Cannot Afford That Expensive Love

Nadia's Point Of View

"What kind of laundry is this! Why can't the dirt be removed?!" Melanie complain, I washed her clothes for money. I closed my eyes in annoyance.

Relax, Nadia. I said to myself.

"I have repeated that several times washing. I also paid for the water to be used to rinse it but it's still no effect." I said calmly even though inside I wanted to explode because I was so tired. Really really tired.

She looked at me badly, as if she wanted to hurt me.

"Do you want to know the truth? You're not good at washing!" She yelled in annoyance.

That's when I completely exploded in annoyance. I threw the soap I was holding in front of her and she look at me shocked.

"What the fuck?!"

I looked at her with my angry eyes. I'm disgusted with this woman! She thought she were rich but the truth is she's fucking not!

"It's not my fault that your dress is too dirty for you to scold me for it! It's because you're the one wearing it! So next time, don't tell me to wash your panties and other dirt in life!" I shouted angrily, I was so tired. "I didn't sleep just to clean it, you know that?" I added. I stayed up all night just to clean it, to remove the dirt.

She was shocked and could not speak.

Before I left, I looked at her again, "Don't don't need to pay me!" I shouted before I completely left. I stroked my hair while walking home. I don't need her money, I've been tired of what she says to me and my brother for a long time.

That woman is so arrogant, if it weren't for the money I wouldn't wash her clothes, she's so arrogant. After all, she is not a loss. There are many people who wants to wash their clothes here in town.

When I got home, my younger brother immediately greeted me. Niel, my only brother.

"You're home." He said. I smiled and entered our house made of bamboo. I sat on our sofa which is also made of bamboo.

"How are you?" I asked while resting. "Your studies? I'm telling you, Niel, improve your studies. You're 16 years old now." I always tell him to study hard because what he does is not for others because it is for himself so that people won't bully him.

He scratched his head.

"Yes, I always put that first. I won't complain." He said while smiling.

"Have you eaten?" I asked.

He shook his head, so I opened my old wallet, there was only 150 pesos in there which was my salary for doing laundry, I took 50 pesos and gave it to him.

"Buy a cooked food, there's probably some leftover rice to eat." I said and he nodded before quickly leave the house. "Hurry up!" I added.

Life is really hard here in the town where my brother and I live. But even so, learn to fight.

I looked around our living room, we have a small television, our bathroom is outside the back of our house. It's also just made of bamboo, I just put a curtain so no one can peek.

We have two rooms, Niel's is a little bigger because I made him a study table, it's also made of bamboo, it's not beautiful but I can say that you can use it and it's durable. We only have an electric fan and a light bulb in the living room. We have to do that because we also have to save money on the electricity bill.

We don't have a bed so we just put foam on the floor. The door of our bedroom is a curtain. The kitchen is at the back of our house, we only use charcoal to cook rice, I rarely cook a dish, not because I don't know how, but the price of the dish I would cooked is really high, so I prefer to just buy a cooked foods.

I don't know if we can get out of the difficulties of life.

Sometimes, it makes me lose my only hope, it's so tiring. Because again and again, why aren't we rich?

Who am I to blame? Our parents? The god? I shuddered at the thought. Why should I blame God? I should thank him more.

My only hope is that Niel finish school, that is always included in my prayers. Even if it's not for me, just for him, he can finish for himself.

I can no longer expect anything from myself, I have stopped studying. The reason is also because of the difficulty of life. I chose to work rather than study. My mother doesn't care about what happens to us. Until she lost her life.

Every night, it always comes to my mind, what if I studied? Isn't this how we live? Are we rich?

In the middle of thinking I heard Niel coming back, he was holding a cooked meat. While in the middle of eating I was listening to Niel's stories about his studies.

"Improve your studies, huh? Just tell me if you need anything at school. I'll find a way to do it." I told him.

"I know we don't have enough money-"

"I know, Niel. But I'm here, I always have my ways. Okay? Don't be shy to tell me. My brother, you should always tell me." I said and he did nothing but nod.

That night I slept thinking a lot, I needed a job, because I wasn't earning enough from helping in the wet market. I've been thinking about Niel's college. I will need a lot of money by chance.

"This is your money." I said to Niel as I handed him the money, it's for his whole day class. But he returned the money, I immediately frowned at what he did.

"I still have savings, keep it. That's yours. Just give it to me next time."

My lips parted.

"Are you sure?" I assure him. He nodded before kissing my cheek and leaving the house.

"Bye!"

"Bye! Be careful." I shouted with a smile. When he left, I cleaned the whole house, before I go to the market.

I went straight to the back of our house to wash the glasses and plates we used last night, I didn't want Niel to watsh it because he have an assignment to do.

When the washing was done and everything to clean, I quickly got ready because I was going to the market, I took a shower and locked the house. Niel has a spare key so he can still get inside when he gets home from school.

"Good afternoon, Nadia." Jala happily greeted me. I just walked from home to here because I was saving money.

I smiled and waved before putting on an apron because we were going to get thrown by something, like fish scales.

"So many buyers." I said and helped.

"Yes, It's good that you came. Those two must be late again." Jala pointed out Vanessa and Janice.

I just laughed before turning my attention to work.

"How much does it weigh?" An old man asked, pointing at the fish.

"100 kilo, sir." I said respectfully, he thought before buying, he bought a one kilo. I removed the scales because that's what he told me to do, then I wrapped it in a plastic and gave it to him.

"Thank you very much." I smiled, the old man just nodded after paying and left. This store is not ours, the owner will come later. She is the one who pays us.

Vanessa and Janice also came and helped us, because they have children so they are always late. When it was time for our break we gathered at the side and talked, we ate food.

"Don't you want a job, Nadia?" Vanessa asked me, I stopped taking a bite of rice and turned to her.

"Sure, do you know of anything I can get into?" I asked immediately. Jala also asked the same question. It seems that he also has plans to work.

Vanessa nodded.

"Yes, there is. Because my mom said she worked for Mr. Tadio, the owner of the famous shoes." She said. "That's really big time, now they need 20 people to work in his house, maids in other words."

"How much is the salary?" Jala asked, I nodded because I wanted to know too.

"30 thousand a month, just stay in but the food is free."

Jala and I looked at each other.

30 thousand? That's big! Even if I'm tired from work, I won't earn that much money. Even if I go around our whole town, I can't find anything worth that much.

But.

"But stay in? When are you going home?" I asked.

"Mom said twice a month." She answered. So I will only see Niel twice a month if I work?

"What Nadia? Shall we push it?" Jala asked.

"I'll talk to Niel first." I said. Can I not see him? I get home sick very quickly, but if I think that it's for him that I need go to work, I have to grab that job. I'm good at housework so I'm sure I'll be accepted.

When I got home while we were eating, I told him about work, and the other information.

"Do you want to accept that? It's manila, I know you want to go there." He said.

"That's not my only reason, of course I want the salary. It's also for your studies. Can you live here alone?"

He thought and then look at me.

"I can do it, I know how to clean, do laundry, and cook.So I can probably live alone." I smiled sadly at him. I don't want to leave him but I have to.

The next day we will leave immediately for manila, it is true what Niel said that I have wanted to come to manila since I was a child. But I want to be there with him, I have one bag to carry and two bags to hold. Everything I need to live in manila is there.

"Let's just chat, huh? You always chat me." I said and he nods.

I have a cell phone, it's small because it's cheap. I bought it on my birthday, it was my birthday gift to myself, I shouldn't have bought it because I didn't need it. But Niel forced me to buy.

"Bye sister! Be careful." I hugged Niel again. I suddenly wanted to cry.

"Nadia, be careful there, okay? Let Janice and I know if something happen." Vanessa said to me, I nodded and hugged them both. I also thanked Vanessa for telling us about the job.

After that I entered the taxi.

I waved again to Vanessa, Janice and Niel even though I was already inside the taxi, I started crying but I held it back. I have to work for me, for Niel and for his future.

There is only one question in my mind, what would I face in manila?

Nadia's Point Of View.

"I'm nervous, Nadia." I heard Jala say. I just looked out the window while answering him. I see cars, all I see are cars. We are far away from our hometown, we are far away from Niel, Vanessa, Janice as well as others.

"Me too, you know what is our boss has a bad attitude? I'm really going home." I said. I don't want that. I might say something bad.

"That's not it! I heard our boss is handsome." This is really Jala, he's gay and he's really into handsome guy.

"Not all handsome people have good manners." I reasoned, I looked at him and he was now frowning. Why? Am I too judgmental?

"Do you really want to work? And make money? If you don't want to, we'll go home." He said. Of course I want to.

"Of course I want it. 30 thousand is really hard to reach." I said quickly. It's not for me, what I do is always for Niel.

I am like a parent who is going to lose his child, after all. Since our parents were gone, I have been his parent.

But in return I sacrificed a lot.

"I hope we will be safe there. Even if we are far from our loved ones." I suddenly said. I hope Niel will be safe even without me.

"We'll be safe." He said surely. "Even though I'm gay, I can kick and punch when someone hurts you." He laughed so I laughed too.

"We can do this." I said.

I looked out the window again.

"So this is manila." I whispered, because all I could see was buildings. This is all I know about manila, all buildings. The buildings I saw were tall and some are not.

The trip took several hours, Jala continued to look at the window while I couldn't sleep for unknown reasons. It took a few hours before reaching the destination. The taxi driver stopped us at a large gate.

"Wow." Jala whispered when he saw the white gate. Is that it? Vanessa's mom told us that when we get there, a woman will approach to us and tell us that she sent us here.

"Come on, you'll be amazed later by that girl who's going to pick us up." I said and he quickly followed me, I couldn't hear the sound of the cars, are we really in manila?

I think because we are in an exclusive subdivision. This is what the person who brought us here said. I once dreamed of living in a subdivision when I was studying.

"Hello, Mrs. Delius sent us." I said to the woman, she was wearing a black dress. While Jala was just behind me. The woman approached us.

"Names?" She asked.

"Nadia Zariyah Helquino." I introduce myself.

"Jack Larvin Geol." Jala introduced himself.

She listed our names on the paper and spoke to the guard, then the gate opened and I backed away in shock, Jala's reaction was the same.

The girl who didn't even say her name came in first.

"Follow me." She said.

We immediately followed her with a bag hanging on my back while my two hands were also holding a bag. As soon as we entered, I felt that the owner is really rich.

Maybe he's a millionaire? or a billionaire?

The surroundings are full of trees, we only walk one way so we don't get lost. We walked for a few minutes before I finally saw a big mansion. My lips parted in shock at how big it was.

A big white mansion. The design of the mansion is so beautiful that I am so surprised that I will have a hard time explaining what I see.

I'm going to work there? I'm overwhelmed and it's also exciting because of the beauty of the mansion we're working on. I hope the people inside are kind.

"Shit." I heard Jala say, looking surprised at what he saw. Even me, but I didn't think it was this big especially up close. It seems embarrassing to touch or to get close with rich people when you are poor. I feel like the rich look down on the poor.

I'm really judgmental.

I was about to pass out when the woman finally entered and motioned for us to follow because we were just standing here.

We are still surprised. What if we damage something expensive there? We might be deducted from our wages or fired from our jobs. The worst that can happen to us if we break things is that we might be sent to jail. I hope that doesn't happen.

I hesitated whether to follow but I pulled Jala and followed, I didn't know if I would leave my sandals outside or not and because I couldn't think of stepping on my sandals.

My attention was lost on my sandals as soon as we entered, my lips widened and parted at what I saw. Everything shines, especially the tiles I step on. I looked at the door because there was red carpet there.

Is it really like that when you're rich?

I looked around while still following the woman, I couldn't breathe properly because I was afraid that I might hit a vase.

I was surprised because I still haven't seen anyone since we entered the mansion. Where are the other maids?

Where is the owner of this house? Does he have a family?

"This is where you will rest and stay while you work here." She opened the door and motioned for us to enter again and we immediately followed. I saw two beds. The room is also big because the bathroom is inside.

"I will send you something to eat later. Get your things ready because your work starts tomorrow." She said and just as she was about to leave when I called her, Jala was already fixing things so he didn't notice us.

"Why? Do you need anything else?" She asked.

"What's your name?" I asked, she stopped before answering.

"Jasmine, my name is Jasmine." After she finished answering me she left, she also closed the door. I sighed before looking around the room.

A bed is on the left, which is where Jala will sleep because he already placed there his pillow and blanket. So I went to the second bed and sat there.

The bed was so soft that I had never felt it when I was at home. I looked at Jala when he spoke.

"It's like a hotel, isn't it? Even if I just live here, it's fine." He says. "But as long as there is something to eat."

"We came here for work, Jala. So it's only normal that the rooms here are this nice. The owner is a billionaire." I remind him. "Also, we should also be careful when using this room, it's obvious that things are expensive if we damage them. They might even be deducted from our wages."

He laughed as he took out the things from his black backpack.

"Just chill, Nadia. Don't stress too much. Let's settle things first. Tomorrow our work will start and I'm so excited to see our boss." He said.

When we arranged our things until nightfall, we also had our own cabinets to put our clothes. The cabinet is not that big but all my clothes fit inside. I turned to the door when someone knocked on it. I was the one who opened it because Jala was sleeping, tired of cleaning.

I opened the door slowly and carefully, I was afraid that I might break the door with just one wrong move. I don't know how much it costs.

"What's that?" I asked a woman, she smiled at me.

"I'm Ethel. This is your foods." I looked at the cart she was holding, she took something from there and handed me two plates. I immediately took them as well as the drinks. And immediately entered the room, I put the food on the table.

"Thank you, I'm Nadia." I introduced myself. I noticed she was wearing an apron, I think I was two years older than her. She's small and has curly hair, she's not too white but she's not dark either.

She smiled again.

"Welcome, I hope you enjoy the meal. I am also happy to work with you." She said with a smile. She nodded to me as a goodbye before pushing the cart again and knocking in the room next to ours. I closed the door as soon as she left.

The people here seem to be kind.

I walked closer to Jala's bed and gently tapped his shoulder to wake him up. I tapped him once more and called him before he finally woke up.

"Let's eat." I told him. He nodded and stood up, he yawned before coming to the table and pulling a chair. I followed suit and sat on the chair as well.

"Wow, what kind of dish is this?" He asked while looking at the plate.

"I don't know, I didn't ask. Maybe this is the food of rich people." I said and started to eat it. I tasted the fish savoring it. It tastes good even though I don't know what kind of fish it is. I only know the rice and apples on my plate.

"What kind of fish is this? In our town, the there are bangus, tilapia. What's more expensive?" said Jala while eating well. "Look at the spoon and fork? The color is gold. I just use my hands when I eat." He added.

I laughed so hard.

"It's like we're ignorant here." I laughed.

He suddenly showed two glasses, one filled with water and the other with orange juice. "Look, we're going to drink two more kinds of drinks."

I laughed before continuing to eat when someone knocked on our door and it was Ethel who opened it, taking the plates and glasses as well as the spoon and fork.

I volunteered to clean myself but she rejected me, saying that was her job.

"Did you like the food?" Ethel asked. Jala answered.

"Yes, sis. It's so delicious. Even I don't know what is that. You know poor things." Jala said. Ethel laughed at Jala's humor.

"That's good, what's your name?" It's seems that Ethel immediately feels that Jala is gay. It is obvious from Jala's actions and words.

"Jala. I'm Jala, the queen of poor life."

"Nice joke, Jala. I'm Ethel." She looked at us. "I'm glad to meet you two, I'm also glad to work with you too." She smiled again before saying goodbye.

"I like Ethel's uniform, It's pink." Jala said as the door closed. I laughed.

"You can borrow it." I yawned so I went to bed and laid down.

"Let's go sleep, we have work tomorrow." I said. I didn't hear him answer but I saw him lying on the bed.

Before I went to sleep, I chatted with Niel, Vanessa and Janice about how we are doing now. I didn't have any trouble sending the message because the signal here is stable unlike in our town where you have to climb the roof or the mountain to get the signal. After that I went to sleep.

Tomorrow is my first day at work.

Nadia's Point Of View.

"Nadia, this is your going to do today." Said the Head clener, who is ma'm Ruby. She is a short woman and she is fat and has a grumpy face, Jala and the other new maids are behind me in line.

I was wearing a maid's uniform, just like the others. We look beautiful in our uniform.

She signaled me to come so I obeyed, I was nervous, because every maid is assigned something to do and they never run out of things to do here in the mansion because it is so big. So they also hire extra maids.

"You're going to water the plant, just gently when watering, okay?" I nodded to her. After that she pointed out to me the places with plants that I need to water. An maid immediately gave me scissors, a sprinkler and other tools to used. I'm not familiar with anything else because I just saw it today.

She even accompanied me to the garden of the mansion before leaving me. It was far away and outside the mansion, the name of this mansion is Mansion De Rion. I just heard that from a new maid.

I opened the gate before entering with my chest-length hair in a ponytail so that I wouldn't have a hard time going to work. I will not only water it, I will also cut the dead leaves and remove insects. I will also spray fertilizer on the plant.

They say the gardener who is supposed to do this is on a day off, so I will temporarily do it today. I started watering slowly, doing what the head cleaner said. According to Ethel, this is also our boss's favorite place.

But I have never seen our boss, I have no idea what his face and manner are. But I think he's strict.

I cut the rotten leaf slowly and threw it in the plastic that the maid who brought it to me. I became serious and cleaned everything that needed to be cleaned. I don't know the name of the other flowers because I just saw it now but I'm sure it is an expensive plant.

I also noticed two benches on the side. It was dirty and full of dust, I also saw moss. What surprised me was that the maid who brought me here told me not to interfere. I didn't ask any more questions because that's not what I came here for.

It was noon by the time I finished what I was ordered to do because of caution I slowed down the watering and other things to do. There are also too many plants and flowers here.

I was sweating as soon as I got out, I had memorized the directions earlier so I had no trouble returning to the mansion. I passed behind the mansion, in the kitchen when I entered I saw Jala

"I was going to go to the garden but I don't know how." He said, he gave me a plate with rice and dish. I said I will wash my hands first. I turned on the faucet and washed my hands, I also soaped them.

I talk to the man who knows where to put the planting materials. I told him to just show me where to put it but he said he'll be the one to come back the tools I used and I'll just eat because he's already done eating. He introduced himself to me as George, he is older than me. He is 46 years old.

"Thank you, I'm Nadia." I introduced myself.

"Nice to meet you Nadia."

"So am I mr. George."

I went back to Jala and pulled a chair next to him, we were eating at a big table. We are like a family. I'm suddenly worried about Niel, how is he? I will call him later.

I'm still not familiar with what we eat but I can say it's delicious and nutritious. While the other helpers who had just finished their work continued to come in, the head cleaner did not let it, the other one who had just finished eating because she had something to announce.

When we were all done, the head cleaner first asked if we were complete and we answered yes.

"Tomorrow, sir Cax will be coming home from a business trip." The other maids murmured so the head cleaner clap to stop it. "To the new maids, if you don't know our boss yet he is sir Carrion Xavien Tadio or better known as sir Cax."

Sir Cax.

"Wake up early tomorrow, because we will greet him when he comes home. Also keep things clean especially his collection of shoes, vases and paintings. Sir Cax has also been gone for a few months so we will give him a break when he comes home here." The head cleaner continues. "He also told me that he wants to meet the new maids, so to the new maids get ready."

I felt nervous when she said the last, I had nothing to worry about but my heart didn't stop beating.

"Are you alright?" Jala whispered to me, I nodded and smiled. Maybe it's normal for me to be nervous?

"Alright, get back to work." The head cleaner said. She gave me something to do again, we will bought the ingredients for the meal that will be cooked for our boss tomorrow. We will buy at the market but they call it supermarket.

"Is it your first time to go to the supermarket, hija?" The head cleaner asked me. We are now riding in a car owned by our boss. Mr. George is our driver. So he is a driver.

I nodded at her.

"Yes, there is nothing like this in our town and if there is, it is far away." I said while watching the cars almost touching each other because of the traffic.

"If I'm not mistaken, you're from the province?" She asked, I nodded again.

"That's why it's natural for you to do housework. You're very good at it." I smiled, but it immediately disappeared when I had a sudden worry.

"Yes, I'm just having a little trouble recognizing things because I just saw it now. Like the oven, I didn't know that the bread would be baked there." I said, I saw out of the corner of my eye that she nodded.

"Let it go, you can learn to use things like that." I looked at her and smiled.

"Is this the same as the market where you can buy fresh fish, pork or chicken?" I asked the head cleaner, as I pushed a cart containing vegetables. She takes the things to be bought and puts them in my cart. While Mr. George was left inside the car waiting for us.

I heard the head cleaner say.

"Yes, Nadia. But the supermarket has more products and you can buy a lot, some are expensive but others are not."

I nodded, she stopped walking and took a plastic object. She took five of them and put them in the cart. I looked at that thing and looked at her.

"What is that?" I asked.

"That's a chicken meat."

Is it chicken, I asked myself, trying to pierce the plastic with one of my fingers.

"Dead chicken?"

"Yes, Nadia. Do you know how to cook?"

"Yes, but I don't know the recipes of rich foods. But I can if I learn."

"Oh, that's right. You must be easy to teach."

"Yes." I said with a smile but it disappeared when she spoke again.

"Where are your parents?"

"My mom is gone and my dad is-." I stopped talking because I don't know how to continue what I'm going to say.

She looked at me and smiled but the teeth didn't come out.

"It's okay, don't say it if you're uncomfortable." I nodded to her.

We have continued to buy ingredients.

"This is the last one." I said and put the last bag of our groceries in the kitchen, I wasn't the only one who helped, Mr. George.

When I suddenly had a question.

"Ma'am Ruby." When I called, she was putting the chickens wrapped in plastic in the refrigerator, I was surprised what a ref can do. It can make a meal not smooth, it can also harden water.

"What is it?" She asked.

"Ahh." I was suddenly embarrassed to ask. She turned to me.

"What's that?"

"What is our boss attitude?" I asked, I just wanted to run because I was really shy to ask. I was surprised when she closed the door of the ref and faced me with a smile on her face.

"Did sir Cax get your attention?"

I immediately blushed at her question.

"It's not like that, I just want-." but she interrupted what I was going to say.

"I'm just kidding." She said, I breathed a sigh of relief. "What is the attitude of sir Cax?" I nodded. "He doesn't show emotions to people, he always hides whether he's happy or sad. That's why it's hard for other people to read him, sir is strict. What he said should happen but no matter how cold he is sir Cax still has the goodness in his heart."

In the evening, after eating, Jala fell asleep due to exhaustion. I took out my cellphone and called Niel's number.

I hope he's still awake. It took three rings before he answered the call.

"Hello?"

"Hello Niel? How are you there? Are you eating? When I find out you're not eating right-."

"Yes, I've already eaten, so don't worry. I should be the one to worry about it, how are you? Is your boss grumpy?"

"I'm fine, I haven't seen our boss yet because he's on a business trip, but I'll see him tomorrow."

"Tell me if that behavior is bad. And also tell me if he did something bad to you."

"I don't think he can do that." I whispered.

"What is it that you have confidence in that. You haven't seen him yet, right?"

"And why can you talk like that? Who is older than us." I change the topic. I heard him laugh so I just laughed too, I told him that I went to the supermarket and he said he wanted to go there too so he would study so hard so that we both could go there together. It took an hour for our call before I hung up and went to bed.

"My first day at work wasn't that bad." I mumbled before falling asleep due to exhaustion.