SIA: Chapter 1
SAY IT AGAIN
(This is now the working title)
PROLOGUE
"Dalawa lang: Either 'yung happy-go-lucky funny guy na walang sineseryoso, or the emo sensitive angsty dark and brooding guy na lagi namang serious. So, alin ang pipiliin mo?" Michelle posed the question to her officemates who all looked keenly interested.
They were all having lunch together at the office pantry. Most of them had finished eating but since there was still some time left on their breaks, they made use of the time to socialize. Sometimes their conversations were about the current TV shows and celebrity gossip. Other times, it was about work-related issues and deadlines. But more often that not, probably because they were all girls who had lunch together, their conversations inevitably ended up being about guys.
"Ako mas-gusto ko 'yung serious guy, para alam mo agad kung anong meron sa inyo, kung nanliligaw ba siya, or may balak na ba siyang pakasalan ka or what. Mas-mabuti na 'yung malinaw," one of them, Jenny, immediately said.
"Ay ganun? Ako nga mas-gusto ko 'yung funny 'eh, para hindi boring. Saka para hindi predictable. Parang mas-masaya 'yung maghuhulaan kayo kung anong tingin n'yo sa isa't-isa tapos mag-aasaran pa kayo 'pag nalaman n'yo na," another one, Grace, countered.
There were two left in their table, and all three--Michelle, Jenny and Grace looked at them. "Kayo?" Michelle asked.
"Ay ayoko nga," the first one, Andrea, spoke up. "Hindi ako naniniwalang two lang. Marami namang kinds of guys sa mundo 'eh."
"Hindi hindi pwede 'yung sagot na 'yun," Grace told her. "For this conversation lang, if you had only two choices, which one would you pick?"
Andrea furrowed her eyebrows, and then shook her head. "Hindi talaga, hindi ako makakapili. Or wala, none of the above. Iba pa diyan 'yung gusto ko," she said firmly.
"Ganon? 'Eh kung pwede 'yun, 'eh 'di sa'kin pareho na lang. Ok lang naman pareho 'eh," Michelle said.
They all laughed. "Ano ba 'yan, 'yung isa none of the above, 'yung isa all of the above," Jenny pointed out.
"Oo, tapos tayong dalawa, magkaiba rin 'yung sagot," Grace said.
"In fairness, apat kayo at nakuha n'yo lahat ng permutation ng sagot," the last one in the group, Kathleen, noticed. And they all laughed again.
"Permutation? Yuck, math term 'yun 'ah," Grace said. "Puro ka talaga numbers. Geek! Geek!"
"Oo nga," Andrea said, looking at Kathleen. "Ikaw hindi mo sinabi kung alin sa dalawa 'yung gusto mo!"
"Oo nga," Michelle and Jenny both agreed. "Alin sa'yo, Kathleen?" Michelle asked.
"Ha?" Kathleen looked confused.
"Kathleen!" somebody called from outside the pantry. They all turned. It was Lester, from the Billing team. He was standing at the doorway and gesturing for Kathleen to come with him. "Meeting na."
"Meeting?" Jenny asked, looking from Lester to Kathleen, and then to Lester again. "For what?"
Lester raised an eyebrow at her as if to say that she should've known what it was about. He walked closer to their table and forced Kathleen to stand up so she could follow him. "'Eh 'di sa singing contest, ano pa?" he said, and then shut the door behind him.
Merely three weeks after he was hired as a billing coordinator for a multinational company, Adam found himself at a briefing meeting for the contestants of a singing contest. He looked around and saw some girls at the other end of the table, talking to a curly-haired guy who was strumming a slow song on a guitar. On the other side were a guy and a girl, rehearsing opening lines for an event that would happen at the end of the week. He looked around and saw everyone paired up, or maybe in groups of three or four. He was the only one not talking to anyone in the room. He was the only one not doing anything. He sighed. It was tough being the new kid. When the door opened and the Department Manager walked in, he was actually relieved. It meant that the meeting was about to start. Everyone around him arranged their seats and turned their attention towards the front of the room.
“Thanks everyone for coming,” Department Manager Josephine Picato said. “I know this isn’t the usual type of activity we have, but there’s always time for a little fun and games. Of course we shouldn't get carried away, but anyway...” she went on to talk about the mechanics of the event, its objectives, how the program would go… official stuff. She was in the middle of telling them the contest rules when Adam felt someone sit on the empty seat beside him.
“Um, marami na ba'kong na-miss?” he heard a soft voice say. He turned and found himself looking at the sweetest face he’d ever seen. He shook his head. “Hindi naman,” he said, and saw her smile.
When the speech ended they were left to talk amongst themselves on how they would go about the program. The two emcees, who introduced themselves as Janice and Lester, took the lead. They discussed about what songs the contestants were going to sing.
“Ikaw ba?” Adam asked the girl sitting beside him.
“Kathleen,” she said. “I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name.”
Adam looked confused, and then realized that she must’ve misunderstood his question. “Oh, Adam,” he said, holding out his hand and giving her a smile. “Actually, I was asking what song you were going to sing.”
“Ah sorry,” Kathleen realized her mistake and laughed. She shook his hand quickly and replied “Say It Again, 'yung kay Marie Digby.”
"Talaga?" he asked. "Gusto ko 'yung song na 'yun."
She chuckled. “Really?”
“Oo,” he nodded. “Bakit?”
“Wala naman,” she said. “You just, don’t look the type,” she smiled at him again. “Anyway,” she continued. “Ikaw ba, ano kakantahin mo?”
“Ah, hindi ko pa alam 'eh," he shrugged. “Actually, hindi ko nga alam kung bakit ako nandito 'eh,” he said, smiling sheepishly. “I think this is my team’s idea of a joke.”
She laughed. “Well, ganyan talaga 'pag bago.”
He laughed, and then nodded. “Ha, halatang-halata ba na bago ako?”
"Oo, 'eh wala ka kasing katabi kanina 'eh."
"Ganon?" he shrugged. "Wala pa'ko masyado kilala 'eh."
She nodded. “Okay lang 'yan, sa simula lang naman 'yan. Magiging at home ka rin eventually.”
He smiled. “Thanks,” he said. “Ano nga ba pala 'yung team mo?” he asked.
Before she could answer, one of the emcees, Lester, called her attention. “Kathleen,” he started. “Meron ka na bang copy ng song mo, or gusto mo tumugtog na lang si Jeff?”
“Ah... 'Yun pala,” she started, turning away from Adam. “Wala akong mahanap na instrumental version nung song 'eh.”
“'Eh ano ba 'yung song mo? Baka alam na ni Jeff,” Lester said.
“Say It Again,” Kathleen replied. “Marie Digby.”
Someone snorted.
Lester turned to the guy beside him who was holding a guitar. “Alam mo ba 'yon?” he asked.
The guy chuckled. “Oo,” he said. “Pero hindi ko tutugtugin 'yon.”
“Ha? Bakit naman?” Lester asked.
Kathleen looked at him questioningly as well.
The guy wrinkled his face in disgust. "Pambabae 'eh."
“Ano ka ba, dapat matutunan mo 'yung mga ganun,” Lester told him. “Lahat kaya ng contestant babae."
At that point, Adam cleared his throat loudly. He didn’t want them to know he was listening to their conversation, but felt he should speak up. “Hindi naman lahat,” he said.
Lester turned sharply at him with raised eyebrows. “Sino ka?” he asked loudly.
Adam felt everyone in the room look at him. “Um, ano, uh…” he stammered. “Adam. From Billing. Bago lang ako,” he said. “I’m singing, uh… I’m singing something.”
Half the people in the room laughed, the other half rolled their eyes.
“Contestant ka ba talaga?” one of the girls at the other end of the room asked. “As in?”
“Ah, ano... Ano kasi 'eh... Um..." he stuttered.
“Oo naman,” Kathleen spoke up. “Maganda nga 'yun 'eh, may variety.”
“That’s true,” Lester agreed. Everyone else seemed satisfied with his answer. Without another glance at Adam, they turned back to what they had been doing. Lester looked at Kathleen again, and then at Jeff. “So ano, hindi mo talaga kayang tugtugin 'yung song niya?”
“Hindi sa hindi kaya,” Jeff said, “okey lang kasi 'yung songs nung iba kasi medyo common na, marami nang rendition, so matutugtog ko na nang maayos. Pero 'yung Say It Again...” he turned to Kathleen. “'Di ka ba pwedeng magpalit na lang ng song? Iba na lang kantahin mo.”
“Ha? 'Eh 'yun na 'yung pinaka-bagay na song sa boses ko 'eh," she reasoned.
“Ows, imposible. Singer ka 'eh, dapat marami kang songs na alam kantahin."
“'Eh 'yun na nga 'eh," she said. "Hindi naman ako singer 'eh."
He rolled his eyes. “Oo oo gets ko na,” he said. “Nagkukunwari kang 'di marunong para ma-underestimate ka nila. Hustler ka pala 'eh.”
Kathleen rolled her eyes. "Hindi 'no. Hindi talaga ako singer, promise."
"'Eh kung hindi ka singer 'eh anong ginagawa mo dito?" Jeff raised an eyebrow. "Diba singing contest 'to? So lahat ng nandito, singers."
“Hindi kaya,” Adam suddenly said.
Lester, Jeff and Kathleen turned to him again, as if he’d interrupted their conversation which, he actually had.
“Ay, wala, sorry,” he said softly, and swiveled on his seat to look out the window.
“Hinde, alam ko na,” Lester said looking from Jeff to Kathleen. “I’ll leave it to you to decide. Either i-convince mo siya na tugtugin 'yung song mo,” he said, looking at Kathleen. “Or i-convince mo siya na palitan 'yung song niya,” he said to Jeff. “Basta give me your answer by tomorrow, okey?” he finished, and walked off to talk to another contestant.
Kathleen looked at Jeff with narrowed eyes, expressing her disdain at the situation. Jeff just grinned at her, and then went on to follow Lester to talk to the next contestant. Kathleen sighed. "'Pag minamalas ka nga naman..."
"Bakit?" Adam suddenly asked, turning his chair to face her.
"Ah, wala lang," Kathleen said. "Naisip ko lang kasi, ngayon kailangan ko pang problemahin 'yung song ko. 'Eh hindi naman talaga ako 'yung dapat na contestant namin in the first place."
"Oh?" he asked.
Kathleen nodded. "Kasi 'yung isang teammate namin, naka-leave siya for two weeks so ayun, no choice. Ako na lang 'yung sinali nila. Pero hindi talaga ako 'yung dapat. I mean, substitute lang ako."
Adam laughed. "I guess pareho tayong wala sa tamang lugar," he said.
Kathleen nodded.
"Although at least ikaw substitute, ako napag-tripan lang."
They both laughed.
"So we should stick together, right?" he asked her, and then smiled.
For a moment, Kathleen paused. She didn't know what to say. Maybe he was making friends. Or maybe he meant something else. It didn't help that he was kind of cute when he smiled, and that his smile this time was slightly different than how he smiled before. It wasn't just a friendly kind of smile this time, it seemed... expectant somehow. Thinking that too many seconds have already passed for her to give a reply, she just nodded and smiled at him as well. "Yeah." she said, her voice soft. "We should do that."
***
