Quest For Justice

CHAPTER 6: DO IT LIKE A PRO

THERE ISN’T ANY JOB IN THE WORLD THAT IS LOW. EVERY JOB DESERVES EQUAL RECOGNITION AND RESPECT.

The original plan was to wait for Sebastian Guzman’s secretary to resign from her job since based on Cassandra’s source, the secretary was old enough to resign. But, she had been waiting for two years already and yet, the secretary was still on duty. Wala yata itong balak pasang-ayunan ang mga plano niya. Actually, Cassandra was already prepared in case one day, the secretary decided to resign, ay handa na siyang mag-apply agad. She even learned secretarial at online classes which were International classes to be specific. She watched Youtube videos about how to be a pro secretary, read a lot. Tony also prepared for her some fake IDs, fake diploma, fake certificates, fake yearbook, fake job experiences for her résumé, and fake references. Tony and she did very well at preparing all those stuff. Now that she decided to change the plan because she wanted to finish her agony as soon as possible, Tony, as well as Cassandra herself, had a lot of work to do. This time, as fast as they could since the Guzman Family were already looking for a maid. Baka maunahan siya, ma-palpak na naman ang pangalawang plano.

“Seryoso ka, atty.?” Still Tony couldn’t believe kung ano-ano nalang ang pumapasok sa isip ni Cassandra.

“Why not? I can do theatrics really well,” her left brow raised.

“As a secretary, yes! How about as a maid? Hindi ka nga siguro tatagal ng isang minuto, baka irapan mo pa ‘yong amo mo ‘pag inutusan ka.” Diskumpyado talaga si Tony sa balak ni Cassandra. He wouldn’t seem to agree with her. Iniisip lang nito nab aka hindi niya matagalan ang limang minute bilang isang kasambahay.

“Nerbyuso ka lang.”

Tony hardly scratched his hair before he agreed to her decision, as if he could step to her decisions. He could give her some advice, but he could never step on Cassandra’s decisions. Kasi ayon sa kanya ay siya rin daw naman ang gagawa at ano naman ang ikinakatakot ni Tony. Tony cared for her as his boss, of course minsan nakakapag-react din ito sa mga nagiging desisyon niya. But at the end of the day, she could make Tony fully trust her.

Cassandra and Tony deliberately planned after they flipped the sign hanging at the firm’s door all the time from “OPEN” to “CLOSED”.

Cassandra was comfortably sitting at the sofa while Tony was pacing back and forth in front of her in a fast manner. Parang ito pa ang mas nag-iisip sa kanilang dalawa.

“Could you please stop? Nahihilo ako sa ‘yo.” She put her hand on her forehead and acted dizzy.

“Nag-iisip ako, atty..” He kept moving that way.

“’Pag hindi ka tumigil, ibabato ko sa ‘yo ‘tong heels ko.” She reached for her heels but didn’t actually take it off from her foot.

Tony stopped at her gesture. “Okay. May naisip na ‘ko.”

Cassandra sat straight, crossed her legs, and crossed her arms. That was her most comfortable sitting position. She stared at Tony most intently and waited for him to say kung ano ang naisip nito.

“Una, atty.. Masyado kang maganda para maging kasambahay.”

“I know right.” She rolled her eyes while blushing.

“Papagupitan natin ‘yang long hair mo na kulot-kulot sa dulo tapos ipapakulot na natin lahat. ‘Yong maliliit na kulot, ha. ‘Yong parang hindi ka marunong mag suklay,” ani Tony, teasingly smiling. He seemed to enjoy what he’s suggesting.

Cassandra sadly touched her beautiful hair.

“Kawawa naman itong natural beautiful hair ko. But, fine. Pero as if naman papangit na ako niyan. Maganda pa rin naman ako kahit anong buhok ko. So hassle.” Cassandra forced herself to look problematic.

“Alam mo ‘yong nakakainis, atty.. ‘Yong hindi kita masupalpal kasi totoo.” Tony’s face saddened.

Cassandra laughed at him, and Tony just flashed a sneering face in reaction to her happiness of defeating him in a battle called “Dissing battle”.

Tony went serious again. “Then I’ll work on your fake IDs. Syempre kailangan baguhin lahat. Anyway, maid lang naman, eh. Hindi na kailangan ng diploma.”

Cassandra’s face suddenly turned into a gloomy countenance because of what she heard him say.

“Excuse me, Tony? Did you say maid lang?” She put emphasis on the word, ‘lang’.

“That’s not what I meant, atty.. You misinterpreted me,” Tony said.

“There isn’t any job in the world that is low. Every job deserves equal recognition and respect.” Namumwersa na ang tono ng pananalita ni Cassandra. Kahit ang paglalim ng mga kulubot in her forehead indicated how much she hated what Tony said.

“How about those illegal jobs? Do they deserve respect too?” Tony didn’t consider himself engaged in a serious conversation by the way, it was only Cassandra that was being too emotional with the topic that she couldn’t hear him almost laughing.

“What the hell? Do you call those a job? Those were illegal transactions. Those were exceptions because they were indecent.” Cassandra threw her hands in the air.

Tony was almost laughing at her kaya patuloy itong nanuya sa iritasyon niya. He knew to himself that he wasn’t disrespecting any job. She just misinterpreted him. Ang ibig sabihin niya lang naman ay hindi na required kung college degree holder ka to be a kasambahay. Or maybe she was reacting like that because he misused the word ‘lang’. That maybe it wasn’t really appropriate to use it. But he never meant to depreciate any job or any people.

“Calm down, atty.. Believe me or not, Minsan may mga maling salita lang tayong nagagamit that we didn’t notice.” Nagkibit balikat ito.

That was an explanation more than enough for her to consider him.

She sighed then paused a little to compose herself, medyo nasobrahan kasi ‘yong tension na nadarama niya kanina. Cassandra was always like that, kaya nga siya naging abogado dahil if she found something unreasonable, talagang ipaglalaban niya ‘yong alam niyang tama.

“Fine. You take care of all the fakes I need. I’ll take care of my own looks. Sa last part na ‘yon ng plano syempre. Alangan mag pa pangit na ako ngayon kung sa susunod na araw pa ako mag a-apply, ‘di ba?” Tiningnan niya ang kanyang mga kuko na bagong manicure.

“And you have still a lot to practice.” Tony sat on the opposite small sofa.

“You have to help me with that too.” She shifted her weight in the seat.

“Umpisahan na natin ngayon. So that tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow. Pwede ka ng mag apply bilang isang very katulong.”

“Very katulong?” Her forehead creased.

“Yes. Very, hindi lang.” Tony smiled.

“Napaka-corny mo.” Cassandra grimaced.

Nag lunch muna silang dalawa sa paborito nilang Korean restaurant which was only a walking-distance away from their office. They had their favorite Samgyupsal. Their tummies were very satisfied of the delicious Korean cuisine.

When they went back to the office ay nag-umpisa na agad silang mag-practice ng mga dapat iasal ni Cassandra bilang isang tunay na kasambahay.

Nakatayo si Cassandra sa harap ni Tony while he was seating comfortably on the sofa.

“Okay. First. Ngayon pa lang, atty.. Masanay ka ng hindi magsalita ng English. ‘Wag na ‘wag kang gagamit ng English, ok? Dahil ang ipapagawa ko sa fake background mo ay isa kang probinsiyana na hindi nakapag tapos ng high school at hindi magaling sa pagsasalita ng foreign language para mas kapani-paniwala.”

“Yeah, sure.” She sighed.

“Kasasabi lang, ‘di ba? No English. Sa bawat English word na gagamitin mo, magbabayad ka sa akin ng five hundred. Starting from now.” Tony was taking advantage of the situation.

“What the--” Cassandra realized what she was saying, nanlaki ang mga mata niya at tinakpan niya agad ang bunganga niya gamit ang likod ng kanyang kanang palad.

“Oh yes! One thousand. Easy money.” Tony laughed evilly while dusting his hands as if he was counting checks.

“Akala ko madali.” Cassandra pouted sadly.

“Okay. Next, forget about being a genius lawyer. Pretend to be dumb. Isn’t it absurd kung hindi ka nakapagtapos ng high school tapos matalino ka?”

“Of course! Alam ko na ‘yan.” She rolled her eyes.

“Of course. 500. Bwahaha!” Tony clapped his hands, he was counting every English she spew because they equivalent money.

“Mukha kang pera kahit kailan ka. Napaka O.A ng limang daan bawat English word. Kahit sino naman TagLish magsalita.” She shook her head.

“Okay. Practice tayo. Halimbawa ako ‘yong Jarred Guzman.” Tony stood up and fixed his necktie like a handsome bachelor, imitating the real-life Jarred.

Cassandra almost burst out in laughter because of Tony’s actions. “Ang layo. Ikaw na lang ‘yong driver nila.”

Tony flashed an irritated look. “Sige, ikaw na lang mag-isa dito.” Tony attempted to walk out.

“Hoy! Joke lang.” Cassandra immediately humbled herself.

Tony returned to his position. “Ok. Counted ‘yong driver tsaka Joke. Plus one tawsan. Mamaya na natin kwentahin lahat ng babayaran mo sa akin.”

“Oo. Tapos lahat ng ni-kwenta mo babawas ko sa sweldo mo.” She smirked.

“Forget it.” He faked a smile.

The two of them proceeded to their practice, anticipating a real-life scenario at the mansion that might happen to Cassandra if ever their plan would make it.

“Yaya, ipag timpla mo ako ng kape,” Tony said acting like Jarred Guzman. He was sitting on the sofa habang may hawak na newspaper na kunwari ay gawain ng isang Jarred sa umaga.

“Anong kape, sir?” Cassandra said acting like a maid, smiling awkwardly.

“Anong anong kape? Syempre ‘yong usual coffee,” ani Tony sa malakas na boses.

“So, sinisigawan mo ‘ko?” Pinandilatan ng mata ng maid ang amo niya.

Tony couldn’t hold his laughter and lost his character.

“Atty., hahaha! Walang kasambahay na pinapagalitan ang amo niya dahil nasigawan siya.”

Cassandra folded her arms as she rolled her eyes.

“Why not? That’s a violation of human rights. Kahit ano ka pa, katulong ka man, waiter, laborer or whatever, we all deserve to be respected.” She said with an open posture.

Tamad na napayuko si Tony sabay umiling-iling. What could he do to her?

Tony was only anticipating that Jarred could shout at their maids since when he saw him at the bahay ampunan, mukha itong suplado. At dahil maldita rin si Cassandra, he must teach her how to handle it right, if ever such situation might happen.

He looked up at her, this time in a straight posture. “Atty., basta tatandaan mo na kapag nasigawan ka o napagalitan ka, ‘wag na ‘wag kukunot ‘yang noo mo. ‘Wag na ‘wag kang makikipag engage in an intense fight with any of them.” Pangaral nito with hand gestures.

Tony was just concerned that if such scene might happen na kung saan masisigawan o mapapagalitan si Cassandra bilang maid ay baka biglang uminit ang ulo nito. She must never speak with the authority and vocabulary of a powerful adult.

“Sa totoo lang, Ton. Alam ko na ‘yan,” she proudly said.

Suddenly the exhaustion claimed her and she comfortably slumped on the small sofa just right behind her, looking worn-out after standing for just 10 minutes.

“Tingnan mo. How you sit. Para kang prinsesa. Walang kasambahay na napapagod in standing for less than ten minutes.” Napakamot na lang ito ng batok..

Napaisip naman si Cassandra sa sinabi ni Tony. He was right, maraming trabaho ang isang kasambahay. Nagluluto, naglalaba, naglilinis ng bahay, nag aalaga ng bata kung mayroon. At that realization, she respected house maids even more. How could she do it if she’s lazy enough to just get up from bed. The thought made her lose half of her strength. Iniisip niya pa lang ‘yong trabaho ay napapagod na siya. At home, they have five maids, at dalawa lang sila ng mommy niya ang mga pinag-sisilbihan ng mga ito. Indeed, she has lived a life of a princess. But her life was the saddest fairy tale that was still untold.

Since Cassandra was determined. She practiced the whole day with Tony. How would she react if ever her bosses scold her. How would she handle the work. How would she act like an innocent probinsiyana girl na walang masyadong alam sa mundo. Marami pang ibang dapat pag-aralan.

Cassandra felt her body too heavy from exhaustion when she threw it to bed. Tony and she practiced a lot so that she could do it like a pro that it made her so tired and at the same time a little stressed. They had to hurry. They didn’t have enough time. The day after tomorrow, she would finally enter the house of the villain. Instead of being scared, she felt excitement.

She couldn’t wait to meet them.