Two Birds and the Stone

Abundant stars flooded the clear nightsky. They shone like diamonds as the cold wind blew. I was standing by the driver's seat door of my car while waiting for her to appear out of nowhere. My eyes lingered to every corner. I haven't been to a place like this for a while; busy and lively. Living in seclusion with the Zellwingers tend to slowly erase the vibe I had living in a place like this.

"Hey"

A voice emanated from behind me. I knew it was her but as I turned around I saw a totally different person. I have never seen her dressed like this before. She wore make-up and it really suited her. A pair of platinum earrings hanging from those little ears. A matte lipstick that covered those smiles. A black and white silk dress that excluded her from the crowd. I wasn't expecting this, not at even a tiny bit. It caught me red-handed and she seemed to had noticed it so..

"woah, who are you?" I sarcastically asked.

"We'll this is me when I'm not wearing those lab gowns"

She chuckled.

"Soo, where exactly are you taking me?"

"Somewhere great, new, and lively"

I meant at a grand opening of a bar just a few corners from WCE. This time it's for real and I invited Ed too.

We arrived at about nine in the evening of September 2, 2022.

I couldn't forget how the speakers roared. Storms of souls flooded the gates as we arrived. Of course, we lined up as well and wow, it didn't disappoint. The smell of paint and haze stirred up my nostrils. The sound of glasses colliding for a toss. The cheers of lost souls waiting to be found. I saw the energy that will eventually be sucked by the morninglight to come. But for now, we are here. We celebrate little victories...

"Hey, you okay?" She asked me.

"Yeah, Um. It's just that it has been a while since I went to places like this"

"You'll be fine! C'mon" she pulled my hand right in the middle of the crowd.

And there she was.

She reminded me of my younger sister. Vibrant. Innocent. Happy. She would've been her age by that time. I was clueless at first of the reason why I met Maria Leonna but I guess I knew the reason at that moment. I guess my life at that time found an alternative purpose. Another reason to fill in the gaps of whys.

"I need to help this girl succeed" I said to myself.

"Hey, you look like a tree in the middle of a party" a familliar voice shouted at the back of my ear.

It was Ed dancing his way though the crowd with a Martini on hand.

I invited him. All of a sudden, Leonna stopped dancing. It's as if she saw a ghost. My bad, I forgot to tell her I was bringing Ed with me because the last time I invited Ed for a drink was that time when I first met her and tried to prove to her who I am. I kinda forgot to get back to Ed about it. He waited for my call that night which didn't arrive. So this was my way of redeeming myself and celebrating as well. Two birds in a stone.

"Hi, I'm Ed. You're Leonna, right?"

"h-hi, yes" her half-baked smile says a lot. One of which is that she's wondering why the owner of the company whom we kinda violated by pursuing her goal was there; in its supposed celebration.

They shook their hands and right after it she pulled by just a meter away from where Ed was dancing.

"What the hell is this??"

"what??" Having no idea of what she was saying due to the roaring bass beats around.

"I said! Why the hell is he in here?! Does he know?? Did you sell me out?!" She's not really angry, it's the beats.

"oh, hey! No, chill. Yes, I told him everythi--, AW!"

and for the second time, I was again physically abused.

"What was that pinch on the side for??" My violent reaction.

"So what now??" I could tell how panicked she was. She might be thinking she'd be thrown into jail any minute by now.

In WCE, the moment you get hired, you have to sign an affidavit that basically says that the moment you are proven to violate the rules inside the company especially using company resources to non-business things, thus conflict of interest, you allow yourself to be fully vulnerable to be sued by no less than the whole company itself.

So I get why she was so anxious about it.

"Hey!" Ed interrupted. Leonna had no clue Ed was already behind her the whole time.

"Chill, I'm harmless. In fact, I think it would be an honor for the company if you win"

Leonna just couldn't believe what she's about to hear. I could see the excitement and disbelief in her face fighting for ownership.

"Yes. WCE is sponsoring your cause. You'll be funded and provided with all your needs to win. You win. We win."

Ed added.

Leonna exploded like a volcano. She rushed to Ed and gave him a tight hug on the neck. From the looks of it, it was a mixture of relief, disbelief, and happiness. There were tears and smiles all over the place. Even people who had no clue of what just happened, out of nowhere just celebrated with us. I don't know, just plain drunkness or something. We drank, laughed, vibed, and chilled from night to dawn. It turned out to be a better night than I thought.

Days and months passed, our friendship with Leonna grew. Ed now often go to our department checking things out for Leonna's ML. He would have other engineers help with the development. As expected of him. The three of us often took breaks and dinners together. Some nights when we're up late and revisions were needed, Ed brings food for the whole team.

December 23, 2022 came; the day of the convention. The Final product was ready. From an airconditioner that clears out 99.9% dust in the air to a levitating Airpurifier that detects and clears impurities in the air 99.9% within 10meters radius and converts the gathered impurities to cool air by the processes of burning, energy conversion, to powering the coolants. A self-powered air purifier.

It was the three of us that went there. The place was huge. It's a form of a dome. An entire village could fit in it. It's like when you enter, you can see a different sky as the ceilings appeared to be touching the heavens. People from all walks of life were rushing to different directions meeting thier own deadlines. Participants getting thier inventions ready. Proud parents, love ones, mentors, companies, and mere audiences were in awe of so much advancements were there right before their very eyes. It was like travelling to the future by just entering the Dome's entrance.

The event had begun and it was indeed a big one. The secretary of the Department of Science and Technology was there as a jury, alongside with modern Filipino scientists and inventors. It was a tough line up to please but we were confident with the shot we had. It was a one-day event, which consisted of the elimination, preliminaries, and the finals. In each round, participants are required to provide a feature of their product in which their inventions will be judged. There were about a thousand of contenders nationwide, and only about 100 of these passed the elimination round including Leonna's ML. After a few hours, came the preliminaries, where only 20 were chosen as finalists. And Yes, we're still in the game. At this point, all contenders are guaranteed cash prizes and incentives. The moment of truth arrived, it's the finals. Each of the candidates were then asked to come up on stage and demonstrate their inventions.

Standing in the bottom of the backstage's staircase was Leonna and her shaking hands. We could feel her nervousness ten feet away. Her eyes were looking on thin air as she kinda was memorizing her lines. It was then we knew we gotta do something..

"Hey, you got this" I said as I tapped her back to throw her off.

"You made this thing work. You are the maker of this wonderful piece. Remember, they are just there to listen and witness your greatness. From my opinion, they will have no choice but to be amazed, like I did" Ed backed me up.

From there, we saw her shook her worries away and got ready for war. We knew she could do it. She smiled at us while climbing up the stairs as her name and invention were announced to the crowd. Before she entered the curtains, she looked at me. She smiled and uttered the words "𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒌 𝒚𝒐𝒖" from afar. I then closed my eyes responded with a tiny bow facing her.

There she was.

The girl and her dreams finally reaching each other. People were fascinated about what the ML can do. She was there leaving no dull moments as cheers from the crowd became lions' roar on a hill. The judges even went on stage and checked the machine. Journalists and company scouts were surely eyeing for Leonna's work. It was indeed first of its kind. And it has earned a standing ovation from the crowd, the juries, and everyone that were at that time inside the dome.

At last, the contenders were done and it was the time for the juries to deliberate. All of those inventions deserved to be first but only one shall be declared as the winner. It was a tough choice to make for the juries. Although the dome's filled with music from the guest artists that were at that moment performing for the crowd, in the juries' deliberation room that was made of glass, a few had noticed a debate between the juries.

The performances had stopped. The juries got out of the deliberation room and one of them had a white envelope on hand. The final verdict.

Drum rolls... cold sweats...

Everyone could feel the heartbeat of the remaining contenders.

Leonna held my hand. She was cold. I could feel her shaking. She's beside me. I leaned towards her direction.

"Whatever happens. You will win. We're here for you"

She hugged me. Ed noticed.

I could feel her shaking slowly faded. Her coldness was beaten by the warmth of her hug. She smiled at me.

"Thank you" She uttered.

"And the winner is..."

"Jose Michael Z. Salazar and his HoloVision!"

She lost.

But at that moment, she wasn't paying attention to the host or anyone. It's as if she heard that she lost but she didn't care. We were standing in the middle of a cheering crowd but we were somewhere else. Alone, together. Her eyes were locked into mine. I felt her tight grip on my hands. I tried to look away but but her hands guided my sight back to her. And just before I could say a word,

her lips bumped into mine as she stood on her toes.

I panicked.

𝑵𝒐. 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒈𝒐𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒈.

"oh, looks like I'm interrupting something good ey?" Ed suddenly appeared.

We suddenly were sucked back from the dimension we were in. People around us noticed and teased us for another one. Leonna looked and smiled at me as if she wanted to put on a show.

Ed teased me by giving me a bump on the elbow.

"Great find" Ed nodded.

[𝚃𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚎𝚍]