WANTED, IN A DIFFERENT WAY

CHAPTER 1

Her previous relationships has been a failure, at age 31 nawalan na ng interes sa pakikipagrelasyon si Tania. Ang gusto nya na lang sa buhay ay maibigay ang maginhawang buhay sa kanyang mga anak.

She stayed with her husband for 8 years, but they didn't end up well. Naghanap din ito ng ibang babae na pupuno sa lahat ng kakulangan nya. For the past years she focused herself to build dreams for their family. Na dapat ay ang asawa nya ang gagawa, but she knows him, na kung iaasa nya dito lahat walang mangyayari sa pamilya nila.

Now, she has their own house, not that too big pero ilang taon nyang pinagtatrabahuhan iyon para lang makuha nya ang kumpletong dokumento para masabing kanyang-kanya na talaga.

Ngayon nga ay doon nakatira ang kanyang mga anak,  kasama ang kanyang ina.

And her, she's still looking for a job that would allow her to still do the things that will make her grow and happy. Hindi sya pwedeng tumigil magtrabaho dahil lahat ng mga anak nya ay nag-aaral na. Hindi pwedeng wala syang monthly income, hindi sasapat ang naipon nya to sustain her children needs until college. 

Nahilot nya ang sintido at nag-inat mula sa luma nyang office chair na nasa loob ng kanyang inuupahang maliit na apartment.

She is working as freelance novel writer now, from office worker for 3 years from telecommunication company ay nagpasya syang iwanan ang kompanyang napamahal na din sa kanya. The environment is not healthy anymore for her. And the lack of growth helped her decide to leave for good.

Being a freelance worker makes her do what she love to do, but her income is not enough, napakalaki ng gastusin nya buwan buwan, lalo't tanging sya lang ang gumagastos para sa lahat. Her child's father don't support them at all. 

Napatuwid sya ng upo nang makatanggap ng email from a certain Mrs. Francisco. She opened the message, it says that she found her resume thru online website looking for a job.

They are looking for a caregiver for their twenty-four years old son living alone in their rest house in Batangas. The salary offer is quite too good to be true. She wonder why their son needs a caregiver, it's not indicated in the email.

It seems they urgently need her decision, because they already gave an instruction for her. Someone will pick her up tomorrow to bring her there if she agreed. The offer is so tempting that she cannot decline. She click the reply button and responded yes.

Umaga pa lang ay lulan na sya ng isang Honda Jazz RS na syang maghahatid sa kanya sa Batangas. She tried talking to the driver pero nanatiling tikom ang bibig nito.

Her instinct says she must be nervous pero wala syang maramdamang kakaiba. She is puzzled yet she feels excited. Maybe because she is a writer, she loves the thrill. She wanted to be surprised what awaits her.

Tumigil muna sila sa isang fast food para kumain, doon lang sya inimikan ng driver na nakilala nyang si Mang Dencio. Sinamantala nya ang pagkakataon na makapagtanong dito. 

"Malayo pa po ba tayo Mang Dencio?"

"Mga thirty-minutes pa siguro."

"May makakasama ba kong ibang tao dun? Maliban sa anak ni Mrs. Francisco?"

"Wala, tanging sya lang."

"Nakita nyo na po ba sya? Ano bang pangalan nya?"

"Zacchaeus. Nakita ko sya nung bata pa sya. Wag ka ng magtanong ng kung ano pa dahil hindi ko na sasagutin." napalabi sya sa sagot nito. Ang shala naman magpangalan ni Mrs. Francisco. Very unique.

"Suplado nyo naman." she muttered. Alam nyang narinig nito iyon pero di na lang din ito sumagot. Ilang minuto pa ay nasa kalsada na uli sila. Rough road ang tinatahak nilang daan ngayon at paahon.