บท 9: Rich!
Inside the moving car.
Irene was silent, pondering about the golden pouch. Why is it that when she woke up in the morning, the pouch was no longer in the bed beside her?
Did someone came into her room and remove the pouch and placed it on the side table? Or she was the one who did it but had entirely forgotten about it?
But she was damn sure that before she shut her eyes to sleep last night, she placed the pouch beside her on the bed! She was sure of that!
Dave glanced at her for a brief moment. "Penny for your thoughts, Miss Lopez!" he said with a smile.
Irene looked at him. "What did you say, sir?" she asked.
"Stop calling me, sir. Just call me Dave from now on," he said.
"Okay," Irene responded, shifting her attention back to the road. Then she recalled that he seemed to be asking her about something. "Did you ask me about something?" she asked.
"What I'm trying to say is that if you are looking for a job one day, don't hesitate to come to my office. We are regularly hiring talented people to add to our expanding workforce," Dave offered.
Irene smiled. "Thank you for your offer, sir. I'll think about it," she replied politely. She fell silent again, mulling about the pouch.
A few minutes later.
Dave can't stand Irene's silence as if she was intentionally avoiding him. He cleared his throat. "Do you have a boyfriend? Are you married? Are you interested in going on a friendly date with me?" he asked out of the blue, fearing that he might never have a chance to ask her those questions again.
Irene looked at him. "What-?"
"Should I repeat my questions?" Dave asked.
Irene shook her head. "No need. I heard all your questions. I'm just surprised that you ask since we're a complete strangers to each other," she stated.
"I'm sorry," Dave apologized.
Irene looked at him. "To answer your questions, sir, I'm single and I will remain single for the rest of my life..." she declared without batting an eyelash.
"Ah, okay..." Dave said, feeling disappointed by Irene's lack of enthusiasm in replying to his last question. He was hoping that she would say yes to his friendly date offering.
The rest of their ride was filled with silence.
A few minutes later.
They finally arrived at their destination.
"Sir, please park the car in front of that grocery store a few meters ahead..." Irene requested.
"Okay," Dave replied and parked the car in front of the grocery store.
Irene looked at him. "Thank you so much for giving me a ride, sir!"
Dave smiled. "My pleasure, Miss Lopez. I hope to see you again soon!" he said wistfully.
Irene smiled at him pleasantly and exited the car. She waved at him before entering the door of the grocery store.
Dave didn't leave the place right away. He was looking at the glass-walled grocery store, hoping to see a last glimpse of Irene before going home.
Since last year, he keeps dreaming of a woman who is wearing a silver ring on her finger with the inscription... 'Till Death Do Us Part...'
Now he finally found her, too bad, she seemed not interested in going out with him.
But it doesn't mean he will stop trying.
In his dream, the woman's face was blurred, the only thing that he can see is the ring on her finger with the 'Till Death Do Us Part' inscription. For some weird reason, he fell in love with the woman in his dream.
It's weird, even before he saw the ring on her finger, he was already drawn to Irene's beauty the first time they saw each other when she agreed to sell her property to him.
He just can't let her slip on his fingers so easily!
Now that he finally found the woman in his dream, he will do everything in his power to make her fall for him.
Inside the grocery store. Irene was looking through the items on the shelf pretending to inspect the goods. Occasionally she would glance at Dave's car parked outside the store.
A frown appeared on her face. Why is Mr. Russel still waiting outside?
A few minutes later, the car finally left.
"Thank goodness!" Irene felt relieved.
No offense to Dave, he's good looking, an eye candy but she has no plans to enter into a relationship with anyone right now.
Now that she's about to become a wealthy woman, she will savor and enjoy her good fortune and her single status.
"Who needs men when I have lots of money to make me feel good?" she said, giggling, talking to herself.
'Not me!' she muttered to herself.
Enough of musing!
She quickly left the grocery store and strolled on the sidewalk, eyeing the establishments left and right, trying to find a specific store that was buying and selling gold and jewelry.
She spotted one store nearby and entered the building right away.
Surprisingly, she was the only customer inside. She went to the saleslady behind the counter. "Miss, I'm going to sell a gold nugget..." she said.
"How many?" the saleslady asked.
"Just two pieces," Irene replied.
"Okay, follow me inside the room. The appraiser will verify if the gold nuggets that you are selling are fake or not," the saleslady said.
"OK," Irene replied and followed the saleslady, they entered the appraiser's room.
Inside the room. An old man was sitting on the couch waiting for customers.
"Grandpa, this lady here wants to sell her gold nuggets," the saleslady informed him.
The old man looked at the customer and smiled. "May I see the gold nugget, Miss?"
Irene smiled. "Okay, wait a second..." she said and fished out the two gold nuggets that she put in the pocket of her shoulder bag. She placed it on the table.
Grandpa inspected the gold nuggets, proving their authenticity. After subjecting the gold nuggets to a series of four different tests... he finally verified that they're indeed legit gold. He looked at the customer. "These gold nuggets are real and they're worth a ton," he concluded.
Irene's eyes brightened up. "How much, Grandpa?" she asked excitedly.
"It's worth a total of $400 thousand," Grandpa replied. "If you still have lots of gold nuggets in your house, we will buy them all!" he said enthusiastically.
Irene shook her head, hinting that she no longer have any gold nuggets left in her bag. "It's the only thing that my brother found after gathering firewood in the mountain near our village," she lied.
"Ah, I see. Just in case your brother will find more golden nuggets in the mountain, sell them to us, okay?" Grandpa said.
Irene smiled. "Sure, Grandpa!"
"Just wait here, I'll prepare the money in cash," Grandpa said. "Wait... do you have a bank account? I will send half of the money to your bank account and then the rest will be in cash," he said.
"Yes, I have!" Irene replied.
The saleslady handed Irene a piece of paper to write her bank details.
Irene quickly wrote her bank account and name on the piece of paper and then passed it to the old man.
Grandpa accepted the paper and went to another room.
A few minutes later, Grandpa exited the room carrying two envelopes containing $100 hundred thousand paper bills each. "The $200 hundred thousand was already deposited to your bank account using online banking, check it," he said.
Irene checked her bank balance on her phone. The $200 hundred thousand was already sitting prettily in her bank account. She smiled brightly. "I got it!" she told him.
"Good! Now count the money before you leave the store to make sure that there is no mistake on my part," Grandpa said.
"Okay," Irene replied and began counting the money inside the envelopes.
A few minutes later, she finished counting the money. Satisfied, she looked at the old man. "I'm done counting the money, Grandpa. Thank you so much. It's nice having business with you," she said, rising to her feet.
Grandpa smiled. "Dear, don't forget to come back here if you still have gold nuggets to sell, okay?" he said.
"Sure, I will!" Irene replied and left the room.
The saleslady accompanied her outside.
Irene left the store.
Next on her itinerary, she will go grocery shopping and then go home to her family.
She entered the grocery store nearby and bought everything she needed.
Afterward, she hired a taxi that will take her to St. Vincent.
Inside the moving vehicle, Irene texted her mother informing her that she's currently onboard a taxi, going home. And she has good news for the family.
Done texting her mother, she put her phone in her shoulder bag.
A bright smile appeared on her lips. She's enjoying the feeling of carrying a lot of money in her bag which seldom happens. Her bank account also has a big balance. It has never happened before!
She feels like she just won a major lottery jackpot today!
She's feeling rich already!
Money! Money! Money!
That's all she's thinking right now.
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