"You're fired."
Umiiyak na umalis ang babae sa harapan ko. Well, she's very incompetent.
Deserve.
Ayoko pa naman sa lahat ay 'yong mga matatanda na eh parang bata pa rin kung gumalaw o mag-isip. Nakakairita 'yong ganung mga tao. Hindi marunong mag-isip ng akma sa edad nila,
I rolled my eyes when I noticed her presentation. Again, ibang-iba 'to sa ineexpect ko.
Mas maganda pa 'yong mga gawa ng mga grade 1 student.
The title? Very irrelevant from the main topic. I thought she'll be different.... well, I don't care about her anymore. I'm done with her. Napansin ko rin naman iyong mga past works and reports na ipinapasa niya sa'kin na hindi talaga pasado sa standards ko. Well, I'm the boss, I have the rights to expect something.
A useless woman!
Napailing nalang ako sa naisip. I called my secretary and ask her if I have an upcoming meeting or events to attend. I dramatically exhale when she says na wala namang ganap today.
Since walang meeting and I already signed the needed papers, its time for shopping!
Shopping became my stress reliever and nakakaramdam ako ng kaginhawaan kapag bumibili ako ng mga bagay na nagustuhan ko. I looked at the calendar before going out of my office. Saturday, hmm?
As I put my make-up on, I'm walking towards Lily,my secretary.
"I 'm going out. Take care of my papers, okay?"
"Yes,ma'am."
Maglalakad na sana ako papuntang elevator nang may maalala.
"And,oh, please dye your hair again or I will pull that hair out of your head.", I laughed while talking.
'Duh, Pink is mine! No one is allowed to use that color aside from me!
I walk gracefully towards my personal elevator. When I'm inside, I immediately pressed the close button.
'Gosh, ang tagal'
'I'll eat a lot of seafoods today as reward', I happily said inside my mind.
Nakita ko na si Benjie. My car. Pinaandar ko ito papuntang Mall. Habang nagmamaneho napansin ko ang bago pero sikat na bagong mall near my company, the Bizarre Mall. Very strange name for a mall. Napansin kong wala masyadong pumupunta dun.
I smiled sarcastically as I notice its name.
'Brizarre Mall,huh'
Sounds interesting.
Alam kong magi-enjoy ako sa gantong lugar.
Tahimik at walang isturbo.
Yun lang naman.
Di ko napansing hininto ko na pala si Benjie at naka-park na ako.
Oh, well.
As I walk towards the entrance, napansin kong misteryosong nakangiti ang security guard sa'kin. Napakunot ang noo ko sa manong guard na ito. Tumingin pa ako sa likod ko kung may tao ba doon pero wala. Nagtataka man ay tinaasan ko pa rin ito ng kilay pero useless, nakangisi pa rin.
'Parang tanga'
Hindi ko na mapigilan, tinanong ko na ito.
"Hey, guardie. Can you...uh...can you please stop smirking? You're creeping me out.", tinaasan ko sya ng dalawang kilay nang tumabingi ang ulo nito at ngumisi na naman. Napataas ang kilay ko sa galaw niyang iyon. What is this behavior?, Manong guardie, hmm?
Geez. What a creepy old man.
Maglalakad na sana ako papuntang loob para maghanap ng restaurant na nag-oofer ng seafood nang bigla itong magsalita na nagbigay ng kilabot at nagpataas ng balahibo sa aking buong katawan.
"Welcome to Bizarre Mall, Charmaine Bantugan.", tumatawang saad nung guard.
Napahinto ako ng marinig ko 'yon. I can feel my whole body froze. Di ko maintindihan ang nararamdaman ko. Mahirap ipaliwanag. Ramdam ko ang panginginig ko dahil sa halong kaba at takot sa nangyayari.
'How the f*ck did he know my name?!'
Kinalma ko ang sarili ko at humarap sa gwardya upang mabulyawan ito ngunit ganun nalang ang pagsibol ng takot sa'king dibdib nang wala akong makitang gwardya.
And the Mall......
The freaking mall!
Ang gusaling tinatapakan ko.....
Unti-unting naglaho...
Sinubukan kong tumakbo papuntang exit ngunit ito ang unang nawala....
The whole mall vanished and replaced by a sickening place. A place full of oxygens. Green place that smells healthy. A place where you'll feel so lonely though you have company. Place where full of poisoning grass and scary animals.
I gasped as I rotate my body to look at the place where I'm in. God, what did I do? I'm not that rude before.
I laughed nervously, god knows how much I tried to become a kind person but then It's not for me. I am born this way. Its not even my fault if my mother and father treats me everytime I want something. It's not my fault if I get everything I want, even the things I don't need. Maybe, I'm a little bit rude to other people but it's their fault. They are so annoying. Also they are just nice to me because I'm rich and useful. Is that even my fault?
I shake my head, as I remove that from my mind and just focus on what's happening infront of me.
Throughout the end, my mouth is just hanging. I cannot explain what was happening. But then, I am very sure of one thing.
"....Forest", hulog ang pangang saad ko.
M|A