CHAPTER ONE

1680 Words
The construction site was left empty. It was lunchtime that the workers needed to take their rest and eat what they have brought for that afternoon. From the large canopy they were in, music singing out from a vintage radio. “I actually dreamed of having a business, but the case is I got my wife pregnant real quick,” a laborer in his 40s joked between their meal. “No wonder, bro, you’ve got sprightly moves,” another one fueled a jest. Everybody burst in laughter. Their ages play around ranging from 20s to 50s. Among them, the younger ones are just newly contracted workers. They are roughly sixty and ascribe the same work like before. Only twenty chose to stay in the designated area for them; the rest headed out to the small cafeteria right across the site. “By the way, I heard there’s a new laborer working with us here – she must be lady as I eavesdropped a while ago,” a dark, barrel-chested man said with his eyes searching around. In a split second, someone caught everyone’s attention when he hemmed once. It was Matt who works as a mason for three years now. He looked so young with his chiseled jaw and scythe-shaped eyebrows. Not only he screamed for ravishing spirit, but also the fact that he was into toilsome jobs making his body dishy and achieve its full blast. Meanwhile, Guillen’s world titled into its axis, garnering the energy from the people around her. She drew her attention to them and watched Matt to make a scene. “Uh—boys, I’d like you to meet Guillen, my childhood friend back in the countryside,” he introduced, staring back at Guillen whose odd crescendo drummed in her ears. She coughed, allowing them to follow a once-over dashing at her. Her heart came back to its normal beat upon examining their faces more of welcoming. She beamed a bright, warm smile to them. In the matter of keeping up with customs, it would not complicate things as she got used to mingle with her buddies and old ones when she had still been living in the province. “Oh, young lady! You look mesmerizing to be a construction worker. You still have an ample time to back out of this job,” the oldest of them all said. “Uhm…” She gazed at Matt between her lashes and cleared her throat afterward. Her eyes roved around until she thought up a short reply. “I’m good with it. Besides, I’m in need of money.” “Good thing, your parents allowed you to work in this bustling city,” said Roger, the acting-leader of the laborers. “I bet you’d encounter a lot of things here as soon as you get immersed in this overblown city.” “Yeah, he’s right!” one affirmed, and everyone nodded. “Of course, I’m already 25. And I guess I can already take a venture with the opportunities around,” she replied. “Exactly. You’ve got to save up some courage,” Roger chimed in. “But I wonder, it was surprising that the contractor hired you, though he must be consulting first the head engineer to check on your experiences. I’m telling you, young lady, the head engineer is absolutely meticulous.” Everyone agreed and guaranteed to make every worker go hard just to get hired. No one in this construction site would not know about the head engineer. Leniency shall never be tolerated. The jobs must be swept clean and perfect. Her eyes held a faraway look into space; a contractor’s name smashed through her mind a later moment. She frowned. “It was Engineer Velasco who hired me – and that’s all,” she pointed out, shrugging off what messed up her mind about this head engineer. He must be scary! “Oh, I guess you haven’t come across with Engineer Salvador.” It did not take them too long, and they cracked on to have everything done in place. They clashed to the savaging sun ablaze along the sky stretching across the horizon. It was a soul-swelling experience to the workers. What could go wrong with her life? She did not expect it either she fell onto this situation that of at least she had a control over her life, she would love not to turn it to ill-fated. She almost lost her trust as if anybody was made to trick her on. One thing that excruciatingly bothers her is the fact she has not told yet to anyone what happened to her last Friday, even her family. Well, it was only Matt who knew it. She came to a halt and slid down her sweat-drenched balaclava. She inhaled much more air, though flakes of dust swaying through the air. She slipped it back onto her head an nth breath later. “What’s up, Len?” Matt asked who just appeared behind her, holding a shovel in his right hand. Only the pair of his eyes were exposed outside. After a couple of seconds, he slipped off his balaclava. A balaclava was used to put onto the workers’ heads to prevent skin damage and allergy from dusts. It has been this precaution since then. Matt threw on his yellow hard cap to his head after shaking out his jet black hair getting moistened. Guillen chuckled and slightly patted him on the back. “I’m good. I just realized how much power everyone has to contain in their body just to do this arduous job,” she answered a bit unclear due to the clothed headgear. Her sweats were running down her both arms. He chortled meekly, and it no longer plastered after a few seconds as his face drew back to normal. “Yeah, at first, the moment I did this job, it was wearing me out. What more you in your case – you’re a girl, and you seemed inexperienced with this kind of job.” “You have a point,” she commented, feeling up her slightly soaked shirt. “Out of the jobs I recommended, you all turned them down. And you chose this. You’ve got a power of Wonder Woman, I guess.” He chuckled and pulled back on his balaclava. Around three years, construction sites have made rounds in Matt’s life. He only goes home during holidays. However, if he would have to keep his money splashed out on unnecessary things, he could now purchase a small lot. He keeps feeding his vices and dwelling on a lot of girls, taking them out and screwing around. Guillen charged a short laugh, and later a sigh came out from her mouth. “Hey, move out! Save your time chatting when out from work. Engineer Salvador might see you,” one ticked them off. Their mouths snapped shut, and they signaled each other to carry on their designated work. The acting-leader appointed her to the continuous mixer area. She would only drop the mixtures such as the cement, gravel or sand, and water directly into the mixing chamber. Some of the moments, she was carrying the steels to the building. She could not deny the fact that this job was too systematic and way different from she got used to back in the countryside. There she would just earth up and plant a seed into the ground, waiting it to germinate for the nth days. Well, she came from the family of farmers, and they  own just a scanty amount of land which its area is occupied by their home and plant boxes. The hectares lot they use for plantation is not theirs. Ever since she was born, her parents’ livelihood had never changed over time. They appeared to be contented to what prepared on the table and a house that might get blown in one short gale. She wondered if this job is vocationally right fit on her. Practically, she did not sell herself short. The contractor must have seen something in her to hire her. Besides, she seemed doing her job well. Almost a vessel of sweats profusely rushing down all over her edges as she worked nonstop. It could be the right way to slip from her mind what got her down last weekend. “Roger.” A middle-aged lady came to approach the acting-leader. “Yes, architect,” he replied. Guillen was right behind the acting-leader, eavesdropping. “Uh, Engineer Santiago spotted a short of five inches on the natural ground level at the parking lot. Can you just put some sand right away?” the architect requested. “Ah, sure, architect. I guess the nylon was adjusted accidentally.” The architect nodded and dashed out past her. She quickly lifted a bucket of gravel to make her see she was working and transferred it to Roger right after. “Is she rugged?” she pumped an inquisitive query. “Ah, no, young lady. She’s Architect Cruz,” he replied. Guillen nodded briefly, her gaze strolling over her back. There she happened to lapse in silence as her hazel eyes bored into someone right by the prohibition signage. Her breath caught in her throat. A raw electric s****l tension intoxicated her. She would never deny the fact that he was debonair and irresistible that even her pleasure spot throbbed against it. Though, she scanned his face afar. She came back to reality when Roger nudged her. “Uh… are they all good? I mean, engineers and architect tend to be kind toward their workers, don’t they?” Roger chuckled and slowly shook his head. “Oh, young lady, you’re wrong with that. Only one you wish you would never run into,” he said, sounded profoundly threatening. “Who?” “The one and only, Engineer Salvador.” Again! That name! She shrugged off, and her eyes inspected around the area, checking out the man she saw. But he was out of her sight – just a landscape of on-going construction her eyes hunted.
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