Prologue
LARA let out a deep sigh as she stared at the tombstone of her late mother, Edna.
It's been more than a year since she passed away due to cardiac arrest and until now Lara still can't accept the fact that she's gone.
She never met her father. According to Edna's story when she was still alive she used to be a waitress in a bar. There she met her father who was one of her customers.
Lara asked her mother what her father's name was but the only answer she got was that, given the number of customers Edna had, she couldn't know which of them was her father.
Despite all of that, Lara did not harbor any resentment against her mother.
She did not hide anything like that in her heart because the truth is that, she loves Edna very much and she can tell that up to this day, her mother is still the reason for all her efforts.
Lara was already two years old and her mother stayed at the nightclub to work.
Edna did not leave because she thought her father would return there. But something else happened.
Instead, her mother met her stepfather Rodolfo or better known in their area by the nickname Ompong. He has his own taxi for his livelihood and has his own house that he inherited from his parents.
In other words, her mother and her Papa Ompong started to live together. Her father was kind and treated her like a child of his own.
But as the saying goes, no one is perfect and neither is his father.
Because he likes gambling, that's his vice. That also includes cigarettes and alcohol. And in recent months, since the death of her mother, Lara has also noticed a gradual change in her father's behavior.
He became hot-tempered and often angry and scolded her.
"I-I don't know what I'm going to do with Papa, Ma, he feels so bad about losing you that he probably spends all his time and attention on gambling," she said, unable to stop herself from expressing her resentment.
That's true, Lara loves her acclaimed father very much. And it hurts her when she sees that he seems to be losing hope in life.
"I hope there is a way for me to help him get up from his fall," she continued. "I need to leave Ma, I still have work to do," she said before finally leaving the place.
*****
“COME ON, we rarely do this. One more thing it's free because Boss will pay for everything!” Lara could notice the thrill of extreme excitement that was traced to the tone of her fellow sales clerk Cynthia.
“Thanks but no thanks. I don't want to leave Papa alone at home especially at night. You know he hasn't completely forgotten the loss of Mama that's why he's always sad. I feel sorry for him, I don't even know what to do,” Lara said, stopping her from applying lipstick and then sighed.
“Oh my gosh, that's it, you have to stop thinking about problems. It's better if you would come, but if you can't, maybe Boss Randy will understand that,” Cynthia said sympathetically and then smiled at her.
Lara just nodded and continued fixing herself in front of the mirror.
She works as a saleslady in that boutique. Lara has been with the company for quite some time and is lucky to be a regular employee so she also considers herself a lucky person.
Why not, in the hardships of life and the hardship of finding a job today, she is really lucky and she has become a permanent employee even though in fact she did not finish her Business Management course.
That was also because of her mother's illness. She had to work right away so that she could help her father to provide for Edna's regular medicines.
“But I also admire your father, he is very loyal to his love for your mother. It's a pity that they separated early, it would have been better if they grew old together,” said Cynthia again which in turn caused sadness in her heart.
“Hey, don't make me sad anymore, come on. Miss Monet is probably waiting for us,” she said.
She was referring to their Branch Manager. Monet is actually kind but a little strict which she believes is fine.
They just opened so there weren’t many people in the mall yet. The first thing they do then is clean and fixing the displays which they also do along with the inventory of the items.
They sell beautiful clothes, bags, wallets, shoes as well as intimate apparel. In fact, their boutique is known throughout the Philippines and many well-known celebrities are their regular customers. So that's how happy she was when she got permanent in that job. In fact, she plans to continue her studies, because that was Monet's advice to her.
According to her manager, once she has a degree, Human Resources can no longer see a reason for her not to promote her.
*****
“ALRIGHT, I’ll just wait here,” Joaquin shook his head as he followed his current bed-partner Lucille with his gaze.
He didn't know what Lucille was thinking but it was not common for her to enjoy shopping on weekdays especially and she knew he was busy running their business.
They have been together for less than two months and he can say that as of now, everything is still okay. But Joaquin knows that sooner or later he will get tired of everything about them and eventually like what he used to do, he will start making many excuses until the woman finally gets angry with him and decides to break up with him.
Joaquin sighed at his last thought.
Lucille is very beautiful and it's not surprising, she is a beauty queen and her perfect figure is definitely his favorite, in bed.
As he watched Lucille walk towards what she said was her favorite boutique Joaquin couldn’t help but admire her graceful walking especially her long and perfect legs which became even more tempting in his eyes because of her wearing red high heels.
Lucille was not the first woman in his life to have these qualities.
Many women have gone through his life. There are also many beauty queens, there are famous actresses and models. So maybe he doesn’t seem to feel excitement anymore. And maybe that is the reason why everything seems typical or normal to him.
That's what he thought when he caught sight of a saleslady who was assisting Lucille.
His bed-partner was a little taller than the saleslady because Lucille was wearing high heels while the woman he was talking to was wearing black flat shoes.
The lady's waist was so small that he thinks could measure with his hand, and her red uniform fits her figure so well that gives a great emphasis on every curve in the woman's body.
Her figure is really attractive. He wanted to see what she looked like since he was really curious but that attempt was stopped when he heard the cellphone in his overcoat's inside pocket rings.
When Joaquin checked his phone, he found out that an important client was calling. He answered that and then walked to get a little farther from that place. It's a bit noisy and he doesn't really understand the person he's talking to on the other line.
Just as his conversation with the client ended, Lucille approached him. Then he glanced at the woman he had seen standing there.
She's gone, someone else is on duty.
The other side of Joaquin's mind.
Whether he admits it or not he really felt regret and then he secretly laughed at himself. He was very affected by that woman with a sexy back that he hadn't seen even a side view of her face.
"What happened? Why haven't you bought anything?” he asked.
Then Lucille clung tightly to his arm. "I didn't like anything, their new designs are supposed to be in a week so I said I'll just come back," she said.
Joaquin nodded then. "Okay, I need to go back to the office," he told Lucille who was obviously disappointed.
