Chapter 6: The Interview
I was at the office editing another article for the paper. I cannot help but wonder why the heir to the one of the greatest real estate fortune was doing at a hospital in the middle of the night. Even so, I just kept typing and typing. Sometimes, I dream of going on the field as a journalist instead of being deskbound to editing articles. Well, anyway, senior editor is not bad for my age.
"Rosanna, the boss calls for you in his office," the boss's secretary says. "It appears to be urgent."
What could he possibly want with me? What have I done wrong? I rose from my seat and I walked my way to the office with the secretary's lead. I tried to look calm as possible. This should be nothing.
I opened the door and I saw the boss sitting behind his desk with Mateo by his side. What is going on?
"Sir, you called me?" I say.
"Yes," he says. "Now, this is going to be brief."
"I understand," I say.
"There is something you are not telling me," he says.
"Sir, I tell you everything I need to tell you," I say. "I tell you when the articles are finished editing. I tell you when it can be printed. I tell you everything. What have I not told you?"
"A lot," he says. "An heir to a telecommunications fortune is dying, an heir to a real estate fortune visited a hospital with his parents, and. . . a daughter of a corporate lawyer is a drug addict. Rosanna, these are news you are not telling me."
"Sir, these are private matters that the public need not know," I say firmly. "And you disgust me if you call these private problems as 'news'."
"Still, these are news," he says coolly. "I never knew you to be so well-connected with the elite, Rosanna. Of course, what did I expect? You graduate from Ferrydell University under a scholarship."
"I repeat sir, these are private matters," I gritted my teeth. "I cannot report these to you. My friend is dying of cancer; another is trying to recover from addiction, and the one I saw last night? I merely bumped into him. I do not know him personally."
"You give me no choice, Rosanna," he says. "I am sending you on the field. If you are not personally connected with that real estate heir, then make yourself to be one."
"This is to invade their privacy, sir!" I exclaim.
"I don't care!" he exclaims back. "You saw it, you report it. Take Mateo with you. He ought to learn a little something from you. And, you may go."
I gritted my teeth with anger as I look into the eyes of my enemy. I knew he has something to do with this. The only question is how did he know all of those? I stormed out of the room and walked my way back to my cubicle.
"Rose, I – "
"You had something to do with this, don't you?" I ask angrily as I walk away.
"Rose, I had to tell him," he says. "This information is matters of the public for they are related to the elite which is – "
"These are private matters that no one else should ever know," I corrected.
"Think about it properly, Rose," he insists. He keeps catching up with me even though I am trying to leave him behind. I could still feel my anger with him. How could he tell these matters to the boss? "With these stories, you could get ahead of the journalism world. This would put you on top." He suddenly grabbed my arm as if to stop me from walking. "Don't you want that?"
"I have ambitions, I must admit," I say as I break away from his grip. "But I do not want to do it this way. I do not want to use my friends' problems as a means to boost my position. They are my friends and sisters in bond! I would not dare betray them. I want to be great, but not that way. How could you use my friends as pawns for your ambition? You even dared to involve me in this mess. You disgust me."
I turned my back on him and walked away. How could he? This is the sin Emma is talking about. Avarice is never a virtue. It can never be justified.
I arrived at my table only to see a post-it note stuck on my desk.
Interview with Rex de la Rama, 1:00 pm, Rade Real Estate Main Office. Be sure to show up if you want to keep your job.
Damn him! Damn both of them! They are both ambitious. How could I work for this man? Can he not respect that family's privacy? I managed to crumple the note and toss it to my waste bin out of anger. Instead of the waste bin, I did not manage to throw it in its proper place. It fell to the ground only for Mateo to pick it up for me.
"You seem to be pretty mad," he says as he hands me back the post-it note.
"It's your fault!" I exclaim. "And, how did you get that information?"
"Eloisa told me," he says lowly.
"Ah, so you are in close friendship, do you not?" I say angrily. "By God, I have two sisters for fools. One is a fool for an unknown lover and one is a fool for her friend's son of a gun ex-lover."
"You better watch your mouth there, missy," he whispers. "We have been friends for a long time, and you should know that by now. She has nothing against me, nor does Emma. I do not see why the two of us can't get in the same both."
"You cheated on her!" I exclaim. "That is the thing that I cannot forgive you!"
"Well, some of us needs to move on, right?" he says. "Anyway, we need to have that interview. Our jobs depend on it."
"May I remind you it is you that got us here in the first place?" I say.
"You can't do anything about it anyway," he says. "Not let's attend that interview."
My heart burns with anger for what he did, yet he started a new career for me. He got me out of being deskbound in the worst possible way. I do not know if I should thank him or curse him. I already cursed him earlier. I think that should be enough already. Also, what harm can a mere interview do? My boss set an appointment for an interview with Rex de la Rama.
I can feel the ambition rising through my head. Earlier, I was fuming with rage for what he did, but now I am star struck with the idea that I am actually going to interview an heir. I have been surrounded by children of the elite all throughout my college life, but I never see them as any higher than me. We are all trying to graduate college in one piece. We have our own share of dreams, and mine was to become a legend of a journalist.
I mean, I have two sisters as members of the elite. I am just a child born in poverty, but they see me as their equal. As we walk to the office, I can feel a race of change inside my mind. Anger turned into excitement within a flash. How could it be?
"Sir, the journalists from the Lucia City Times have arrived," the secretary says as she introduces us.
"Thank you," Rex says with a smile. "You may leave us for a while. Come back to me once this interview is over."
The secretary bowed in respect and left the three of us in the heir's room.
"Sir, thank you for obliging to our request for an interview," Mateo says in respect.
"It was nothing," the charming heir says kindly. "You honor me by asking to interview me. Come, let us talk."
He prompted us to sit on his sofa set. I felt honored by his hospitality. He had some coffee prepared for us and he never seems annoyed with having us.
"Now, I understood that you want to interview me, but for what reason?" he asks.
"It is a rather long story," Mateo says.
"Alright," the heir says. Mister de la Rama then looked at me as if he is examining my face. Please, let him not remember me. "Miss, have I seen you before?"
"Uh, last night, I suppose, sir," I say awkwardly. "I saw you at a hospital last night with your parents."
"Ah, yes," he says. "Now I remember. We strolled past each other in the lobby of the hospital. Alas, I only visited my betrothed last night. Poor, love. She is near the end of her days."
"Sir, if you do not mind me asking, who is this betrothed?" I ask.
"Miss, I believe that you are going a bit too far in asking me that," he says.
"Alas, sir, do not think me as a bird that pries into your private life," I say. "But sir, I think we share the same pain. I have a friend. Her name is Emma. You may not know her, but she near the end of her days too. You know, sir, it pains me to see her bound to that bed waiting for a turn to the worse. To see her lover is all she wishes, but alas, I do not know if I can give that to her."
"Would that friend be Emma Concepcion?" he asks.
"Yes sir," I answer. "How do you know?"
"She is my betrothed," he answers.
"You are my friend's betrothed?" I ask in shock.
"There is no doubt of it," he says. "And I'm surprised that the public doesn't know. You are the first to know, Ms. Aguinaldo."
"Were you lovers?" I ask.
"No, it was arranged," he says. "But even if it was arranged, I loved her, though she did not feel the same. Even on her deathbed, she still wants to find that peasant of a lover. Well, anyway, I'm sure that she will reconsider that."
"Sir, what do you know?" I ask flatly.
"I do not know him," he says. "The only thing I know that she fell for a common man, and I can tell you that I am not him. Miss, though your friend sees me as a shallow person, I truly loved her. Keep that in mind."
So, the man she loves is a common man. I can understand that. So, that is why she was betrothed to someone else. This is what the two sisters are talking about last night. They discussed the common man Emma loved. Sometimes, I think of her as a great person, though she is a fool. She is not shallow to fall for a man for his wealth and power. She falls for the person, not what the person has. She has a heart. Alas, I know I am not like her. Standing beside her is like standing beside a living saint.
"Right, I suppose we shall proceed with the interview," Mateo says as he pulls out his notepad containing questions to be asked.
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