Ara didn’t have classes on Saturdays, so she mostly slept in. However, her phone had been vibrating nonstop even though it was only eight in the morning. She ignored it, thinking it was just the alarm before she realized that alarms didn’t vibrate like that. It must be a call. But, she didn’t get calls from anyone. Nonetheless, the realization that she was being contacted got her up a bit and she retrieved her phone.
“Hello? Is this Ms. Ara?” It was a woman’s voice, an extremely excited woman’s voice.
“Yes, my name’s Ara. Who might they be?” Ara covered her yawn.
“Yes, hello my name’s Clarissa Valdez. I heard from my brother that you were a photographer, I was hoping we could meet up and maybe I could offer you a job.” Brother. Photographer. Job? Ara could half-understand that this was great, but what brother? Could it be a scam?
“From who?” The woman’s last name was Valdez. Still, Ara’s only friend was a girl named Lily Pascual. And regarding brothers, the only men she knew were her own two older brothers.
“Dominic? I heard you met yesterday.” It started making sense. “Are you free later? Oh but maybe you have Saturday classes. I understand if today’s not good after all.”
“I don’t have school today, I can meet up.”
“Yay, that’s great. I’ll text you the details of when and where. Can’t wait to meet you.” The woman really sounded so cheerful until the end. Ara wasn’t sure how to respond to either the content of her call or her cheerfulness.
“Yes, thank you. Bye.” It felt scary but also exciting.
Dominic really bought her photos of them when they were busking yesterday, and now his sister wanted to meet her to offer a job. It seemed like Dominic was some sort of lucky charm that brought fortune. Her phone chimed with the message from Dominic’s sister.
Her only plans for that day had been to look for dormitories in the afternoon. There was no harm in going out a little earlier.
***
She didn’t know what to do to prepare for a prospective job offer, but she did her best to tidy up and walked towards the café that the message instructed. She wore her school’s pencil skirt and black shoes that had a bit of a heel with a soft cream button-up blouse that was originally her mother’s.
The time in the text was at noon, and it was only 11:30 but she knew that it was good courtesy to be a little earlier. Besides that, she was very nervous as well that she decided it was better to head out than stay around the house any longer, all fidgety.
In front of her, a tall woman walked and was handling a lot of papers on one hand while eating street food on a stick on another hand when she suddenly jumped as her phone started ringing.
“Ah! What do I do?” She couldn’t set the papers down on the street, much less her food.
“I can hold that for you.” Ara offered, which surprised the woman again. She looked behind to see Ara who pointed to the papers.
“Really? Would you, really?” She asked though she was already handing the heavy stack to Ara. “You’re such a sweetheart, come.” She took her phone and answered the call. She motioned for Ara to follow her.
They walked and entered the café Ara was supposed to be in as well. The woman sat on one of the seats near the entrance and Ara set down her papers on her table. The woman mouthed off a ‘thank you’ and blew a kiss to Ara.
“You’re welcome.” Ara said softly and smiled at the hard-working woman. Since she was already inside, she sat down on another booth and waited for Dominic’s sister. She looked over the woman who has managed to finish eating her street food all while still on her call. That must have taken some skill to be able to pull off.
After the call, the woman went to the counter and ordered something before coming back to her table with the shop’s order buzzer. She took out her phone once again and raised it to her ear. Ara decided to order a cup of something for herself while she waited as well.
On the counter, she was in third in line. She looked over the selection and confirmed that the café really gave off a fancy atmosphere. She didn’t like coffee and thought before that all cafés just served coffee, but since her friend Lily loved and took her to a lot of these coffee places, Ara eventually learned what she could drink that either had no coffee or hid the taste well.
She was about to order a cup of a cool drink when her phone rang, so she excused herself from the friendly cashier and went to the side.
“Hello, this is Clarissa. I’m at the café now so just tell me when you get here alright?” The happy voice said.
“Oh, I’m already here too.”
“Is that so? I’m here near the entrance, I’m gonna wave a bit. Do you see me?” Ara scanned the room and found the same woman she helped earlier waving her right hand up high.
“Yes, I see you. I’m near the counter. I’ll be there.” Ara started going towards her and the woman dropped her hand when she saw her approaching. Her mouth was open and her eyes were amused.
“I see. It’s you, so you’re Ara. Oh dear, you’re so cute!” The woman was so unbelievably chirpy which ironically relaxed Ara. She didn’t look scary at all. Her eyes shined with what seemed like friendliness. “Come, come, take a seat.” She motioned to the seat in front of her.
“Thank you.” Ara said politely.
“Oh, but you must have been about to order something. Why don’t you do that first? Go on, I’ll wait for you here.” The woman said just as Ara had taken her seat. Ara felt lost, was she supposed to stand and go back to the counter again? “Oh right, you just came back from there. I’m sorry about that.”
“It’s okay.” She should add something. “Uh, if you don’t mind, I wonder if we can start talking about what you told me on the phone.”
“I know, I’ll order for you instead. What would you like?”
Ara tried to say she was fine but the woman was persistent that she finally admitted that a chocolate chip drink would be nice.
The woman stood up right away and went to the counter before Ara could even say that she could order on her own. She couldn’t even leave the table either. The woman left her phone, documents and what looked like car keys. Finally, once she came back and settled down, the woman finally started their business.
“So you see, as I’ve told you, I’m Clarissa Valdez, and my brother’s Dominic. I’m also the manager for Sunset Bay City, and I’ve been looking for a photographer for them.” Sunset Bay City, that was the name of the band Dominic and Jules said they were in.
“I sort of understand, but why a no-name photographer like me?” There were so many other photographers out there with better skills than her, and if Sunset Bay City was even the slightest bit popular, they could surely afford to hire those.
“Well you see, Jules, one of our members, absolutely despises having his photos taken. There’s another one who’s not very friendly but isn’t as bad as Jules when it comes to this.” That much she knew and remembered well. “So he’d always bomb his photoshoots and such. He’d give us a good photo or two for group ones and mess up the rest. However, you seem to have managed to get a lot of photos of him. I begged Dom, that bastard of a brother, to let me see and I think that they’re pretty great.”
“But I didn’t do anything. I think he only agreed because he was in a sort of contest against Dominic.” She explained while Clarissa smiled warmly at her.
“Ah, why are you so adorable?”
Ara didn’t understand Clarissa. Who was adorable?
“Anyway, the thing is I’ve been wanting to get more publicity for them by even hiring a social media manager so that they can get traction online. However, we’re quite in trouble when it comes to posting photos, especially Instagram. I don’t take great photos myself, I might just do more damage.” She laughed at her own joke and Ara smiled a little.
She remembered her brother Andrew whose girlfriend often complained of how unfair it was that she took great photos of him while he managed to blur every shot of her. They often went out in such nice places for their dates too that Ara felt bad for her.
“So about that, you see our boys aren’t exactly models, but I’m quite proud of them. I think they all look pretty handsome in their own way.” Ara partly agreed. Dominic and Jules did look great indeed. “But instead of highly professional shots for their account, I wanted something a little more home-made. That would probably be better for them.”
Ara nodded in understanding as she remembered how Dominic and Jules played. The kind of style Clarissa wanted, it did suit them.
“I want their fans to feel close to them somehow, see them behind the scenes, but I don’t want it to be completely amateur that we’d look like a joke either. So when your photos came in, it felt like an angel literally came.” The woman talked so excitedly and animatedly that if Lily wasn’t her friend, Ara might have been overwhelmed. However, she saw Lily nearly every day at school, so Clarissa was fine.
Ara had a lot of the beginnings of questions, but she didn’t know where or how to start. Thankfully, Clarissa was helpful.
“If you don’t want to, just tell me so. But if you’re a bit interested, I’ll tell you more.”
“Yes, please.”
And so, Clarissa started to talk about what she planned to do more deeply. The more she spoke, the more it seemed like Clarissa was planning things on the fly. There haven’t been many young boy bands in the scene recently, at least not at the level of exposure that Sunset Bay City was starting to venture into and not at the kind of music they wanted to go for.
Clarissa believed in them so much and she wanted to help them happen. Ara could probably care less about that side of stuff, but she didn’t dismiss her enthusiasm. Ara found it beautiful for her as it made her look happy.
In the end, the pay was more than good too. It might not seem like much to professional photographers or employed office workers, but Ara was still a student. There weren’t a lot of ways for a student in high school to earn their own money.
“I’d love to be their photographer if you’ll have me.” Ara accepted and Clarissa smiled and was more than delighted.
“Wonderful, I’m happy to have you with us.” Clarissa clapped a tiny applause and sipped her drink. “If I can ask, what are you doing after this?” Clarissa asked after, never losing her excited energy even after having talked a lot.
“I was planning to look for a dorm.” Ara paused her sip from the rich chocolate chip drink Clarissa so nicely treated her to.
“Are you in college already? You look really young.”
“Not yet, first year in senior high. But, we’ve moved to a house quite far away from the city.”
“And commuting is tough. I totally understand.”
“Papa used to drive me and my brother, but now my brother is in college and Papa has passed away. My brother’s about to graduate soon too, so he’s very busy and it’s going to only trouble him to drive me every day to my school near here. I have another older brother too, but he’s working and lives on his own now.”
“I’m sorry to hear about your father.”
“It’s fine.” Ara smiled to bring the mood back. Clarissa was silent as she thought for a while.
“I think I have an idea.”
“Yes?”
“In that case, why don’t you stay with me?” Clarissa’s tone bounced back and she had a bright glint in her eyes. “You see, I feel so lonely in my apartment all alone. As our photographer, I think it would make perfect sense for you to stay with us. And I like you, you’re so chill. Hmm, you probably can’t decide this on your own. Talk to your family and give me their numbers too, I’ll talk to them for you too.”
***
Ara was sure it would be difficult to convince her brother Alvin to agree to let him stay with Clarissa, who was a stranger until today. And it was. However, Ara reminded him that she was going to a dorm anyway, probably with other strangers as well. There was no difference.
“But this woman’s already an adult.” Alvin argued.
“Yes.”
“What if this was some sort of plot to a scam or a murder?”
Ara burst out laughing and Alvin’s stoic facade shattered.
“Hey, I’m not kidding.” He said and Ara only nodded.
“I understand. However, I’ve met Dominic before. He was a schoolmate from grade school. His older sister, this Ms. Clarissa is a wonderful, hardworking woman. I’m sure I’ll learn a lot from this opportunity and even from her too.”
Alvin always found it hard to deny Ara, not only because she was his younger sister but because of her hard logic. She had a good head on her shoulders and Alvin was proud and happy about that, at least when they were not the ones on the opposite sides.
That was yesterday. Today was Sunday. It didn’t take Ara long at all to pack up last night. She only brought what she needed for school, her uniforms, some home clothes, and outdoor clothes that were mostly from her mom’s. She loved the old fabrics that were soft and have seen the countless rising of the sun over many years but didn’t show their age. She often felt grateful that her mom had an agreeable taste.
Alvin drove her until they came to what looked like an opulent high-rise and they parked underground.
“Are you sure that they’re not going to make you pay for staying with her?” Alvin must have felt the same disbelief too. Did she really get to live here and at the same time, get paid?
“I’ll ask Ms. Clarissa to take off at least a part of the pay to try to make up for it.” He smiled at her so proudly and put a hand on her shoulder.
“My sister is such a good kid. I raised you well.” Alvin chuckled proudly at his own sentiment.
He helped Ara take and carry her things. The lobby was even grander than the outside. Clarissa met them and right away stretched her arms for a hug with Ara. Ara was surprised but accepted it all the same. She was as cheerful as ever.
“Nice to meet you, Mr. de Leon.” Clarissa and her brother exchanged formalities. Ara listened but mostly paid more attention to their surroundings.
The lobby was lit by one center chandelier and two smaller ones at its sides. Its walls weren’t stark white but had a softer, warmer undertone to it. People coming in and out dressed well, but there were a few who looked like they just came from bed in pajamas or were in tracksuits from their daily jogs.
They rode the elevator with her stuff up to the 18th floor. Alvin didn’t feel comfortable entering a woman’s place, but Clarissa insisted for them to enter.
What Ara envisioned was a room, a small room with maybe one bed or a couple, a cabinet and a study table like some dormitories she has seen before. This was not what Clarissa’s room looked like. There was a comfortably sized living area, a complete kitchen, and doors that must be the bedroom and bathroom. So this was what an apartment looked like.
“Your place is amazing.” Ara told to Clarissa. “Are you sure you’re really letting me stay here with you?”
“Yes, of course! I’ve always kinda wanted a little sister, but I then ended up with that Dom so it was a tragedy.” She really did not like Dominic? “So yes, I’m super sure.” Clarissa patted her shoulders, kind of like how her brother often did, except she was a lot more energetic.
“Definitely, little sisters are the best.” Alvin chirped in.
“Did you not like brother Alex?” Ara asked.
“That’s not what I meant. Anyway, are you settled down now, Ara? If you are, I’ll be leaving you soon.” Alvin asked and Ara nodded. “Make sure to take care of yourself, alright?” Alvin looked very sad.
“Yes, I will.” Ara gave her brother a smile. She hoped he wasn’t too sad.
“Aw, don’t worry about me. I’ve already sent our older brother off to work like this. I’ll be fine.”
“They said that it hits different when it’s sending off daughters.” Clarissa chirped in and Alvin looked better when he laughed. Ara mentally thanked Clarissa.
Once her brother left, Clarissa showed her to her room. There was only one bed. Did that mean there were more bedrooms? Clarissa helped Ara bring her things from the living area and when they were done, Clarissa stayed in the doorway.
“Ready to meet the boys?” By boys, she must have meant the members of the band. “Come on.” Just as Ara was about to think if they may be hiding around in Clarissa’s apartment, they went out to the hallway and rang on the room next door. Ara started to understand the situation. It seemed that they were going to be living in real proximity. Taking candid photos of them really would be no problem.
The door opened and an extremely cute boy Ara didn’t recognize welcomed them. He had such fair skin that contrasted against his deep black hair. His curiously shaped eyes were small and round but turned sharp at the corners. He was young but already, Ara could feel that he was just going to be more breathtaking as he grew older.
“Clarissa!” He seemed happy but his voice was soft, almost like it had a sleepy sing-song quality to it. His eyes shone when he saw Clarissa. At that moment, Clarissa’s phone rang. She motioned for the guy to let Ara in who had only noticed her now and seemed more than glad nonetheless. “Ah! Who might you be? Please come in.” He opened the door wider to let Ara come in.
“Was that Clarissa? Don’t let her in, Reo.” Ara recognized Dominic’s voice as he called out.
“Domi, Jules, we have a guest.” The guy ran off into the interior, leaving Ara alone in the entranceway.
“Ha?” That familiar voice must be Jules.
Another new face peeked into view. He looked scrutinizingly at Ara. He looked like he was young as well, although it was hard to tell from his expression. He had a different air from the guy from earlier, but he was just as pretty and had a mysterious feel to him. Ara gave him a tiny bow, positive that saying a ‘hello’ would be instantly rejected.
“Hey, it’s Ara! Welcome, come on inside.” Dominic came into view with the guy who welcomed them in, and Ara felt more relaxed seeing a familiar face.
She left her shoes in the entranceway and made her way inside. Their place was even bigger than Clarissa’s. It made sense since they must have had more people. Jules laid out on the couch with his phone. So there were four members.
“Where’s Clarissa?” Jules asked.
“She had a phone call right when we were about to go in.”
Jules had no further questions. The guy who welcomed them placed himself beside her. He seemed taken with her. The other guy watched them closely from the kitchen.
“Why don’t we introduce ourselves first?” Dominic addressed the silence. “Where’s Ram?”
“Maybe in his room.” The guy in the kitchen said.
“Go call him.” He shook his head. Dominic’s eyes turned unamused. The door rang again, and Dominic answered it this time. It was Clarissa.
“Dom, I have to do something else, can I leave Ara to you?” Clarissa asked.
“Of course.” Dominic gave an okay sign.
“Actually no, not you, where’s Ram?”
“Don’t worry. I’ve got this. Trust your brother a little.” Dominic started closing the door in on her.
“You’re my little brother, that’s why I don’t trust you.” Clarissa stopped the door with a foot and an arm. “Ara, you okay there? Call me if you need anything, okay?”
Ara nodded.
“Go already.” Dominic said with a smile to which Clarissa only gave an irritated sigh.
“Fine, take care of her.” Clarissa let go of the door and Dominic chirped a long ‘yes’ and closed the door.
“Now that the devil’s gone, where were we?”
“Introductions.” The guy who was in the kitchen said sharply, now with a banana in hand.
“That’s right. Let’s do it like a band.”
“Pass.” Jules said right away.
“No need.” The guy with the banana said.
“Why don’t we do it?” The welcoming guy beside Ara said. “Come on, let’s do it for Ara.” He casually used Ara’s name that she felt unbalanced with how everyone already knew her name but she didn’t know theirs, except for Dominic, Jules and a Ram who was not even there.
The guy who finished his banana went closer to them. Jules stayed in the couch.
“Jules.” This was Dominic.
“No.”
“Jules.” The welcoming party also insisted. Jules hesitated.
“No.” Dominic went up to him and dropped a karate chop on his head. “What the hell?” He swung at Dominic which he easily blocked.
“There you go, you’re up now.” Dominic threw him a kick that displaced him to where the welcoming party and banana guy were.
“Ram’s not here though.”
“We’ll just do it without him. Ready?” The four did a rehearsed introduction.
“I’m Dom for Dominic.”
“Vince.” The banana guy.
“Reo.” The welcoming party.
“Jules.”
“Ram.” Dominic subbed in.
“And we’re Sunset Bay City.” Everyone except Jules said.
Ara choked as she got surprised by her own laugh. She found it both endearing and funny and she clapped. Everything up to their unison was fine, but that last part was just too funny.
“I’m so sorry.” Ara tried to stop laughing as tears started falling from the corners of her eyes. “Maybe I’m not just too used to things like boy bands.” Jules stood so still, he looked ready to explode anytime soon. Ara stopped laughing immediately. “I’m so so—”
“Damn this, I’m going out. Don’t call for me.” He ran to the entranceway, put on his shoes and disappeared.
“Oh no, I didn’t mean to laugh.” What used to be Ara’s laugh plummeted into worry. The welcoming party, Reo laughed.
“Don’t worry about Jules, he’s just really shy around girls. I am too, but I like you.” Ara instantly felt daggers directed at her direction. It was from banana guy, Vince. “Say, why don’t you introduce yourself to us now?”
“I really am sorry about that.” Ara gave a sad bow. “My name’s Arabella de Leon. I’m very happy to meet all of you.” She said a little more happily.
“Can I keep calling you Ara?” Reo asked.
“Yes, of course.” She replied and Reo smiled at her. That was enough to send an arrow right through her heart. He was too cute. She can’t believe her luck that she’ll be able to take photos of him too.
“Why were you with Clarissa, anyway?”
Ara was startled at the question. Did that mean they were not yet aware of her? Did Clarissa meant for it to be a secret, and that she was to take their photos discreetly? That thought frightened her. She wasn’t a loud person, but she wasn’t confident that she can sneak up on five boys and take photos at the same time. If it was to be a secret, she didn’t know what to say anymore so she kept silent.
“Ara’s going to be our personal photographer from now on.” Dominic answered for her. Maybe Clarissa just forgot to mention it beforehand after all. Could Clarissa really be the manager?
“Wow. Please take nice photos of us, Ara.” Reo gave a little bow. Reo was polite, sweet, and not scary. Ara wished everyone were like Reo. She was curious to know too if maybe he had foreigner parents and what country they were from, but she was afraid it might be too insensitive to just casually bring up on their first meeting.
“I’ll do my best.” She gave a little bow in turn.
“What, does that mean we look that ugly for you to have to work so hard, Ara?” Dominic teased which made Ara panic.
“No, that’s not what I meant. I meant, that, um,”
“Dom, the girl’s brain short-circuited.” Vince said. Dominic’s laugh became so familiar in such a short time that it calmed Ara somewhat.
“I meant, that I’ll do my best. But I sort of don’t need to, since you guys already look so good.” Ara said dejectedly. She wasn’t self-conscious about herself. She saw and didn’t like the flaws she saw, but she was generally okay with herself. Seeing the people in front of her now though, it kind of felt like maybe she could have had a tiny bit more.
“Don’t worry. You’re very pretty too, Ara.” Reo seemed to see right through her head.
Sometime later, Reo brought out a card game that they all played together. Jules came back around an hour after he left, and when he saw that Ara was still there, he was about to run away again but Vince brought him back. Vince seemed to be a lot more relaxed when Jules was around. Clarissa dropped by soon after that and Ara took the chance to say her goodbyes.
It was the first time Ara has ever met these people, but they were very welcoming and they seemed like some sort of family. Their energy might be too high sometimes and draining, but they seemed like good people. That she would be able to work with these people in her very first job, she felt exceptionally fortunate.
