My name is Jack. I'm 24 years old living in a small town in the Philippines, but I didn't grow up here nor was born here; I was born in the Middle East. There is no day that I miss my old town. I work as a copywriter in a big company with a minimum wage that can't support a small family.
Fast forward to the present day, I am currently working in a small company where people are being underpaid but overworked. Although employees are staying because of the hard life in this country, there is a big 'but' in surviving in a third-world country. I can say that most people here are only surviving and not loving their job and trying to like their lives. They only care about their life. I am staying because I want to return to the country where I was born. First, I need to save money. I miss my parents and I wanted to resign soon. I can say that I am pretty close to my parents, even though they betrayed me when I was younger. They told me not to leave my job since I've been working here for almost 3 years, and another reason was they always wanted to return to the Philippines because of homesickness. I can't blame them.
It's only Wednesday but I can smell Friday and Saturday and Sunday since it's already four-thirty in the afternoon and I'll be out by five. I slowly pack my things. After thirty minutes, everyone hears the famous beep beep, an alarm indicating that we can leave the office. Though most of these people like to labor for a little penny, they take 2-3 hours of overtime. I don't usually work overtime. I always wanted to go home early. This is a twenty-six-story building with only one elevator functioning and everyone in this building left at five in the afternoon, so everybody will use the elevator. I ran towards the elevator as soon as I time out. The elevator is crowded as usual. People who work in this building know the consequence of working here and going home early is safer, though most of them didn't care as I do.
I ran towards the door like I'm so excited to smell the polluted air of this city. I can't wait to leave this place. The nearest bus station is forty-five minutes away and genius the buses arrive every fifteen minutes. The bus is almost full. Luckily, it's not trafficked. Maybe my usual one-hour trip would be less than an hour, which only happens once in a decade. My phone is now almost empty. I can't get occupied on my way home, leaving me no choice but to only stare at the window is my only option, and maybe try to enjoy listening to the radio music, though I'm standing, I will be alright. The first bus stop is the last, and it's my stop as well. When I got down on the bus, it started raining; I don't have an umbrella or a cap, though I had a hoodie that I could only wear. I rarely walk on the sidewalk where normal people do. There are always vendors occupying the tiny space for jaywalkers, but since it's raining some people don't walk, and only a few people are on the sidewalk. I join them in walking in silence. Then I passed by a girl with a yellow bag, wearing baggy jeans and a hoodie. She doesn't have an umbrella, but she doesn't care. But she looks cold, though. I want to talk to her but she seems to be walking faster than the steps I'm taking. Besides, I'm not good at starting a conversation. She's two steps ahead of me. I try to walk faster but I can't keep my steps to her. I enter the gate of my apartment and, to my surprise, the baggy jeans and hoodie girl enters, too. She keeps on taking the same direction I'm taking. I ask myself if I know her since there are only five doors in this building. I must've seen her somewhat. When I turn to my apartment, I take my chance to glimpse at her. The girl stops at the corner of the building's door. She's soaking from the rain and so am I. I stop at my door, then I heard a cat meowing in the girl's apartment. I look at her again. She just moved here. I couldn't remember someone with a cat in this building. She pauses for a while and turns in my direction before picking up her cat. That's when I caught myself looking at her like a creepy stalker; I smile at her before opening the door, but she doesn't smile back. Maybe she smiles, but I didn't see it since she's wearing a medical face mask. Then I soak in the silence and darkness of my empty house.
I cook the rice first, then boil the pork before going upstairs to change my clothes. After I change into my pajamas and sweater, I make myself some coffee. A loud knock interrupts my solitude connection from the rain that I nearly splatter my third coffee for today. I barely got a visitor since most of my workmates are not nearby. I lower the fire on the stove before opening the door. Surprise brought me in, as it is the girl next door. She's not soaking wet anymore, wearing the similar clothes I'm currently wearing. She stares at me for a while and blinks several times before speaking, still wearing a face mask as if she's sick.
"Do you want to talk to me?" she asks.
I scrunch my forehead because I don't know her and we just met, yet she is asking me if I want to talk to her. I'm dumbfounded that she thought what I was thinking earlier on our walk.
Despite her random question, she corrects herself. "Ooh, sorry, that's so random. I saw you looking at me like you like to talk to me." she explains, swaying her hands. "Have you seen my cat… roaming around?"
I don't know what to say. "Uh…" I try but I mumble nonsense words. "I think I saw you pick him up earlier."
"Oh," she breathes. "My cat's a female. Persian. 5 years old." She smiles.
"Why, all of a sudden, do you think I want to speak to you?"
She cracks a smile. "My parents said to make some friends…" she looks behind my shoulders. "and I'm afraid that your kitchen is burning."
Now, my dinner is on fire. I look slowly over my shoulder, then I ran towards the kitchen, turning off the rice, and removed the cooking pot, and the white rice turns to black rice. Shit. I must've turned off the fire a moment ago after I changed my clothes. The girl got inside the house without my permission. She looks around, hoping to see her cat. I check the rice and half of the rice is not yet burned. The pork is ready, so I prepare the table while the girl roams around my empty living room with nothing but one sofa bed.
"I think your cat's not here." I say while putting the plates on the table.
"I hope she's here."
"Why do you think that?"
She shrugs her shoulders and then looks at me. "You're boring."
Her mouth is spontaneous and full of surprises. I can't catch up with what she'll about to say, for the five minutes that I talk to her. I offer her to eat.
Please say no.
She hesitates at first, then looks at my meal, and I hate that. She nods her head. I'm guessing that she doesn't know the word 'shy'. She sits at the table and reveals her beauty when she removes her face mask. I stand for a while admiring her beauty before I notice I look like a creep again.
"What are you doing here?" I sit at the table across from her.
She shoves a huge amount of rice into her mouth and gulps a huge amount of water. The girl is starving, and she didn't eat first before visiting another's house.
"Just like what I've said: I am looking for my cat." She says.
"Then I'm sure I didn't kidnap your cat."
"Are you a cat person or a dog person?"
"Maybe a cat person. I love books."
She smirks and points to my window behind me. I look at it and see her Persian cat opening my window.
"She's smart!" I say to her.
"You don't need to shout." She says with a smile, waiting for her prodigy to successfully enters my kitchen.
"How'd she does that?"
"Cats are genius. Sometimes they just don't know how to use it." She tilts her head to her right. "Most times, they're just too lazy."
"You didn't train her?"
She shakes her head.
Her cat meows and brushes her head on my legs. The girl picks up her cat and then makes her lay on her thighs.
"Did you just move here?" I ask.
She nods her head as an answer. "Yesterday. I'm not yet finished unpacking. My father kinda busy when I moved here."
Is she asking me to help her unpack? I don't want to be there in her apartment to unpack, though. I'm busy and I have work.
She looks at me dead in the eyes. Sighs. When her cat jumps from her lap, she thanks me.
"Thank you for supper. I had no time to cook dinner. I only have food for my cat." She says and then hides her beauty again.
"That's fine. You also drop by at the right time." I say with a smile.
She stands and then picks up her cat again. "We better get going."
"Yeah, I also have work tomorrow."
"Good night."
"Good night." I repeat.