It's my first official day in London and I am still in awe at the property I'll be taking care of. I didn't see much last night but I know it's big just by the amount of open space in front of the mansion and the high brick walls surrounding the perimeter.

This place wasn't described in the job description when I applied online. I remember the advertising went along the lines of: A skilled and efficient property caretaker of a private property in the heart of London. The job includes being an occasional housekeeper when the owner decides to stay for an indefinite amount of time. Boy, how vague that description was. But a few months later, here I am having breakfast in the kitchen island of this mansion in London.

"Have you signed the papers, Yari?" Tita Tess asks as she stirs her coffee. I already told her my nickname so that she can use it.

I take the three sets of stapled papers beside me and the blue pen that I used to sign with.

"It's here," I give her the stack of papers and yawn. "What is the non-disclosure agreement for po?"

As soon as we arrived, Tita Tess handed me those stack of papers to be read and signed. Since my body clock hasn't adjusted yet, I stayed up late and read all of the contents page by page. It's a non-disclosure agreement for me to agree on not divulging any information of what's inside the house, what's happening inside the house, and all things related to maintaining the privacy of the owner. The guy must be very protective of his private life.

"Standard protocol of the owner, iha," She says nonchalantly.

"Who is the owner by the way?" I look up at her. "When I was interviewed online, they said they were representatives of a guy named Mick Robinson. I looked his name up and nothing came up that would lead to this house. Shouldn't I know what my boss looks like?"

A small smile plays on her lips as she looks at me like she knows something that I don't. "Ah, he's an important person," She must have sensed the thoughts inside my head. "Don't worry, mabait siya. (He's kind). He just has his own ways of introducing himself."

I know she knows more but I do not prod further. If she says this Mick Robinson guy is nice, then I'll try to believe that he is.

"I'll give this to one of his assistants before I go back to the Philippines for good." She raises the envelope.

"Ha?!" My eyes turn into saucers. "You're leaving? Bakit po? (Why?) "

"I've been a domestic helper for over twenty years and my kids have grown up without their mama for too long," Tita Tess smiles wistfully. "Mick Robinson helped me save up for a small business back in my hometown. That's the reason why they hired you; it's to replace me."

Tita Tess looks at me with a warm smile. Internally, I am panicking. It will be only a week since I've stayed here then I'll be left on my own in a foreign country with the only person that I know of here? I can't do this! How will I take care of this place? How will I survive?

"Don't worry, Yari. I'll teach you everything you need to know. You can also message me even if I'm already in the Philippines next week," She calms my thoughts. "That's why you should finish your meal quickly because I still have to teach you a lot of things."

I nod and finish my toast. Tita Tess finishes her breakfast as well then prepares me for my lessons in keeping this place spic and span.

The woman begins with touring me outside the house. It is impressive with a wide front yard and large backyard having a luscious garden and impressive patio. When I asked about security, she says that there are numerous cameras placed here as well as an electric wire on top of the brick walls. Not only that, there are hired security guards inside roaming around and for extra security, the police station is on speed dial. That's pretty tight.

After touring the outside premises, we proceed to the garage where the storage room, laundry room, and various sports cars are placed. There's a Ferrari, Bentley, and three other cars that I can't name. The kid in me wanted to touch it so badly and take pictures but I'll do it when tita Tess is gone.

Once done with the garage, Tita Tess tours me inside the mansion itself. The house is a three-storey modern looking white colored mansion. The walls inside are white and decorated with numerous art pieces and photos. Meanwhile the furniture pieces are brightly-colored.

On the first floor, there's the living room, dining room, kitchen, and maid's room. Walking up through the glass stairs is the second floor where there are four bed rooms down the hall and a reading area on the right. Going up to the third floor, I see the master's bedroom, walk-in closet, and music room.

Besides the shelves of books in the second floor, the music room is by far my most favorite part here. It is a wide room that has a sun roof, large shelves full of vinyl records, a vintage record player, a couple of electric and acoustic guitars sitting on their stands, and several bean bags lying in the middle of the room.

I have to keep my jaws from falling down at how beautiful this place is. The owner must be swimming in money to own this amazing place!

"Are you picking everything up, Yari?" Tita Tess looks at me.

"Yes po."

After touring the property, the woman introduces me to the lone personal security sitting beside the small outpost of the iron gates and tall brick walls. He's a big burly guy in his mid twenties with raven black hair, chocolate skin, intimidating chiseled face, and brown piercing eyes. He's wearing jogging pants, a shirt, and sneakers.

"It's a pleasure to meet you. The name's Anthony, miss," The guy extends his right hand and offers it to me.

I shake his hand shyly. "Yari. It's nice to meet you too, Mr. Anthony. "

"Just Anthony, " He chuckles and feel that this guys is actually not that intimidating at all. "Don't call me mister. I feel old."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Mi—Anthony. " I give a sheepish smile.

"She'll get used to it, Anthony. Filipinos are just naturally polite," Tita Tess shrugs as if saying, "Newbies, am I right? ". Then, she leads me back to the house. "See you later at lunch, Anthony! I still have to show her around."

"Alright, see you Tess! You too, Yari!" Anthony waves then continue back looking at the gates.

Once we're inside and out of sight, Tita Tess starts to talk.

"Anthony has been here for two years. He stays here during the day. You might have seen Suresh and James last night. Their shifts are both for evenings. They are all good men and they'll help you here if you ask them. " The woman explains in a tone that says that it is a very important fact.

I have noticed the Indian and Caucasian man with the same physical features last night. But, my head was still in a daze back then.

The rest of the tour continues until I've reached all the parts of the house. Once we were done, tita Tess starts teaching me on how to clean this huge place. It takes us the whole morning to clean the whole receiving area, second floor living room, kitchen and hallways. In the afternoon, the lessons continue and tita Tess teaches me how to clean the bedrooms, bathrooms, garage, and indoor gym.

Throughout the whole time, I've been trying to look for any signs of who the owner was but it was hard to do so. There weren't any photos of the owner nor his family. The only thing apparent to me was that he liked music and art like most rich people do.

Who is Mick Robinson and why is he important? I guess I'll never know until I meet him. I just hope he's not some corrupt politician or a drug lord or worse, both.

***
The week passes by pretty quickly and tita Tess has taught me a crash course of everything that I need to know about the property and what to do when the owner arrives. Besides that, she gave me tips and tricks to help survive in this country. These range from where to get groceries and buy cheap clothes, to all sorts of things needed should the owner decide to stay in the house. She even helped me start my own bank account here to help send money to my family.

On top of that, she taught me how to cook a dish that the owner likes to have whenever he's here which are tacos, buttered sweetcorn, and bangers and mash. I wrote everything on a notebook and tried to commit to heart each lesson that I learned.

It's nearing five in the afternoon and tita Tess has already prepared her suitcases and every item that she decided to give to her family are already sealed in boxes. Meanwhile, I sit on the mint green couch on the first floor and help the woman secure her things.

"Remember that your uniforms are inside the leftmost cabinet, alright? Everyone wears their uniforms when he's here so make sure to wear it when he arrives. Got it?" Tita Tess checks the last box on her things to bring home.

"Yes po." I nod.

"I know that this work is just your stepping stone to get an engineering job here, the US, or whatever, but please, take care of this house since it will be your home for the next two years," Tita Tess hugs me tightly. "I want to ask a favor as well."

I know her sentiments are genuine and it makes me feel warm that at the short time I've spent with her, I've gotten close with this woman.

"I will po," I reply with a soft smile. "What is it po?"

Before she can say it, Anthony enters the living room.

"Cab's here. I'll get your things, Tess." Anthony announces.

With that, she carries her luggage and I'm left thinking what she was about to say. After a few moments, I shake my head and proceed to bring some of her things left behind. Ed, the cab driver who drove us when we first arrived here, is the driver who will drop off tita Tess. The three of us help her get her things in the trunk and back seat. Tita Tess talks to Ed then huddles Anthony and I together.

"Come on, let's take a picture before we leave. " Tita Tess stands in the middle of Anthony and I.

Actively, I smile and see Anthony smiling as well. Ed takes a picture of us then hands it to tita Tess. This is such a classic Filipino thing to do and makes me miss my family.

"You kids take care, alright? " The woman hugs Anthony.

"We will. Take care, Tess." Anthony smiles and pats her back.

She then proceeds to hug me but I'm surprised when I hear her whisper to my ear.

"Pakiusap ko sana sa' yo na maging kaibigan ka sa kaniya pagbalik niya dito. Mabait at masiyahin siyang bata pero alam ko, malungkot siya. Palaging may iniisip na sinasarili."(Please I'd like to ask for you to be a friend to him when he gets back here. He's a kind and joyful kid but I know that he's sad. He always has something on his mind that he keeps to himself.)

The woman breaks away her hug and pats both of my shoulder with a smile while I look at her with a puzzled face. That's her request? She really is kind for her to think about her own boss's happiness. How can I say no to that?

I nod at her and her lips curve upward. Tita Tess looks back at us one last time and enters the car. With Anthony beside me, we wave goodbye to the woman as the car speeds out of the neighborhood.

Once the car is out of view, Anthony and I enter back inside the property, heavy air filling the atmosphere. To soothe this, I bring a plate of peanut butter sandwiches and two mugs out in the garden. One contains hot tea for Anthony while one has black coffee for me. I still have not adjusted to the tea culture of this country but I have seen that these people take it seriously.

Tita Tess's words still float in my head and I try to remove it by learning about Anthony. The two of us converse and I learn that he has a wife and a baby boy who live outside the city. He is a former high school or as the Brits say, "secondary school" classmate of Mick Robinson and got the job one night during a charity event back in their hometown.

"Where is your hometown?"

"Somewhere Northwest."

"Can you show me a picture of you and Mick when you were in high-secondary school? "

"I know he hasn't introduced himself to you so I'm really sorry, love, " Anthony gives an apologetic smile and I pout slightly. "But do know that he's a good lad. A little handful and cheeky at times but nonetheless, a very good man. Once you get to know him, you'll see."

Both Anthony and tita Tess have vouched for his kindness. This man really must be nice if the two of them are saying good words about him even if he's not here. I still haven't believed it because it really weirded me out that he wants to personally introduce himself.

"So tell me more about you, Yari," Anthony takes a sip of his tea. "Why did you take this job?"

I take a bite of my peanut butter sandwich then sip my coffee. "I graduated just last June with a degree in Chemical Engineering. "

"Wow, congratulations!" Anthony smiles proudly. "And you took a job as a housekeeper? Why not push through with Engineering? "

"My initial plan was after graduation, I will take the licensure exam in our country for chemical engineers, find a job in a multinational company that's either for renewable energy or cosmetics, then work in the US and petition my family once I've immigrated," I give a wistful smile. "But I had to change it when my uncle who raised me since I was a baby got diagnosed with colorectal cancer April last year.

"Chemotherapy was helping but last February, he underwent surgery to remove a ruptured tumor from infecting other internal organs. The bills were sky high expensive and the money donated by our relatives, his work friends, and organizations I've sought help at weren't enough to pay my uncle's surgery and future treatments. So, before my last semester, I decided not to take the licensure exam after graduation and instead, look for any housekeeping job that was in a foreign country. This was the highest paying one so I applied."

"Why not apply for an engineering job here? You did say you graduated with a degree in one. " Anthony asks.

"I tried but each one required years of experience which I lacked. The housekeeping job was the fastest and easiest way I can get money," I try to shrug nonchalantly. "After my housekeeping contract, I'll look for Engineering jobs here. I promised that to myself and my family. "

The last words are more of a promise for myself. As respectable as this job is, I know that this is not the job that will give the the things that I want. It is just a corner to the puzzle set I am finishing. The whole image is out there waiting for me.

"You'll get that job," Anthony's lips curved upward. "After your contract here, if you still want to work in London, Samantha and I can help you find a nice flat with proper housemates."

"Thank you. I'll take your word for that." I grin.

I'm thankful that Anthony is offering he and his wife's help. He really is a good guy.

We both finish our afternoon tea and I enter back the house carrying the empty plate and mugs to wash it. After doing so, I sit on the first floor living room's couch and wonder to myself, when will my life really pick up after this.

~~~
I hope you liked this chapter, guys! Let me know what you think.