Anything Goes

All I Ask

I knelt at the altar and bowed my head to pray, asking God for that one thing that I've been praying for for years. I thought that maybe if I keep praying for that one specific thing over and over again, then maybe God would grant it to me. Maybe.

I wiped my tears as I sat back on the pew to give a few minutes of silence to compose myself. A light tap on my shoulder startled me, and I came across a pair of expressive brown eyes— the sadness in it reflected mine.

"We have to stop meeting like this," I forced a smile.

"How I wish," the familiar figure shoved me playfully as he chuckled light heartedly to mask his sadness.

He moved closer to me, pointing to the seat next to mine, asking if it's okay to sit with me. Of course, I nodded my head, yes. "Welcome home, Althea," Paul said, as he took a seat a few inches away from me.

"I wish I don't have to be home this often," I mumbled.

"I hope so, too. Not that I don't want to see you, though. But you get what I mean," he said defensively.

I simply nodded my head.

We spent a couple of minutes in tense silence until I decided to break the ice.

"This is where I first met her," I whispered.

He smiled at me, egging me to go on— a smile that is eerily similar to Jade's.

"I was praying for the Lord's guidance, asking him if selling myself is the right thing to do. I've already made a decision that time, but I was feeling too guilty because somehow, I know that it's wrong, but I was really desperate. It was like I sold myself to the devil," I chuckled humorlessly.

"She sat beside me, at first I thought she was talking to me, but then I saw her eyes closed with her hands clasped tightly together— praying. I could hear every word she uttered, I could still perfectly remember what she prayed for that day."

"What is it?" Paul asked curiously.

"She said, 'please make her say yes' desperately, over and over again." I said sadly.

"Your desperation and hers brought you to each other. I guess God answered both of your prayers that same day," Paul said as he wrapped his arms around me.

"I didn't know it was her then. I kind of hated the idea of her, I hated the fact that I was about to give a part of myself to a rich spoiled brat who thinks that she could buy her way off with money. But most of all, I hated myself for stooping this low."

"Do you still hate her? Even a little bit?"

"No, not even a little bit, especially when I got to know her. Not once did I regret my decision, I still would've done it even without the money," I said honestly.

Paul nodded as he looked at me somberly. "She's really something, right?", he muttered.

"She's everything."

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I met the Tanchingcos when I was in my second year of college. I was about to enroll for the next semester but I used up all my savings to pay for my tuition fee during my first year. I was of legal age then, so a friend of mine advised me to donate blood. It was a really weird suggestion. At first, I wasn't even considering Batchi's suggestion, but she told me that she's been doing it for quite sometime now, and that that is where she's been getting money to support her daughter, Marinelle. Apparently, people pay huge amounts of money for blood, so when I had no choice left, I decided to give it a try.

The first time was easy, they just took my blood and gave it to some stranger, and in return, I got paid enough to cover the minimum downpayment for my tuition fee.