Prologue

It was a very unfortunate day for Valentine, considering that her friends—co-workers in the little restaurant she worked in—have been forcing her to go find herself a man. Almost every day, her friends would keep bugging her. She never had a boyfriend, ever. Having one never even crossed her mind yet. Love was something she thought a complete waste of time; she considered it as drastically stupid thing that could ever happen to an individual. Every person in love would do anything, even the craziest things to show and prove their love. Which, she would describe as stupid.

“In case you’re having trouble, I can help you with catching yourself a big handsome fish.” A low-pitched female voice came from Valentine’s side. It was her manager, Sofie, who was already in her 40s and married for 20 years. Together with her husband, they ran the restaurant together months after their marriage. Unfortunately, her husband had died months ago. However, she still kept the restaurant going despite of the loss and grievance weighing down on her shoulders.

“You know I’m not interested, Sofie,” Valentine sighed. She had to deal with the same thing almost every day. All she did is keep on declining their offers and suggestions to find someone.

“Don’t be silly, V, our manager even offered you help, you can’t just waste it.” A clink of the plates followed her friend’s words. It was Missy.

Valentine whipped her head to look at her. Missy’s hands ran along the strands of her wavy black hair, tying it up into a messy bun. For today, she was in-charge to wash the dishes.

“What about you go find someone, Missy? Leave me alone, I thought I already cleared it up that I’m not going to kiss someone and get married.”

“Tut, that’s not how love works, Valentine,” Sofie remarked. “Love is a great interest to someone or something that you can’t even let go of. Despite of its flaws, you’ll wonder why you’re even in love. What mattered most is that you want to live forever with that person.”

She sighed heavily at her manager’s words. No matter how they persuade her, brainwash her or even torture her to find herself a man, she still wouldn’t. Valentine couldn’t put all of the blame on her father for being an alcoholic, abusive and selfish man. To the people she knew, they declared he was the reason why his daughter never wanted to be with someone. But to her, she just didn’t want to involve herself in dramas. Valentine didn’t say anything after that. She was just never interested and that was the end of the discussion.

Sofie noticed the irritated look of her employee and she raised a hand on Valentine’s shoulder. “Someday, Valentine, someday.” She gave out one last smile before leaving her employees behind.

Valentine grabbed a ladle and let it sink inside the pot where the dish she cooked boiled. She brought it up close to her mouth and blew to lessen the heat, sipping onto the soup and smiled wholeheartedly. Both the saltiness and sourness of the food were combined, fighting against each other. She could taste both–the saltiness on her tongue and the sourness was found on the inside of her mouth. It was yet another dish she considered perfect. She covered the pot to let it boil a little while longer to make sure the pork was soft enough to have it sliced easily.

“Did it work, M?” Valentine almost felt her ears perk up as she heard Delilah’s (her friend) voice.

“Still didn’t,” Missy replied sadly.

Not even bothering on facing her friends, Valentine only made her voice loud and clear for them to hear, “you girls just can’t stop, can you? Apparently, the same thing applies to you both. Why don’t you let yourselves go stupid just like almost all of the person in this planet?”

“Mind you, V, I already have a boyfriend,” Delilah replied mockingly and proud.

Valentine almost cursed herself for forgetting that Delilah already had a boyfriend. They’ve been together for years Valentine couldn’t even remember. Never have the couple even spoke about wedding, or at least, never told them about their plans but kept it to themselves.  On the other hand, it was Missy who didn’t have a boyfriend and it has been months. But, she had someone chasing her tail already and she claimed she liked him.

Not that their status in love mattered to her anyway. She turned off the stove and transferred the dish to a big pot and announced, “it’s done.”

Her two friends came back to their work as they heard a ringing of the bell, indicating that a costumer is ready to order. Delilah took care of the costumer while Missy continued to wash the plates. Neither of them was good at cooking, only Valentine was. She taught herself since she was 9 years old. The fact that her father is an abusive and an alcoholic one, she learned to become independent at such a young age.

One fact about Valentine that she didn’t like was her not having the chance to proceed to College. Lack of money, the bills to pay and their daughter-father relationship weighed down on her like a giant whale sitting over her.

Valentine had no time for anything involving fun like the other ladies at her age. What she aimed to do was to become rich and leave her father behind in his miserable state. She didn’t spare a single proof of care for her father. He was disrespectful and she gave him back what he had to offer–no mercy.

Hours have passed and the ladies realized that they’re losing customers. The newly-opened restaurant just a few stores away from theirs have stolen almost all of their usual customers. There were only less than thirty persons that dared to step into their place. And this was the only thing Valentine feared the most–less costumers, less salary.

Their usual salary was okay, she admitted. It could clear out the electric bills, water bills and their daily needs. But what should she do with the lesser salary? It wouldn’t be enough to pay bills and for their needs. If their costumers would go from several to few after a few days, she had no choice but to move out and find a new job.

“You just can’t do that!” Missy exclaimed.

It was already nighttime. The ladies just closed the restaurant.

“You know I can,” Valentine said, obviously losing hope. She locked the doors, making sure it was secured before looking back at the worried faces of her friends.

“You can’t leave us, we promised.” There was now a hint of anger in Missy’s face. Indeed, they promised three years ago to not leave each other and the restaurant. Sofie was the best manager they had (she’s their first manager) and she was now like their mother.

“What else should I do? Stay here and suffer? No offense, it’s just…” Valentine sighed heavily. “I needed the money.”

“We all need money, V,” This time, Missy’s eyebrows were closer than before. “D! Why aren’t you joining us?”

They shifted their attention to Delilah, who was busy holding her phone. They realized she wasn’t listening to their little drama anymore. The brightness of the cellphone illuminated her face and her lips were stretched into a toothy smile.

“Sorry, V, M,” she giggled nervously. “Adam’s bringing me on a date. I thought he forgot our 6^th year together!”

Instead of pushing the tension between the girls in higher heights, they looked at each other and faced their friend’s confused face.

“What? Is there something wrong?” Delilah asked.

“When is your ‘prince charming’ coming?” Valentine brought her hands up to finger-quote the words ‘prince charming’.

“He said he’ll arrive in a few,” Delilah answered after checking her phone.

“We’ll wait for him with you then,” was Valentine’s reply. She instantly knew Delilah figured out why they would wait for her boyfriend. They wanted to have a free ride to their houses.

To keep themselves entertained, they began to share their experiences with the costumers earlier today and as usual, Delilah’s favorite moments with her boyfriend Adam and their plans for travelling all around the globe.

Minutes have passed and Adam arrived with his car. To his surprise, he was forced but then willingly escorted his girlfriend’s friends to their houses. The last one he dropped was Valentine. She bid farewell at them and wished them a great date. In which, was purely said out of sarcasm.

By the time she turned herself in front of their house, a smash of glass startled her. It was, yet again, her father throwing tantrums. As she got inside, she met the furious look of her father. Shirtless, sweaty, and reeking of alcohol and cigarettes mixed altogether. His stomach has gotten bigger compared to two weeks ago. His face was as oily and looked crusty compared to back when he didn’t turn himself like this.

“Where have you been?!”

“Work, as usual.” She allowed her feet to drag her to the kitchen. She brought out a plastic filled with Chicken Adobo and placed it in a bowl. “I brought food.” And decided to walk upstairs to her room, avoiding her father.

One strong hand grabbed the strands of her hair and she was pulled back. Her face was now closer to her father’s. His brought stunk of beer combined with something indescribable, Valentine had the strong urge to puke out her dinner she consumed earlier at the restaurant. “Where did you put all your money?” He shouted his words to her ear, almost enough to have her brain shrink.

“I didn’t hide my money! You used them all up yourself!” She yelled. Valentine had gotten used to this treatment but getting used to it didn’t mean she’s no longer vulnerable. She still has the same heart she had a long time ago. She was still weak but she pretended to be brave.

“Liar!” He gripped more tightly on her hair and she winced.

“Stop!”

“Stop?” He repeated her words and pulled her down hard.

Valentine was now on the floor–hair messed up, tears started to gather in her eyes and she was trembling. She guessed she would be punished all over again. If only she hadn’t talk back against him but she needed to. She needed to become independent, learn to decline and stand up for herself. But her father was more superior than her. She didn’t get the chance to be in the same level.

Billy, her father, brought a hand in mid-air and pushed his weight down as it swung lower, meeting her cheek with a loud smack. She felt her cheek warm up. At first, it felt numb but slowly, the pain came. Her hand reached for her cheek, her fingers acting like tremors due to shock. She got slapped once again. This was the first time this week. Valentine thought her father was getting better, instead, he’s only getting worse.

She looked up at her father who was furious, towering over her like a giant; looking like a god, superior and powerful. “I swear, I didn’t hide any money!”

This time, her father grabbed on her hair once again. She squirmed, hitting her fists against his forearm. Pinching, slapping and punching, she tried her best to escape from his hold. It didn’t take him a minute longer to release her hair. Valentine felt relieved and shifted her attention back to her father.

Billy’s hand was over his chest, desperately gasping for air. His other free hand reached out for something to hold on to and act as his support. He began cursing. His balance was getting unsteady.

The event happened too fast. All Valentine could remember was her father on the stretcher, a facemask providing him oxygen. Just as she wanted to step inside the vehicle, the doors of the ambulance shut close and rushed to the hospital.