Under the bright sun and clear blue sky, Sab is feeling very exhausted stops at a bus station. Looking anxious to where she came from trying to squeeze herself at several people waiting for the next bus to arrive to hide from the people coming after her.
Some people notice her unusual behaviour and tried to avoid her which leads herself to be exposed to people looking after her.
"Oh, shit!" she mumbled when she saw her cousin Noel scanning the place to look for her. If the bus had arrived earlier, she should have been long gone and save from these people.
Without thinking, she ran again like crazy. If she can't escape now, it would be impossible again to escape from her Auntie Lina's hand and her cousin. She gripped tightly her bag and continue to run aimlessly.
Due to her exhaustion and empty stomach her vision starting to blur but she can't lose this opportunity or she'll be dead meat once they captured her. Without looking back she just runs until she felt her steps are getting heavier but still not stopping until she saw a black car parked just a few steps away, slightly opened. A guy standing not from far away from where the car park is busy talking and checking on his watch at the same time.
Without thinking, she quickly opened the door and enter the car unnoticed. She sat at the back of the car and praying in all gods she knows and not knew to help her escape. After a few minutes, the door was opened and was closed again with a loud bang. Her hearts beating like crazy, she did not steal anything and did not commit any crimes but the way you look at her situation looks like a culprit running away.
After a few seconds, the driver seat door opened and the car started moving after a while. She stayed quiet for a long while until she feels that the car already far away from the people whose chasing her.
She started to calm down thinking of her situation. But then her legs started to numb and her stomach started to grumble. She stays quiet but her stomach is not participating then the card stops moving. In a few moments, the car door opened and she was dragged out of the car in a blinked of an eye.
She can't feel her legs, she stayed on the ground without looking on the man who forcibly dragged her out of the car still holding her backpack. Due to the sudden exposure of the sun's bright, she is unable to see the man's face.
"Who are you?" asked by Tom impatiently looking down at the little girl on the ground who's one hand trying to cover her eyes.
Tom looks carefully the little girl whom she thinks around 18 or in the early '20s wearing a white t-shirt, tattered jeans and black sneakers. She's sweating and her clothes are bit dirty but surprisingly he did not find it disgusting.
Under the burning sun rays, his mood worsened. His mother constantly nagging him for a grandchild and keeps on setting him up in a blind date believing someone might get his interest and marry soon. Though he rarely shows up, his mother never-give-up until the blind date becomes like a business meeting in his own office.
With his mother around manipulating his schedules together with his secretary, he couldn't get away but his work was being sacrificed. He initially disagreed but gave later on. Her mother continues to aggravate and threaten him to disown him.
"I said, who the hell are you and why are you in my car?" What's in your bag? Are you a theft?" he asked in one breath and took the bag containing personal information and documents like certificates, birth certificate which she believes owns by the girl, some of her government ID, photo of her with an older woman which he believes her mother, both are smiling and hugging in the picture and a small wallet with few bucks on it, he read the documents and looked at the little girl again. Most of the documents name is under Sab Mendoza 21 yrs old.
The little girl who just recovered from shock just stood up looking straight to man's browned eyes. Save me "Mister" she mumbled. When she saw no reaction from the man, she asked again "Save Me" her tone is much louder but much clearer. "Save me" Save me" Save me" Mister.
The man with slightly darker complexion sneered then throw the bag to the little girl without answering and wave his hand to signal her to leave him alone. He checked his watch, he only has 10 minutes left before his conference call from Japan regarding a business proposal and he can't miss it. Everything he planned for will be ruined if he will not be able to attend the phone conference on time.
Without waiting, the man just turned back and walked to the house doorstep. A modern style minimalist house he just bought 4 months ago that only he knows for his own peace of mind. The house is not that big but it has a huge garden that was a beautiful landscape. He only hired a part-time cleaner to clean the house every day when he's not around.
The machine scanned his hand and the door opened for him automatically. As he entered the house, the girl immediately entered as well. He impatiently looked at the little girl but he cannot get into argument, time is precious and he needs to prioritize things.
He grabbed the little girl hand and went straight to his study room and ordered her to keep quiet. He'll deal with this little girl later. Sab did not make any sounds and stayed up for a long time beside the door while looking at the man speaking in another language which she cannot understand at all. Feeling amazes on how serious he speaks and how elegance he moves.
She looked around when her body started to a complaint due to exhaustion. When she saw the large leather sofa inside the room, she slowly walks and sits there, patiently waiting on the man to finish.
As of now, she needs to lie low and not to contact her only friend Angel, her workplace and other places she used to go. She needs to stay hidden for a while until she can support herself. She'll fly somewhere faraway or she'll apply for work overseas so her Auntie could never get her again. She looked at the man seriously working on his desk, he looks difficult but at least not a bad person, I think.
A good-looking man with bright light brown deeps eyes, kissable lips, very manly jawline and well-featured muscles, not too much but just enough to make you feel secure should have a well-hidden heart to people in need, right? She mumbled trying convincing herself.
Aside from his looks, the man also looks very capable financially. She never met someone with different level of confidence flowing from their body without doing anything that can make others feel jealous and make them back off like there's an imaginary wall pushing you away from them as they walk closer to you. Truth be told, confidence from a person with nothing to little or average and from a person fully loaded is like a heaven and earth difference. Money is really something, tsk tsk.
He can't be that evil. I can definitely tolerate him, I will not back down or I'll die outside. With all her might she prayed that this good-looking man in front of her is somehow, even a little is a good man inside.
***********
From the bus stations, Noel angrily answered his phone.
"Did you find her? You better not show your face without that ungrateful brat, a middle-age woman screaming on top of her lungs due to anger as she saw Sab running away from her." Thinking on the money that she already used as her payment for one night with that slut, her head is spinning with anger and troubled on how she could return the 30 thousand in case they will not be able to capture Sab.
"We can't find her mom", the man's voice is more frustrated than her mother. He is now also thinking about how he can save his mothers from the gangster where she sold her cousin. They may return the money but surely, they will have to pay a lot now due to an unreasonable interest plus damage for not fulfilling the promise.
His mother is not really a bad person but when his dad left them with another woman who happens to be her best friend, their life started to change 180 degrees. The fond mother and most logical person he knew started to do evil things, she started to have an affair with different men as well looking for the same love she had with his father but unfortunately, all the relationships she had been failed. She started drinking at first blaming and thinking maybe she's really at fault as all the men she loved left her and then she discovered gambling.
Thinking she'll recover from all the money she lost, she agreed to sell her cousin as payment to the gangsters and even gave her an advance payment which she also lost in the same night, desperately trapped. Seeing her mother so down at 1:30 am but still fully awake while walking back and forth on her room he knows already that her mom got into troubled again.
He began thinking, Sab was not related to them by blood. Her mother took her 5 years ago when she met a long-time friend and it supposed to be for a few days stay but her friend never returned. Later on, they found out that she's an orphan. Since the girl is very matured and helps them lot in every way possible including financial even at a young age her mother just let her stay with them and told everyone that she's her niece.
He's grateful but then she can't let her mother fall in the arms of those gangsters. Weighting everything and with the little time they had even if he wants to save Sab whom she considered as a family it would be closed to impossible.
Little did they know that Sab was actively listening on the mother and son conversations in a very low voice. Hurt by what she has learned deep in her heart she knows that these people whom she lives for more than 5 years are not that evil. Though there's not a lot of happy moment, they still shared good times and bad times together. She quickly moves to her room and pretended to sleep with the same clothes she wore when she lives the house this afternoon for one of her part-time jobs.
She started planning her escape and for it to be successful, she only took her usual backpack with all identities and necessary documents only. But because her Auntie also keeping an eye on her since she has woken up, she found out some important documents of her were missing including her mother's picture then rashly ran outside and called out for her to come back but she started running like a mad person.