Chapter 3

• For Peri, her grandmother’s question was a difficult one. How could she admit she was struggling? She was so tired after work, but she had no time to relax because she had to attend classes right afterward. Could she complain to the old woman? But how?
• “All good, La,” she answered in a low voice, giving her father’s mother a warm smile. “It’s just that the summer heat is punishing us.”
• “When I was your age, it wasn’t this scorching hot, although it was already hot at the time. The climate has really changed,” Maurice told her.
• “Even the nights are hot,” she complained. But they had no air conditioning at home, only electric fans. They couldn’t afford to use it if they had one. Electricity is quite expensive nowadays, and they had to be vigilant about how they utilized it. It was just one of their other bills, like gas, water, and phone credits, not to mention their groceries and other necessities.
• Although Maurice was a live-out housekeeper, her income wasn’t as much as Peri’s monthly salary. Nevertheless, they managed to get by somehow. After her father’s accident some two years ago, which left him blind for life, she had to work tirelessly to support their family. Her grandma was already old, and housekeeping was not an easy job.
• “Oh, by the way, I’ll buy more groceries later, apo. We have no more canned goods and noodles,” Maurice said.
• She nodded. “I’ll buy more on the weekend, La.”
• “Vegetables and fish are healthier, Ma,” Patricio reminded his mother, joining the women’s conversation.
• “I’ll buy them on the weekend, Pa. We still have some malunggay and spinach in the garden, so Lola can pick some to make you some soup,” she informed him. She knew her father loved soup, specifically sinigang and law-uy.
• “If only I weren’t blind, I wouldn’t ask you for anything. I’d try to cook⸺”
• “Pa, don’t,” she gently interrupted. “Remember when you tried, you got burnt? You also broke the bottles of vinegar and soy sauce.”
• “What a waste, wasn’t it?” he scoffed.
• “No, it wasn’t that. It doesn’t matter what you break, Pa. What matters is your safety,” she corrected, reassuring him.
• He let out an irritated breath through his nose and resumed eating. Afterward, he slowly reached for his cup of coffee and sipped it slowly.
• Peri’s eyes met her grandmother’s, who was seated in front of her, while her father was adjacent to them. Maurice just nodded to her and gave her a small smile, as if telling her that they must be patient with Patricio at all times. It wasn’t his fault for being in his unfortunate position. He was doing fine, had a job as a plumber. But one night, riding his motorcycle home, a drunk driver in a car hit him. It resulted in his blindness. At the hospital, he shouted in anger that neither the doctors nor the nurses could calm him down.
• “I’m better off dead, not an invalid! Who will take care of my family? My daughter is young. She’s supposed to have a bright future ahead of her! That bastard! I’ll kill him again!”
• The mentioned driver was already dead. Without wearing a seat belt, he hit his head hard when crashing into a lamppost after hitting Peri’s father. Patricio was even luckier than the drunk driver for being alive. Unfortunately, it turned out that the driver didn’t own the car. He had just borrowed it from a friend, so there was no insurance, and there was no one the Tolentino family could chase for compensation for her father. His disability benefit from social security was meager; it wasn’t even enough for a month’s worth of groceries.
• Patricio cried a lot in the first few weeks. His days and nights were miserable. He was angry, depressed, and felt useless. A lot of things toppled over or broke into pieces as he tried to familiarize himself with his dark surroundings.
• Maurice and Peri had to adjust and support him all the way, although it wasn’t easy. Even more so for Patricio. Their hearts cried out and bled for each other. Peri could not bear watching him burdened and suffering like this. But what could she do? She could only try to say the right words to not aggravate his already distressed soul. Like her grandmother, she could only give love to her father more, especially during these trying times.
• ***
• Peri was in the elevator of the hotel where she worked part-time every morning. From noon until evening, she worked at the restaurant.
• She recited some lessons while holding her small notepad. Cell phones weren’t allowed, so studying at work was all she could do to prepare for their upcoming exams.
• She blew on her face, pinching her nose when she forgot something. She’d glance at the notepad again to see what it was when the elevator dinged, and the doors opened. Her heart skipped a beat or two before pounding hard in her chest. Why not? The good-looking foreigner she had met the other day was right in front of her, or more accurately, in front of the cleaning trolley.
• Their eyes locked for a moment or two before she greeted him, remembering her manners. She also moved the trolley aside to let him enter the elevator. He pushed the ground button and stared at her. When the doors closed, her eyes widened. She was supposed to get off the elevator! Embarrassingly, she pressed the sixth-floor button again. It was where the messy suite she was going to clean was, as per the guest’s request.
• Peri caught the small smile tugging at his lips when she secretly glanced at him. Her face heated up. She must be looking like a beet by now.
• ‘Why didn’t I get off?’ She scolded herself. ‘Does he remember me?’
• She took a discreet deep breath. In the process, she smelled his clean and fresh scent. Noting his casual wear like yesterday, she thought he was neat and knew how to carry himself. Also, he must not be going somewhere near the beach. Or if he was, he could just take a stroll along the boulevard, adjacent to the pier, which was a walking distance from the hotel.
• Unconsciously, her eyes slipped downward to his manly but beautiful hands, observing that he had a ring on his middle finger. She found herself having an internal debate whether it was a wedding ring or not, which was not used properly.
• ‘Wait, why am I wondering about this kind of stuff?’