The young man picked his luggage from the conveyor and fell in line with the rest of the arrivals. As he approached the immigration booth, he handed his passport over to the officer in charge. It was mandatory for filipinos from the non-EOGC territories to bring their passports and pass through immigration. The EOGC was very suspicious of people coming in from the non-EOGC territories that it subjected them to international standard checks upon arrival. Once in, a non-EOGC Filipino was permitted to stay for thirty days. Any period longer required the issuance of the EOGC's very own visa.
The immigration officer took the passport and opened it. She read the name Adaggio Pineco Conti. "So, Mr. Conti," she asked pleasantly, "what brings you to the EOGC territories?"
"Oh, I'm here to perform," he replied with a smile. "It'll be at the Limketkai Atrium during the convention."
Indeed, Cagayan de Oro was hosting the All-Asian Businessmens' Convention. It would be a month long with numerous activities taking place in the city's malls, school campuses, parks and convention centers. Eric Ong himself would be delivering a keynote speech at the Limketkai Atrium and preside over several activities at his own Mindanao Financial Center.
She looked at him from head to toe. He seemed harmless enough: gray and red baseball cap, black jacket, while t-shirt, blue shorts, glasses and sneakers. He carried a backpack, a bag and what looked like a case for a musical instrument. Perhaps he was one of those contestants at the talent show that would be held at Limketkai in four days' time.
Satisfied, she stamped his passport and returned it to him. "Welcome to the City of Golden Friendship, sir," she said with a smile.
Adaggio P. Conti walked out of the arrivals area to the taxi lane. He would meet his contact in a designated hotel. Now he needed a taxi to get there. The clouds were gathering and a slight drizzle was to be expected.
"What?!" shrieked the man in front of him. This man was screaming himself hoarse at his cellphone, complaining that his company's driver had not yet arrived. He looked like a corporate person; trench coat, briefcase and all.
"What do you expect me to do?!" the man railed. "I gotta hurry! I don't wanna take a taxi. I-" he paused to listen for a few seconds.
"What am I gonna do?" he continued. "It's gonna rain here any moment!"
He slowly turned around. "I can't just call one of the janitorial vehicles; what do I look like to you, Maximilian Ong?"
The moment he turned to face Adaggio he shrieked again, this time startled. "S-s-s-s-sorry, sir," he mumbled. "I-i-i-i-i'll just take a taxi, okay?"
He leaped into the first cab that stopped by.
As a frightened Anselmo Sanchez slammed the back door of the taxi, told the driver to take him to his boarding house and breathed a sight of relief, a thought coursed through his mind. Was that who I thought it was?
He glanced around and saw the bespectacled man who was standing behind him take the next cab.
No comments:
Post a Comment