Year 2025—Present
Julia stood up from her chair and grabbed her backpack, which almost dropped to the floor since she hung it unevenly on her back. Her messy hair plus wrinkled clothes caught her mother's attention.
"Let me iron your clothes first; wait for me here." Lindsay immediately gets the iron that is jammed in the cabinet located in their living area.
"Matha, a nee to goh na. Ba! (Mother, I need to go now. Bye!)" Julia hurriedly ran towards the door while holding her laptop in her arms and biting a sandwich in her mouth.
"I said you wait! And how about your sister cerem— wait, Ana! Ana! Julia Montefalcoooo! You dang kid! Listen to me for once! For God's sake!" Her mom was shouting so loud that even the birds sleeping in their nest flew away from the trees.
"Geez, what's with that old hag's mouth!" Julia mumbled as soon as she finished the triangular sandwich she was eating while running from the nearest bus stop on the main road.
As soon as the bus stopped, she got herself a seat beside the window and tried to memorize the piece of note she'd been studying last night.
This is her first presentation in her new company. Although she's a bit nervous and doubting herself, she still would like to finish this day as decently as it can be; that's why she's putting every ounce of effort into this presentation. If she gets fired again, her mother will probably explode, and she'll be thrown out on the streets!
Why? Because it's her 4th company in just one year!
She got hired two months ago and her mother has been nagging her to at least stay in this company for six months or, better, a year.
Julia's life has been a mess since the year 2019. Nothing she does works; she can't figure out why she always feels like an outcast and has the feeling that something is missing in her life, longing for the unknown.
That's also one of the reasons why she kept changing companies.
In the span of eight years, everything changed; she graduated from her university and tried to live her life as normally as she could, but every time she tried, a loop of challenges always stopped her.
Julia scratched the top of her head and brushed away her train of thoughts ; she slightly slapped her right cheek. "Focus!" she says, trying to cheer herself.
The conductor hopped on the minibus and signaled the driver to move now.
The minibus is a well-known type of bus in the area; although it is called mini, it still has the same length and width as a normal bus, just an ordinary, not air-conditioned type, and most of the time it is old and rusty.
It is the most common transportation vehicle for every busy individual, including students. Frequently it's full; every three-seated row is packed with passengers, and some are even standing in between.
Luckily, the number of passengers is not that high today and Julia easily finds a seat.
While she was in deep concentration, she didn't notice the man in the black suit seated beside her handbag ; she put her stuff in the middle seat.
"Hello, young lady, what are you doing?" Out of nowhere, the man broke the silence, but Julia wasn't fazed at all. "Oh, you're working for Dream Corporation." Still, Julia chose to ignore him and attempted to flip her ID, which obviously stated all her information. "Ahh, you're from the finance department ." Without wasting any seconds, the man spoke again, confirming that he had already memorized Julia's ID information.
"How about my employee ID number? Did you get it?" She annoyingly looked at him. "011318—ah, I didn't get the last digits." He lightly tapped his lap.
Julia's jaw dropped, realizing that this man easily gets sensitive information about her.
"Dream corporation!" The conductor of the bus shouted, which made Julia almost jump from her seat. "Wait!" She immediately grabbed her things and, without batting an eye at the man from a while ago, Julia hurriedly got out of the bus.
"I guess I'll see you later, Julia Montefalco," he grinned and suddenly disappeared into thin air.
Meanwhile, Julia quickly ran in front of the enormous building of Dream Corporation. Although she's been working there for the past few weeks, it still amazes her to see how high and dignified-looking the building is.
She entered the all-glass door and swiped her company ID. She then hurriedly ran towards the elevator and pressed the 15th floor, where her department is located.
"Please, please, faster," she silently whispered while clasping her hands together, looking at the displayed floor numbers and her watch.
03…05…08...10…13...14…15
Ding!
As soon as the elevator opened, she ran like her life depended on it. After a minute, she was finally in front of the glass door, hands on her knees and catching her breath.
Right after calming herself, she sneakily entered her department, slowly walking in a squat, trying to hide from her ever-angry manager because she's been five minutes late again!
Upon reaching her computer table, she quietly put down her things and wiped her sweaty forehead while peeking at her manager across her table, who, at the moment, was busy talking on the telephone.
Julia breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that the manager didn't notice her at all.
"Hey there, girlie, so, you're late again." A brunette woman with thick eyeglasses on approached her. "Shhh! keep your voice low," Julia replied and pulled the woman down to the other chair. She then checked on her manager again, who was still busy talking on the phone.
She turned on her computer and logged in to the company's platform and tools before facing her colleague again.
"Your choice of colors really keeps me wondering, Kira," Julia commented while scanning the vibrant colors of the dress her coworker was wearing. "Oh, come on, it's way better than your wrinkled polo and below-the-knee fitted skirt—so basic, so boring~" she mockingly says to Julia, which makes Julia's cheeks turn red.
Before she could even reply, her manager suddenly stood up from his chair, like he was scrutinizing the room, until their eyes met, which made Julia's stomach twist.
"Julia, come over here." She swallows the lump in her throat and the room becomes quiet as she slowly approaches her manager.
A man in his late fifties, sitting in de cuatro with his dark grey computer chair, knotted eyebrows, and shining head, says, "So, did you make your report?" he arrogantly asks while tapping his fingers on the table, showing his dissatisfaction with Julia like the very first day he met her.
"Yes, sir, let me get it for you." She quickly ran towards her table and grabbed a clear folder with pieces of paper stating the report she's been working on for the past few days.
In her shaky hands, she handed it to the manager, who immediately snatched it from her and flipped through each of them, clearly showing he wasn't even reading a sentence from each page.
He finished checking it in less than a minute; he then stood up, adjusted his pants while trying to shrink his round, bouncing belly, and then walked slowly to Julia while clicking his tongue.
Everyone inside the room silently observed them. Waiting to see some spectacular scene.
"Julia, Julia, do you know what I hate the most?" her manager asked her before turning his back and grabbing Julia's report from his table. "I-I'm not so sure, sir," she answered in her shaky tone and knees.
"Tardiness, rushed reports, and incompetent employees... like you," He says, full of animosity towards her, and before slapping the pieces of paper he's holding at Julia.
Each of the employees watching them gasped as they watched her get humiliated.
Her manager's words and actions left Julia speechless.
Everything became slow as she watched the judging pair of eyes look at her. The echoing voice of her manager and the ticking clock made Julia deafening.
A flashback of every humiliation she experienced from him flashes before her eyes, every insult, be it work-related or personal, power tripping, being his doormat, doing non-related work, or out of working hours randomly calling and asking to be picked up or pick something up for him.
And lastly, being her department's laughingstock.
She was treated badly for a very short period of time and Julia just took it all, kept her mouth shut and blindly followed him.
To please them and keep her job.
"... like daughter, like mother, or worse, every single member of your family, like your sisters, eh?" he smirked, savoring every moment.
Upon hearing his words, something snapped inside Julia's brain; her heart is racing and her eyes are turning red.
She held back, pretended to be okay with every single insult and even swallowed her pride, but insulting her family?
That's the worst thing they can do to her.
"...Say it again, baldie." The Stern, and frightening tone from Julia made the manager step back, but Julia stepped forward. "I said, say it again," she asked but this time her voice was much louder, which made the other employees that were watching them stand up from their chairs.
"W-what do you think you're doing?" Although the manager is a bit scared of how Julia reacts, he still tries to maintain his posture.
She walks towards him and looks him in the eyes; she then holds him by the collar, and while the small, bald manager protests, she says, "here's my payment for everything you've done, bouncing baldie!" with all her might, she kicks her manager's precious eggs, which left a very unpleasant sound, and before he faints, she grabs her things and shouts,
"I quit, motherf*cker!"
The man in the black suit watched her walk away while a sweet smile was painted on his face as he clapped his hands, looking so proud and happy for her.
"That's my girl," He says before disappearing again.