walked in.

"No, this is porridge" she replied.

"This is literally what we ate earlier" 

She really doesn't know why he's always irritated. "This is a special porridge. We get to put our garlic and choose the condiments. I want egg and liver, Ate" she told the staff.

"What?" he asked when he heard what she said.

"Actually, two of that. Thank you" she told the crew. "What about your driver?" she asked. She walked to his car and knocked at the window of the driver seat. It opened. "Kuya, do you want to eat porridge with us?" she asked.

"No, ma'am, thank you. I already had goto just this afternoon, before five" the driver told her.

"Oh, okay" she replied and went back to the stall.

"What did he say?" Santi asked.

"He already had goto" she answered. "By the way, tomorrow, my officemates invited me to eat lunch together. You want to join us?" she asked.

"No, we are busy tomorrow" he simply answered and continued eating.

They ate in silence and after that, they got back to the car. After a few minutes inside, Estelle broke the silence. "So, this car, it's nice" she started and looked at him. He also stared at her. "And you have a driver" she continued.

"And?" he asked.

"You're rich, aren't you?" she asked.

"Yes, does that bother you?" he asked back.

"No, I just, wow. I picked the right friend" she joked. "I mean, I never thought you're rich because you look normal" she said.

"Normal?" his eyebrows furrowed at her statement.

"Yeah. Why? Do people tell you, you look handsome? They just say it because you're rich" she laughed. Santi wanted to be insulted but he also laughed. "Don't worry. We are the perfect pair, you'll have the status and I'll have the face" she continued laughing.

Santi can't help but also laugh. He can see his driver also keeping himself from bursting to laughter. It was the first genuine laugh he ever let out in a long while.