DOTA-RTG (part 14)

Rachel woke up that morning earlier than usual.

She tidied her bed, brushed her teeth then went downstairs to eat her breakfast.

Her mom who was preparing the food saw her and was surprised. "Oh, himala ang aga mo yata."

She smiled at her then took a seat. "May lakad ako ngayon eh."

"Oh? Klase? Ang alam ko Sunday naayon, ah?

"Hehe. I'm going to the Church," Rachel said while filling her plate with bacon and egg. She then proceeded to eat them.

"Well that's new. Boyfriend?" her ma'am asked her teasingly.

"Huh? No, mom. Just a friend. A coach to be exact." Rachel continued eating.

"Sa Dota?"

"Yup."

"Well, good luck with that! Basta wag lang pabayaan yung pag-aaral ha?"

"Yes po," Rachel said.

After finishing her breakfast, she went to take a shower and get herself ready.

———

"Asan na ba yun?" Kite was anxiously waiting for Rachel in front of the Church. Although it was still 15 minutes before the mass starts, the seats are slowly being occupied. By the time the mass starts, the place will have no vacant seats and some will be forced to listen to the mass while standing within the vicinity of the Church.

After a while, Rachel finally arrived.

"Hey!" she beamed at him.

"Bilisan mo, mawawalan tayo ng pwesto nito eh," Kite urged her.

"Hindi pa naman nagsisimula yung misa ah?"

"Hindi pa nga, pero.... Teka, first time mo ba ngayon magsimba?"

"Huh? Well... Oo. Paano mo nalaman?"

"It's obvious. You don't know the rules here."

"Huh? What rules?"

"It's usually like this, 'at the start of the mass, the seats are finalized' or 'the early bird gets the chair'."

"So, I should be early?"

"Yup. Well, enough talk. Let's go. I think I've seen some vacant seats there."

"Oh, okay!"

When he and Rachel were seated, there were still 8 minutes left before the mass starts, so Kite began asking Rachel some questions.

"Why did you want to attend mass? When you're not even used to it?" Kite inquired.

Rachel thought for a moment before answering, "We should be thankful for your new part-time job, right?"

"Didn't we do it yesterday already?"

"That was a celebration. Not 'paying thanks'."

"I didn't know you were so religious," Kite rolled his eyes sarcastically. He then remembered what happened at that time...

———

"Sir, this is Miss May, the manager of Beau's," the staff introduced a lady on her 30's to Kite.

'Ang bata pa pero manager na, wow.'

"Hello, ma'am! I'm Kite Valdez, nice to meet you," Kite said while offering his hand.

"Nice to meet you too, Mr. Valdez. I heard that you're interested on being part of our staff, is that right?"

"Well... Uhmm, yeah. Though I would like only a part-time job since I'm still studying for now."

"Oh. So you're still a student... I believe it won't be hard to give you a job..."

Kite smiled at this.

"... The problem is, for how long can you work per day?"

Kite knew that this is a very crucial part on whether he gets the job or not. "If truth be told, I could probably work for 4-5 hours on weekdays, and the whole day on weekends. Well, it still depends on the store's closing time."

"Hmm, you seem to be promising. Worry not, our store isn't dependent on the mall's closing time. We are open 24/7. You see, we have an entrance from the outside, other than that inside the mall."

'Huh? 24/7 na tindahan ng beauty products? Meron bang ganun? Sino naman kaya yung bibili ng make-up tuwing alas-dose ng hatinggabi?'

Seeing Kite's doubtful gaze, Miss May couldn't help but chuckle. "I know what you're thinking. It's quite unbelievable at first, but after you've worked here, you'll see why we can keep this open for 24/7."

Since he was exposed, Kite could only scratch his head.

"So, shall we proceed?" Miss May asked. "I hope you brought your biodata with you. Even if it's just for part-time, we still have to take into account the background of our employees."

"Of, course Miss May," Kite opened his bag and took a folder with his biodata on it. "Here. Uhmm, can I go talk to Rachel first while you're taking a look?"

"Oh? Okay. You can go and ask about your girlfriend's opinion," Miss May said.

Kite wanted to correct her but found it unnecessary. So he went towards Rachel instead.

When Kite has left, the staff who took Rachel to her managed spoke, "Ma'am, that Rachel, isn't Mr. Kite's boyfriend. You were mistaken. They were just friends."

"Oh!" Miss May seem surprised. She turned to look at Kite from a distance, then to the staff. "Really? Haha! It doesn't seem that way isn't it? I mean, what kind of guy would take 'a friend' along in his job-search? Specially in a place like us? Isn't it too embarrassing? I belive they're more than just friends."

When Kite has reached Rachel, she was currently probing around the beauty products.

He walked up to her then said," Rachel! Should I really accept this job?"

Rachel looked at him for a moment then went to pick up and inspect a powder-like thing. "This is the first time that you've asked me about accepting a job for the whole day, I'm guessing it went well?"

Kite briefly told her about earlier. "So, what do you think should I do? You're the one who dragged me into this."

"Oh? Then you owe me one, right? Haha! Bayaran mo na lang ako sa susunod."

"Rachel!"

"Okay, okay," she waved her hand in surrender. "Just take it. After all, not everyone is willing to take a student like you. Or we can simply leave and find another job."

Kite shook his head. "No, I'm too tired to search for more."

"Well, then accept it."

"But that wasn't the problem..."

"Are you talking about your coaching time with me? Why? Natatakot ka ba kasi di mo na ako makakasama sa gabi? I didn't know you love me that much," Rachel teasingly said.

"T*ngina mo! Umayos ka nga."

"Eto naman oh, binibiro lang. Haha!" she put down the product that she's been holding then turned to look at Kite. "Don't worry about it. You can just focus on your job."

"You mean, di ko na kailangang pumunta ng FNG pagkatapos ng klase?"

"Yes. Besides, this is only temporary. Once our club is created, we'll have time for that at school." She gently leaned forward then whispered, "At that time, I'll have you all for myself."

Kite shuddered instinctively at this. "Huh... Uhmm—What?"

Seeing him unable to respond, Rachel began laughing. "Hahahahaha! Joke lang yung last na part," she said then raised her brows teasingly. "Pero ikaw lang," she winked. "Rawr!"

"Che! Bala ka na nga diyan!" unable to calm himself, Kite went back to where Miss May was. She left Rachel behind since she would just be looking around the store.

While walking, he heard Rachel shouted from behind, "Hahahahahaha! Nakita mo sana yung mukha mo, Kite! So priceless! Hahahahaha!"

He ignored her even though he knows that his face was flushed red. Afterwards, he opened the room to Miss May.

Upon seeing his arrival, Miss may said, "So, have you sorted it out with your girlfriend? Well, you're quite red... Did you suddenly catch a cold?"

Kite knew that he cannot hide his face. He denied her thoughts and found a seemingly plausible explanation for it. "Ma'am, she's not my girlfriend. As for my red face, I think it was because I really am not familiar with all those stuff out there. It's my first time seeing some things."

"Hmmm. You're right. That's also why I'm willing to take you in. It isn't every time that we'll have a straight guy working here," she noted. "You're straight, right?"

"Of course, ma'am!" seeing her doubting his gender, Kite unknowingly raised his voice. "Sorry."

"Hahaha! I'm just teasing you. Don't worry about it," Miss May said. "Anyways, I've seen your biodata and there's nothing wrong with it. You can now start working on Monday." She then handed him his biodata.

"Really? Thank you then, ma'am. Anyways, what should I wear?"

"No need to fuss. Your work clothe will be provided by us. You can change at the staff's room. At most, you should wear black pants and a black shoes, since it's only the shirt that we are providing."

"Okay, ma'am!"

"So..." she pulled out some papers then handed it to Kite. "You read it and sign the contract here. Even if it's just for part-time, we're still strict here. Your pay is also written there. It's proportional to your working hours. The more you work, the more you gain."

Kite took the papers and read them. When he was satisfied with the contents, he signed the contract then handed it back to Miss May.

"Well, see you on Monday, Mister Valdez," Miss May waved him off.

"Yes, ma'am!" he turned around to leave and find Rachel from the sea of beauty products.

"It seems that I'll be having an immunity against this trap of a store," Kite grinned as he thought of this.

When he found Rachel, he immediately told her the good news.

"Congrats! Sana sa susunod ikaw na magme-make-up sakin," she said.

"Ha, thank you! Wait, what?"

"Joke! Tara kain tayo, let's celebrate."

Rachel took the lead out of the store. They went to the escalator and up to the second floor.

"Sa isawan?"

"Nope, pumili ka, sa sine or sa Food Court?"

Kite noticed that upon reaching the second floor, they're now in front of the cinema.

"Uhmm, let's watch a movie then," he said. But then, he saw Leo's group again heading towards the said cinema. "On second thoughts, I'm getting hungry now."

He held onto Rachel's hand then pulled her towards the opposite direction of the cinema and into the Food Court.

"What a glutton," she remarked.

"Huh? Ikaw nagbigay ng choice na'to di ba? Tapos sasabihin mong glutton ako?" Kite asked confusedly.

Rachel harrumphed, "Hmmp!"

Kite rolled his eyes, then upon realizing something, he embarrassingly stopped and scratched his head. "Uhmm..."

"What? Something wrong?" Rachel asked worried. "You left something behind sa Beu's?"

"Nope. It's just that... Di ko alam papuntang Food Court. Hehe."

Rachel burst out laughing, "Hahahahahahahaha! T*ngina Kite. Nasa unahan ka pa naman. Hahahahha!"

Kite couldn't refute. He let go of Rachel's hand then went behind her. But afterwards, it was Rachel who took his hand this time.

Kite was dumbfounded.

"Well, I'll be leading the way now," Rachel smiled.

Kite's face turned beet-red again. He can only utter, "Okay."

And so, with Rachel leading the way, they went to eat at the Food Court.

While they were eating, some people were secretly observing them from afar.

It was Leo's group. They never went to watch the Cinema like Kite thought. They only took a few glances at the 'Now Showing' panels. Afterwards, they went again on their sight-seeing.

Then someone noticed the duo sitting at the Food Court.

"Si Kite yun di ba? At si..."

"Rachel."

"Iba talaga galawan ni Kite. Magaling na sa Dota, magaling pa sa babae."

"Di naman kasi lahat hopeless kagaya mo."

"T*ngina mo."

"Pero tingnan niyo oh? Kingina nakaka-inggit!"

"Oo nga, isang linggo palang tayo pero sabay na sila kumain."

"Sana all."

"Di kaya dati pa sila magkakilala?"

"Di ba, sabi ni Kite hindi? Coincidence lang daw yung nagkita sila sa may FNG dati."

"Puntahan kaya natin? Tanong natin kay Kite."

As the others were planning to approach the two, Leo stopped them.

"Hoy, rumespeto nga kayo! Akala ko ba alam niyo nang si Kite ang Captain natin? At si Miss Rachel is someone na mass mataas yung rank sa inyo. Tapos kahit sa privacy lang nila, show some respect naman guys!" Leo said.

"Sorry, boss."

"Sorry Leo."

After knowing that they've refrained from their previous plan, Leo breath a sigh of relief. Then, he turned and observed the two.

'Kite, ang galing mo. Kahit diyan, wala akong binatbat sayo. Tama nga na ikaw yung Captain namin. I salute you!'

At that time, Kite didn't know that someone was already revering him.

###