A Boudoir Book for the Billionaire

Chapter 1

“Hoy, Tequila Mamigo! What are you zoning out for?”

Quila blinked when she heard her close friend Jaslene’s voice. Plus, the latter snapped her fingers in front of Quila’s face. Her friend was a fellow supervisor at the call center, but they worked for different accounts.

They were at the cafeteria. It was mid-afternoon, the end of their shift. Quila was used to eating her late lunch there before going home or practicing with her band at her bandmate Chessa’s house. Chessa was her back-up singer and their band’s drummer, while she was the frontwoman of Sexy Pillows band, singing and playing guitar. They were five and all women in the group, which was formed while they were in college. They would play every weekend at a restobar near the boulevard. They mainly played alternative and pop songs.

Dumaguete City was small but had lots of tourists visiting the area and its neighboring towns where there were many good spots to explore. And most of these foreigners loved to go to the beaches to have suntan or to snorkel or dive to see the beautiful underwater landscapes and creatures of the sea.

Quila sighed and drank her latte, eyeing her close friend, who had round face and long box-braided dyed red hair. Jaslene’s dark brown eyes reflected with concern.

“It’s your father again?” Jaslene guessed. She wrinkled her button nose, sitting across from her at the four-seater green plastic table.

There were a few of their co-workers there, eating their late lunch or having snacks while watching the music video that was on. The flat screen TV was mounted on the wall. Usually, the music channel was on. But sometimes, the cafeteria staff would watch HBO movies, though.

Quila’s dark eyes, which were framed by thick wavy lashes, moved to the TV screen that was facing her. Then, she placed the empty latte cup.

“Papa’s been bedridden for three years now, Jaslene, and I can’t…” She paused, shaking her head, clamping her pink lips. “I can’t even get close to the amount that I need to put up the business he so wanted in his life!”

“Your brothers should help you with that if they want to realize your father’s wish before… well, before he… you know?” Her friend shrugged her slender shoulders.

She winced at that. She knew that her father Adolfo’s motor neuron disease would eventually take his life. His terminal illness was progressing fast since he was diagnosed three years ago. In fact, she and her cousin, Angelie, had to bring him to the hospital two years ago because he couldn’t breathe for having pneumonia. His back was always wet with sweat even though her mother took care of him.

The tropical climate was too much for her father, even though they used a fan in full blast. They could not afford to use the air conditioning on a daily basis, as it would eat a lot of power, and thus, their electric bill would spike, which was not good. Electricity was really expensive in spite of the geothermal source, which was located in the town of Valencia.

“It’s just that… they’re also saving some for their own future, Jaslene. I can’t blame them. Manong Rum is already married and has to prioritize his family. Manong Gin is supposed to marry this year, so he needs the money for it. Papa doesn’t want him to cancel it because of him. He just wants my second oldest brother to settle down.”

“Then, what about your Manong Wine, Cognac and Whisky? Aren’t they helping?”

“Manong Wine is helping us with the electric and water bills, you know this. Manong Cognac buys the groceries and LPG. And, Manong Whisky pays for the internet since he’s working from home, and he also pays for our parents’ insurance policies.”

“And they burden you with the medicines because your father’s money is used up.”

She blew a huge sigh, nodding. Her father’s bank account was of course emptied to buy the medicines as well, even though Quila did not want to touch that money because he wished to put up a wine business. It was his lifelong dream. And for this, Quila was getting desperate.

Her father even showed how he wanted to reach for his dream by using alcoholic beverages to name them siblings to remind himself. Their mother protested about the names at first but soon gave in, thinking it was unique. But Quila used to think their mother was a pushover.

“There’s no cure, but he does need some medicines. Still, the progress of his ailment is fast like someone is turning the dial high.” The back of her dark eyes grew hot. She blinked it away fast and took a deep breath. “My brothers and mother even resorted to gambling, which my father really hates, you know? My brothers secretly play lottery and bet on horse races or professional basketball games and Mama also sneaks to play Bingo in Bingo Castle near the hospital, even though we all know Papa hates this kind of stuff. It’s even the reason why he didn’t choose this way to get easy money for his wine business!”

“Right. It would have been easier if he tried and was lucky,” Jaslene agreed. “Did your mom and brothers win?” she added curiously.

“Just a little.” She let out a heavy breath. “I also invested in some stocks that Dencio has persuaded me to do, since he’s got lucky. But me? I just have no luck with it like the money I put there is sucked by a blackhole!” She frowned and absently bit her left thumb nail. “Such big opportunities where we live are just lacking. Better in Manila, I could’ve joined contests on TV stations with a million-peso prize or something like that, but not here. I have my YourTube vlogging going on, but the views are just a few thousands, so the earnings aren’t enough. It’s really tough, Jaslene.” She let out a big sigh, shaking her head.

Her friend touched her hand and gently patted it. “I’m so sorry about that. Dencio is not lucky either, so why did you listen to him. I wonder if he resigns as a trainer, though, if he hits the jackpot. But don’t give up hope, Quila. You know, maybe it’ll get better soon. Who knows if you get a record deal or something, right?” her friend said, trying to lift her spirits up.

She just smiled weakly but was ready to cry. “We tried and sent a few demos, but we’re still here. We’re not good enough, they said, or they just don’t respond at all. Maybe they just throw them in the bin since we’re nobody and without connections.” She shrugged helplessly.

“I think your bandmates are not that ambitious since they’re not having money troubles just like you do and just do this for fun, and you don’t even try your original songs! What if you just convince them to do this for you to help you out, practice more on improving your music or try to improve the musical arrangement of your original songs and maybe—”

Quila raised her finger when her phone rang suddenly. She immediately answered it with a smile, “Hey, sweetie pie.”

Her friend rolled her eyes, mouthing, “Is it Anton?”

She nodded in confirmation. She actually waited for her boyfriend’s call. They were supposed to have a date this weekend.

“How are you, sweetie? You’re good?”

“Yes, I am. So, about this weekend—” She immediately opened the topic but she was cut off.

“I’m so sorry, Quila sweetie. My boss suddenly assigned me to go to Bacolod. I’m not sure when I’ll be back.”

She was horrified to hear it. “What? You’ve been postponing our dates for many weeks now, Anton! How could you even take that assignment without telling me in the first place? I’m your girlfriend. Shouldn’t have you consulted it to me first? We barely even see each other! This year, what? We only saw each other thrice?” she blurted out, voice went higher.

She didn’t care if others heard her. She was really pissed. She did bottle it all up inside because she didn’t want to have a fight with him. But now, she thought it was all too much!

She bit her left thumb nail, feeling agitated. As soon as those words came out, she was actually afraid he would break up with her. And she couldn’t accept that! They had been together since she graduated college, which was almost nine years ago. It was a really, really long time. And she feared he was already tired of her.

Before her boyfriend could say anything, something cold gripped her heart. “D-do you need space? Or… were you waiting for me to break up with you?” she asked in a low cracking tone, heart beating so fast.