CHAPTER 3: 60 MILLION?
2456 Words
SHIKAINA TURNER POV'S
Having a job that I don't like is the thing I don't want to do and that is being a waitress Because I'm too shy and i don't know how to communicate with other people, that's why I want to be a flight attendant. Apart from the only thing I know is to get on a plane, I just want to go in another country. I'm just a high school graduate so I don't know anything about the job I want to take. All I want is to have a job.
"Miss, one more order." Said the man who had been ordering many times. I don't know if he just took a trip to drink or if I really served him well that he liked.
I smiled at her as an answered and immediately went to the counter to take an order.
"Are you planning to consume our wine now?" Bennett Alvarado jokingly asked me. He is the nicest bartender here at the club. He is a 22 years old and two years younger than me. His behavior is not far from mine, so we get along well.
"That's better so that our manager won't be angry with me."
"Tss, she's always mad at you."
"Yeah, your right! Last week she almost turned my cheek into a tomato." I still caressed my cheek and I still felt the pain.
"It's terrible. It's good that you're fine."
"Of course!... By the way, there was a stupid man in the cr last week, asking me for wipes. The water there must have broken again."
"Where? In cr?" He asked that he also answered. "Cr of girls?"
"No. Cr of boys."
"W-what? You went in there?" He asked in shock.
"Yes, it's just a long story. I'll just start with those." I said that I was referring to the man who ordered and looked down on us.
I immediately took and brought the wine to the three men who ordered.
I was surprised when he suddenly grabbed my arm. "Did I tell you to talk to the boys?"
"H-huh?" I was surprised by what he said.
"You should be the only one talking to me, right?" He stood up to stroke my hair.
"I d-don't know what you're talking about, sir"
"Don't pretend you don't know, baby... I've been coming here for days to talk to you and then I see you talking to someone else?" He forcefully pulled me so that I sat on his leg.
His colleagues laughed so I immediately stood up and was about to leave when he stopped me.
"You stay here first, baby girl." He held my hand and smiled looking at me.
I tried to take my hand away from him but he took it again. "I'm s-sorry sir. I still have work."
"Don't worry, I'll pay you. Just sit beside me." He said and patted his leg.
Is he going crazy? "No, it's okay sir. Just enjoy the drink." I refuse.
"We'll enjoy it if you're here." Drinker no. 2.
"Yes. Sit here now." Drinker no. 3.
"It's a shame you're so beautiful if we can't see them." Drinker no. 1
"I'm really sorry, sir. I'm going to work." I said but the man still didn't want to let go of my hand.
"You work here first." The man said and laughed foolishly. Is he going crazy? Is that the effect of alcohol on him?
"Are you going to sit or are you going to sit with us?" He asked me a question mixed with threats.
I swallowed my saliva!
I don't like what he said!
I clenched my fist and he was planning to punch me when boss Lenox approached me and boldly spoke to the men. The other customers left for fear of being offended.
He is Lenox Keith Rasgo, the boss of our club. He is a 27 yrs old and he has so much money that he doesn't care about his employees, I just don't know now. I guess the wind has changed... I hope so.
"I'm sorry sir, but it's not right for you to tell my employee something."
"So, you're their boss?"
"That's right. So it's better for you to just leave than to do what you want here. I don't have any toy employees, sir!" He said gently that made my heart ache. Every word he said was emphasized so that they could feel what he said more.
He was right! I am not a toy employee, I work honorably so I will not want to be treated with whatever they want.
"She's not my toy, I actually called her my baby girl. I also wanted to say that I'll pay her for the time she spends for me."
The boss grinned. Does he intend to sell me? Tss, I thought he was nice. "Can you handle one million per minute?" I was stunned by his question.
Will the boss give me these? Maybe not!
"O-one m-million?" The men asked in shock.
"Yes sir." Boss answered quickly. "If you plan to borrow her for 30 minutes, you have to pay 30 million... If you can't do it, you can leave."
Eh? 30 million?
"It's only 30 minutes. 30 m-million instantly?" Drinker no. 2, the surprise was obvious in his voice.
"That's why my employees are so expensive... Expensive that should have value!... The 30 million does not include holding her hand which is worth 10 million, touching her hair which is worth 20 million, and forcefully make you sit on thigh with a value of 50 million." Boss Lenox's explained.
30, 10, 20, then... 50? Million? Why does it seem like a lot? Too much!
"W-what? A-are you crazy?" Annoyed questioning by the drinker no. 1.
"No. Do you know that the Republic Act 9710 or known as the Magna Carta of Women is a law for the protection of the human rights of Filipino women and aims to eliminate all types of discrimination, especially against women who are marginalized or women who are part of sectors that are not given proper representation in society. It was enacted on August 14th in 2009 after former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo signed it." He made a long explanation.
He also knows something about the law? It's cool!
"So, what do you want to convey?" Drinker no. 1.
"I just want to inform you that women have the right to file a case when they do not experience proper treatment. Do you know that Article 336 of the Revise Penal Code or the Acts of Lasciviousness. Any person who shall commit any act of lasciviousness upon other persons of either s*x, under any of the circumstances mentioned in the preceding article, shall be punished by prison correctional. For each count of acts of lasciviousness, the indeterminate penalty of six (6) years and one (1) day of prison mayor, as minimum, to fifteen (15) years, six (6) months and twenty (20) days of reclusion temporal, as maximum, and ordered him to pay 50,000.00 as civil indemnity, 50,000.00 as moral damages, and 30,000.00 as exemplary damages. Further, the penalty of reclusion perpetua for each count of r**e and ordered him to pay 75,000.00 as civil indemnity, 75,000.00 as moral damages, and 30,000.00 as exemplary damages... So if you don't pay now I can arrest you. .. Let's meet in court!" He made a long promise that surprised me.
That much he knows about the law? Awesome!
"H-how much do I have to pay?" Bewildered question of drinker no. 1. His colleagues also bowed and looked away from us.
"As I said before, holding her hand is worth 10 million, touching her hair is worth 20 million, and forcing you to sit on thigh is worth 50 million. So because of what you did, you have to pay 80 million, sir." Boss said that surprised us all.
"W-what? 80 w-what? M-million? Why is it so big? It's j-just touching that girl." He pointed at me which made me even more angry.
It's probably only right that he should pay 80 million for what he did, right?
"I can reduce it if you kneel on front of her and apologize too." I looked at the boss because of what he said and I was a little surprised to see him looking at me.
"Only 70 million left." Forgiveness of the drinker no. 1.
"75." Boss Lenox promised.
"50." Drinker no. 2.
"60." Boss Lenox promised.
"55." Drinker no. 3.
"60 million! Closed!" Boss Lenox said angrily to the men and the three guy immediately knelt down in front of me and apologized.
"I'm sorry ma'am." Apology of drinker no. 1.
"I'm sorry ma'am." Asking for forgiveness from the drinker no. 2.
"Sorry. We won't do it again." Asking for forgiveness from the drinker no. 3.
They apologized together and almost kissed the floor.
I feel like I'm hurting myself because I let them do what they want to make themselves happy. I honestly don't know what to do, I'm having a hard time for myself and the people who did me wrong.
What will I do?
I looked again at the three men who kept apologizing.
Should I forgive them despite of what they did?... I don't know!
Instead of talking to them I ran inside the office, fortunately there was no one so I just cried.
Should I forgive them or make them pay? They have to pay too much but they also made a lot of trouble?
I took my head down on the table and knocked my head there.
It's all my fault why is this happening now?... I should have just talked to them and sat next to them so that it wouldn't be a big inconvenience, the boss's customer was also leave. So, I'm sure I'll lose my job forever. Where will life take me? How can I raise my brothers? I can't seem to go home when I lose my job.
I stopped banging my head on the table when I suddenly felt a hand on my forehead.
"Are you hurting yourself?" I immediately stood up when the boss spoke.
"Sorry sir. Sorry for what I did." I apologize to him.
"You don't need to apologize, Shikaina. They did something wrong to you and they should just accept the punishment for themselves."
"But sir, the payment is too big."
"That's ok. I can't be sure what I did was right but I can't forgive myself if you get traumatized." The boss said with a mixture of concern.
"I'm fine sir, don't worry."
"Alright... Just accept it." He said and I was shocked when he handed me the checks with a value of 60 million!
"S-sir, I can't accept it... Their apology is enough for me." I gave him the paper back.
"But I don't think it's enough for what Theresse did to you."
"S-sir?" I was surprised by what he said. Does he know anything about the manager's treatment of me?
"I watched on the cctv what she was doing to you and I also found out that you always work overtime but you log out on time."
"I'm sorry sir. I just want to follow her order."
"And as your boss, can you also follow my orders?" I looked at him.
"Yes sir. What are you going to order? Do you want something to drink? What do you want to eat?" I asked but instead of answering, he held both of my hands and stared into my eyes.
"Take this, please." He said please and put the paper in my hand again.
I just looked at him and swallowed. His eyes are sincere. I don't see any sadness, anger, or even annoyance in me. Only happiness can be seen in his eyes.
I was shocked when he hugged me but he immediately pulled away when he felt it. "S-sorry, sorry. I didn't intend to hug you suddenly." He apologized.
I smiled at him and smiled a few times.
"By the way, I have something to tell you."
"Ahh okay sir. What is that?"
"I intend to close this club." He said that surprised me.
"Why is that, sir?"
"Because I'm building my new business. It will open next month."
"Really?" I happily asked him. "I'm happy for you, sir."
"Thank you... I will advance your full salary this year."
"There's no need, sir. It's fine hehe." I said to him and showed the paper.
This is too much.
"That's not enough. I'll just send you your salary. I'll also provide things for your siblings."
"Oh, no need sir."
"Just follow your boss, ok?" He said and I nodded shyly to him. "That's good. Where do you want to eat?"
"Huh?" I was surprised by his question.
Will he eat what he said?
"Tss. Let's go." He said before pulling my hand.
"J-just wait sir, my bag." I shyly told him before taking my bag from the locker. I carefully put the magical paper in the wallet.
When that disappears, it's like I've lost my life too. That's almost my salary for the next 20 years.
Time has passed and we are currently here at the restaurant.
"Are you comfortable here, Shikaina? We can move somewhere else if you don't like it here."
"Hehe, it's ok, sir." I was ashamed said to him.
He is like the living green flag man. He is very kind and caring. Maybe because I am one of his employees.
After some time we finished eating so we went home. I just took the bus because I was embarrassed when he dropped me off at our house. It's too much for me.
After returning home, I immediately told my siblings and grandmother the news that I had brought a lot of money. As expected, they were surprised and said that we are rich, but what I didn't expect was that grandma would hit me.
"Where did you get that? Give it back." She said while continuously hitting my arm.
"But grandma, my boss gave it to me." I approached her and whispered. "I almost r**e by someone." I whispered surprising her. "But don't worry grandma, I'm fine now." I told her and waved the paper.
She smiled but i could still see the worry in his eyes.
After many times we ate together and after that we lay down to sleep.
I noticed that grandma was still on the terrace so I approached her. "What are you doing here? It's cold."
"Well, maybe this is the right time for you to know everything." She looked at me carefully. "About your secret life." She added that surprised me.
What does she mean?
***
Written on: July 20, 21 (2023)
- Writer
