Ayah Tiri Anakku (bukan) Tukang Cilok Biasa

AUTHOR'S POV 

It was a windy day in the month of February due to the hurricane, and all the clocks were striking thirteen. 

Tina lay on her bed, so tired, as the windy air blew into her room and sent shivers down her spine, yet she was still hot and fuming with anger. She felt like pouring down those annoying words and bad luck she had been experiencing on someone at that moment. 

She glanced around the room from side to side as she stared at each and every newspaper scattered on the reading table, the floor, and on her bed as her eye came across job vacancies. She circled it out with a red pen. 

As a matter of fact, she felt like she was cursed or was destined not to ever get a good opportunity in life. She was so unfortunate when it came to a lot of things, most especially getting a job, which was the main reason she was jobless at that moment. 

She lost her parents in a gas accident when she was 11. She started fending for herself with the little she could do until her dad's brother took away her father's house and properties and she started living in the streets. To be sincere, street life was a living hell for her, given that she was a girl. 

She tried so hard and got herself a scholarship in college that she didn't bother about her school fees except for her feeding and other necessities she needed.

After she graduated from college, she couldn't get a job, so she just had to find something to do to support herself. She barely fed, paid her rent, and couldn't cope. She would say she couldn't help herself, and at the time, she felt suicide was the best option. She not being able to fend for herself was the worst thing that happened to her. 

She was sent out of the house on several occasions because of unpaid rent. She was so devastated. She cried so hard because no one was there to support me. 

Then she came across an online job where she got the chance to answer surveys and get paid. She would say it was quite a good start. Everything was moving well until three months ago, when she didn't receive her pay from the online job she did. She just had to get a decent job. 

Beep beep 

She turned her head in the direction of her phone as she picked it up to find the caller. 

She glanced at the phone screen and swiped the green icon as she brought the phone close to her ear. 

"Hey Tina, What are you up to?" The caller spoke from the other side of the phone. 

"Nothing much. "Just checking out some newspapers; you know what she means, Nicole," she replied as she placed her left hand at the back of her neck, massaging it softly. 

"She perfectly understands, but she thinks you need a break,  

"Tina, you've stressed yourself out, and you need to take a break," Nicole says. 

"Okay, so what are you suggesting that she do?" She can't just take a break like that, and you know the condition she is in right now. She has a lot on her mind; she needs a job. 

Nicole has been a very good friend for the past seven years. They became close friends, and when their friendship got greater, they became best friends. 

She is 21 years old, 5 feet tall, with perfect brown eyes, shoulder-length black hair, and very nice curves that could make anyone who stares at her go crazy and end up drooling with lust. 

She tries her best not to bother her parents after they gifted her a house in Mexico. 

Tina and Nicole graduated from the same college, though she wasn't as unlucky as she was, but she guessed she wasn't too lucky. 

She works as a cosmetologist in a cosmetics industry outside the town. Nicole really helped her a lot. At the end of every month, she helps her with some dollars, and she really appreciates her kind gestures towards me, and she hopes to repay her some day, later in the future. 

Nicole is more than a friend to her, she is her best friend and her sister. 

She fought off anyone who tried to harm or trouble her, she was her fighter in this aspect. But out of all the good things she did, she was so unlucky in one thing. She would say that's how life disappoints everyone with the one thing they never wanted. 

She has always wanted to find love. 

She wanted someone to love her the way she was, but she never found that.

"Tina, are you there?" Nicole asked, as she became curious because she had been speaking to Tina over the phone, but she could not hear her response. 

"Yeah, I'm still here."  

Tina replied instantly. 

"Oh my God," 

Nicole was so scared. She thought she was speaking in an empty space. "Where were you? you weren't replying to me." Nicole complained, knowing Tina's mind must have been in another world while she was on the phone with her. 

"I'm so sorry, Nicole." She got carried away by her thoughts. 

Tina apologised. 

She couldn't believe her thoughts had taken her so far into wonderland. 

"It's alright; with this act you just displayed, I suggest we go out and have some fresh air," Nicole says. 

"Yeah, it looks like a good idea."  

Tina says as Nicole smiles over the phone. 

"But she can't go; I'm going to stay here at home and continue with her job hunt."  

Tina couldn't finish her sentence before Nicole interrupted her immediately. 

"Hey, babe, calm down; it's not like we are going somewhere we will get killed; we are just going to get some fresh air, that's all." And she also has a lot of stuff on her mind, and she really needs that fresh air, as Nicole tries to explain to her best friend. 

"Okay, okay, okay. So where's the location?"