Surrender

CHAPTER TEN

The message came at 7:02 p.m.

Confirmed. 10:00 p.m. tonight. Location: Bayside Tower Residences, Malate, Manila. Unit and further instructions will be sent upon arrival.Come alone. Dress discreetly. Bring valid ID.

Jessica read it three times before she could even process the words. Her hands shook as she set the phone down, the glow from the screen flickering across her face like cold light.

Bayside Tower Residences.

She knew that name. Everyone in Manila did, one of those high-end condos that looked like it belonged to another country entirely, the kind of place where people like her only entered to serve, clean, or deliver food.

That could only mean one thing. Whoever the client was, he had money. Serious money.

Jessica’s stomach turned. It’s probably an older man, she told herself. Someone used to getting whatever he wants.

Her heart started pounding faster.

Across the room, Ate Mara noticed the change immediately. “You got the message?”

Jessica nodded. “Ten tonight.” Her voice cracked. “Malate.”

Mara put out her cigarette, studying her carefully. “You look like you’re about to faint.”

Jessica sighed shakily, trying to keep it light. “I just… I didn’t expect it to be real.”

Mara tilted her head. “You’re scared.”

Jessica hesitated, then finally said it, her voice small. “Ate… I’ve never done anything like this. I mean—” She paused, cheeks flushing. “I’ve never even… you know.”

The words hung in the air.

Mara blinked, then softened. “Oh s**t! You’re a virgin?”

Jessica nodded, ashamed, as if confessing a crime. “Yes.”

For a long moment, Mara said nothing. Then she sighed deeply and sat beside her on the bed. “Oh, Jess.” Her voice broke a little. “You should’ve told me sooner.”

Jessica’s hands twisted in her lap. “Would it have changed anything?”

Mara looked away. “Maybe not. But I would’ve prepared you differently.”

The clock on the wall ticked louder with every second. Only three hours left.

Mara leaned forward, elbows on her knees. “You can’t go in blind. These men… they expect things. They think they’re buying experience, not confusion.”

Jessica’s pulse was erratic. “What do I do?”

Mara hesitated, then stood up and grabbed her phone. “You’re not going to like this.”

She opened a browser and started typing.

Jessica frowned. “What are you doing?”

Mara didn’t answer. She just handed her the phone, the screen already playing a video.

Jessica’s face went pale. “Ate—”

“Watch,” Mara said softly. “Don’t think of it as pleasure. Think of it as survival. If you’re walking into something you can’t escape, at least know what you’re stepping into.”

Jessica held the phone as if it were burning her hands. She wanted to throw it away, to shut her eyes, to erase what she was seeing. But Mara’s gaze held her there, not out of cruelty, but out of grim necessity.

It wasn’t the images that hurt her most. It was the realization of what this moment meant, that her first lesson about intimacy didn’t come from love or curiosity, but from desperation.

Her stomach churned. She set the phone down, trembling. “I can’t,” she whispered. “It feels wrong.”

Mara exhaled smoke through the open window. “Of course it does. That’s how you know you’re still good.” She paused. “But Jess… goodness won’t pay the bills.”

Jessica pressed her palms against her eyes, trying not to cry. “I feel like I’m disappearing.”

Mara sat beside her again, her tone soft but steady. “You’re not disappearing. You’re surviving. There’s a difference.”

Jessica shook her head. “It doesn’t feel different.”

Mara didn’t argue. She just placed a hand on Jessica’s back. “You still have time to back out. But if you do, be ready for what comes after. Bills don’t vanish because you said no.”

Jessica looked at her through tear-blurred eyes. “I already said yes.”

Mara nodded slowly, as if she’d expected that answer. “Then get ready. You have three hours.”

At 9:15 p.m., Jessica stood in front of the cracked dorm mirror, wearing her simplest white dress, one she’d used before for job interviews. It wasn’t fancy, but it was clean. Respectable. Neutral.

After she tied her hair back and applied a bit of powder, Mara lent her her red lipstick, and she stared at herself for a long time.

She didn’t look like someone going on a date. She looked like someone walking toward a version of herself she might never fully come back from.

Her phone buzzed again.

Unit 2406. Use side entrance. Do not speak to security.

Mara appeared behind her reflection, silent for a long moment. “You don’t have to be brave,” she said finally. “Just don’t break.”

Jessica nodded. Her lips trembled. “If I cry, will that make me weak?”

Mara met her eyes in the mirror. “No. It just means you still remember who you are.”

Jessica took one last deep breath, picked up her bag, and stepped into the Manila night, the city lights flickering against the storm-gray sky like a thousand eyes pretending not to see.