Chapter 2

“W-we rushed Papa to the hospital. He couldn’t properly breathe. He lost consciousness on our way here, and until now, he’s still asleep.” 

My brother’s voice trembled as he spoke, and I could hear cries from the background that I knew were my mother.

My tears were on the verge of falling as I listened to his every word. I could sense hopelessness in my mother’s cry, so I told my younger brother to let me talk to her for a while.

I tried—I tried my best to comfort her. My voice was shaky as I told her that she didn't have anything to worry about because Tatay would be fine, even though I knew there were so many things to think about.

She listened without responding. I heard the doctor had just arrived. My brother ended the call after telling me he would update me right after the doctor gave them the other test results. 

I wanted to request to keep the call going so I could hear whatever the doctor was saying, but my tears were about to fall, and my chest felt like bursting.

I bit my lower lip. The emotions inside me were about to burst out. It felt like a massive lump in my throat was choking me; if I didn’t let it out, I would lose air and faint.

Covering my mouth was the only option, but with the tears about to fall, I put my head down and covered my face with both hands. I sat on the floor before I could lose balance. I heard Ms. Peters calling my name, but I didn’t answer.

“A-Anita?” I heard her again. That time, her voice was near. “What happened?” she asked worriedly. 

She kneeled before me, pulled me close, and let me cry on her chest.

“W-What happened, Anita?” she repeated. Her worried voice and warm embrace made me cry more. Sobs became louder. I removed both hands from my face, and I hugged her. 

My father had lung cancer. It was already in stage 4, according to the doctor. The physician immediately suggested chemotherapy and immunotherapy to see how his cancer cells would react to the procedure. 

Ms. Peters comforted her, and when I returned to my composure, I told her what happened.

“You can take an off today. William went out of the country, so we wouldn’t need to prepare food for him in a few days,” the kind personal chef of the mansion told me. 

I was also unsure if I could work with that kind of state of mind.

As the days rapidly passed, all the phone calls I received from my siblings bothered me so much. My energetic and jolly father slowly lost his strength, and his weight dropped as he lost his hair because of the side effects of chemotherapy. 

Papa stayed in the hospital for weeks, and another call from my family back home pushed me to decide on selling the land I bought, where I planned to build my dream house once I returned. 

The rapid increase in bills we needed to pay took all my savings into my bank account. Ms. Peters already gave me a tremendous amount of help that I initially insisted on taking. A thousand dollars was huge, but she convinced me that was nothing compared to my problem. 

I was thankful enough that Tatay’s condition was getting better. And after more than a month in the hospital, the doctor finally let him go home and only came back when it was time for another chemo. 

That was the best news I had heard in my life, even though I had debts in the bank after loan to pay all the bills in the hospital. 

I would only worry about the debt I would pay monthly and the payment for my father’s chemotherapy. At first, I thought those were the only things I needed to focus on, but knowing my working contract and visa would end soon gave me another reason to think about. 

****

“I’m planning to stay,” I told Ms. Peters after I told her my plans. 

After my visa expired, I planned not to go home to the Philippines. I wasn’t sure if I could find a job with the same amount of salary abroad was given once I returned. I have already talked to some people who would help me find a place to stay. They would also protect me if they found out I was an undocumented overseas worker.

“I will help you find a way, Anita. You would put your life at risk with that idea,” she told me. Trying to stop me, but my plans were final.

I didn’t hear anything from her again after my confession. She was in deep silence while we were working that morning in the kitchen, and on the night Sir William returned home, he requested me to come to his office for the first time.

.….

NARRATOR

Anita, who hadn’t met their boss, felt so nervous. Her heart was pounding when they were on their way. She had never climbed upstairs where the office.

All servants working there had designated places to maintain, and hers was only in the kitchen. She hadn’t been to the dining area because servants were assigned to serve food.

Linda accompanied her, and when they reached the front door of their destination, Linda told her to come in by herself—still puzzled about why she was requested. 

As she pushed the door open, she saw a man sitting at his desk. He was holding a folder, and it seemed he was reading it intently when he noticed someone had entered. He closed the folder and asked Anita to sit. 

The file was Anita’s resume and work report. Curious about the young ladies’ background, he searched for it in the drawer. It had been a habit for him to record every servant who came in and went for safekeeping, but he never had time to read all the files individually—only that time.

Anita sat on one chair in front of the desk across from the man. She knew their billionaire boss’ age was close to her father’s, but seeing the guy in front made her wonder how much collagen or stem cells he had been injecting into his body to look younger.

“I heard you need help,” William broke the silence.

Anita seemed to wake up from her stupor when the man suddenly spoke, and it was a little late before she realized what he meant.

Linda and her roommate were the only ones who knew her problems. She wanted to ask him who had told him, but her question got answered when Linda popped into her mind.

She couldn’t answer him. Anita was so shy to admit that she needed financial help and to extend her stay because she needed work. She just slightly bowed and couldn’t look straight into her boss’ eyes. 

William opened his desk drawer, took a pen, and wrote an amount on the cheque. Anita heard the ripping of paper, and when she raised her head, she saw her boss trying to hand her a piece of paper. 

She knew very well what it was.

“Here, take this. I know this is enough to help your family, and don’t risk hiding just to provide for your family’s needs.” He placed it on the desk, making sure Anita could clearly see what he had written.

Anita’s eyes widened in disbelief when her eyes landed on the five-digit numbers on the paper. The amount was over three and a half million pesos, and it could already pay all their pending hospital bills and still more left, but she got scared of taking it.

“I-I couldn’t accept this, Sir. I would rather work to earn this and solve my problems by all means,” she said. Anita maintained respect for her words and ensured she wouldn’t offend her boss with how she insisted. Little did she not know, William got impressed with her answer while thinking about his only son that the only thing he knew to do was waste money he didn’t even sweat earning. 

“What kind of help do you need, then?” William implored, taking the check from the desk and ripping it in front of her, making her nervousness rise as she watched him do so. 

She felt slightly regretful but wanted to stay firm with her words. She thought as fast as she could. She was still shy, but she wanted to take her shot for the sake of her sick father and colossal debt.

“What I only want, Sir, is to extend my working visa here in America,” Anita replied, swallowing her pride and removing every bit of shame from her body.

William thought for a second. He checked the time on his watch and discovered it was already 9:45 pm. William needed to leave already. He had a late-night flight to France, but before so, William promised Anita that he would try his best to give her the help she needed.