When Playful and Grumpy Collide (English)

“Layla, are you going to apply for a job after we finish our training?” her friend Clover asked her. She’s been her classmate since they started the training six months ago. And now they are in training facilities to complete the task and receive their certificates.  “Yes! I need to find a job as soon as possible. I want to change my job as well. I’m kinda fed up being a fast food crew. I want to experience working abroad if I am lucky enough to be hired. Why?” she excitedly explained to her friend. “Nothing, I just ask. I thought you would work here in the Philippines. As you always say, you love the Philippines. Why you suddenly change your mind?” Clover asked her again. She’s confused. She knew Layla as an orphan and living her life alone in a small house, the only property she had after her parents died in a tragic bus accident. She had no one to support except herself. “Yes, I am. But I want to experience working outside the country as well. The more I think about how the experience of working to a foreign country the more it excites me. I’m sure it’s cool to be there. Earning dollars and meeting different nationalities is more exciting for me. I really can’t wait for it to happen.” “How about your house? No one will stay there if you leave the country,” Clover worriedly asked, looking at her friend’s face. She would probably miss her friend Layla.  “It’s okay. I think I will ask my relatives if they can watch it for me while I’m away. I just want to experience new life. And I am more excited to take care of foreigners. As you know, I love my caregiving course at the moment.” Her friend only nodded her head and kept quiet.  She’s Layla Metalstone, a playful woman who loves to make other people around her laugh. Especially when she’s in her training ground, she loves her patients to smile and forget for a while about their illnesses. Some of her patients were old people. She was more attentive to them because they are fragile. She was a working student, too. A fast-food crew during weekdays and a caregiver trainee during the weekends or when it was her day off. Layla loves multi-tasking since she’s been alone for six years after her parent’s death. Her relatives didn’t mind about her busy schedules and she loved that. She has her own world, she was earning for her daily living, at the same time, studying. She’s not into love life since she hasn’t achieved her dream yet. Someday, maybe. One more week of her training in the old orphanage, they will proceed to train in the hospitals, then to the school of special children where they will teach the children how to properly use their locomotors. Some of the special children are too weak to control their movements, and that’s their job to teach and guide them. Layla loved everything she was doing. She felt that she had found her family. She treats all her patients and students as her family, too. Months passed and she already completed the training. She then prepared her applications and went to some agencies for hiring in caregiving. She wanted to find a legal and registered one. Nowadays, some are scammers and bogues employers are collecting your money but you’ll end up with no job. In the end, you will cry and lose hope afterward. That’s what Layla didn’t like to experience. She’s wiser and clever for her own good.  Then she found an employer-assisted by the legal agency. She was so excited at the same time nervous. But it’s okay for her, she knows herself, she will be hired soon. Her agency called that she will have an interview via video call. Since the employer was from another country. She’s excited yet nervous about how the interview will happen. But she kept praying that her employer was nice and approachable. She went to the office of the agency early in the morning as they commanded her. When she arrived they brought her to a booth where the desktop was set.  She sat and waited for the employer from the other line to arrive. While waiting, she was bored and kept checking herself in front of the monitor to see what she looked like. “Wow, self! Why so pretty?`` She started talking to herself while waiting for someone to give her an interview. She used to talk to herself whenever she’s alone. Especially in her house. Talking in front of the mirror and praising herself like an insane woman. Little didn’t she know that her employer from the other line was watching her. She didn’t notice that the camera was already set and ready. Layla kept talking and fixing herself in front of the monitor until she heard a voice from the sound speaker. She was looking around and thinking maybe someone was watching her or playing with her inside the booth. But she found nothing. Then again the voice of a man talked. “Good morning,” greeted by a man’s voice from the other line.  She was surprised by what she heard. Hesitated to answer if it’s the monitor or the employer talking to her. Not in herself, she talked back. “Hey, computer? Are you talking to me?”  “Yes,” answered from the other line.  She was shocked. It was her first time talking in front of the computer. So, she was still confused about who he was. “Are you my sponsor?” she asked in confusion. “Yes,” he answered. Her eyes widened after she heard it from the other line. She suddenly felt conscious if the man saw what she did a while ago. But Layla forgot it instantly. She needs to face her employer with prim and proper. Fixed herself and seriously facing the camera even though she didn’t know who she was talking to.  Layla felt nervous because it’s her first time being interviewed by a foreigner. She can’t see the person behind the blank camera. According to her agent from the agency where she applied, the employer won’t allow himself to see his figure. Layla won’t mind it. All she was thinking was to be hired by her employer.  As she figured out about the voice of the employer to the other line, he must be a strict person. The tone of his voice makes her shake. Then, she answered that he greeted her a while ago.  “G-good morning too, Sir!” she answered back. “Introduce yourself,” he said like a boring man.  She was very nervous while facing the reality of her interview with the man she doesn’t know.  “Ahm,” she sneezed for a while. She cleared something from her throat so she could speak well. “My name is Layla Metalstone, twenty-five years old. Graduate of Caregiver course,” she said in a brief introduction. “Any experience?” asked the voice man, again. Experience? Layla thought about what would be the best answer for him. She can’t understand well what kind of experience he was asking for. A while ago she was too confident about the interview. Then right now she was confused. She decided to answer him honestly. Before she answered, she heard him sneeze on the other line. She didn’t know that she was taking so much time thinking about how she would answer her employer. “I’m sorry, Sir, for taking too long to answer. Anyway, as was your question a while ago. I have trained my caregiver course before we ended and received our certificate. And from the experience of having a boyfriend, I don’t have one, yet, Sir, I’m still single,” she nervously said and cross her finger hoping that he would accept her answer. The guy from the other line was shocked about her last answer. He didn’t mean to have a relationship with someone.  “Boyfriend? What the f**k! I didn’t ask that question. Why did she even tell me that? Woman! He angrily whispered to himself. Only if his mother doesn’t need someone to look for her, will he stop doing this crazy interview. He hated flirting with women. Because of his bad experience when he was young, he doesn’t allow any woman to flirt with him. He kept himself distant from those women he encountered. As for him, women only look for your pocket if it’s thick or thin. And if they get what they want they will leave you like trash. Like what his ex-girlfriend did to him.