I AM OUT OF THE HOUSE

This time he took out his basketball uniform which was still damp with sweat and threw it right at Morana's feet.

For a moment Morana didn't show any reaction, her eyes just stared straight at the pile of clothes lying right under her feet.

"Why? Didn't you ask earlier, you will do everything for money?" Quirino nodded at the dirty clothes on his feet. "I want you to wash this." He kicked lightly his basketball shirt towards Morana.

However, instead of taking the shirt, a smile filled with disapproval tugged at the corners of Morana's lips.

"You think I am your maid?" Morana asked boldly, as if she didn’t know how to be scared. "You think two hundred is enough?"

Not only he is rich and is a potential successor to a big company in this country, but because Quirino has been educated in business and leadership since childhood, he has a bigger and more dominant ego than teenagers his age.

Therefore, seeing Morana's arrogance and the way she spoke, made Quirino clench his fists to hold back the irritation that had caught in his throat.

"Two hundred is more than enough." Quirino said while gritting his teeth.

"My effort is not that cheap, Quirino..." Morana said his name in a mocking tone, at least she knew the name of the person she was dealing with.

"If you really can't do it, where is my money!" He stretched out his hand to ask for his money back.

It was just that Morana had a different thought. "Aren't you ashamed to take the money you gave me?"

That incident of their first meeting happened years ago, but there will always be a small smile tugging at the corners of Quirino's lips whenever he remembers the incident four years ago, where he first met Morana.

At that time, Quirino's interest in Morana was purely because of his curiosity towards this women, who always spoke what was on her mind indiscriminately.

Morana is a curmudgeon, it's true, and sometimes her words are painful to hear even though there is truth behind them.

However, as time went by Morana changed, she no longer replied to those who insulted her or spoke ill of her.

She chose to remain silent and didn't care.

Slowly the curt woman who always had an angry look at Quirino every time he teased her, is now gone...

Morana seemed to withdraw from the world, she no longer cared about what was happening around her or what would happen to her.

It was as if the fire of life within the woman who had been with him for these four years had dimmed.

Quirino didn’t know what happened to Morana and her family, he never knew and Morana never wanted to open her mouth when Quirino brought up the topic.

Why did Morana insist on leaving her house and choosing a boarding house when she was only sixteen years old.

At that time Quirino had implicitly told anyone who knew him that they were together.

There were many question about Quirino's crazy decision to have a further relationship with Morana, due to their reputation in the school was being inversely proportional to each other.

Not to mention their family background.

But, Quirino didn't think about it any further, he just felt happy being around Morana and bothering her whenever he got the chance.

Enjoyed the angry look on her face and the way she was frowning whenever Quirino said that they were dating when a friend of him asked during his graduation ceremony from high school.

At first it was just Quirino's joke to irritate Morana, but over time, he started to take his joke seriously.

On the other hand, Morana did not respond to anything about it, she neither confirmed nor rejected his declaration.

Maybe because Morana is indebted to Quirino, since he is the man who has paid for all her needs since she left home. When she was in the second grade of high school and Quirino was in his second semester of college.

Morana's decision to leave the house surprised Quirino.

At that time, exactly one o'clock in the morning, Morana called him while he was asleep and his next words woke him up immediately.

"I'm in front of your boarding house."

Those were the short words that Morana spoke when Quirino picked up her call on the last ring.

Quirino was shocked and jumped from his bed.

The problem was not only that Morana came to his boarding house in the middle of the night, but the fact that Quirino was studying in different city, while Morana lived in another city, which made him not understand what Morana's purpose was.

"You're crazy huh!?" Quirino hissed when he saw a familiar figure sitting, hugging her knees on a long bench in the park near his boarding house.

Quirino once took Morana for a walk in this city and stopped by his boarding house for a while but she never thought that Morana would still remember this location or even come at this hour and time.

"I'm out of the house."

That was Morana's answer, a brief explanation that until now Quirino had not been able to find the answer.

Why did she leave the house? Were her parents not looking for her? What's wrong with her house that she doesn't want to be there?

And there were many more questions Quirino wanted to ask, if only Morana would open her mouth instead of just staring at him for a moment and looking away, as if she never asked.

"And then? Can't you go back to your home again?" Quirino, who was still half conscious between believing and not believing Morana's appearance before his eyes, asked the stupid question.

Morana never fails to surprise Quirino with her way of thinking that seem extreme.

But this time Quirino really did not understand.

"You think it's that easy to get in again?" Morana raised her eyebrows while looking at Quirino who was only wearing a t-shirt and boxers, he didn't even wear shoes, either because he forgot or was in a hurry.