Commercial Break (Part 2)

I shut my eyes and pressed my thumb on my temple. I was tempted to shout at the top of my voice or bang my fist on the table, kick the trash bin beside my left foot, and hurl the pile of papers in front of me.

The phone rang.

“Hello! Blah, blah, blah, blah office, good morning!” The way I greeted the person on the other line astonished me. There was no hint of annoyance in it.

“I can still be courteous even I am raging with anger,” I thought.

The owner of the voice on the other line was jovial. It drowned my ranging anger.

He wanted to speak to Mr. Blah-blah. Mr. Blah-blah made a sign that he could not take the call.

“Mr. Blah-blah can’t come to the phone now. May I have your name and number. He will call you back as soon as possible.” I replied.

I jotted down his name and number then said goodbye. When I put down the receiver, Mr. Blah-blah called me to give another set of paperwork. I did not stir on my seat.

I had an urge to shout at the top of my voice again.

I bowed down my head, shut my eyes, and pressed my thumb on my temple.

Mr. Blah-blah called me again to hand the paperwork. I lifted my head, tried to smile, walked towards him, and extended my right hand to get the other set of papers.

I took a deep breath before burying myself to work.

“These papers are a relief anyway”, I thought, “I can forget everything once I am occupied with them.”


(Yup, folks, I'm changing my genre. I am writing prose now. I tried to write poetry these past days but to no avail. The muse of my poetry escaped again. Actually, I chose three poems that I will translate or adapt in Filipino but... I couldn't find any drive to write a new poem. So, enjoy my very first short story.)