CHAPTER 2

Gianna's POV

A thunderous pounding on my door ripped me from sleep. "Gianna! Gianna! Wake up!" my cousin's voice echoed, impatient and loud. Groaning, I grabbed a pillow and hurled it at the offending door, even though it was firmly shut. Seriously, how could someone be so noisy so early in the morning?

"What is it, Gianna?" she demanded, her tone sharp. I had no choice but to drag myself out of bed and swing the door open, greeting her with a face that clearly conveyed my displeasure.

"What do you want?" I grumbled. Ignoring my mood, she barged into the room and plopped down on the small sofa near my bed. "Go get me some coffee from downstairs," she ordered, as if I were her personal servant.

"Can't you get it yourself?" I retorted, my annoyance growing. I turned to the mirror and began to comb my unruly hair, tying it back into a simple ponytail. "Fine, but I actually have some good news for you," she said, a sly grin spreading across her face. I glanced at her reflection in the mirror, my curiosity piqued despite my lingering irritation. "What is it?" I asked.

"My coffee first?" She held out her hand, her expression expectant. "I'll make you some when we go downstairs," I promised, knowing she was trying to mooch off my apartment's coffee supply before even having had any at her own place. Tsk.

"You promised, okay?"

"Okay, okay. Now, what's the big news?" I asked, my patience wearing thin.

"Good news, you got the job," she announced casually. My head snapped around, my heart skipping a beat. "Are you talking about the job at Golden Scenery?" I asked, needing to confirm I'd heard her correctly. "What else would I be talking about?" she replied, rolling her eyes as if I were being deliberately dense. My jaw dropped. I rushed over to her, a huge smile spreading across my face.

"Seriously? This isn't a joke, right?" I asked, still struggling to believe it. "Does this face look like it's joking?" she asked, pointing to herself with a dramatic flair and adding another eye roll for good measure. "Oh my gosh!" I squealed, unable to contain my excitement. So, after weeks of searching and countless rejections, I finally had a job? Oh my gosh! I was so overjoyed I almost squeezed the life out of her with my enthusiastic hug.

"You start the day after tomorrow, okay?" my cousin reminded me as we finally made our way downstairs. "Okay," I replied, still floating on a cloud of happiness. As we entered the main living area, my apartment mates greeted me with warm smiles and congratulations.

"Hey, Gian-girl, breakfast is ready!" Jasmin, the oldest and most motherly of us, announced cheerfully. There were four of us sharing the apartment, all women. Most of the tenants in the building were students, except for me, who was just trying to make ends meet.

My cousin Gael and I headed straight to the kitchen, where a simple but delicious breakfast was laid out on the table.

"You're here again, girl?" Cattleya teased Gael, always quick with a playful jab. Gael simply rolled her eyes in response, accustomed to the teasing. Once everyone had arrived, including our kind-hearted landlord, we all gathered around the table and began to eat, the conversation flowing easily as we shared stories and laughter.

After breakfast, I walked with Gael to the jeepney stop to see her off. She said she was going straight home, feeling full and content after her free meal. That's how she always was, only visiting the apartment when she needed something, or when she was hungry.

Once she was safely on the jeepney, I turned to head back to the apartment. The walk was longer than I liked, our building located a fair distance from the main road. I cursed under my breath as the sky began to darken ominously, the rumble of thunder signaling the approach of another downpour.

"Not yet, please, I'm still too far," I pleaded with the heavens, breaking into a run, hoping to outpace the storm. In my haste, I wasn't watching where I was going and collided with someone, sending us both tumbling to the ground in a tangled heap.

"Sorry--" I began to apologize, but the words died in my throat as I recognized the person I had crashed into. Of all the people in the city, it had to be him. What were the odds? I quickly scrambled to my feet, my anger simmering just beneath the surface. I glared down at him, my eyebrows raised in disbelief and my forehead creased in a deep frown. He, in turn, brushed off his pants, seemingly unfazed by the collision, and then looked up at me as if we had never met before in our lives.

"Ha!" I scoffed, a bitter laugh escaping my lips. "Small world, isn't it? Surely, you remember this face, right?" I asked, gesturing to myself with a sarcastic flourish.

"Sorry?" he asked, his tone dripping with arrogance and his accent overly pronounced. English, really? "Sorry?" I mocked him, unable to hide my disgust. "Oh, so after you robbed me and treated me like trash on the jeepney, you suddenly have amnesia?"

But the shameless jerk didn't even acknowledge my accusations. Instead, he pulled out his phone and became engrossed in whatever was on the screen, completely ignoring my presence.

"Look, I don't know what you are talking about, but... I have to go," he said dismissively, turning to leave as if I were nothing more than a bothersome insect. I grabbed his arm, stopping him in his tracks, but he quickly yanked it away, his eyes flashing with irritation.

"Oh no, you don't. Wait a minute... hey! Give me back my wallet that you stole!" I demanded, my voice rising with each word.

"What wallet?" he asked, feigning innocence with an almost comical level of exaggeration. This was too much. He was deliberately trying to provoke me.

"My wallet, you know, the one you stole from me on the jeepney the other day! The one that contained my only money!" I was beyond annoyed now, my patience completely evaporated.

"Okay, fine, I'll just pay you back," he said, his voice clipped and impatient. "How much was in your wallet anyway?" He clearly wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible.

I hesitated, suddenly feeling a wave of embarrassment wash over me. "U-uh..." I mumbled, scratching my head nervously.

"What?" he snapped, his patience clearly at an end.

"Fifty p-pesos," I confessed, my voice barely audible.

He let out a sigh of profound disappointment, his shoulders slumping slightly. "Just fifty pesos?" he asked, his tone laced with disbelief.

"Hey! That was my fare to the job you ruined! Do you have any idea how far I had to walk--" My tirade was cut short as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a crisp 1,000-peso bill, holding it out to me with a look of disdain. Damn it! He was just casually handing out that much money? It was more than I usually made in a day. I looked up at him, my eyes wide with a mixture of disbelief and resentment.

"Take it," he said, his voice flat and emotionless. When I didn't immediately take the money, he simply dropped it, letting the bill flutter to the muddy pavement before turning and swiftly disappearing from my sight, leaving me standing there in the rain, feeling humiliated and defeated. I felt like my pride had been stepped on, and my anger flared even hotter.

"Arrogant jerk," I muttered under my breath, watching his retreating figure. But after he was long gone, and the rain continued to fall, I reluctantly bent down and picked up the soggy bill. Well, a thousand pesos was a thousand pesos, after all. And right now, I needed every peso I could get.