All Bets Are On

she’ll drop by later to collect the rent. I left my share

ike that, Jacob, the man talking from the door of one of the apartments that her

ther is leasing, she also has a shoe store in Alabang, which makes it hard for her cousin to take care of her three children. Her Ate Esther is a single mom. Despite that, she adores thi

he time she finished, it’s already eight o’clock, and the three of them had breakfast together. She bid the two men of her life farewell, as they go to work on a Saturday morning, and went back to take care of the

hter Auntie Lydia. Even though it’s already getting common for new couples to live in separate houses located in different towns in the Philippines, their family is still the type to live together with the main family within a compound. It has its ups and downs, but for

er Ate Esther’s door. Since it was occupied a couple of months ago, this is the first time she saw the new tenants, well, in this case, one of the tenants. As any normal person would, she turned h

sly opened her eyes wider together with her mouth, with what she just saw. It’s just a side profile, but the guy on the other door looks so neat and handsome. With his black foot sock on, the man is trying to put on a dark brown boat shoe. Although the bottom of his denim pants is somewhat ripped on some parts, it was still able to highlight his long legs. At the top of the pants is a dark brown belt that matches the shoes, w

was just very fast. She doesn’t have to be embarrassed. Nobody noticed anything. Nevertheless, she hurriedly entered the door in front of her

e! What are y

he nervousness. That was so awkward! In a span of how many minutes, if it even lasted for a minute, she felt four emotions; excitement, embarrassment, nervousness

their breakfast, and the kids just went their own ways to play. The two boys are playing with the train stationed nea

them breakfast and bathes them all before going to her store. All that’s left for her to do is to feed them lunch, feed them snacks, clean them when they get dirty, and make them nap in the afternoon. To

she will go back home to find her brother or father cooking their dinner. All that’s left for her to do is to wash the

i

Esther? Are yo

I’ll arrive around seven or eight because there

ad and Kuya that I’

oom beside us, and collect the rent from them. I’ve messaged them too so they’ll expect y

te. Th

see you la

er is always bare-chested during the day when he stays at home, and will only wear a sleeveless vest when it rains. But her brother usually wears his vest if there are other people in the house. That’s just courtesy. Alexandra thinks that’s pretty common sense. When someone knocks on your door, it means that person doesn’t live there, because they will just open the

in. She told me to col

her and to just give her the money and move on. Some

in, please come in whil

is upper body with his hand while he led her to the

nned the house of the new tenant. It was a thre

d center table with a drawer on the other half, the ones you usually see at this famous furniture store. It was pretty neat aside from two leftover empty cans of beers and an ashtray with a few cigarette butts. In the kitchen is only

not that much?”, sh

pened the door to his room. Now he’s wearin

s he walked to the kitchen and took somethi

n counted all the cash that he gathered from his room together w

r, the door opened, and the guy she saw and trie

to hide her nervousness, and awkwardness by trying not to look h

the silence, and said “Hi!” to her, as she pretended to count the money. Oh please, how many times does she have to count the money? She wants to leave

usin, she came to collect t

e, you are?” as he turned to her while

his hand. Gentlemen are not supposed to offer shaking hands with ladies

t him to compensate for

t and proceeded to introduce

cob, nice t

ng at the guy on the door. She’s

she can’t take it anymore, she has

him look down at her. He’s clearly puzzled by her behavior, for sure. She’s really not comfortable with the situation, and alth

to the other door. Panting and sweating, sh

________

or's

er. Usually put in before th

istricts in cities located in t

u:jə/ - mea