6 The Interview (2/2)

”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.