For those who missed the first two episodes of GMA's newest primetime drama program "Pahiram ng Sandali," it's time to catch up on its exciting story.

The series stars Dingdong Dantes (Alex), Max Collins (Cindy), Christopher de Leon (Philip) and Ms. Lorna Tolentino (Janice) with Alessandra de Rossi (Baby), Mark Gil (Larry), Sandy Andolong (Thea), Neil Ryan Sese (Andrew), Isabel Rivas (Diana), Kristofer Martin (Franz), among others.

Here’s a summary of the said episodes:

The story began with a scene in the middle of a hostage crisis. An exasperated bolo-wielding man threatens to end the life of an elderly woman whom he held hostage out of despair over his marital problems.

Meanwhile, an aspiring journalist named Alex Santiago (Dingdong Dantes) applies as an intern under the tutelage of Romer Alcaraz (Roy Alvarez), a veteran hard news reporter and columnist of the tabloid, “Pinoy Reporter.”

As a test, Romer Alcaraz challenges Alex and three other aspirants for the job to go and cover the on-going hostage crisis and come up with a plausible news story. Whoever gets the best angle to the story gets the job.

Alex accepted the challenge but as soon as he returns to where he had parked his motorcycle, a woman hurried away with it. He would later learn that the woman’s name is Cindy and that she had escaped from her boyfriend who attempted to take advantage of her.

Even without his motorcycle, Alex still managed to reach the site of the hostage-taking. In his attempt to get the best viewpoint of the scene, he climbed up the roof of the house where the hostage taker and his hostage were and took a snapshot using his mobile phone through a hole in the roof. But the structure wasn’t strong enough to support his weight and so it caved in and ultimately Alex came crashing down to the floor. He fought with the infuriated hostage taker, and just as he thought he had knocked him down, he received a heavy blow on to his head from the hostage who owned the house. In the end, Alex lost his motorcycle, then his consicousness and, finally, his bid for the job.

Flashback to Alex’s childhood. Alex is an illigitimate child; He grew up not knowing who his real father is, and so he was always a favorite victim of bullies at school. He was called by his classmates “putok sa buho” which is a derogatory phrase used to mock children who were born out of wedlock.

No longer able to withstand the bullying, Alex engaged in a fistfight with his classmates. The incident dismayed Alex’s mom, Thea (Sandy Andolong). Alex demanded that his mom tell him who his father is. In the end, Thea was left without a choice but to tell him the whole truth: that Alex’s father is Larry Gomez (Mark Gil), the managing editor of “The Philippine Examiner,” considered the most respected and most influential newspaper in the country.

Thea attempted to introduce Alex to his father but when she brought the boy to him, Larry drove them away. He even offered them money and when a coin dropped to the ground, he told the boy he could take it as well. Since then, Alex developed deep hatred against his father. It worsened when Alex saw how much Larry loved JR, his son with Diana Gomez (Isabel Rivas), the woman who was instrumental in catapulting Larry to his present stature.

Back to present time, Thea married her suitor Berting who turned out to be a batterer. One day, Berting beat Thea so badly that she had to be rushed to the hospital because of an injury to her spleen. She needs to undergo a major treatment but she has no financial means to do so.

Meanwhile, Alex found out that a photo of him taken during the hostage taking incident was published in Romer’s column. Infuriated, he stormed the columnist in his office. On his way out of the building, he saw Cindy as the latter was returning his motorcycle. He confronted Cindy for stealing his motorcycle. Alex left hugely disappointed and accidentally drops the tabloid he was holding. Cindy picks it up and reads about the man’s misfortunes. She felt guilty for what she did and began to feel pity for him.

Cindy learns about what had happened to Alex’s mom and pleads with her Tito Larry and Tita Diana to provide Thea financial assistance (the couple has a foundation). What she did not know is that Larry is Alex’s father.

Thea went through the operation thanks to Cindy’s help. Alex returns the favor by teaching Cindy how to ride a motorcycle. This is how the two became close and eventually will become lovers.

Alex learns how wealthy Cindy’s family is and gets intimidated. But because he loves Cindy so much, he figured he should strive hard to become rich and give Cindy the kind of life that she deserves. But Cindy came to him one day and told him that they CAN’T be together.

Watch how this story continues to unfold in “Pahiram ng Sandali,” airs weekday nights on GMA-7.