Author's POV
Gia woke early the next morning.
Not because she had slept well. The truth was, she had woken several times in the middle of the night to the low hum of the electric fan, the heat of the room her body was not used to, and the heavy certainty that she could no longer take back the decision she had made.
The two elderly people were in the room next to hers.
And for the first time since leaving Spain, other people were now part of the moves she would make next.
She quietly got up from the narrow bed and fixed her hair behind her. She wore no jewelry. There was nothing overly refined about what she had on except for her own face, which even fresh from sleep looked far too gentle for a woman carrying a gun beneath her bag.
When she stepped into the hallway, it was still early. There were only a few footsteps downstairs, and the inn was wrapped in the kind of silence you knew would not last once the sun fully rose.
She stopped in front of Lando and Nena's room and knocked softly.
A moment later, the door opened.
Nena peeked out first. Her hair was already neat even though she had clearly just woken up. Behind her, Lando was already sitting on the edge of the bed, looking better than he had the night before, though still obviously weak.
"You're already awake," Gia said.
The old woman smiled faintly. "Yes, child. You're up early too."
"I'm going out for a while. I'm just buying breakfast and medicine."
"Oh, no need," Nena said at once. "This is already too much."
Gia did not answer right away. She only looked at the old woman directly until she was the one who lowered her eyes first.
Then Gia said more calmly, "Nay, I will not let embarrassment decide anything when food is involved."
She saw the slight movement of the older woman's lips. Not quite a full smile. Just the kind of expression a person makes when they are not yet used to a woman with such a soft face speaking as though she were used to telling the world what to do.
"I'll be quick," Gia added. "Please get ready too. We're leaving later."
The couple exchanged glances.
They did not immediately ask where they were going. They were not the kind of people eager to demand an answer. But there was clear caution in their eyes, and Gia understood that.
"We're not going to rush," she said before they could ask. "We're just going to look for a proper place to move into."
Only then did Lando nod.
When she stepped down to the street, the morning heat of the province greeted her at once, the kind that already told you noon would be heavy. She went straight to the eatery at the corner and bought porridge, bread rolls, eggs, and coffee for the three of them. Then she stopped by the pharmacy to buy better medicine for cough and chest pain based on the advice the shopkeeper had given the night before.
When she returned to the inn, the couple was already dressed. Their clothes were simple, clean as much as possible, and clearly the kind that had been sewn back together more than once just to keep lasting.
They ate breakfast quietly in the small room while Gia stood by the window, looking down at the street below.
"You're not eating?" Nena asked.
"I already did."
A lie.
That was nothing new to her.
But instead of contradicting her, Nena quietly took a bread roll, wrapped it in a napkin, and placed it beside Gia's bag.
Gia did not turn right away.
She only felt a strange tightness in her chest she refused to name.
After they finished eating, the three of them left the inn carrying the couple's few belongings and Gia's small daily bag. Her three heavier bags were already in the back of a rented van she had secured early that morning using a name that was not hers and money that left no questions behind.
She did not take them into the exact center of town.
She preferred to go a little farther out. Not so far that access to the hospital, market, or pharmacy would be difficult, but not so close either that every movement would easily become neighborhood talk.
As they traveled, the van remained quiet. Outside the window came alternating views of fields, small shops, pointed rooftops of houses, and from time to time glimpses of the sea brushing the roadside as if to remind her that yes, they were in Batangas.
The driver sat in front, a man who was not too talkative and did not look interested in his passengers' lives as long as the payment was right. Good.
In the back, Gia sat beside Lando and Nena. She was not used to that kind of arrangement. She was not used either to a silence that was not heavy, not dangerous, and not part of a power game.
"Is your family angry that you left?" Nena asked suddenly, her voice low.
Gia looked out the window before answering.
"Yes."
"Are you really far from them now?"
"Far enough."
The old woman asked nothing more. She probably knew some answers were not meant to be forced before their time.
Around ten in the morning, they stopped in a quieter part of a municipality that Gia liked almost immediately. It was not as cramped as the town proper they had come from earlier. There was more breeze. More space between the houses. Trees. A small market area. An old church in the distance. And most importantly, it felt like there was still enough room to move without being noticed right away.
The first thing she did was look for a local broker.
Not someone flashy. Not someone too obviously fond of talking. Someone practical, with sharp eyes, someone who looked used to transactions that did not need ten questions before moving forward.
She found that person in a small realty office by the national road. A woman in her forties, thin, sharp eyed, and clearly able to tell who should be taken seriously.
"I'm looking for a house," Gia said immediately.
"Rent or buy?"
"Buy."
The woman glanced quickly at Lando and Nena, then looked back at Gia. "What kind of house?"
"Not too close to the town center. Not too isolated either. Quiet. Good road access. Two or three rooms. A small yard if possible."
The woman nodded. "Do you have a budget?"
Gia looked at her directly. "Show me the house first."
The broker gave a small smile. It was not insult. Just recognition that the woman in front of her should not be underestimated, even if she looked impossibly soft.
They were shown three houses over the next two hours.
The first was too close to the neighbors. Gia did not like the feeling that someone could easily hear movement inside.
The second was too far, and it clearly would become a problem in an emergency.
The third was the one that stopped her.
It stood along a quieter barangay road. Not a mansion. Not ugly either. An old house with a solid foundation, a wide front porch, two rooms inside, one small room that could be made into a third room or a storage space, a kitchen at the back, and a yard with one large mango tree at the side.
It was not beautiful at first glance.
But it had space.
It had privacy.
And most of all, it felt like the kind of house that could be quiet if you wanted it to be.
The moment they stepped inside, Gia noticed the natural flow of air. Not too hot. The ceiling did not feel oppressive. It might have been old, but it was not ruined.
She walked through every corner without saying a word.
Behind her, Lando and Nena also stepped in slowly. They were clearly careful, as though embarrassed to touch the walls or step too heavily on the floor.
"It's nice," Nena said softly, almost to herself.
Gia turned.
What she saw on the older woman's face was not excitement. It was more like disbelief that she was even standing inside a house like that for any reason other than cleaning it for someone else.
"Do you like it here?" Gia asked.
The two of them looked startled, as though they had not expected their answer to matter.
"Child," Lando said, "you're the one who will live here."
Gia nodded. "You'll be with me."
Silence again.
Nena walked to the window and gently touched the old frame. "It's breezy," she said. "And quiet too."
"It's close to the pharmacy and the market," Lando added after peeking outside. "And it isn't difficult to get transportation."
Those were practical answers.
She liked that.
Gia turned to the broker. "How fast can this be transferred?"
The woman clearly was not used to hearing that kind of question from someone with a face as soft as Gia's. "If the papers are complete, it can be done within days. But there would need to be an initial payment."
"Today."
"Today?"
"Yes."
The broker fell silent.
Then, more carefully now, "In cash?"
"Would that be a problem?"
"No," the woman replied quickly.
Of course not.
By late afternoon, the initial payment had been settled and the house had been reserved. It was not fully hers on paper yet, but it was enough to lock in the property and prepare for the move over the next few days. And in the world Gia had grown up in, she was already used to things that moved before the signature did.
When the broker left and the three of them were alone inside the house, Gia finally sat down on one of the old chairs in the living room.
The whole house was quiet.
Outside, there was the faint sound of children playing in the distance and leaves moving in the wind.
This was it.
Not perfect yet.
Not truly safe either.
But there was a house now.
No longer a transient room. No longer an inn. No longer the street.
A house.
Nena looked at her from the kitchen doorway. "Child."
"Yes?"
"Thank you."
It was said simply.
No tears. No excess emotion. And maybe that was why it felt even more real.
Gia did not answer right away. She only looked at the old floor, the walls, the open window where the air of a province that still did not know her was coming in.
Then she said softly, "Nay, please stop thanking me all the time."
"Why?"
"I don't know how to receive that."
The older woman smiled a little. "You'll learn."
Gia looked at her, then shook her head slightly.
Maybe.
Maybe not.
But that night, as darkness slowly gathered around the new house she had bought in a quiet part of Batangas, only one thing was clear in her mind.
For now, this was enough.
A roof.
A start.
And in the days to come, that was when she would truly begin to know the place, the people, and the life she had chosen to build.