He is Paul.

Paul Basa is the Chief Audit Executive (CAE) of one of the top real estate company of the country. He is well known for being tough especially eliminating or terminating employees not just rank and file but also executives who are found doing anomalies in the company.

Paul is the eldest of the 4 siblings, he is the only boy. They were left under the care of their Lola Tina when he was 16,when both his parents migrated to US for a greener pasture and so they could send their kids to prestigious school .

Paul is an achiever as he wants to be a perfect example for his siblings. He is a bookworm, a geek to be exact. He never had a relationship, No Girlfriend Since Birth (NGSB). He graduated cum laude and immediately took the CPA board exams and passed. He was hired under one of the best Accounting firm of the country and after 2 years he left and joined the corporate world as an Audit Manager.

In the corporate world, he found the excitement establishing and helping the company with their policies and procedures. And the management especially the president find him a great asset to the company. For his 1st year, he co-authored 5 policies and procedures. He has this perfectionist character that intimidates other employees.

He loves the pressure, being busy but not bossy. Every morning he would call his staffs and shares to them what he just read, what he learned and how will he apply it to the group or to himself. He is never selfish in sharing his knowledge and the whole team admires him for that. He is such a geek that even when he assigns a staff to interview, document some processes, and walkthrough during the presentation of report, he would narrate and discuss the whole process as if he was part of the audited party. And his staffs would always complain that their efforts have been put to waste because the way he discuss it to them is way way better than their version.

But Paul is not just a workaholic geek, he also have moments to hang out, unwind. He would invite his team every Friday for a drink and sometimes they would go bar hopping. Since his team knows that he is NGSB, one night they dared him to kiss a random girl in the bar. He accepted it and picked a girl who is also game for the said challenge. Paul was so embarrassed because he realized he is not a good kisser, he never had one except for that night. Since then, he never accepted any challenge😊.

However Paul did not forget that moment and he would go back to that bar alone hoping that he would meet that girl again. But unfortunately, after 3 months of trying and hunting, he never saw that girl again and he gave up. He diverted his attention to cycling. A childhood dream that he was afraid to try because he was never an athlete type of guy. He has this feeling that he could not balance and that he could not do it. So he bought his new bicycle with complete gears, joined groups with the hope of conquering his fear.

He and his new found group was on a meeting for their next trip when Paul was introduced to Sheila, the only girl in the group. He was shocked when he realized that Sheila is the same girl he was hunting for the past months. But Sheila seemed to not remember him and to what had happened and she just said Hi! Paul did not understand what he was feeling at that moment, so he just tried ignoring it and continue with the activity.

He cannot help but admire Sheila for being brave, tough and still have this girly aura. She did not want special attention and Paul remembered that embarrassing moment and he could not help but smile. Do you still remember that scene? a voice so angelic to his ears. Paul blushed and don't know how to react. Sheila smiled and said, hey it's okay! Past is past and nice meeting you again Paul, she said.

Paul was so excited the following day and call for a meeting. His team was so nervous. They only see that look when they have a special audit and that would require them to investigate officers of the company. He discuss about their upcoming assignments, deadlines and lastly, he was so happy to announce that she already met Sheila!

The group asked, who is Sheila and he mentioned about the kiss without giving them enough details. They boys were laughing as they all knew about it. Since then, Paul would not want to miss a single meeting and adventure with the group. He became close to Sheila and even asked for her number and became constant textmate, chat mate and caller. Just when he thought that there is already something special going on between them, Sheila revealed to her that Paul is special to her and that she treats her like a brother. She handed over an envelope to him; an invite to her upcoming wedding.

3 months later, Paul is preparing for his new day in his new work; new environment, new people, new beginning. And by the way, he left that cycling/bikers group and found a new love in hiking.

...^•°...

Thanks for reading and God bless.

Lead image is from Unsplash.
#originalcontent