RDD 76

"So, Sir Castillo, you want to renovate the shop and add a kitchen?"

"Um, a place to cook burgers to be exact."

"So kitchen, is that right? Unless there's another term for a place to cook burgers? What do you think?"

"No. I think calling it a kitchen is enough."

I mumbled and looked at the woman in front of me. 

I hired a construction company to renovate my shop. The contract cost more than 40 thousand pesos, together with the equipment, sand, gravel, many things related to construction. 

Of course, the salary of the workers was already included in the contract. 

To be honest, I didn't know if 40 thousand pesos was expensive to renovate a shop.

If we convert 40 thousand pesos into dollars, it is about 700 dollars. 

Well, the minimum income was still low at this time. 

"So here's my design plan for the store."

The woman gave me the design plan after she checked the store three days ago. 

The woman before me was actually an architect. She is Ms. Hermitanyo. 

I saw the designs. I was impressed that she designed this in just three days. 

"Excuse me, did you draw this?"

"No, our company has a draftsman. Do you really think I have enough time to draw these plans? Mr. Castillo, you are insane."

The woman narrowed her eyes and looked at me. 

"..."

I didn't know what to say. The company has four architects and I am hiring a cheeky one. 

"Okay. I'll take the simple one. That Modern aesthetic."

I said. I really don't know the difference between these "Neo-Classical", "Greek Revival" and "Modern" architectures. I was just saying what was on the paper. 

One of these designs that I like is the Modern Architecture style. 

"Meh, typical."

The woman shrugged her shoulders and told me to sign the contract. 

I decided to keep my mouth shut. The woman in front of me is over 40 years old. I'm actually impressed that she has a strong career in the construction industry. 

I don't mean any harm by saying this. I'm just telling the truth, construction is a male-dominated industry. 

"Um, Ms. Hermitanyo. Do you have a family?"

"Husband? I don't need a man in my life. I'm obviously happy with my six-figure annual salary! With nothing to spend! With my big house without people! Waking up alone in the morning! What? Do you think I need a partner because I will be lonely when I get old? I don't care! Men are assholes. Humph!" 

She glared at me.

"..."

I only asked her if she had a family. I didn't even say the word "husband".

Why did she start telling me her whole life? 

Woman, calm down. 

I kept my smile on my face. 

Ms. Hermitanyo checked the shop and nodded at something. Then she started to write something. 

"The renovation will be finished in about 3 weeks."

"Thank you."

"Humph!"

The woman drove off with her car. 

"What did I do?"

I said as soon as she was gone. 

I shook my head and decided to forget about it. 

I already paid the down payment which was 20 thousand pesos. I will watch their work every day to make sure they are not cutting costs and being lazy. 

The contract cost more than 1/3 of my money in the bank. Of course, I have to make sure that the finished product is good. 

.........

......

...

When I came back to the house, I was greeted by my children again. Especially Sophia, she is really cute. She always hugs my knee when I come back. 

I can't help but love my daughter more. 

"Here's some lemon juice."

"Thank you, honey."

Penelope gave me a cold juice as I sat down. There are only two kinds of weather in our country, rainy and sunny. 

The sunny weather today is not just sunny. It's SUNNY! 

The average temperature in Cavite is 30 degrees Celsius. I'm telling you, this temperature is actually cold. 

Yes, 30 degrees Celsius is cold. Everyone in the Philippines will agree with me. 

Unfortunately, today the temperature was more than 35 degrees Celsius. That's enough to cause heat stroke. 

So I'm thankful that my wife gave me a cold lemon juice. 

"I love you, honey." She whispered and hugged me from behind as I drank my juice. 

Last night was pretty intense. Our sex was so hot and sexy that my wife had orgasms so many times. 

That's why she's so clingy today. And I love it!

"Hm, I love you too."

I replied after putting down the glass. 

"Fufu." She giggled, obviously in a good mood. 

"Mommy, I want wemon juice too!" Sophia approached us on her walker. 

"Honey, you just drank three glasses of lemon juice. It's not good to drink that much juice, do you want to pee in your diaper?"

"Yes! You're the one who's going to change it anyway!" 

"..."

Penelope was speechless. 

I almost burst out laughing. 

While Penelope and Sophia were talking about drinking lemon juice, my phone started ringing. 

I noticed that the contact information had a name of Simeon. It's Penelope's older brother.

"Hello, Simeon?"

"Brother-in-law, it's me, Santiago. I used big brother's phone to contact you."

"Santiago? Why are you calling me?"

Santiago is the youngest son of the family. He says he wants to go to college. 

"About that, brother-in-law... My Uncle said he can enroll me in a college in Cavite. But I didn't know the address, so I want to ask you."

So their family actually has a relative in Cavite? I asked myself. 

"He's not blood related but he lived in our village four years ago." Simeon added. 

Ah, that's explains it. 

"Cavite, huh..."

Fate was really playing with us. I chuckled and answered. 

"Santiago, did you know that we live in Cavite now?"

"Huh? No, I didn't know that."

In fact, we've only been here for five days. Penelope still hasn't called her parents about our situation. 

So Santiago is probably not lying. 

"Listen to me..."

I started to tell him what happened this week. 

"Really? You live in Cavite now?"

Santiago was shocked by the way he raised his voice. 

"That's right." I nodded. 

"This..."

"If you want to find a place to stay, I have something to offer you... I'm going to open a shop and I need help."

Well, it all depends on Santiago's decision. As long as someone can stay in the shop to guard it at night, I'm fine. 

I have a night watchman while Santiago has a place to stay. 

Why don't I invite him to our house instead? The answer is simple, I don't want any adults living in our house except me and my wife. 

Simple as that.