Husband for Hire: Andres Santillan; the Valiant Baker

“How far are you going to go with those breads, Jacob? Nowhere! Making bread won’t get you far!”Antonio shouted at his son. “Dad, it was mom’s dream!” Jacob said to the father. Ever since Jacob was little, he has been idolizing his mother. He likes to help his mother bake all kinds of bread; but when his mother died, his father sent him to the United States of America to study business. Jacob was naturally smart and quick-witted. But even though he graduated top of the class in the Hotel and Business Management course, his love for baking bread still remains. So when he returned to the Philippines, instead of taking over his father’s company, he decided he wanted to build his own bread business. Antonio, Jacob’s father is a very good business man. He can make a business flourish within a short time frame. But at the same time he is not a very attentive father and husband. Seeing Jacob is his only child, he wanted him to take over their business when he retired. But seeing how stubborn he is about taking over the business, it frustrates him big time. Antonio rubbed his palms on his face in frustration because of his son's actions. He knew how smart his son is and he knows he can build an empire. In Jacob’s hands he knows their business will go far and beyond. But here they are now, and his only son, his heir is telling him he wants to be a baker! He looked sharply at his only child and then stood up from the swivel chair. “Jacob, you are my only son who will inherit my company, so wake up! You aren’t going far by your dream of kneading and making bread! ”He exclaimed. Jacob clenched his teeth at what he heard from the father. “Is that what you said to mom when you locked her in the house, and deprived her of the freedom to do what she wanted?” Jacob asked his father. Antonio seems to have been slapped by what he heard from his own son. They haven’t talked about his dead wife for years, that it almost becomes a taboo. The death of his wife took a toll on both of them and it is also one of the reasons they fell completely apart. No one around them would mention about his late wife in fear that it could only spark the chairman’s anger. So hearing his son’s words, he could not stop himself and he approached Jacob and then punched him. Jacob on the other hand fell to his knees as he wiped the blood from his busted lip. “You are ingrate! I worked hard to provide for you and give you a good life! And this is how you’re going to repay me! Get out! You are no son of mine!” Antonio snarled. Jacob stood up and dusted himself, and then he looked at his father as tears welled up in his eyes. “It’s probably better. Yeah I think it's even better so that now I can do what I want. ”Jacob said and then he stormed out of the office. Once Jacob was gone, Antonio's gasped as his emotions got the best of him. He did not intentionally hurt his son, and the words he uttered were also painful for him. Jacob on the other hand, hurried away from his father's building. He immediately gets into his car and slammed the door shut. He opened the window and stared into space for a moment before he screamed and slammed his hands on the steering wheel. When he stopped he was panting hard as tears rolls down his cheeks, and then noticed that there were people looking at him. “What are you looking at?! Mind your damn business damn it!” Jacob screamed at them. The onlookers left, and then he sighed and he turned on the car engine and drove away. While driving, he still felt bad about what happened between him and his father so he thought of going to Manila Bay. It is said that the artificial white sand there is good for mental health, so he wanted to test if it was true. When he got there many people were walking around. He parked his car properly and he grabbed his phone before he got out of the car and locked it. And then walked towards the viewing deck, and decided to go down and take a walk into the actual dolomite sand. As he walks around, he sees many people take a walk and take selfies with the white sand as they’re background. Jacob stopped walking and stuffed his hands inside his pockets and sighed in defeat because this was the biggest argument he had with his father, and it even led to his father punching him. He admits he went too far by mentioning his mother but he couldn’t help it when his father is trying to control his life like how he controlled his mother’s. He just wants to do what he wants and to pursue his mother's dream. Then he decided to sit on an empty wooden bench and just looked ahead, at the vast view of the bay. “Balut! Balut!” Jacob heard a vendor yell. “I’ll buy that balut.” Jacob was just surprised when a big man appeared next to him. Hi skin was sun-kissed and he’s pretty muscular. He wore a Hawaiian shirt, denim shorts, sandals and a red scarf on his head. He is also with another man wearing pink Hawaiian shirt and both of them approached the balut vendor and purchased several baluts. It made Jacob think how much calories and cholesterol those men are going to accumulate by eating those baluts. “You want?” He offered her a balut to eat. Jacob was startled as he didn’t realize that he was staring at them. He shook his head, and the man grinned. His grin will surely put the Cheshire cat to shame, Jacob thought. "You looked like you have a problem, is that why you are here without taking selfies and just sulking there all alone?”The grinning man asked. Jacob felt slightly uncomfortable with how the man started asking him questions. "Everyone has a problem." Jacob replied, and the man nodded. "And everything has a solution." The other man in pink shirt said while eating balut. Jacob sighed again, as he really felt uncomfortable as these people are starting to get nosy. “Come on boy, who knows maybe by talking about it you’ll feel a little bit better.” The huge man said. “So true.” The other guy added. Jacob groaned inwardly, as he think these men are not going to stop unless he speak. So he huffed and then he started telling the two men about what happened earlier. After narrating what happened, Jacob cannot help but scowl as the two men started chuckling. "It’s not that find what happened to you funny, but for us everything has a solution, and we can provide you one," The huge man said with a smile like Joker. “What do you mean?” Jacob asked the man, but he didn't answer. Instead, he nodded at his companion. The guy in pink shirt smirked and he pulled something from his pocket. And then he gave it to Jacob who took it. He looked at the black and gold business card, which looked really elegant. Then he noticed that in the middle of the card was the words RnJ Services.