I mean... I just whispered it to myself. Hindi naman siya aso, right? His hearing couldn't be that good para marinig niya iyong bulong ng ibang tao.

Also, bakit nasa pantry ulit siya? He literally just left a few minutes ago... Masyado ba siyang makaka-limutin para may kailangan siyang balikan sa pantry?

Tsk.

Ang dami ko na ngang kailangang gawin, nadagdagan pa ako ng iisipin.

"Okay, Venn," I uttered to myself. I was already back inside my office kaya sigurado ako na wala ng makaka-rinig sa akin. "Need to focus."

I briefly closed my eyes and took few short deep breaths to calm myself down. I got my noise cancelling airpods and listened to static noise. Since wala ata akong makukuhang sago mula kay Atty. LRZ at according to her ay marunong naman akong magbasa, I should figure this out myself. After all, valedictorian naman daw ako and top 4 sa BAR exams, so siguro dapat alam ko lahat.

I wanted to ask my co-associates kung ano ang dapat kong gawin, but based on my brief conversation with Mona earlier today, wala silang ginagawa pa, so I highly doubted if may maitutulong sila sa akin. Ayoko naman mag-ask sa ibang SA.

'How to do contract reviews as lawyer'

Instead of using my time para gawin iyong actual work, I had to read online kung ano ang mga kailangan kong gawin. The articles I read basically said the same thing—protect the client. So... I guess that's what I would do?

I opened all of the files and then chose what I would do first depending on the length—kagaya nung ginagawa ko sa law school. I chose what I'd do for digest first depending sa haba ng case. I always start with the longest case because it gives me the illusion that the hardest part is over, so I should just carry on and finish the rest.

"What the fuck am I doing?" I whispered to myself again as I found myself reviewing a franchise agreement for a fast food chain na lagi kong kinakainan.

It was a thirty page contract—a migraine-inducing contract. I initially made a calendar schedule. I gave this agreement 2 hours. I thought it was already plenty of time—I was WRONG.

"Oh, my god," I kept on telling myself habang binabasa ko iyong Agreement. I knew the words, but when they formed a sentence, they confused me altogether. I had no idea what I was doing! Talaga bang kapag valedictorian at top 4 sa BAR, dapat alam ko na 'to?

"I mean... these look okay," I told myself.

I made edits here and there. Mukhang okay naman iyong contract. Hindi ba standard naman 'to?

Nanlaki ang mga mata ko nang mapa-tingin ako sa oras.

"Shit."

It was already 5:30PM. And isa pa lang ang nagagawa ko. Ang dami ko pang kailangang gawin!

I briefly closed my eyes once again.

"Breathe, Venn," I told myself. "You're done with the longest contract, so the next ones will be better... Besides, bago ka pa lang dito sa firm... They surely wouldn't expect me to know everything already..."

I wasted a full minute trying to convince myself that everything was fine. Atty. LRZ was just probably trying to haze me—what? Was she a part of a sorority? Na-miss niya na ba maghazing ng bago kaya ako pinagttrip-an niya? That's probably it... because it wouldn't make any sense na lahat ng mga kasabay ko dito sa firm ay bored habang ako ay nalulunod na sa dami ng ginagawa.

After stretching my limbs, I decided to go to the pantry to get myself another cup of coffee. I decided na mamaya na umalis para magpalipas ng rush hour. Instead na ma-stuck sa traffic, might as well stay in the office para mabawasan iyong mga kailangan kong gawin.

The moment I opened the door, agad na nakita ko si Atty. Borja.

"Fuck," I, once again, uttered to myself when my reflex made me loudly shut the office door to his face.

* * *

"Okay, surely he's not a vengeful person," I said, trying to convince myself na hindi naman ako pag-iinitan ni Atty. Borja dahil sa dalawang interaction namin ngayong araw. "He seems like a reasonable man," I continued to tell myself.

Instead of doing my initial plan na pumunta sa pantry para kumuha ng kape, I barricaded myself inside my office. I went back to the law firm website to check kung sino ba exactly si Atty. Borja sa firm na 'to.

"Oh..."

My lips were parted as I read his firm profile.

Victorino V. Borja

Junior Partner

Mr. Borja is a Junior Partner in the Corporate and Special Projects Department of Gulmatico & Zobel. His practice covers mergers and acquisitions, corporate reorganization, joint ventures, franchising, and general corporate advisory, with particular emphasis on regulatory compliance for clients in the food service, construction, and energy sectors.

He has advised on several of the Firm's most significant transactions, including the restructuring of a publicly listed holding company and the establishment of a joint venture between a Philippine conglomerate and a foreign strategic investor. He regularly represents the Firm's retained clients before the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Philippine Competition Commission, and the Intellectual Property Office.

Mr. Borja is a faculty member at the St. Claire's Academy College of Law, where he teaches Corporation Law.

He co-authored the Philippine chapter of the "Corporate Governance Review", published by The Law Reviews, United Kingdom.

Mr. Borja graduated valedictorian of his class in and placed first in the Philippine BAR Examinations of the same year. He was a member of the Philippine Team to the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition, where he was among the highest ranked individual oralists.

He is a Trained Arbitrator at the Philippine Dispute Resolution Center, Inc., and a member of the Corporate Law Committee of the Philippine BAR Association.

Mr. Borja was recognized by the Asian Legal Business as Young Lawyer of the Year.

"God, please, I hope he has a bad hearing and bad eyesight as well," I said as I rested my back against my chair and closed my eyes.

Ni hindi ako maka-labas sa office because of the fear that I might run into him again. Because what were the odds that I'd see him thrice today? The odds were low, but never zero. I couldn't risk it.

"It's probably safe na umuwi ako around 10PM..." I told myself. "He's already a junior partner... Hindi naman siya associate kagaya ko na magsstay sa office until 10PM... right? But then again, looking at his firm profile, it wouldn't at all be completely surprising if he stays late at the office. He read like he's a workaholic.

Gusto ko lang namang umuwi na.

It's been a long day already.

I took a really deep breath and then proceeded to eat my protein bar—my emergency protein bar. Hindi ko naman akalain na kakailanganin ko agad siya sa unang araw ng trabaho.

I put my airpods on again and begged myself to stop wasting time and to focus on my contract reviews again. I should stop thinking about Atty. Borja. As a junior partner, sigurado ako na marami siyang ginagawa. Bakit niya naman pag-a-aksayahan ng oras ang associate na kagaya ko? Right? Right.

It's all in my head.

I was just wasting my limited energy thinking about useless things.

Right.

"Okay," I said, quickly standing up when my alarm went off at 10PM.

Masyado nang late. Kung workaholic man siya, surely sa bahay niya na siya nagpapaka-workaholic. Judging by his looks, impossible na wala siyang girlfriend or asawa... or maybe wala? Because if meron, it would be so inappropriate—and not to mention weird—na Atty. LRZ was so obviously flirting with him...

Ugh.

Bakit ko ba siya iniisip?

I grabbed my bag and hurried to the elevator. I pressed on basement 3 kung nasaan naka-park iyong sasakyan ko. The doors were about to close when I saw Atty. Borja standing in front of the elevator.

Our eyes met... for the nth time today... and instead of pressing the open button like any normal associate would do, I frantically jabbed the close button while still holding his gaze.

Maybe... I should've called in sick today. 

***

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