Chapter 2

Eva, together with her best friend Giselle started looking for a job a month after they graduated. But because of the joblessness hitting an all-time low, they were struggling to land a job. In their fourth month of trying and failing to find a decent job that will hire them, they started to lose hope. But one day, as they walk in the busy street of the business capital, a woman approached them. She wears a white collared shirt and black pants.

"Hi! Are you looking for a job?" The woman asked while smiling.

"Yes, we do," Giselle answered quickly.

"That's great! Are you familiar with the BPO industry?" The woman asked again.

"Uh, we've heard of it but not really," Eva answered hesitantly.

"No problem, we have a job caravan right now. If you guys come with me, I can take you to Max, where our interviewers are waiting. You guys are fresh graduates?"

BPO or Business Process Outsourcing is a fast-rising industry that originated abroad. It's all about companies providing services and products to a wide range of consumers over the phone. Big companies would outsource to other countries and hire representatives who would take in phone calls to assist their ever-growing customers. They pay by the hour and offers salary higher than normal jobs.

Some of their classmates are already working in the BPO industry and are earning a decent amount of money. Eva and Giselle wanted to stick to what they studied for because that's the dream but slowly, they realized that they have to be practical. So they came with the woman who introduced herself as Cassy. When they arrived at Max there are three interviewers. The process was quick and they immediately passed the initial interview. They are both very happy because finally, they are getting somewhere.

After the initial interview, they were taken to AstraServe, the site office of the company they were applying for. They went through the computer examination, mock call exercise and final interview. It's already seven o'clock in the evening when they finished the whole process and we're just waiting for the result.

"Ms Giselle Manalo, Ms Eva Vergara?" A tall woman in a blue dress called their names. Eva and Giselle approached the woman with full of excitement. "Congratulations, you passed your final interview." The woman happily announced. Giselle almost jumps in happiness while Eva silently prayed and thank God for the blessing. "Here's the list of requirements, you can submit that on the first day of your training. Please wait for your names to be called for the contract signing. Thank you!"

Eva and Giselle went out of the building with overwhelming happiness after they signed their contract. They finally have a job and they got a starting salary of twenty thousand pesos. Now they can finally say they did it. Their new life is about to start.

"I can't believe it!" Giselle exclaimed when they finally arrived home. "We're hired! Imagine best friend, that's twenty thousand a month!"

"I know! Finally, we have a job and will start earning!" Eva agreed while putting her bag down. "I need to go to the cemetery and mom about this." She added.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Giselle asked concerned about Eva.

"No, it's fine." Eva refused. "You have to visit your family too. Tell them about the good news." She suggested instead. Giselle always thinks about her first. Eva thought it's time that Giselle would prioritise herself and her family.

------

Two months on the job and Eva is already being recognized by her employers. She's not even regularized yet but promotion is already being offered to her. Eva is natural as her managers would like to call her. Her customer service skills and communication skills are one of a kind. But with recognition comes envy. Some of the tenure agents are not happy with her recognition. Saying that the lead manager has a crush on Eva. They insist that it's the only reason she was being noticed.

"Eva, don't listen to them. You do your job and keep up the good work, okay?" Giselle was always by her side no matter what. The two of them became closer since they work in the same company and have the same schedule.

"I'm Gee, I don't care what they say about me. I know I'm doing my best and I have the numbers to prove it." Eva confidently said.

"Attagirl!" Giselle responded proudly. "So, where are we going to take our lunch?"

"It's only been an hour since our shift started and you're already talking about lunch?" Eva asked while laughing.

"Of course! I'd like to plan, you know." Giselle answered before sipping her coffee.

Eva, together with her best friend Giselle started looking for a job a month after they graduated. But because of the joblessness hitting an all-time low, they were struggling to land a job. In their fourth month of trying and failing to find a decent job that will hire them, they started to lose hope. But one day, as they walk in the busy street of the business capital, a woman approached them. She wears a white collared shirt and black pants.

 

"Hi! Are you looking for a job?" The woman asked while smiling.

"Yes, we do," Giselle answered quickly.

"That's great! Are you familiar with the BPO industry?" The woman asked again.

"Uh, we've heard of it but not really," Eva answered hesitantly.

"No problem, we have a job caravan right now. If you guys come with me, I can take you to Max, where our interviewers are waiting. You guys are fresh graduates?"

 

BPO or Business Process Outsourcing is a fast-rising industry that originated abroad. It's all about companies providing services and products to a wide range of consumers over the phone. Big companies would outsource to other countries and hire representatives who would take in phone calls to assist their ever-growing customers. They pay by the hour and offers salary higher than normal jobs.

Some of their classmates are already working in the BPO industry and are earning a decent amount of money. Eva and Giselle wanted to stick to what they studied for because that's the dream but slowly, they realized that they have to be practical. So they came with the woman who introduced herself as Cassy. When they arrived at Max there are three interviewers. The process was quick and they immediately passed the initial interview. They are both very happy because finally, they are getting somewhere.

After the initial interview, they were taken to AstraServe, the site office of the company they were applying for. They went through the computer examination, mock call exercise and final interview. It's already seven o'clock in the evening when they finished the whole process and we're just waiting for the result.

"Ms Giselle Manalo, Ms Eva Vergara?" A tall woman in a blue dress called their names. Eva and Giselle approached the woman with full of excitement. "Congratulations, you passed your final interview." The woman happily announced. Giselle almost jumps in happiness while Eva silently prayed and thank God for the blessing. "Here's the list of requirements, you can submit that on the first day of your training. Please wait for your names to be called for the contract signing. Thank you!"

 

Eva and Giselle went out of the building with overwhelming happiness after they signed their contract. They finally have a job and they got a starting salary of twenty thousand pesos. Now they can finally say they did it. Their new life is about to start.

"I can't believe it!" Giselle exclaimed when they finally arrived home. "We're hired! Imagine best friend, that's twenty thousand a month!"

"I know! Finally, we have a job and will start earning!" Eva agreed while putting her bag down. "I need to go to the cemetery and mom about this." She added.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Giselle asked concerned about Eva.

"No, it's fine." Eva refused. "You have to visit your family too. Tell them about the good news." She suggested instead. Giselle always thinks about her first. Eva thought it's time that Giselle would prioritise herself and her family.

 

------

 

Two months on the job and Eva is already being recognized by her employers. She's not even regularized yet but promotion is already being offered to her. Eva is natural as her managers would like to call her. Her customer service skills and communication skills are one of a kind. But with recognition comes envy. Some of the tenure agents are not happy with her recognition. Saying that the lead manager has a crush on Eva. They insist that it's the only reason she was being noticed.

 

"Eva, don't listen to them. You do your job and keep up the good work, okay?" Giselle was always by her side no matter what. The two of them became closer since they work in the same company and have the same schedule.

"I'm Gee, I don't care what they say about me. I know I'm doing my best and I have the numbers to prove it." Eva confidently said.

"Attagirl!" Giselle responded proudly. "So, where are we going to take our lunch?"

"It's only been an hour since our shift started and you're already talking about lunch?" Eva asked while laughing.

"Of course! I'd like to plan, you know." Giselle answered before sipping her coffee.

"Yeah, you're planning on getting fat." Eva joked and they both laughed.

The first four hours of their shift were just the same as usual. Assisting customers, answering their queries, chatting with one another and listening to some of their co-workers whispering malicious things about Eva. But Eva would just smile at them and show them that she doesn't care. Her mom taught her that the best revenge for those who want to bring you down is not showing interest.

"Guys, listen up! We're are going to do some drastic changes starting next month." Their operation's manager Martin Meyers announced. Our tenure quality analysts will be promoted as Quality Team Managers and they will be transferred to different sites. So our site will need new quality analysts who are deserving of the post." Martin looked at everyone, especially Eva. "Our site will need the best to analyze the calls we receive every day. So I talked to our big bosses, and they agreed to grant an early regularization to Ms Eva Vergara. We are also offering you an early promotion as a quality analyst and you, Giselle, give us another month of great performance and you will be regularized early as well. That's all guys, thanks!"

"Tss! I'm sure she did a great job on OM to be regularized and promoted this early." One of their co-workers whispered.

"For sure, I mean what else could be the reason right?" Another one agreed.

"Best friend, correct me if I'm wrong, a quality analyst can cause an agent to be terminated, right?" Giselle intentionally asked loudly to get the attention of those gossipers.

"Uh, yeah. When a quality analyst found non-tolerable attitudes of a representative towards the customer during the call."

Giselle's plan worked. The gossipers went back to taking in phone calls and stopped whispering lies about Eva. Giselle smiled at her and Eva just shook her head. Giselle will always be Giselle. She will always look after Eva no matter what happens.

--------

Not long after the announcement, Eva already had her regularization. Giselle was happy for Eva and even flaunted the contract to those co-workers who were not happy about her achievements. Her salary went up from twenty thousand to twenty twenty-five thousand a month. All of Eva's hard work is starting to pay off and she couldn't be happier. She can now add money to her savings. Eva started saving money in her first year in college. She wanted to be as prepared as possible for her future family.

"Eva, where's the call recording I asked for?" Jess, a gay team manager approached Eva angrily. "I told you I need for my coaching session.

" Sorry Jessy, I had to prioritize the request of my bosses for the day." Eva apologized. When she looked at the agents taking in phone calls, she felt humiliated. Those people who don't like her promotion are obviously celebrating. "Give the name of the agent again, I'll pull it up for you right now.

"I asked you that recording two hours ago!" Jesse only got angrier when Eva managed to respond professionally.

"Why are you yelling at our quality analyst about something you could get yourself?" Jessy was shocked when he saw one of their big boss standing behind their operation's manager. "You have access to our call recording tools. Why don't you get it yourself instead of wasting your time being mad at her?"

"I—uh—I'm sorry, boss. My access to our call recording is not working." Jessy doesn't know how he should react.

"Then you should've contacted our IT department." Their American big boss stated. Maybe your broken access is a sign that you don't deserve to be a team manager."

"What? No, sir. I'm so sorry." Jessy tried to apologize to their American big boss. "I want this person demoted."

"Yes sir, right away." Martin looked at Jessy with so much disappointment. He's the one who promoted Jessy he felt like he made a huge mistake.

"OM, please! Let me explain!" Jessy chased after their operation's manager but he didn't even throw him a glimpse. Everything he worked for, gone with just one simple command. Everybody was stunned by what just happened.

"Power tripping. Not really end well, eh?" Giselle mocked Jessy.

------

The toxic work drama never ends. As long as your rising to the top, there are always those people who would want to drag you down. Like when the gossip about Eva being the reason their operation's manager and his wife got separated. Eva got suspended for a week while an investigation was being held. Office romance is one the most prohibited thing in AstraServe and violating it can be subject to termination.

They never knew who started the rumours, they could only guess. But it sure took a toll on Eva. She separated herself from the bosses. Isolated herself at work and never socialized with others aside from Giselle. Later on, it was proven that Martin and his wife separated long before Eva started to work with the company. But it didn't really matter for those people who only listen to what they wanted to hear.

"Hey, you okay?" Giselle sat beside Eva who's sitting on the wooden bench at their boarding house's balcony.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just can't shake the thought of being dubbed as a homewrecker." Eva sadly admitted. "It doesn't feel good, you know."

"Don't mind them, Eva." Giselle looked at her best friend who looked so down at the moment. "That's all they can do. Dubbed you as something, talk about things behind your back. But who cares? You can't please everybody."

"I know, it's just sad. Why do people always try to find a way to pull someone down?" Eva said, more to herself. "Why can't we just help each other out."

"People will always try to pull you down no matter what you do," Giselle explained to her. "That's life, that's how people are. No one can change that. All we can do is just let them be and go on with our lives."

"Thanks, Gee. You've always been there for me." Eva said sincerely. "You're the best friend anyone could ever hope for. Do you know that I always pray to God that we could always be like this? Best friends, always."

"Of course, dummy. We will always be best friends." Giselle held Eva's hand and smiled. "Even when we get married and have a family of our own. Even when we grow old and grey. We will always be best of friends. I will always be here for you."

"And I will always be here for you too, best friend," Eva answered emotionally. With everything she went through, it was Giselle who always lifts her and helps her fight her battles. Especially when her mother died. It was the lowest point for her and she thought she would never be able to heal from it. But Giselle stayed beside her and comforted her. She would never be able to thank Giselle enough for everything that she has done for her.

"Why are we being so dramatic?" Giselle asked why laughing to hide the tears that started to fall from her eyes.

"Because we're crazy and we're best friends." They both laughed and continued chatting.

Eva, together with her best friend Giselle, started looking for a job a month after they graduated. But because of the joblessness hitting an all-time low, they were struggling to land a job. In their fourth month of trying and failing to find a decent job that will hire them, they started to lose hope. But one day, as they walk in the busy street of the business capital, a woman approached them. She wears a white collared shirt and black pants.

 

"Hi! Are you looking for a job?" The woman asked while smiling.

"Yes, we do," Giselle answered quickly.

"That's great! Are you familiar with the BPO industry?" The woman asked again.

"Uh, we've heard of it but not really," Eva answered hesitantly.

"No problem, we have a job caravan right now. If you guys come with me, I can take you to Max, where our interviewers are waiting. You guys are fresh graduates?"

 

BPO or Business Process Outsourcing is a fast-rising industry that originated abroad. It's all about companies providing services and products to a wide range of consumers over the phone. Big companies would outsource to other countries and hire representatives who would take phone calls to assist their ever-growing customers. They pay by the hour and offers salary higher than standard jobs.

Some of their classmates are already working in the BPO industry and are earning a decent amount of money. Eva and Giselle wanted to stick to what they studied because that's the dream, but slowly, they realized that they have to be practical. So they came with the woman who introduced herself as Cassy. When they arrived at Max, there are three interviewers. The process was quick, and they immediately passed the initial interview. They are both thrilled because, finally, they are getting somewhere.

After the initial interview, they were taken to AstraServe, the site office of the company they were applying for. They went through the computer examination, mock call exercise, and final interview. It's already seven o'clock in the evening when they finished the whole process, and we're just waiting for the result.

"Ms. Giselle Manalo, Ms. Eva Vergara?" A tall woman in a blue dress called their names. Eva and Giselle approached the woman with full of excitement. "Congratulations, you passed your final interview." The woman happily announced. Giselle almost jumps in happiness while Eva silently prayed and thank God for the blessing. "Here's the list of requirements; you can submit that on the first day of your training. Please wait for your names to be called for the contract signing. Thank you!"

 

Eva and Giselle went out of the building with overwhelming happiness after they signed their contract. They finally have a job, and they got a starting salary of twenty thousand pesos. Now they can finally say they did it. Their new life is about to start.

"I can't believe it!" Giselle exclaimed when they finally arrived home. "We're hired! Imagine best friend, that's twenty thousand a month!"

"I know! Finally, we have a job and will start earning!" Eva agreed while putting her bag down. "I need to go to the cemetery and mom about this." She added.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Giselle asked, concerned about Eva.

"No, it's fine." Eva refused. "You have to visit your family too. Tell them about the good news." She suggested instead. Giselle always thinks about her first. Eva thought it's time that Giselle would prioritize herself and her family.

 

------

 

Two months on the job and Eva is already being recognized by her employers. She's not even regularized yet, but promotion is already being offered to her. Eva is natural, as her managers would like to call her. Her customer service skills and communication skills are one of a kind. But with recognition comes envy. Some of the tenure agents are not happy with her recognition. Saying that the lead manager has a crush on Eva. They insist that it's the only reason she was being noticed.

 

"Eva, don't listen to them. You do your job and keep up the good work, okay?" Giselle was always by her side, no matter what. The two of them became closer since they work in the same company and have the same schedule.

"I'm Gee, and I don't care what they say about me. I know I'm doing my best, and I have the numbers to prove it." Eva confidently said.

"Attagirl!" Giselle responded proudly. "So, where are we going to take our lunch?"

"It's only been an hour since our shift started, and you're already talking about lunch?" Eva asked while laughing.

"Of course! I want to plan, you know." Giselle answered before sipping her coffee.

"Yeah, you're planning on getting fat." Eva joked, and they both laughed.

The first four hours of their shift were just the same as usual. Assisting customers, answering their queries, chatting with one another, and listening to some of their co-workers whispering nasty things about Eva. But Eva would just smile at them and show them that she doesn't care. Her mom taught her that the best revenge for those who want to bring you down is not showing interest.

"Guys, listen up! We're are going to do some drastic changes starting next month." Their operation's manager Martin Meyers announced. Our tenure quality analysts will be promoted as Quality Team Managers, and they will be transferred to different sites. So our site will need new quality analysts who are deserving of the post." Martin looked at everyone, especially Eva. "Our site will need the best to analyze the calls we receive every day. So I talked to our big bosses, and they agreed to grant an early regularization to Ms. Eva Vergara. We are also offering you an early promotion as a quality analyst and you, Giselle, give us another month of great performance, and you will be regularized early as well. That's all, guys, thanks!"

"Tss! I'm sure she did a great job on OM to be regularized and promoted this early." One of their co-workers whispered.

"For sure, I mean, what else could be the reason, right?" Another one agreed.

"Best friend, correct me if I'm wrong; a quality analyst can cause an agent to be terminated, right?" Giselle intentionally asked loudly to get the attention of those gossipers.

"Uh, yeah. When a quality analyst found non-tolerable attitudes of a representative towards the customer during the call."

Giselle's plan worked. The gossipers went back to taking in phone calls and stopped whispering lies about Eva. Giselle smiled at her, and Eva just shook her head. Giselle will always be Giselle. She will always look after Eva no matter what happens.

--------

Not long after the announcement, Eva already had her regularization. Giselle was happy for Eva and even flaunted the contract to those co-workers who were not happy about her achievements. Her salary went up from twenty thousand to twenty twenty-five thousand a month. All of Eva's hard work is starting to pay off, and she couldn't be happier. She can now add money to her savings. Eva began to save money in her first year in college. She wanted to be as prepared as possible for her future family.

"Eva, where's the call recording I asked for?" Jess, a gay team manager, approached Eva angrily. "I told you I need for my coaching session.

" Sorry, Jessy, I had to prioritize the request of my bosses for the day." Eva apologized. When she looked at the agents taking in phone calls, she felt humiliated. Those people who don't like her promotion are obviously celebrating. "Give the name of the agent again, and I'll pull it up for you right now.

"I asked you that recording two hours ago!" Jesse only got angrier when Eva managed to respond professionally.

"Why are you yelling at our quality analyst about something you could get yourself?" Jessy was shocked when he saw one of their big boss standing behind their operation's manager. "You have access to our call recording tools. Why don't you get it yourself instead of wasting your time being mad at her?"

"I—uh—I'm sorry, boss. My access to our call recording is not working." Jessy doesn't know how he should react.

"Then you should've contacted our IT department." Their American big boss stated. Maybe your broken access is a sign that you don't deserve to be a team manager."

"What? No, sir. I'm so sorry." Jessy tried to apologize to their American big boss. "I want this person demoted."

"Yes, sir, right away." Martin looked at Jessy with so much disappointment. He's the one who promoted Jessy; he felt like he made a huge mistake.

"OM, please! Let me explain!" Jessy chased after their operation's manager, but he didn't even throw him a glimpse. Everything he worked for, gone with just one simple command. Everybody was stunned by what just happened.

"Power tripping. Not really end well, eh?" Giselle mocked Jessy.

------

The toxic work drama never ends. As long as your rising to the top, there are always those people who would want to drag you down. Like when the gossip about Eva being the reason their operation's manager and his wife got separated. Eva got suspended for a week while an investigation was being held. Office romance is one the most prohibited thing in AstraServe, and violating it can be subject to termination.

They never knew who started the rumors, and they could only guess. But it sure took a toll on Eva. She separated herself from the bosses. Isolated herself at work and never socialized with others aside from Giselle. Later on, it was proven that Martin and his wife separated long before Eva started to work with the company. But it didn't really matter for those people who only listen to what they wanted to hear.

"Hey, you okay?" Giselle sat beside Eva, who's sitting on the wooden bench at their boarding house's balcony.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just can't shake the thought of being dubbed as a homewrecker." Eva sadly admitted. "It doesn't feel good, you know."

"Don't mind them, Eva." Giselle looked at her best friend, who looked so down at the moment. "That's all they can do. Dubbed you as something, talk about things behind your back. But who cares? You can't please everybody."

"I know, it's just sad. Why do people always try to find a way to pull someone down?" Eva said, more to herself. "Why can't we just help each other out."

"People will always try to pull you down no matter what you do," Giselle explained to her. "That's life; that's how people are. No one can change that. All we can do is just let them be and go on with our lives."

"Thanks, Gee. You've always been there for me." Eva said sincerely. "You're the best friend anyone could ever hope for. Do you know that I always pray to God that we could always be like this? Best friends, always."

"Of course, dummy. We will always be best friends." Giselle held Eva's hand and smiled. "Even when we get married and have a family of our own. Even when we grow old and grey, we will always be best of friends. I will always be here for you."

"And I will always be here for you too, best friend," Eva answered emotionally. With everything she went through, it was Giselle who always lifts her and helps her fight her battles. Especially when her mother died, it was the lowest point for her, and she thought she would never be able to heal from it. But Giselle stayed beside her and comforted her. She would never be able to thank Giselle enough for everything that she has done for her.

"Why are we being so dramatic?" Giselle asked why laughing to hide the tears that started to fall from her eyes.

"Because we're crazy, and we're best friends." They both laughed and continued chatting.