3. Bet.

"Is everything okay?"

Marra put on her helmet and turned around, and the question had come from Luke, who had just put a few boxes of pizza in the large box on his employee's computer. Because she didn't answer–Luke also looked intensely at the girl in the pink jacket.

"Why? Are you quiet? How are you doing at work? I mean, it's been a few nights at 24Night," Luke said again. He was known to be an attentive and loyal boss.

"Oh, that, everything's fine."

"Matthew's not giving you any trouble, is he?"

Marra shook her head. "Not at all. I've been there three nights, he's a professional man, and his girlfriend is very friendly."

"Lover?" Luke thought. "Ah, you mean Celine?"

"Right, we had some interaction. She's so beautiful." Marra smiled. "Well then, I'm going to deliver all those pizzas now. The sky is ready to cry again." The two of them looked up-discovering that the sky this afternoon was indeed starting to become unfriendly, already gray, and soon it might be joking at will.

"Be careful on the road. Remember not to break the traffic signs."

"I understand." Marra sat on the motorcycle seat, starting the engine before driving off with her spirit. Luke lingered there, silently staring at Marra's departure until she turned a corner and disappeared from his sight.

The brown-aproned man who aspires to be a sous-chef or a pastry chef in Paris is charismatic. His 170centi tall upright body makes Marra always look up to him when communicating with him–an idol for some customers and even employees at the pizza shop he has managed for two years.

Since graduating from college, Luke had wanted to move to Paris, and he craved the world of pastry with the sweet fragrance of confectionery. Still, Luke was forced to bury that dream after his father had an accident and suffered a stroke that confined him to a wheelchair.

Luke has several siblings, but he is the only one who has not settled down here, while the rest of them do not live in Manila and are scattered in Cebu, Boracay, and other locations.

As a result, Luke is the only one who can care for his father even though he now has a 24-hour nurse at home as he runs the pizza shop himself, a distraction from the disappointment of failing to pursue his dream of going to Paris.

The man's fate was almost like Marra's, taking care of his parents and working hard, but Luke was luckier than Marra, who didn't even have another sibling to rely on. The girl worked hard day and night to care for her treatment and living expenses with Laura.

***

"Isn't she so cute?" Celine's hands were arranging several different colored daisies into a glass vase on Matthew's desk, and the woman was Matt's girlfriend since they were in high school. Let's call her ready to be his future wife.

She sat on Matthew's chair while her boyfriend sat on his laptop in the corner of the sofa, working on this month's expense chart.

"Who?"

"Your little girl." Celine smiled and blinked as Matthew looked at her questioningly. "Marra."

"Then, are you jealous?" It was Matt's turn to smile wryly.

Celine shook her head. She cut the flower stems that were too long. "No, that girl doesn't seem interested in anyone. I think everything on her mind is limited to how to work well and make the boss happy, then the next day, she will act like that without worrying about anything else."

"That's a good mindset." Matthew refocused on the laptop. "So, you like her too?"

Celine nodded. "How could such a sweet girl be ignored, I want to be friends with her, but I think Marra is too busy to be limited to sitting together in a coffee shop. I'm sure she has other things to do."

"That good character is what makes me willing to accept Marra, especially since Luke himself proposed it. I heard that her mother has schizophrenia."

Celine's hand stopped as she was about to put a green daisy into the vase. She squinted. "That bad? It must be a hard life, but she seems to be cheerful, or maybe she only complains when she's alone." Celine supported her chin. "This is too hard for her." She snorted.

"It's better not to ask if Marra doesn't reveal everything herself. She doesn't like being a burden to others. She's too mature."

"Right, Matt. When else can you find loyal workers? Even you can only find money-grubbing women here." Although Celine was also aware of the possibility of Matthew being wooed by the many ladies of the night in his workplace, she was confident that Matt would not go overboard and protect his girlfriend's feelings.

The reason they were still together so far was mutual trust. When many girls at school were crazy about Denis, only Celine acted indifferently, making him like a ray of sunshine in Matthew's eyes.

Also, when many men see a person through his body, for Celine, only Matt looks like a normal human being. She will indeed have a pleasant future if she continues to be by his side because they complement each other.

Knock-knock-knock!

"Come in."

The door to Matthew's study opened and revealed Marra's petite figure smiling there. Celine then got up, and she returned the curved smile on the girl's face.

"You've come," Matt said.

"Yes, I'm starting right now."

"Wait a minute." Celine reached for another bouquet of daisies wrapped in newspaper, obviously not the ones she had ruffled earlier. She moved towards Marra. "Have you eaten yet?"

Marra nodded. "Yes."

"Good, you need to replenish your energy before action, and this is for you." Celine handed her the bouquet. "I picked each daisy of a different color from the farm, some to fill the vases in this room, and some for you. You should decorate your house for color."

"Thank you very much."

"Okay, work well." Celine gently rubbed the top of Marra's head, looking at her like she had found a little sister.

"Excuse me."

***

This was Marra's fourth night as a disc jockey at 24Night, some people were getting to know her, even asking for her cell phone number and offering her a ride home, but this was Marra, and she would politely decline because she didn't want to be distracted by anything other than work while at 24Night.

Getting into a relationship or playing with men wasn't on the 23-year-old's mind. She didn't want to shift her focus from taking care of Laura. She was only thinking about how to make more money so that her life would be better, which seemed fair, right?

Marra was back in action, the speakers blaring different music from the previous nights. She is busy controlling the controller that doubles as a turntable and mixer to adjust the pitch, volume, and FX panning. Mastering the audience on the dance floor is a disk jockey's delight, and she's good at it.

Denis and his friends had just arrived, ten o'clock or so, and Jose hadn't missed even one night of Marra's set during his time at 24Night. The girl was enough to hold Jose's attention like candlelight in a dark room, becoming his desired focus.

Tonight Denis was with Selena, but they still joined Denis's friends and enjoyed the whiskey and merriment that echoed in the room.

"Isn't this boring?" said Jamie, shaking the sloshier glass filled with whisky before his face. "It is."

"You hate whisky?" asked Jose.

"No, it's the atmosphere."

"So, you'll rip off your clothes and dance on the table? That should be fun." Jose smiled amusedly.

Jamie snorted in annoyance, and he set his glass of wine down hard enough to make a sound as it made contact with the table's surface. "Is that funny? Why don't you ask someone else to do it."

"Who? Who?" Jose looked around. "Does Matthew have a stripper here?"

"He won't. There's Celine upstairs," Denis said.

"Oh, the good girl. Would you do it, Selena?" Jose smiled mischievously.

"Get lost, and I'm just having a good time with Denis." Selena went so far as to push Jose's arm, but he just laughed it off.

"Let's make a bet," Jamie said, getting excited.

"What bet? I don't have any money, and boss Racher Art hasn't distributed the salary yet." Jose quipped at Denis.

"Is it the end of the month?" The Rancher Art boss commented.

"No, that's too easy. I mean... her." Jamie pointed at the disk jockey as he blinked his left eyelid.

"Marra?" Jose was taken aback. "What do you want to do? What bet, idiot!"

"Why the sudden outburst? I'm not even talking about money. Are you reading my head, hm?"

"Then what? Don't mess with that girl, and she's too innocent." Jose was not willing to let anything wrong happen to Marra.

"Innocent?" Selena suddenly burst out laughing. "Are there innocent girls in a place like this? Jose still believes that?"

Jose's jaw hardened, and he gave Selena a disapproving look. "She's not like you."

"Of course, didn't many people talk about that girl refusing a ride home and refusing to share her cell phone number? Is that a tug-of-war or a sell-out strategy?" Jamie said.

"Will you shut up?" Jose was getting annoyed.

"Just do it," Denis said, looking intensely at the DJ. "What do you want to do, Jamie?" He gave Jamie the benefit of the doubt.

"It's easy. Ask for her cell phone number. If one of us gets it, then–"

"I'll buy him a drink for a week here," Selena interrupted. She smiled at the three men. "Agreed?"

"Agreed!" Jamie exclaimed excitedly. Jose was silent and resigned, while Denis just nodded. "Then I'd better start first. Jose, watch my behavior." Jamie felt confident, and he moved towards the altar of the disk jockey. Several people were watching the man's movements.

Jamie seemed to invite Marra to shake hands, but the girl refused. I don't know what he said, and Marra just shook her head before Jamie returned with a crumpled face. "He said he didn't have a cell phone. Isn't that an old-fashioned lie?"

Jose laughed at the denial. "I told you, she won't be easy."

"Then it's your turn."

Jose shook his head. "I didn't agree to it, did I? So, it's between you and Denis."

"Your turn, Denis. No woman will turn you down, so relax. Give it to me if you get the girl's number."

Now, it was Denis' turn to take vast strides toward Marra.

***