Owen Louise Burke: Carrying the Baby of a Stranger

Somebody promise to themselves to be the most perfect wife and husband ever. But this term is literally impossible for Marriel Barrientos, who grew up as an orphan but full of self love. Giving a perfect life to yourself is not always becoming rich or whatever.

For Marriel- being comfortable at home, eating three times a day, buying some wine, buying make-up, having a great adventure on Sunday are the best things happening in her life.

She's working in Funeral Home in Santa Cristina as a make-up artist. She's twenty years old at the age and no boyfriend since breaking up with Rankin Basil. The famous car racer, full of himself- narcissist, bad boy, playboy, and rich.

"Idiot," she exclaimed while putting some make up on her face.

"Hey, who's that idiot you're fooling around with! I kept quiet here, you're still being an idiot!" Her boss said.

"I'm talking about my ex-lover." Marriel's reasoning with her boss, Mang Tomas. It was once again fought with anger, because every time Marriel mentions about her ex, Rankin, Mang Tomas's heart is really on fire.

This is the only relative that Marriel can consider. Two decades since he took her in, Marriel's mother and father are no longer there so only Mang Tomas who is her uncle, her father's brother took care of her.

He also has a son, Tenner who is also twenty years old like him. But this is an architect so it is unlikely that he will take care of his uncle's business. While his daughter Joysie inherited the courage of her uncle Tomas. He took a special course on becoming an embalmer.

"Dad, where is brother?" Joysie asked and looked around, it was Monday and everyone seems busy. Marriel is the same. And today is going to be exciting because he's settled.

His uncle has bathed some people and all he has to do is put make-up on them. The routine of Marriel's life is just that, but she never gets bored, because she loves her job, and she is very happy every time someone dies. Not in the creepy way, but this is their business so he is only happy when their funeral home generates a lot of income.

His uncle's big building added creepy feelings, Santa Cristina has an old story that has been translated. Anyone who passes through their place in his car and the core of wealth will die, this will happen every day on Friday the 13th.

"Hmmm! That's not true!" Marriel said while walking to the make-up room of the deceased.

"Hello everyone, Marriel is here at your service." Marriel said even though no one could really hear her. Besides, there's no one alive in that room. But Marriel still dedicated to her work and treated all her clients as alive.

"This must be fun if you guys are alive, you're so beautiful! I really like your eyelashes!" Marriel praised her client who is in her mid thirties. Every day Marriel was training herself to be alone, there were dead clients, then there were those who didn't answer whenever she had questions.

"Hey, who are you talking to again? You look crazy, don't always be like that. People might think I don't feed you on time!" Sermon by his uncle Mang Tomas.

"I don't care uncle! Then what do they care if I talk to these dead people, even though they are dead once they became human too. What do I know if this person has never had anyone to talk to before, mind? Let's see if he doesn't want anyone to talk to him. At least once someone talks to him, that's all he won't respond to." Marriel said to her uncle who just scratched because of his very creepy attitude.

He tried to be happy in front of his uncle, but the truth also came out.

"Uncle! I'm not a virgin anymore! This is just like Rankin, he said that he loves me! I believe because I'm a woman and I loved Rankin too much. He seduced me all the time, I never thought it would happen again and again he will do that thing to me," Marriel was stunned when her uncle raised his hand and hugged her.

"He doesn't deserve you, and you don't deserve a man like Rankin even more. He's rich, has a well-known family, and most of all is a playboy. It will only hurt you every day if you see that he's with different women, then you're here at work busy fixing the dead." Mang Tomas said to Marriel.

"Sorry uncle!" He cried apologizing.

"Don't apologize to me! To yourself!" He said and left her in his arms. He was in the middle of emoting when suddenly someone spoke.

"Stop," his heart pounded even more because of the woman's voice he heard.

He slowly turned his back to see who spoke, his client's hand was exposed to him, cut off and pointing in the direction where the clock was. In addition to that, the eyes were looking at him, even his mouth was gaping as if there was air or his soul coming out of it.

He screamed because of what happened and his uncle panicked and immediately went to him.

"Marriel Barrientos! What's wrong with you, you're a child, maybe even the dead will wake up later because of the power of your mouth!" Mang Tomas said to Marriel.

"Look, uncle, it's scary! Then his hand was removed." Marriel said to her uncle.

"His hand is really amputated, because it was cut by the company where he works." Mang Tomas explained to Marriel.

"Ah, I was wondering what." Marriel said.

"I trained you and Joysie here when you were young, don't tell me you're still scared?" Mang Tomas said to Marriel.

Laughing, Marriel returned to fixing her client's appearance, and fixed his hand that had fallen to the floor.

**

Of all the time that rich man working, and doing all his best for the future of future wife and kids. But it ended up no time for love! Owen Louise Burke, the only one who inherited everything from his family. He grew up with a golden spoon, never experienced struggle in life, never experienced falling in the gutter, never strived for anything.

Aside from being rich, he's kind, handsome, tall and dark. Owen Louise is the top rated compassionate person who helps millions of kids and homeless. He keeps being intelligent, dominant, and submissive. Owen doesn't have a girlfriend, but he's planning to build a family, he already built a dream house and companies. But having a baby at his age is not a part of this plan.

"Sir, Mr. Miguel sent these files. He told me to remind you about the trip on Santa Cristina on the 13th of July." His secretary Louisiana said.

"Hector Miguel, it's very difficult at any time. Please tell him, I'm not available on that date, I have a date on that date. And he told me his daughter is beautiful and smart like me. I don' I don't want to ruin that precious date!" Owen said while his secretary Louisiana was constantly taking down notes of what he was saying.

"Noted sir." Louisiana said.

His secretary had already left, while Owen was busy thinking about how to get his eyes used to the family picture of him and his family. He's the only son of his parents, and as a Burke the good image must remain.

"Mom and dad looks good together! How about me, which woman will be lucky and fit for me. I really like a woman who is fragrant, beautiful, smart, height and color is not a problem, except the body shape. He needs to be perfect in the eyes of the people who will see us." He muttered while looking in a frame.

He's always like that, imagining the woman who wants him and fits for him. The woman with beautiful appearance. But, he never thinks about the woman attitude, he never thinks about the woman who will take care of him in case the moment has come that he can't stand up, can't speak, and can no longer reject anyone who violates his wishes. He was in the middle of his momentum when the telephone suddenly rang, he immediately answered because it was a call from his secretary.

"Sir, Mr. Miguel is here! Shall I stay? I'm pretty sure it's about your outreach in Santa Cristina." His secretary said.

"Tell me I'm busy! I'm doing a lot." He said to his secretary, who later hung up the phone.

But he heard a series of knocks, it didn't stop and Owen could hardly hear his own breathing. Owen quickly stood up and opened the door, exposing the pitch black smoke. He could hardly see what was in front of him, he was blinded by so much smoke. His eyes filled with tears and at that moment, he felt something grab him.

"Who's that?" Owen asked in a panic to whoever was in front of him. Owen kept his eyes closed as the smoke seemed to enter his office endlessly.

Took a few minutes, finally subsided. But Owen still hasn't recovered from the thick smoke that engulfed his office. It was the first time this happened to him, Owen couldn't understand what kind of smoke it was.

"Mr. Burke, are you alright? You look so pale!" Said Mr. Miguel to Owen, Owen noticed the strange smile on Mr.'s lips. Miguel.

"Hector, please put my nebulizer in the cabinet. Please, I can't breathe!" Owen said to this, he immediately obeyed.

It's only a crash if Owen's asthma flares up, but at that moment it seems like his destiny is death. He only gets an attack once a year, but he feels like he's going to die when he has an asthma attack.

He is an only child and he is a menopause baby, as if his mommy expired before he was born. His mommy didn't get sick then, so his parents were very surprised why a healthy baby had asthma.

"I didn't know to hurt you. What about our outreach in Santa Cristina? There are still stories there, when there are rich people who behave there and die!" Hector Miguel said as if threatening him, Owen shook his head.

"It's my sign to believe in barber stories. That's just an old story, it means it's passed. Imagine, twenty one and you still believe that? What a lunatic mind." Owen said.

"Oh Owen, don't go back and forth to Santa Cristina! I believe you won't be covered in black smoke once they see you in that town." Hector Miguel said.

"What do you mean by black smoke?" Owen is curious about it.

"Ah, there is also a story that when a person's life is certain, someone shows up. For example, in Santa Barbara, Barbara is the grim reaper who will kill you, because she will scare the sick person into joining her. In Santa Cristina again, these are the voices in the black smoke. I know that they appear to people who have too much luxury in life and are very sick." When Hector Miguel told Owen, Hector noticed that Owen was pale, so Hector put the nebulizer on Owen so that he could breathe air.

It was as if Owen was playing with his eyes at that moment, the black smoke passed by and he heard something howling. But Hector's hearing remained deaf and it was as if Owen was the only one who could hear.

"Hush now," the wind kept whispering to Owen but Hector couldn't hear anything. Was he going crazy, his hair stood on end because Hector's barber story was true. The black smoke and voice of Santa Cristina.

**

Sometimes the trip of destiny is really strange, even if it is not possible it makes it possible. Marriel is a make up artist and she has never experienced having a client who is Chinese and very rich. That's what he hates the most because he's afraid that their relatives will blame them.

"I trust you, you can do it!" Joysie said. Tenner, who is also her male cousin, just looked at her and didn't seem interested in her. Mang Tomas wasn't there that day, so only he and Joysie took care of the funeral home.

"What are you fooling around with there. Fix that, when that woman's ugliness is removed!" Tenner sneered at him.

"You know your attitude is bad! Marriel will really make it better, just relax, you might fall for the result of Marriel's make up. Remember Patricia, didn't you kiss her when Marriel was about to apply make up up. It's disgusting even dead people are looking at it." Joysie said.

"Hey, shut up. Of course that's my ex-girlfriend from elementary school. I didn't think she would die like that so soon. That's why I kissed her because that's what we did when she was alive. When we arrived and left, we always kissed." Tenner said.

"But you're still disgusting." Joysie said, Joysie and Marriel laughed while this Tenner couldn't paint his face anymore.

It was noisy outside and full of crying, because the girl who died was very young. He is rich and very kind, but he found out early because the woman was suffocated because she was trapped in a small room in his company.

"You know, Joysie," Marriel broke into the silence.

"What is that?" Joysie asked her.

"I have experienced some funny things! Like this woman, I sense in my mind that she was not an accident that she was suffocated. It seems like there is a loop in what happened. Because there is air inside the small room, it is impossible that there is nothing. Nothing this is my client's asthma. So you know, he's looking at me right now." Marriel said.

"Really, try to talk to him. Don't be afraid dad is like that too. I remembered when I was in grade three he talked to mom even though she was dead, and when he admitted to me his charm I found out that he has a third eye ." Joysie said.

"Do you think uncle Tomas and I are abnormal?" Marriel asked her cousin Joysie, Joysie laughed at her question.

"Edi wow! What are you? It doesn't mean that you're different from us and that you're abnormal, it's just that we've been given different characteristics. Then don't hate yourself, because you're gifted. Maybe that's why you were given such a gift from lord because he knows you can handle the horror experienced by those with a third eye." Joysie said.

Because of what Joysie said, Marriel liked to work even more. Sometimes we don't notice the small or big impacts of words that can change the lives of our neighbors. If his cousin Tenner has a bad attitude. Marriel is still grateful for the kindness of her uncle Tomas and her cousin Joysie.

**

When there's someone died and you love them so much, you will automatically feel that there's something missing in your system. Having a close friend or relative is hard to find, but the enemy is easy to come and ruin us.

Owen is on his way to Monte Clark Chapel where his cousin Yohana will be buried. It was close to him and he couldn't believe that his cousin was gone.

He was met by a woman who he thought was in her twenties. It's beautiful but it looks weird because of its thick black eyeliner, it's so white that it's like the sun doesn't shine. She grimaced as he approached her and offered her a seat on a mono block couch.

"Sit down, sir. Is it Miss Yohana Sue's?" Said this woman who doesn't seem to know how to brush her teeth and take a bath.

He just shook his head and said, "Thank you, but I didn't come here to sit." Owen said to the strange woman. The woman frowned and shrugged her shoulders in response.

Accidentally while the woman was inside, he heard her talking to someone.

"The man outside is handsome. Can you just talk to you? You're beautiful and look presentable than me. Maybe our guest will talk to you." Said the woman who was in front of Owen earlier.

"Why what did the man say to you?" Said a woman who was talking to the white lady in Owen's eyes.

"As long as he's antipathetic, thanks to him, he's our client, his cousin. He's not meaner than him." Said the woman Owen was talking to earlier.

"How? How did he know that Yohana is my cousin? I didn't say anything that Yohana was my cousin, so I don't remember saying yes to his question." Owen wondered to himself.

A very beautiful woman came out, compared to the woman before. But it has a strange smell, like the smell of blood that I don't understand.

"Sir, please excuse me if my cousin and I don't smell nice. I haven't taken a bath and neither has she. I also embalmed your cousin, because you didn't talk to my cousin properly. If You saw that his aura is different because he is a Filipino-Indian, and thick eyeliner is anti-fashion for him. People here are not malicious, so I hope you will be fair." Said the woman Owen was talking to. For him, it's so cool that this beautiful woman is an embalmer.

"Sorry miss, your cousin looks really scary. She looks like a witch." Owen even mocked the girl he was talking to earlier.

"I'll leave you for now, if you're thirsty there's a water dispenser there, just drink it, it's clean." Said the female embalmer.

"How about Yohana Zue, don't sue you it's Zue." His perfectionist explanation to the woman he was talking to.

"Okay, we'll just put her in the closet. And Marriel will do your cousin's make-up everyday. If you see her, just stay away." The woman said that she was more beautiful than the one she was talking to before.

"What? Can't it be just you? Maybe our relatives will be disappointed when they see your roommate is ugly." Owen said to the woman.

"It's up to you!" The beautiful woman said to him in annoyance, but Owen ignored her flirting because it was appropriate for him to flirt.

"She's pretty." Owen said.

**