Chapter 2: Pleasure's Mine

"The witch is on her way- The witch is on her way!" those employees dilly-dallying quietly ran to their working cubicles and pretended to do something. Theresa can hear their whispers very clearly as she walks past every working cubicle in their department. This became her everyday life ever since her promotion two years ago. Everything became busier and the burden of her obligation as the vice-chairman is very heavy but still manageable.

"Good morning ma'am your tea's on your table, all reports from the last reporting period are also on your table. Your meeting with Mr. Scott will start 20 minutes from now and after that, you will have another meeting with Mr.Cheng at 2:30, and your meeting with--" Theresa massaged her temple after hearing her secretary's continuous blabbering.

"Do I have any schedule on 4 PM?" as soon as she entered her office, she slammed her butt of to work immediately.

"Why do you have a scheduled blind date today?" Her secretary wiggled her brows at her. "Does that mean I'm free from 4 o'clock onwards?" Theresa giggled.

"No, o my God you forgot the date today, didn't you? The launching of the new project in City S will start next week and the welcoming party for our business partners will be held in Five Star Hotel at 4 o'clock!" she shouted at Theresa and took the invitation card from my desk that was buried on the pile of dusty papers.

Theresa scratched the back of her head while looking at the invitation. "I really hate attending social gatherings Chessie you know that" I learned my lesson after misbehaving 2 years ago. That was the worst idea that came to my mind. I don't hate what happened back then because if time will turn back, I would still do it. What I regret was leaving that room without knowing that man further, Theresa said to her herself. She looked away from the invitation "You go there for my stead" she added.

After that day She went back to that club every night hoping that she could meet him again but failed. It took Theresa months before giving up on searching the Juan she met that night. Her first time with him keeps on haunting her. For 2 years she dated a lot of men but no one was able to par with her standards, it was like no one was better with the one she met that night. He was the only one that he considered "the one that got away" even though they only shared one nightstand.

"No, you will be the president's date for tonight didn't you read the invitation card? It was given by him!" Chessie started to panic again, she long wanted to resign but Theresa doesn't want to let go of her. She thought that working with Theresa made her look 10 years older than she really is.

"You know that our president is a pervert, why would I go out with him?" the president of their company was a 53-year-old man whose been trying to woo Theresa but she turned him down multiple times. He just doesn't know when to quit.

"You don't have a choice, Ms. Theresa Sy. You have to leave now you have a meeting to attend" Chessie slipped the invitation inside Theresa's bag then swing her hands pointing the door.

After spending thousands of seconds attending meetings and signing papers, Theresa immediately went out to get ready for her attire and make-up. She drove to Lou-lou's boutique which is just a few streets near their company.

"Look who's here! It's my favorite person!!!" Czarina gave Theresa a tight hug and guided her to her office.

"Bitch my workplace is only around the corner yet you can't even have a coffee with me during break time" Theresa sneered at her and ate some of her pudding on the table which she immediately regrets.

"What the fuck?!" she spat the pudding on the trash bin and immediately gargled with the tea that Lou-Lou served her. "HAHAHAHAH that was supposed to be my snack the day after yesterday but I became so engrossed with my latest project I didn't have time to bother with other things" she took the pudding threw it in the bin.

"You disgusting creature, even if you don't care about your surrounding you should at least take good care of yourself. When was the last time you took a bath?!" Theresa covered her nose and shooed Lou-lou to move away.

"About... 2-3 days I think?" She pulled some strand of her hair and sniffed it multiple times. Ueehhg seriously? "Anyway what can I do for you today? Makeover?" she took a thick book on her desk and sat next right next to Theresa.

"I'll be attending an evening party today and I totally forgot about it so I wasn't able to prepare anything hehe" Theresa explained to her

"These are my latest designs for this month, I'll let you borrow them. In exchange I will take my cute Missande on a date this Sunday, call?" After thinking for a while, Theresa thought that Lou-lou's offer is not bad.

"Hey, my Missande is not a tool for you to borrow" Theresa pouted at Lou-Lou "Well who told you to give birth first?! You traitor you should have told us when you planned to get pregnant you dimwit" Lou-Lou smacked Theresa's head because she and the two girls, Valerie and Crystallene feel betrayed.

"You gave birth a year earlier than us!" she complained once again. Theresa remained quiet after Lou-lou's complaint. Lou-Lou noticed the change in the atmosphere so she spoke again, this time giving Theresa a piece of advice. "Hey girl, it's already been 2 years just move on. Who knows that guy might have been married already? You were so careless. But it's okay thanks to that we have our lovely Missande"

That was one of the reasons why Theresa didn't stop finding Juan. Because of their carelessness, she got pregnant with Missande. Her daughter looked exactly like Theresa except for the color of her eyes. Missande's eyes were like emerald green, similar to Juan's.

Theresa struggled with a lot of criticism, especially among her family and relatives. Having a kid outside marriage is taboo to every Asian household. But as time passes by, they also accepted Theresa back and everyone became fond of Missande. She's too cute nobody can resist her.

After a long chat, Lou-Lou chose a backless green sling dress for her. It was simple but once worn by Theresa, the dress became especially stunning.

"Hey, how did you keep your body in shape although you don't exercise. All you do every day was to sit in your office and eat." Lou-Lou said enviously while she is doing some adjustments with the dress. "Theresa you should change your career and work as my Model, you freakin' look stunning right now" she added. Unlike Theresa, Lou-Lou gained a little weight after giving birth to Trevor, her son.

She fixed Theresa's hair and put on some light makeup. "There it's done!"

Theresa looked at herself in the mirror and smiled with satisfaction. "Thank you so much Lou-Lou! I'll invite you to a dinner on Sunday at my house you can bring your husband and little Trevor too okay?"

The two chatted for a little longer before saying their farewell. Theresa immediately drove to the venue of the place and waited for the president before going inside with her.

They all greeted them as they enter the place. "Mr. Clemente... it's so good to see you personally welcoming us here" a middle-aged man came closer to them and gave them a handshake. "It's my pleasure working with you Mr. Manaloto" Mr. Clemente, the president greeted him back.

"Oh it's not me who will be working with you it's my son" the other corrected. "And who might be this lady? Your wife?" Mr. Manaloto added.

"Oh- no sir you are mistaken, You can call me Theresa, I am the vice-chairman of the company" Theresa feels disgusted just by hearing her as this pervert's wife. Yuck, never in his wildest dream she said to herself. She excused herself and gave the two a little space to talk. She went into the corner and ate some of the refreshments. Theresa enjoyed herself in the food section. She talked to few guests but most of the time she was eating.

Due to boredom, Theresa who taking a nap at the corner was woken up by someone telling her that the president was looking for her. She immediately fixed her hair before going to the place where Mr. Clemente and others were sitting. There are many people in the group and she was the only woman. "Did you call me sir?" Theresa asked and he signaled her to have her sit. She just chose a random seat and didn't care much about the people around her.

"Okay everyone this is the vice-chairman of Zen Inc., Ms. Theresa Sy. She will be handling and advising our new project in City S. So if you need something, you can report to her first." the president introduced Theresa in the crowd.

"Thank you so much for the introduction sir, I am Theresa and I look forward to working on this project with everyone" Theresa gave an effortless smile but to everyone, it was breathtaking. The smile was short-lived but their good impression with her remained.

"I'm sorry for being late dad, I got caught in a traffic jam" the main door of the hotel swung open and the door spit up a man brushing off the water on his tuxedo because it was raining outside.

"Mr. Clemente, everyone, this is my son Mr. Juanjo Manolo the head leader of the engineers in the site. He will be handling the business since I am retired now hahaha" Mr. Manolo introduced his son to everyone. On the other hand, Theresa was very busy with her phone secretly playing candy crush, not minding what the buzz is about.

"Ms. Sy this is my son Juanjo, he will be under your care" only after hearing her name did Theresa looked up and put her phone inside her pouch.

As she turns to look, Theresa was greeted with a pair of emerald eyes. It was as if everything turns slow motion. Theresa doesn't know whether to laugh or cry. It was like thousands of butterflies are having chaos in her stomach right now. Her loss of words made everyone wonder. "It is nice to meet you Ms. Theresa Sy" the man extended his arm to her.

A breathtaking smile automatically came out from Theresa's lips. She is carefully examining the man in front of her. It was not long until she realized that what was she happy about, she doesn't even know if this man is married. Or worst she doesn't even know if he remembers her. Theresa's face immediately darkened, she is very disappointed with how he reacted. Right he might have forgotten about it.

Theresa forced a smile and shook his hand. "The pleasure's mine, Mr. Juanjo Manolo"