Chapter 4

“Hey, Maricris, the manager wanted to talk to you. She is at her office,” Ana called her after she served the order of their customers.

She turned to Ana with her eyebrows furrowed.

“Huh? Did she tell you why?” She asked and she couldn’t help but wonder what she have done. Did she do something wrong? She had been working in this restaurant for almost two years now. She worked at the place after she arrived in Baguio City. Her daughter who was with her was now three years old. Life had been tough for her after she ran away from San Ildefonso. She was here through the help of the conductor of the bus. She would be forever thankful to the man because she was able to escape from Xandro even if he was able to take their son.

Maricris could still clearly remember everything that happened to her and her children. Every time she thought of it, she felt that pinching sensation inside her chest. There were a lot of what if it inside her head, but she knew that she couldn’t do anything but to face the life that she had now with her daughter. The pain and the suffering she had experienced in the past had been carved inside her heart. And she was hoping that one day, she would be able to see her son again, her daughter’s twin brother. There were no days that she wouldn’t be thinking about her other child. How she wished she could go back and take him with her.

She was thankful then when she arrived at Baguio, she was able to meet good people that helped her recover from the pit that she had fallen into.

Marco was a good person and his wife, Ana, her colleague. They were the one who helped her to have work and be accepted as a waitress at the restaurant of Mrs. Valdez.

“I don’t know. Just go and let me take care of the customers here,” Ana said after that she went to greet the new customers who just arrived.

Maricris was left standing, so she took a deep breath and then she went to the office of Mrs. Valdez which was at the corner of the restaurant. She could feel her heart was beating so fast as she was hoping that she was called not because of anything wrong that she could have done without noticing.

She took a deep breath before she knocked on the door three times and then she waited for the boss to let her in.

It didn’t take a while and she heard the voice of the boss telling her to get inside.

Her heart was pounding so fast as she was thinking what the reason and the owner had suddenly called her. She couldn’t remember anything that she had done wrong. As far as she knew all the customers that she had handled were very happy with her service.

After she heard the boss telling her to get inside, she pushed the door open.

She was surprised that it was not just Mrs. Valdez who was in the room. There was a man sitting right in front of Mrs. Valdez’ table. The man looked younger than her boss. If she was not mistaken, he could be in his thirties. As far as she knew, Mrs. Valdez was in her fifties. She’s kind and a generous woman to her employees like her.

She discreetly observed the man who was sitting in front of Mrs. Valdez. As she looked at him intently, the man seemed to have similarities with Mrs. Valdez. It looked like they were somehow related.

The man had a good body build. She couldn’t deny that he was handsome. He had thick gradual eyebrows with chestnut brown coloured eyes. He had a roman shaped nose. He was strikingly handsome. He had thin lips as if inviting every woman for a kiss.

Maricris turned away the thoughts that were running inside her head. She had to focus on what Mrs. Valdez was about to say and not on anything else. She wanted to scold herself from imagining things about the man who was in front of her boss.

“Good afternoon, Mrs. Valdez. Ana told me that you are looking for me,” she said as soon as she got inside of the room.

“Yes, please come here,” the woman said to her as their attention diverted at her. “Have a seat here, dear.”

Mrs. Valdez was pointing at the vacant seat in front of the man. She walked towards their direction and sat down.

She could see the man was looking at her until she was already in front of him.

“By the way, this is my son, Jovanie. I will not go around the bush with you Maricris. I called you because my son here needs employees for his new restaurant that is going to open soon in Manila. And I want you to come with him to be one of his employees,” Mrs. Valdez said while smiling at her.

Her heart skipped a beat because of what she heard from her boss. Manila. This was the place where she wanted to go last time when she ran away from Ildefonso. She couldn’t help but think if it was nice to go there or should she just better stay in Baguio? The place which gave her a peaceful life along with her daughter.

Maricris couldn’t help but wonder if Mrs. Valdez had forgotten about her daughter. If she would be going with her son in Manila. How would her daughter be? Who would take care of her? It was nice that Ana’s mother was there to take care of her little girl, but Ana also had children who needed attention. Besides, could she afford to be away from her daughter?

Just thinking about it already made her heart heavy. For the longest time, she had always been with her daughter so she couldn’t imagine herself waking up in the morning with her by her side.

“Ma’am,” she was stuttering as she didn’t know how she was going to say to the woman what’s bothering her. If she would say yes or if she would be going to decline the offer.

Her daughter was her priority, especially since they only have each other in life. She couldn’t leave her even if she was with Ana’s family who had been very kind with them.

Mrs. Valdez looked at her. It was as if the old woman could read what was running inside her mind.

“Oh, I know that you are thinking about your daughter, is that right?” Mrs. Valdez asked her.

Maricris nodded her head as a response.

“Yes, ma’am,” she replied as she bit her lower lip. She knew that Mrs. Valdez had been so kind to her to accept her at the restaurant, but she couldn’t just accept her offer because of her child.

“What’s wrong?” Jovanie said with so much confusion in his face while looking at her. She couldn’t understand but his stares were like passing through her souls. She couldn’t meet his eyes. Her heart suddenly pounded so fast. It was as if there were horses that were running inside her chest.

Maricris couldn’t understand why her heart was beating so fast as she got closer to the man.

“Well, Maricris has a daughter. She’s just three years old. A toddler,” Mrs. Valdez said. “I think that’s what she is worried about,” the old woman added while looking at her.

She couldn’t meet Mrs. Valdez’ eyes because she was embarrassed for not accepting her offer to go with her son.

“Really?” Jovanie mumbled. His eyebrows were both lifted as if he couldn’t believe that she was already a mother. “To be honest, she looks like she has no child. She is like just a high school student,” the man added while he was also looking at her.

Maricris was getting a bit conscious because the mother and son’s eyes were all on her. They were both talking as if she was not in front of them.

Mrs. Valdez shook her head while smiling.

“No, dear. Maricris already has a daughter. Though she is just twenty-one years old, right?” Mrs. Valdez turned to her to confirm her age and she just nodded in response. “Of course, I will not take her here if she’s underage. I don’t want to be sued because of child labour,” the old woman added and then she chuckled.

Jovanie just nodded with everything that he heard from Mrs. Valdez.

“I don’t think there’s really a problem with that. Aunty Caridad is there, and she could take care of your daughter. So, don’t worry about it,” Jovanie said. His eyes were still on her.

Jovanie’s mother had no idea that before he got inside of the restaurant, he was already captivated by Maricris. The woman already caught his attention.

Maricris looked so fragile and innocent. He couldn’t understand but he felt attracted to her. It was as if he wanted to protect her from getting broken. Maricris had no idea that since yesterday that he arrived in Baguio, he had already gone to his mother’s restaurant to surprise his mother.

And before he got inside of the office, he asked for food from Maricris. She was the one who served him yesterday and after the woman was done serving his food, he saw her immediately went out of the restaurant.

He followed her with his eyes, and he saw that she headed to the main road and then hailed a jeepney. It looked like she was already done with her duty for the day, but the woman still managed to take his order and serve it to him without any complaint. He couldn’t help but admire her dedication at her work.

“That would be great. I am sure that your Aunty Caridad would be very happy to take care of her daughter. Her attention would be diverted to Alexis,” his mother agreed on what he had said, and Jovanie was thankful because of that. He was just hoping that Maricris would consider the offer that they were giving her.

“Is that the name of her daughter?” He asked full of curiosity. He felt like his mother was close to Maricris and that she knew almost all the information about the woman.

His mother nodded at him.

“Yes, son. Maricris already brought her daughter here when Joan’s mother was hospitalized, and no one could take care of her. She's a very sweet and adorable child.”

“Oh, I see,” he nodded his head and then he looked at Maricris who was just sitting in front of him. He couldn’t deny to himself that he liked the woman the very first time he had laid his eyes on her and especially now that he knew that Maricris was working hard for her daughter. She was a loving mother and had a big heart for her little girl. She seemed very different from all the women that he met, and he had been with especially Sarah, his ex-girlfriend.

He quickly turned away the thoughts about that woman inside his head. Sarah was the last person he wanted to think of. He could still remember everything that happened between the two of them and he couldn’t deny that there was pain and anger inside his heart for the woman.

He was just staring at the woman who was sitting in front of him.

Jovanie started to get interested in Maricris. He wanted to get to know her more. A plan was suddenly running inside his mind, and he couldn’t help but feel excited about it.

“So, would you accept my mother’s offer? Do you think you can come with me to Manila? Don’t worry. There’s a place for you there to stay. The company will be providing everything that you need. Your food and a place for you and your daughter so you don’t have to worry about her,” he exclaimed.