5-Accept

The next day, Amber woke up with a headache. After her last job at night, she suddenly felt dizzy while riding the bus. She slowly got up and suddenly felt hungry when she heard the sound of her stomach.

“Didn’t I eat last night?” she asked herself. She immediately left the room and looked for food in her kitchen.

She was disappointed when she saw that she couldn’t cook anything; she ran out of rice and some dishes. She just remembered that she hadn’t done grocery shopping yet. 

“Great!” she shouted in annoyance when she saw that he only had a little money left in her wallet. She was about to buy food.

She took a deep breath and allowed herself not to eat. She started taking a shower to leave that day for her first job at Scarlet’s shop. And while she was on the bus, she was still enduring the hunger she felt until her phone rang, and she immediately answered it.

It’s her mother calling.

“Hey, Mom?” she began.

“Amber, where are you? Are you going to your work? When are you coming back here?” asked her mother.

“Mom, why did you call?” Instead of answering her mother’s question, Amber asked. She still doesn’t know if she can return to the province, especially if she doesn’t have enough savings yet. They will starve at the same time there.

“Amber, sweetheart, I’m sorry for calling you this early. But your brother Andrew needs you. He is in the hospital right now—”

“What happened to him, Mom? Why is he in the hospital?” Amber asked tearfully; hearing from her mother seemed to mix with her hunger.

“Yesterday, his fever was high; your father and I just brought him to the hospital. The doctor said we needed to do the operation on him right away so that the cancer would not spread throughout his body...Amber, we don’t know what to do anymore...”

Amber swallowed, seeming to struggle to speak. Cancer. His brother had cancer. “How much is needed?” that’s all she asked.

“Aren’t you coming home to see him?” asked his mother.

Amber started crying even more; people on the bus were looking at her, but she didn’t care anymore. Amber closed her eyes tightly. “I don’t know, Mom. If I go home there, the money I can send you will be insufficient. Mom, tell me. How much is needed for Andrew? I’ll make a way out of it,” Amber said.

“Twenty thousand dollars. We need that huge amount. I and your father will do some ways to help you—”

“I’ll take care of that money, Mom. If you have money from your jobs, use it for your daily needs. I’m here at work; I’m going to hang up.” Amber hung up and didn’t wait for what her mother would say next.

When she got off the bus, she sat in the waiting shed, where she sat on the bench; her whole body was weak. Her brother Andrew needs a large amount; it’s hard to get that amount, but it’s necessary because she doesn’t want to lose his brother. Andrew is the second brother. He is studying in college, and he and Amber have many dreams for their family. Amber will not allow all that to be lost because of Andrew’s illness.

She stood up slowly from the bench; she worked up the courage to enter Scarlet’s shop that day. And when she got to Scarlet’s shop, she saw Stephen. Amber remembered what she and Stephen talked about yesterday.

“Hi, Amber. I didn’t know that you and Uncle Stephen had a meeting today?” Scarlet asked as Amber approached her.

Amber looked emotionlessly at Stephen, and Stephen looked at her as well. “What are you doing here?” Amber asked Stephen seriously.

Scarlet frowned when Amber’s voice sounded sad. “Is there a problem? What happened yesterday when I left?” Scarlet asked in surprise.

Amber just shook her head at Scarlet, “There is no problem—”

“We need to talk,” Stephen interrupted.

Scarlet was even more surprised at the two of them. “What are you going to talk about?” asked Scarlet.

“About the job I offered her,” answered Stephen, looking at Amber.

Amber didn’t feel like talking to anyone today, but she also thought Andrew's operation would be more straightforward if she accepted Stephen’s offer to work for her immediately. They will both benefit.

“Let’s talk outside,” said Amber and left the shop first.

Scarlet was still wondering what was going on, but she just let the two of them go.

When Amber and Stephen got out, Amber herself began to speak. “I will accept your job offer. May I know how much my salary will be as your secretary?” Amber asked.

Stephen smiled sparingly; he was taking a chance today that Amber would accept his offer because he didn’t want to look for someone else. He thought he already knew Amber so that he would approach Amber this easily.

“5,000 dollars monthly, not including the benefits as an employee; maybe your salary will be 20,000 dollars a month,” replied Stephen.

Amber’s eyes widened at what she heard. It’s too much compared to her salary in her four jobs. She can also use it in her brother’s operation. “We have a contract because I will only be here for one year, and after that, I will return to Singapore. Your contract is only for one year also, and after the contract, you will receive an amount for one year of work,” explained Stephen.

Amber couldn’t believe what she heard. With the amounts that Stephen mentioned, her salary to her family.

“When will I start?” Amber asked. But she also remembered what Stephen had said to her that she would stay at Stephen’s house once she accepted the offer.

“Tomorrow morning, you can start. Here’s the key to my house; you’re the only one who will go there alone because I won’t be there tomorrow either. Don’t worry, you have someone there too. My helper, you will come to my house at the same time tomorrow,” explained Stephen.

Amber slowly took Stephen’s handed key, even though she was confused as to why Stephen trusted her with the key to his house, but she accepted it anyway.

“Does your helper also have a key? Maybe she will go before me?” Amber asked.

“She doesn’t have a key; I only gave you this. Text me if you get home so I can call her to go there too,” replied Stephen.

Amber was amazed; she hadn’t expected Stephen to trust her.

“Okay, I’ll go to your house early...” Amber said with a smile.

Stephen also smiled a lot when he saw Amber smiling because earlier, he thought about what Amber’s problem was because of her frowning face.

“It’s beautiful when you smile...”