My father's friend Roberto had known him since their university days.
Back then, Roberto had been just another poor kid from the north who came south looking for opportunities. According to my father, he had arrived with little more than a suitcase and an oversized ambition.
But the man had a sharp mind for business.
Years later, he had built an empire.
His company was one of the bigger furniture distributors in the city. They sold everything that could possibly exist inside a house—wardrobes, beds, sofas, chandeliers, bathtubs, water heaters, toilets… you name it. If someone needed to furnish a home in Manila, chances were they would end up at one of Roberto's showrooms.
The company had branches all over the Philippines, and even inside the city alone there was at least one store in nearly every district.
From what I'd heard, their annual sales numbers were impressive enough to make accountants faint with joy.
Which made me wonder even more.
What exactly was I supposed to do here?
Design toilets?
Invent revolutionary bathtubs?
But as far as I knew, Roberto's company only imported products—they didn't manufacture anything.
I was still trying to come up with a reasonable explanation when the company building appeared in front of me.
And wow…
It was huge.
The office building stood on its own property, five floors tall. The ground level was a bright showroom and reception area that looked surprisingly elegant.
Inside, several female employees in neat uniforms were chatting sweetly with customers who were browsing furniture displays.
Normally, a place like this wouldn't intimidate me at all. I treated shopping malls the same way I treated my own bathroom—just push the door open and walk in.
But today felt… different.
Looking down at my ridiculous outfit—the oversized shirt and short pants I'd bought from the market—I realized I looked worse than a newspaper vendor.
Suddenly, I couldn't bring myself to walk inside.
So I pulled out my phone and called my father.
"Dad, I'm already at Uncle Roberto's company," I said. "But… who exactly am I supposed to find here?"
He mumbled something vague and told me to hang up while he called Roberto.
A minute later, my phone rang.
"Hey! Miguel, right?" Roberto's cheerful voice boomed through the speaker. "Your dad told me about you already. Coming to work here is a great idea!"
Great idea for who?
"Let's see… the Customer Service Department is short-handed. Go help them out for now. Third floor, turn left. There's a room with a sign outside. I already told the girls there you're coming. They'll teach you what to do."
Before I could ask anything else, he added:
"I'm out on business today. We'll talk another time."
Click.
The call ended.
In my life, I had grown quite accustomed to people staring at me with admiration.
But today was different.
The employees in the lobby looked at me like I was some kind of rare zoo animal.
Some of them even smiled like they were trying not to laugh.
Apparently it had been a while since the office had seen live comedy.
I ignored them and walked straight to the elevator, pressing the button for the third floor.
When the doors opened, I stepped out into a hallway lined with offices of all sizes.
There were departments everywhere—marketing, logistics, accounting.
After wandering around for a bit, I finally spotted a small sign hanging outside a door in the far corner.
Customer Service Department
The room itself was tiny.
Ridiculously tiny.
Compared to the other departments, which looked like luxurious offices, this place felt like a storage closet someone had accidentally turned into a workspace.
I sighed and pushed the door open.
Six eyes immediately turned to look at me.
But there were only two girls in the room.
Don't get confused—I never miscount when it comes to women.
The reason there were six eyes was because one of the girls wore glasses.
The girl with glasses looked friendly and gentle. She smiled warmly.
"Hello, sir. Please come in."
Nice voice.
I glanced at the other girl.
She had only two eyes, of course, but she didn't bother greeting me. Instead, she continued typing on her keyboard like she was writing something extremely important.
Probably a diary about how many men she had rejected today, I thought.
I closed the door and looked around the room.
Honestly, it wasn't much bigger than the bathroom in my house.
The shape of the room was also strange—like the architects had leftover space and randomly decided to turn it into an office.
The girl with glasses noticed me standing there, looking around like a lost tourist. She smiled politely again.
"Are you here because you need help with something?"
She probably thought I was some clueless customer who had wandered in to ask how to flush a toilet.
I scratched my head awkwardly.
"Actually… I'm here to work. Not to ask for advice."
"Oh!"
Her eyes widened behind the glasses.
"So you're the new employee HR mentioned this morning!"
I nodded.
The other girl finally glanced at me.
Her eyes were sharp and slightly cold.
She was fairly pretty—long hair, pale skin, and judging from her posture, probably quite tall.
Our eyes met for a second.
Then she looked away as if I didn't exist.
That hurt a little.
Normally, when a girl with decent looks received my attention, she would consider herself lucky.
But this one dismissed me like I was invisible.
Meanwhile, the girl with glasses spoke quickly.
"Good! It's great that you're here. There are only two of us, and sometimes we can't answer customer calls fast enough. We get scolded all the time."
She pointed toward a desk.
"You can sit at Station Two. What's your name?"
"I'm Miguel."
"I'm Camille," she said with a bright smile. "And that's Angela."
The silent girl finally turned her head.
"That introduction is enough," she said coolly. "Miguel, sit down at your desk instead of standing there."
Wow.
I had never been treated with such indifference by a woman in my life.
I stared at her, but she didn't even react.
The office had a long table with three stations. Each one had a computer, a phone, and a printer at the end.
My seat was right in the middle—between the two girls.
Angela sat at the first desk.
I walked past her to reach mine, pretending to glance at her computer screen.
"What are you writing so seriously?" I said. "A memoir? Or maybe a love letter?"
She turned instantly and glared at me.
"What nonsense are you talking about? Can't you see I'm working?"
Then she added coldly:
"You're such a country bumpkin."
Country bumpkin?!
That was the first time in my entire life anyone had called me that.
Honestly, I never believed a bumpkin could look as handsome as I did—but after seeing my current outfit, I had to admit…
She might have a point.
Being insulted by a girl within the first five minutes of my first day at work…
What a miserable start.
I sat down quietly.
Camille looked at me sympathetically.
"Angela is just like that," she whispered kindly. "Don't tease her. Come here, I'll explain the job to you so you'll know what to do tomorrow."
Camille pushed a pair of headphones toward me and smiled.
"Don't worry, Miguel. The job is simple. Just answer the phone and help customers with their problems."
Simple, she said.
At that exact moment, the phone on my desk suddenly rang.
Angela glanced at me coldly.
"Well? Aren't you going to answer it?"
I picked up the receiver with the confidence of a man who had spent most of his life talking his way out of trouble.
How hard could it be?
A customer's voice exploded through the line before I could even say hello.
And somehow… that call would become the first of many disasters waiting for me in this tiny office.