The Billionaire's Disaster

Chapter 1: How IT People Works Psyche’s P.O.V            “KNOCK knock…” hindi ko pa man din naibababa ang bag ko, at hihinga pa lang sana ako dahil tinakbo ko ang apat na palapag papunta dito sa office dahil maraming tao sa elevator at nagmagaling akong mag-commute papunta.            “Yes!” masigla ako’ng bumati kay Sir Justine Duque, na kamuka ni Secretary Duque na head ng Marketing at madalas na tumatawag sa akin lagi kahit hindi ko pa nabubuksan ang pintuan ng department.            “Ayaw kasi bumukas ng PC ko, puntahan mo ako ha,” anito habang ngumunguya pa ng Spanish bread sabay may hawak na starbucks na kape.            Binaba ko ang bag ko at saka dumiretso sa Marketing Department na hindi naman kalayuan sa IT Department. Habang naglalakad ako, umpisahan ko na ring magpakilala.            I am Psyche Noah Castromayor, an owner of a software company and I am a billionaire but why the hell am I fixing someone’s computer? That is because I am currently working as an IT Assistant in my own company. It’s exciting, right? Because no one knows about me. I had my assistant Chad pose as the CEO for now because right from the start of my company, I didn’t want to be known by the employees.            Dumiretso ako sa table ni Mr. Duque. Pinindot ko ang power button ng UPS, para sa mga hindi nakakaalam, ang UPS ay Uninterruptible Power Supply. This a battery backup used for your computers in case of electricity black out. If you seek for more information, then just think that this is the smallest square one you switch on before your system units, na mas kilala sa tawag nang karamihan na CPU samantalang hindi naman talaga ‘yon ang tawag dito. Marahil, tropa kayo ng mga tumatawag sa flash drive ng USB.            Napailing ako nang mapansin kong hindi naman sira ang UPS nitong tamad na matabang matandang ito dahil hindi lang nakalubog ang saksakan niya. I turned on his computer and attempted explaining but he didn’t even look at me and thanked me. Eh kung sesantihin ko kaya ito ngayon?            For the past eight months I have been working here, I realized a lot of things that I can’t even tell for a straight one hour dahil sa sobrang dami.            One thing I noticed here at first is how the position is being abused. Associates or Assistants have been overworked but there is no additional pay. The Human Resource Department doesn’t do their job well as they aren’t responsive when there are complains, how did I know that? I had a partner in the IT before, he resigned because he was overworked. Bakit nga ba na-o-overwork ang mga taga-IT? simply because employees are too lazy at kahit kaunting problema sa kanilang computer ay pinapagawa sa amin. This brings me back a lot the day I started working in an IT Firm.            “Pscyhe!” umalingawngaw ang ingay sa loob ng marketing department nang pumasok si Jojie—isang staff sa Accounting Department.            “May virus ulit ‘yung computer ko!”            Isang Accounting staff si Jojie na laging may virus ang computer dahil palihim itong nagda-download ng movies sa pirate sites dahil malakas ang internet dito. I made it clear before to have the IT block sites being accessed outside work but they are obviously neglecting it because they are the ones who are downloading software illegally.            “Sabi ko kasing huwag kang mag-download!” napailing na lang ako habang inaayos ko ang computer niyang may virus nga.            “Eh sayang nga, ang mahal ng sine!” katuwiran pa ni Jojie sa akin. “At least matuto kang magtanggal ng virus kung gusto mong mag-download.” Napairap na lang ako.            “What the…” naningkit ang mga mata ko nang makita kong halos mga pornsite ang karamihan na nasa history nito. “Nagtratrabaho ka pa ba? Ginagawa mong internet café ito e!”            “Huwag ka nang maingay, sayang ang bilis ng internet dito!” tinapik pa ako nito sa balikat dahil papasok na ang mga kasama niya na galing sa cafeteria.            Pagkatapos ni Jojie mayroon ulit tumawag sa akin, partida hindi pa official start ng working hours ko pero ang dami ko nang naayos na computer. Well, gano’n naman talaga raw ang silbi naming IT.            I wonder what will happen after all of these will end, and after I introduce myself as their real boss. ‘Yung tagaayos ng computer nila ay boss pala nila. I am having fun thoughts about that.            I was able to catch up on our 10 am meeting with my boss, Flynn. I’m not being bias but he’s probably one of the few reasonable managers here in my company. He’s a single dad and he’s really a genius and there are times he could surpass me.            The conference room is for all of the department but you have to reserve a schedule because other department may use it. Currently, we’re having a meeting about the new system upgrade which I already obviously know because I was the one who made it. Kumbaga, umuupo lang ako rito dahil kailangan.            I would rather repair computer by now rather than staying here but Flynn’s a good boss, I don’t want to ditch him.            Habang nakatulala ako ay naantala ako sa tunog na narinig ko sa sahig. Pagyuko ko ay nakita ko sa gilid ng paanan ng upuan ko ang isang supot ng custard bun at sa hindi ko alam na dahilan, bakit kaya may nagbato nito rito?            I looked at the opened door that probably Jin forgot to close a while ago because that is what he truly is, he doesn’t close doors. Walang tao roon. Iisipin ko na lang siguro ay multo ang naggulong nito papasok dito.            I teared open the plastic of the bun. It is the Japanese bread from the vending machine in the lounge where employees can take snacks at the vending machines, of course it is all free.            I started eating the bun while listening to Flynn because he allows eating during meeting, that’s how nice he is.            “So, just like what we usually do, we should assist the employees in adjusting with our new systems, okay…” he says as a wrapped for today’s meeting.            Dahil pakiramdam ko masyadong matamis ang custard bun na kinain ko kanina ay dumiretso ako sa lounge kung saan ang mga vending machines para kumuha ng soft drinks. I saw a girl running after her canned soda that rolled down to the other vending machines. When I reached that spot, she picked it up and started opening it abruptly and honestly, I wished I could have spilled the words in the back of my mind to stop her from doing that but it was all too late. She opened the can and the soda splattered on my face, saving me from getting a drink.            “Oh my god! Sorry!”            Umalingawngaw sa pandinig ko ang boses niya nang makita niyang dumiretso pa sa mukha ko ang inumin. Masarap pala ang softdrinks na kumukulo, bakit hindi ko agad nalaman iyon?            “It’s okay, I was about to drink…” I just nodded and smile while staring my polo that is now drenched with soda.            “Siguro sa susunod huwag mo na lang muna buksan ‘yung softdrinks kapag nahulog tapos gumulong-gulong pa,” mahinahong sabi ko naman sa kanya at pumaharap sa machine. Siguro iced coffee na lang ang kukuhanin ko.            “S-Sorry…” napapayuko pa rin ito sa harap ng kabilang vending machine at muling kumukuha ng panibagong inumin.            At the entrance of our office, when you scan your I.D the receptionist gives you meal tickets you use in the cafeteria and here in the vending machines, I actually was inspired to make this happen as a part of our amenities when I worked at Foogle—the famous browser that everyone uses nowadays.            “You’re new here…” I said. I noticed that at the first glance but I failed to say that a while ago because of the disastrous greeting she gave me.            I know that she’s new because I memorized every employee here, why? Because I am the owner…I don’t do much so I can memorize at least their names.            Unlike any other bosses who work beyond time in the movies you see, I am not like that. I have people in my company to do the other tasks I can’t handle, that is the very reason why I established an office so there will be no reason that I would waste some of my time in overworking. In fact, I just participated in core decision making which exhaust most of my time but that’s it. Sa madaling salita, ayoko mag-overtime kahit bayad.            “Ah, first day ko po ngayon…”            She’s a typical woman in the office. Her clothes fits in what the majority wears. Oh, we do not have uniforms because I do not want that. I want my employees to wear everything comfortable and formal of course. She’s wearing a corporate skirt, mukhang plinantsa pa niya kaninang umaga. How do I know that? Because that is the reason why I was always late in my job interviews before. For her top, she just wore a long sleeve blouse.            Her hair is a bit curly and she’s wearing a glasses with a thick lens on it.            Hot coffee ang kinuha niya at kaagad siyang tumikim dito, sabay biglang nag-fog ang glasses niya.            “By the way, I’m Psyche, I am from the IT so, come visit us when you need help…” I said. When she faced me, I saw the marks of the coffee on her lips.            “Also, you should wipe your glasses…” ang sabi ko pa sa kanya nang makakuha na ako ng inumin at naglakad palayo. ***