Beyond The Square One (BTSO2)

S q u a r e O n e ( H E )

The day looks clear and perfect. Just exactly what I've been waiting for. It's the best day to execute my plans of proposing to Ariel. Now, my angel and my demon are both jumping in excitement.

Are you really surprised? No, you shouldn't be. After all, you know that my effin' OCD is getting the best of me and I can't afford letting other people have that chance of stealing her away from moi. No damn way.

Smiling, I fix my tie and sing a song that I don't even understand. Wala lang. Gusto ko lang kumanta, may problema ba do'n?

"May impaktong siraulo dito."

I smile even wider when I hear her voice. Kilala niyo na siguro kung sino 'yan. She's the only person who calls me that and makes it sound like it's a sweet thing. I turn to look at her, and she has her arms crossed over her chest. "I love you, too."

"My macchiato, what is wrong with you?" she says, laughing and shaking her head.

I follow her as she walks out of our room. She's wearing a cream pair of towers, chocolate brown loose blouse, tucked to her white trousers. Familiar? It's our favorite Triple Chocolate Mousse Combo outfit. And I'm definitely not wearing black leather shoes, white slacks, chocolate brown shirt, and cream tie. No. I'm not wearing a match. Really. Zzzz.

"Para na naman tayong a-attend sa kasal, boss."

I lock the door as we walk out of my unit and put my arm over her shoulders. "Ayaw mo ba nito? Kung hindi ka nga lang magrereklamo, isusulat ko na pangalan ko sa balat mo."

She glares at me, and I can't help but laugh. My demon joins in laughter with me on my left shoulder.

"Bakit ba?" I ask, still laughing. I kiss the top of her head, walking us into the lift. "Sa gusto kong malaman ng buong mundo na sa'kin ka. May masama ba?"

Her eyes are glued to the elevator's door and I can see her holding back a smile. Oh, Ariel. You have no idea how serious I am with what I said.

"Good morning, boss."

"Good morning, madam."

Greetings everywhere. This has been a daily routine since I announced that Ariel will be the one to handle the mortgage. And since I'm in a good mood... "Bonjour!"

My parents are actually impressed with how the mortgage had grown from the time she sat to be the CEO. Yeah, quite impossibly, I've been talking to them about this huge progress not only with the business but also with my well-being. It's already a big surprise that I'm talking to them, AT ALL. Shrinks said that I'm slowly taking control of my conditions now.

"Boss, what time will you be in the bank?"

I fix a flock of hair that covers her face to the back of her ear. "Mga 10 pa. Pinapaalis mo na ba ako?" I mock a hurtful voice.

She whacks my shoulder. "EOP, boss. EOP," she reminds.

I chuckle at her reaction. "I practically own the company. The whole building. I'll do whatever the fvck I want with whomever the fvck I please." I lean closer to her face. "Even kiss you here and now."

Her face turns red. "You made me the CEO, so I think it's just fair to do things my way. Just tell me what you want to happen in your company and let it be my job to worry about the execution."

I pinch her cheek. "Good morning, my caramel. Can I take you out on a coffee break? Masyado kang seryoso, e."

She slowly shakes her head with that lovely smile. "Anong nangyari sa'yo, boss? Dati naman lagi kang masungit at seryoso sa trabaho. Ngayon... Ewan ko."

"I'm still all that. Today is just a very special day for me."

"You always say that."

"Because you're always with me."

She crosses her arms over her chest. "Okay. You win."

Ha! I know. I've been winning the world since I met you. "Coffee break. As a reward. Or you're fired."

With a smirk, she fixes her things in her normal station- I say station because she doesn't want to have my office as hers- and holds my hand. As we walk out, I give Regis a 'go' signal without letting Ariel notice and we walk into the elevator.

"Parang busy lahat ng mga tao sa opisina."

"Syempre, office hours na," I quickly answer.

"It doesn't make any sense. Parang nagmamadali silang lahat."

I just smile to myself. My angel stomps its little feet on my right shoulder, teary-eyed. Clearly, my caramel doesn't have any idea of what's about to happen.

In case you're wondering what you've missed, it's been six months since Ariel gave me that sweet YES. We've been in a relationship for six months and each day is just getting better and better. In total, I courted Ariel for about ninety days. That makes her an employee of Fuentebella Empire for more than ten months. Jace and Naomi have been happily married for eight months and Cash is about to take his MCAT in less than a month. I told you, I'm always aware of time. Except, of course, when I wake up late.

Though Aurora- Ariel's sister, has not been doing anything stupid yet after that dreadful message she sent me about eight months ago, I'm still making sure of Ariel's safety. I'm being cautious and careful not to make Ariel feel suffocated with my protection. For chrissakes, I don't know what I could do to people if anyone hurts my Princess Ariel. It's just something you'd not want to imagine.

"Nandito na naman 'yung sasakyan na 'yan?"

I look at the general direction of where she's looking at the moment we step out of the building. The same black tinted Fortuner is illegally parked on the side of the street.

"Two weeks na 'yan nagpa-park diyan. Sabi no'ng guard, baka taga-kabilang building 'yan. Kasi pagdating daw ng 9:30 umaalis rin kaya hindi na nagpa-park sa building nila."

"The owner of that ride is a businessman named Michael J. San Juan. He's 54 years old, lives in Forbes Park, Makati, and his company is also in Makati. So it's been a wonder for me why his car is parked everyday in BGC."

Ariel shoots me a horrified stare. "How the hell did you know that?"

I roll my eyes. Duh. "The second time I saw that same plate, I started to run a small background check. It doesn't hurt to be cautious of what's going on around your empire, especially when yours is one of the biggest."

Truth is, this is actually for Ariel. But I can't tell her that 'cause I'm sure she'd flip out her claustrophobic hormones on me. I'm not being paranoid or what but I can't take any risk of danger. And that car is really suspicious. Even my demon agrees with me. The businesses that the San Juans own operate in all business hours in every business day, so what the hell is he doing here everyday for the first hour and a half? They don't freakin' have an office in BGC. Now tell me if I'm just being OC or there's really something fishy going on.

She snorts in disbelief. "Eric, inaatake ka na naman ng OCD mo. You shouldn't... Ugh! Eric naman. Lahat ba ng gumagalaw sa paligid ng building mo, iniimbestigahan mo?"

"We are so not gonna fight about this matter, Ariel," I firmly state.

"Paano kung may binibisita lang pala 'yan dito? O nagtatayo ng bagong branch somewhere close? Nandiyan ka na naman sa pagtapak mo sa right to privacy ng iba."

I don't answer. Because once I start speaking my guts about this suspicious car, I may not stop.

"Napaka-unreasonable, alam mo 'yon? Sabi ko naman sa'yo, hangga't walang ginagawang masama sa'yo, maniwala kang mabait ang tao." She stops walking and grabs my hand so I can face her. "Bakit hindi mo na lang sabihin do'n sa guard na sabihin diyan sa may-ari ng sasakyan na 'wag diyan mag-park, if it makes you feel any better?"

Okay. That's it. "What doesn't make me feel better is that a businessman's car will be parked next to my building where my girlfriend is working, with the same timeframe everyday, for two weeks. It's as if the lion is trying to observe the moves of its helpless prey. If I ask the guard to shoo them away, they might just change where they stay. I don't know what he's doing here but seeing the same car in the same place when he doesn't have any business in there, more than five times, is not normal. In fact, it's very suspicious so it's a possible threat. But for your safety and the employees' safety, I would rather see the possible threat than to have it hidden somewhere I can't see once it's forced to move away. This discussion is over. Let me worry about that god-forsaken car."

Hindi na nagsalita si Ariel dahil alam niyang hindi ako magpapatalo pagdating sa safety niya. Funny how she's been looking for that side of me and she's now quiet after witnessing just that. That's Ariel. She hates it when I'm too serious and she's annoyed when I'm being bubbly. I would never understand girls.

"Two caramel macchiatos for caramel and macchiato!"

Nagtinginan ang mga tao sa counter at napangiti when they hear the lady barista named Mickey, based on her name tag, calling out for us. Everyday is like this when they announce our order. Maybe they're thinking that either they are not hearing it right or the barista is reading it wrong. I walk to the counter to get our order and sit back to our favorite table for our favorite coffee with my favorite person, that is, Ariel.

"Galit ka ba?"

She shakes her head, "No," still not looking.

I don't get it, really. Why do girls do this? They'll say they're not mad but will make you feel otherwise. Or say they're okay but act like they're not. It's confusing.

"Ariel, talk to me."

"I am talking to you, Eric."

"What happened to BEING-AN-OPEN-BOOK?" I remind her.

She raises an eyebrow. "What happened to ENTITLED-TO-YOUR-OWN-OPINION?"

And you say, you're not mad. I don't know what the hell that has got to do with this but I gotta find out. "Well, help me understand, Ariel."

She sighs. "Sabi mo, I'm entitled to my own opinion. Tapos kanina, nandiyan na naman 'yung magic line mong 'this discussion is over'. Nawawala na nga 'yung 'or you're fired' mo, pero hindi mo naman maalis 'yung pagiging control freak mo. Parang gusto mo basta 'yung pinaglalaban mo, tingin mo tama, hindi mo na ako pakikinggan. Ba't kailangan mong iparamdam na wala na akong karapatang depensahan 'yung side ko?"

"If I made you feel that way, Ariel, I'm sorry. But trust me, it's not my intention. I said that because I want us to stop fighting over a stupid argument that's not even worth arguing about."

"But that's who we are, Eric. We always argue. Remember?"

I briefly close my eyes and inhale deeply. Holding her hands, I search her eyes and smile apologetically. "You're right. It's who we are. I'm sorry."

She stares back at me. "Apology is accepted."

"But you have to understand that the words I use to express myself is what makes me who I am, too. You may not have heard of them lately, but that's who I am. So if you ever hear me saying to someone to get his ass working or he's fired doesn't mean I can't get better for you. I just simply don't want to change who I am because that's whom you have fallen in love with. That's me."

She lets out an exhausted sigh. "Eric, I'm not trying to change you. More like, I'm just trying to avoid making you look like a viscious-right-to-privacy-violator. Kaya nga naninibago ako kapag mabait ka, 'di ba?"

"Wait, are you telling me na hindi ako mabait no'ng una tayong nagkakilala?"

With a poker-face, she answers me with, "May iba ka pa bang itatanong na hindi mo alam ang sagot?"

I stifle a burst of laughter. "Mamaya may itatanong pa ako," I say with a lascivious smirk.

"Bakit hindi mo pa 'yan itanong ngayon? Impakto ka talaga."

"Because it needs to wait. Patience, Ariel," I remind her.

She fakes a laugh. "Funny how a guy with very little patience is reminding me about it."

I shrug. "I waited for you."

That's when I finally see that beautiful smile again. "Touché," she says, mimicking the way I say it.

And at last, the coffee break is starting to get back smoothly to who we are. Petty arguments and all but in the end, it's always a tie.

When we walk back to the office, I still notice that the car is there but we both mutually decide to let it go. Heading straight to the elevator, I hold her hand tightly with a deep, steadying breath.

THIS IS IT.