Agot sat on the swivel chair by her office with memories falling into her mind like bricks. She breathed deeply as she cast one final look into her office space...her therapy area...her home. There is no other place in the world where she is most at peace and in control of her life than in her office. This is where she built all her dreams...and sad to say, this is where everything had crumbled too.

And now that her one sacred place was to be taken from her, Agot was at a loss. She didn’t know what to do. If she was fired she would have known exactly how to react. But instead, she was suspended indefinitely. That is not one of the many instances where one gets to prepare for. What does one do if one is suspended? You really can’t move on to another career because you are not exactly being let go yet. You can’t really pack your stuff completely because you’ll know you’re going to be back there anyway.

But whatever anyone says, the emotional baggage a suspension carries lingers beyond the workplace. It feels like someone is whispering in your ear all the time that you are incompetent and irresponsible. It can really wear a person down.

And that is where she was right now. It was already six o clock in the evening and Agot was still there at her office, bitterly reminiscing the past. She wanted to self-pity but deep inside she knew she brought it upon herself.

Soon thereafter, she decides to call her rock...her husband and partner, Enrico Santos.

A lady with a soft voice answered the other line, “Office of Mr. Santos good evening...”

It was Kathrina, Enric’s secretary.

“Kathy, this is Agot Santos, is my husband still there?”

“No, doktora. Boss left a just a few minutes ago...for a business dinner.”

“Is that so?” Agot replied, disappointed. “Who did he have dinner with?”

“I don’t know, po.” answered Khatrina. “He just said that he needs to meet with some very important clients...”

“Did he say which restaurant will they be dining at?”

“Hindi po niya sinabi, doktora...”

“Ganon ba?” Agot said. “Di bale....aabangan ko na lang siya sa bahay...”

“Sasabihin ko ba ho sa kanya na tumawag kayo?” asked Kathrina.

“No, it’s okay Khat...you don't need to.” replied Agot. “Oh, by the way, what are you doing there this late?"

"I'm just finishin up on things, Dr. Santos..."

"Ah...Okay, but don’t stay up too late there...”

“Yes po, maam!” answered the secretary.

Agot turned her phone off and slumped back on to the swivel chair.

Once again, Agot was left to her own resources. She knows she must face reality soon. Despite the status she had built herself in the last fifteen years, she realizes that she was just like anyone else...dispensable.

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Mylene Santos waited patiently for the young man to come home. His mother is now cooking dinner for them. Mylene would once in a while check her watch. It was almost 7 pm and Gerald should be home any minute now. She was very excited.

True enough, a few minutes later, Gerald shows up at the door with a stunned look on his face.

“Why are you still here, miss?” he said.

“Don’t be rude son!” interrupted Cherry. “Miss Dionisio wanted to talk to you...she waited all day for you...”

“What for?” Gerald asked.

“Well, Gerald...can I call you that?” Mylene said, looking for both his and Cherry’s approval.

A slight nod from Cherry told Mylene that she is giving her the full reins to interview him.

“Yes...you can call me any name you want...” said Gerald snappily.

Even though he seemed a bit ticked by her presence, Mylene flashed him a sincere smile.

“Gerald’s fine...” he said eventually.

“The reason I want to talk to you was...your mom told me of how you love reading and how intelligent you really are...” revealed Mylene. “I was interested to learn more about you...”

“Para ano?” he said.

“I wanted to see for myself the extent of your gift...”

“What gift?”

“Your mom said...and I was a witness earlier too...of how exceptional your learning capacities are...”

“I read books, that’s it...nothing more..”

“Alam mo Gerald, it’s one thing to read books and another to retain every bit of it...”

"So now,I'm intelligent because of just that?"

"That is what I wanted to know, Gerald!"

“So, what are you proposing, do you want to study me?”

Mylene was taken aback. The boy was very intuitive. He read her mind perfectly. There is no use beating around the bush, she had to come out and say directly why she was here. “I’d like to invite you back to our office and I’d like to do a simple IQ test for you...”

“Why would I need to go through that?” said Gerald.

“Aren’t you interested to know what more your beautiful mind could offer?” Mylene replied.

“O sige, miss, granting that I have a good IQ...ano pagkatapos nun?”

“Well, maybe that will prove that you don’t belong here...” said Mylene. “That you belong somewhere better...”

“Pero, miss, baka nakakalimutan mo...I belong here, to this place...” answered Gerald as he walks towards the window and looks pensively towards the horizon. “I was born here...dito na ako pinanganak at lumaki...”

“But that doesn’t mean you have to stay here all your life...”

“What if I want to...”

“Gerald, a gifted mind like yours, if I’m not mistaken, comes once in million...” said Mylene. “If we can prove this...you could be on your way to a better education. Think about it...a good university will definitely take you in...especially with our office’s recommendation. We could make things happen for you...”

“Sige na, anak!” Cherry said. “Take the exam. Anong mawawala sa iyo kung kukunin mo iyon?”

“You’re mom’s right, Gerald...what have you got to lose?”

Gerald sighed. HE was confused. As much as he wanted to know the limits of his intellect, he also didn’t like the possible implications of such knowledge. To them, he was like a toy...an object of their temporary interest.

“I don’t want to be a lab rat,” Gerald said.

“I promise you won’t be...” assured Mylene.

“O ganoon naman pala, anak...” beamed Cherry as she moved towards him. She places her arm around his shoulders then she whispers to him, “Malay mo, baka ito na ang swerte natin. Bawal ang tumalikod sa grasya. Go ka lang ng go.”

It made Gerald smile.

“So, what do you say?” Cherry asked.

“Sige...I’ll take your test...”

“Tomorrow, at 10 am. I’ll see you at my office...” Cherry said. “But, I’ve got to go. I’m late for my next client...”

Gerald gave her an odd look, “Miss, is it regular for you to meet clients this late?”

Cherry smiled gingerly at him. She picked up her hand bag and went out of the door. “Goodnight po sa inyo. I’ll see you tomorrow...”

She purposely didn’t want to answer his question at all.

“Inay, I think she is keeping something from us...” said Gerald.

“Why did you say that, anak?”

“Wala lang po inay...” he replied. “I just felt like she wasn’t telling me the whole truth...”

“About the test?”

“No, about something else...”

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Back at the Santos house in Antipolo.

The dinner table environment was in its usual full chaos. Kim was struggling to keep both of her brothers down.

“John Paul...could you please give back Kenneth’s toy!” screamed Kim.

The older boy managed to have yanked from his younger brother’s grip a plastic toy car.

“That’s mine!” yelled the four-year-old.

“No, it’s mine...”contested John Paul. “Papa bought it for me when I was little, why don’t you get your own toy?”

“John Paul, you’re too old to play with that!” said Kim.

“Maski na...I didn’t want him going through my stuff!” reasoned the older boy.

“Okay, fine...Kenneth just get your own toy from your room...” ordered Kim. "Go now!"

The little boy climbed down on his chair and stumped his way to his room. Minutes later he is back with another plaything. Both boys quieted down.

“Now that each of you has a toy,” Kim said. “Can we eat now?”

Kim gave them each a serving of soup.

“Ate...don’t like ...” said Kenneth of his meal. He then spat out partially masticated bits and pieces back into his bowl.

John Paul laughed derisively. “That’s disgusting, Ken. Paano kasi, ate. There’s lots of peas in this soup...Ken doesn’t like vegetables...”

Kim sighed as she looked at her younger brother in the eye, “Kenny...you need to eat vegetables to keep you strong...”

“Don’t like...” Ken said as he pushed his plate away.

Kim was about to lose her mind. Every night she has to suffer that kind of squabbling and bratty behaviour from her brothers. She was too young to deal with this.

Agot was never home for dinner. Nor was her dad, Enric. Such duty of mothering the two was left to the incapable hands of Kim and the yayas.

“Yaya...” Kim called out.

An old lady in her late 40’s came out. Her name is Yaya Charito, and she has been with the Santos family for ages, “Ano po iyon, senyorita?”

“Could you get Kenny another bowl of soup? This time yung walang green peas. Yung puro sabaw lang...”

“Ano pong gagawin ko, maam?” replied Yaya Charito. “Kukutsarahin ko po sila isa-isa? Ang dami kaya nun...”

“E di salain mo, basta wala akong pakialam kung anong paraan ang gagamitin mo,” snapped Kim. “Basta dalhan mo ako dito ng isang mangkok ng sopas na walang green peas, okay?”

“Opo senyorita...” said Charito, obviously hurt.

Kim didn’t mean to take it out on her. It’s just that everything around her was driving her crazy. She was frustrated and was near her boiling point.

Just as she had a temporary respite, here it goes again. Kim took her eyes off them for a few seconds and then they went at it again.

“Stop it...Kuya!” cried Kenneth.

John Paul was throwing peas at him.

“John Paul, ano ba iyan?” Kim shouted frustratingly.

Kenneth retaliated by spitting at his brother, which Kim had to thwart right away.

“You two...stop it!” Kim yelled. “I’ve had enough of this!”

Fortunately, Agot came in on time.

“O, anong nangyayari dito?”

“Mommy!” screamed Kenneth as he jumped at Agot. “Kuya...he’s bad...”

“John Paul what did you do?”

The ten-year-old didn’t answer. He only bowed down his head and quietly seethed.

“Kimmy...what is going on here?” asked Agot.

“Ewan ko...basta na lang nag-aaway ang mga iyan?”

“Why don’t you stop your brothers?”

“So, ngayon, kasalanan ko pa?”

“Natural...” quipped Agot. "You're the ate. You should know better than to let this behavior go on..."

Kim shot her mom a disbelieving look. She threw down her napkin on the table and ran upstairs to her bedroom. Kim heard her mom call out after her, but she was too hurt to look back. She was crying once again, as like the many times before that.

Their parents always blame her for whatever parental responsibilities they lacked. Being the eldest child, it doesn’t necessarily make you responsible to be a parent to your younger siblings. There isn’t a rule on that and Kim was getting fed up with it.

She really loved her younger brothers...and sometimes, her parents too. But there is only so much emotional baggage a 17-year-old can bear.

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