CHAPTER 1: Part-time Job

“God, I couldn’t be late. Not now, please.” Diane whispered to herself and she walked as fast as she could outside her apartment.

She needs to hurry because it’s her first day at the part-time job that Jenny gave her.

She needs to be quick not to give a good impression to be regular but she needs to leave a good impression so they’ll call them anytime they need a part-timer.

In reality, she shouldn’t be needing this but she needs to save as quickly as she can to go home. She needs to be back home and there’s no way she can be late.

That’s why even if she looks desperate to get this job or even in impressing her bosses, she’ll do that if that’s the only way she can keep this part-time job she has right now.

Well, she has a permanent job. She’s a cashier at a cafe but again, her salary isn’t enough for her to go back home. That's why she takes this job.

So, she’s willing to take as many part-time jobs as she can.

Today, she’s going to a house cleaner.

She is going to clean an apartment.

Who’s living in there? That’s something she doesn’t have any idea about.

But even if a family who is messy and doesn’t know how to clean lives there or even an old lady who needs someone to help her do the household chores, it doesn’t really matter to her.

She’s up to it and she’s going to take any job that she could at this point in time.

She doesn’t have the right to be choosy and decline any offer at the point of her life now.

“Thanks, Jenny.” She silently whispered. Her friend didn’t hesitate to refer her to the job when she asked her why she is very grateful to her. She’ll think about how she can repay her once she’s done with the job.

She doubled the phase of her walk even though she almost stumbled.

So as soon as she reached the building, she quickly got her ID inside her bag.

“Hi, here’s my ID,” she said to the concierge then gave it to the person on duty. She took the logbook and signed up.

She walked in the elevator’s direction. It is still on the 27th floor. While waiting for it to go down, she grabbed her cellphone inside her pocket and checked her inbox.

She scrolled down and looked for Jenny’s message.

“Gotcha!”

2909.

This is the number of the apartment she’s going to clean.

Finally, the elevator door opened. She quickly went inside and pressed the 29th floor.

The elevator walls are made of glass allowing her eyes to see each building floor on her way up.

She looked around.

From inside, she can see that the building is well appointed.

A high-rise building for that matter. It’s spacious compared to their apartment building.

She can see furniture even in the hallway and there’s much more to see in the building’s lobby.

“Wow, people living here must be rich!” she said in her mind.

The elevator opened again when it reached the 29th floor.

She walked out of the elevator and started to search for room number 2909.

Well, she turned left and followed the arrow drawn in the corner marked with numbers from 1-10, and while on the right, you can see the numbers from 11-20.

She walked quietly until she found the designated door number for her.

Designated to be cleaned by her.

She took a deep breath.

“ Diane, remember, you can’t make any mistake or else, they wouldn’t call you again.”

She calmed herself down. “ Here it is…” she uttered a prayer before knocking at the door.

“I hope the owner will be satisfied with my performance in cleaning their apartment and I promise even if they call me always, that’s totally okay with me.”

Thank God, no one sees her as she talked to herself or else, they’ll mistake her to be crazy because she has been talking to herself since earlier.

She knocked a few times.

She waited and she’s about to knock again when the door suddenly opened after a couple of seconds. A man opened the door.

Diane was surprised but she composed herself quickly.

“Hi, I am Diane, your part-time house cleaner.”

The man didn’t say any word, he just moved his head as if saying, “Come in.”

“Cool! Would he be mute?” She asked herself. Is there really a person who won’t greet you back? God, it seems this man is mad at the world. Well, she doesn’t care. She is just here to clean the apartment.

She went inside before the man went back and he might just close the door and won’t let her in.

She can’t be in shock. She needs to focus.

At last, she’s inside. Her eyes roamed around.

There are empty bottles of wine, a wine glass, and an ashtray full of cigarette butts on the top of a center table. Her eyes caught 2 boxes of cigarettes as well, one was empty and the other had just been opened and besides these was a lighter.

Well, the living room looks clean though except for those on the center table.

What will she clean in this apartment?

There are no clothes scattered everywhere.

There’s no stinky smell except of course for the wine and cigarette smoke.

“Hi sir, I’m Diane, your part-timer,” Diane decided to introduce herself again and this time she plastered a smile on her face. Still, she didn’t get any response.

She continued to look around.

The living room wall is painted with a cream color and gold curtains in a large window. There’s a set of black leather couches with a small brown table on both ends with a lampshade on top of each table.

The living room is also decorated with artificial plants.

It also has a brown carpet and at the center is a wooden round table as well.

Her attention was also caught by an 86 inch TV connected to a home theater perfect for relaxing while watching movies.

On the left is the door going to the kitchen and then next to it is a small guest bathroom.

The right side is where the laundry room is located.

“All the cleaning materials are in the laundry room.” A husky voice almost startled her as her mind roamed around the apartment.

The man finally spoke.

She gently closed the door behind her back and looked at the man who just turned his back from her.

He just opened the door and left.

She followed him with her eyes.

The man is just wearing a plain white shirt that made his muscles visible to her eyes. He paired this with pajama pants.

He went inside the kitchen and walked straight to the fridge to get a bottle of water.

Well, he’s a tall man. A round clean face. She can say, he shaves perfectly. His nose and lips look like they were drawn by an artist. A perfectly pointed nose and lush lips for a man.

Not just that, her eyes wandered, and saw a dimple on his chin. She can then see his Adam's apple that made him more remarkable.

She observes as his Adam’s apple moves as he drinks the water. Wow, hot! He looked sexy like those men in TV commercials.

He has a dimple on his chin, and I can see Adam’s apple that makes him more remarkable.

She didn’t notice that she already bit her lower lips while still staring at the beautiful creature in front of her.

“Is there anything you want to ask?” The cold voice from the man brought her back to her senses. To her surprise, a pair of blue eyes is also staring at her.

“I am so sorry, Sir.” She stammered and quickly went to the laundry to check the cleaning supplies and get her work started.

Diane could feel her face warming from embarrassment.

He caught her staring at him. It’s really embarrassing.

“God. Am I stupid?” She said to herself,” I need to relax and focus.” She tries to comfort herself.

“Oh, gosh! What’s happening to me.?” This is just so embarrassing.

She acted as if it’s her first time seeing a man. That makes no sense.

Inhale.

Exhale.

She needs to focus on her work before she gets crazy about her wild imagination.

She first picked up all the wine bottles and cigarette butts in the living room. When she’s done with the living room, the man called her and now, she’s in front of him,

“Miss Diane, can you please tell me about yourself?”

One eyebrow raised. She’s a bit surprised by what he just asked. Isn’t that a personal question?

Is there anything wrong?

As far she knows, she didn’t break any wine. And, she’s at the right age to work.

She almost says but she remembers she needs a job.

Her mind and heart are torn apart whether to answer her question or not. What if he’s a part of a syndicate? What if he is into human trafficking?

She cleared her throat and still answered the man despite the doubt she felt inside her head.

“I am Diane Lopez. I am 22 years old and a cashier at a bricks tone cafe.”

“How much is your income?”

“Two thousand dollars a month.”

“Do you have a boyfriend?”

“None...” Her eyes widened when she realized where the conversation was going but because the question was asked very quickly, she didn’t notice that she answered him.

“Are you married?”

“Not yet, sir...”

What are those questions?

She is just here for a part-time job but this man is invading her privacy with his questions.

She can’t complain. Remember, Diane, you need to please him so you can come back and this will be a big help for you to save up and go back home. She said to herself trying to console with how things are turning out.

Well, she’s NBSB which means, no boyfriend since birth. She’s never been touched and never been a kiss. She giggled with the thought but it was just inside her mind.

Well, she has many suitors but Adrian is the only one inside her heart.

Oh, how is he doing now?

She’s sure that her mom is so worried about her especially if they find out that she ran away.

Oh, well, it's her dad’s fault. She wouldn’t leave the house if it weren’t because of him.

***