Love At First Sit

A Night In the life of a Call Center Agent

As the sun set in Manila, Roxanne prepared to start her workday on a Monday night.

While the typical workforce began to settle down for the night, the faceless army of call center agents was preparing to go to work.

"Mommy, you're leaving?" Daniella mumbled without opening her eyes when Roxanne went to their room to say goodbye.

"Yes, baby. Mommy needs to go to work."

"Bring me donuts tomorrow," she mumbled again.

"I will." Roxanne kissed her lightly on the forehead. She turned to the other bed to tuck Maximus securely with his blanket and kissed his forehead before turning the lights off.

Having a child at a young age was very difficult. Becoming a single mom proved to be very hard for Roxanne, especially since she had twins.

Chris, her first love and the father of her children, had gone AWOL after she revealed her pregnancy.

Young love, that's all they'd had. Immature, fierce, and full of unrefined lust.

"Tinay, I'm off to work. Make sure to lock up, okay?" Roxanne instructed the nanny.

"Yes, ate," Tinay bade her, and sealed the door from the inside.

Dressed in her usual business casual work outfit—gray blazer, white tee, black skinnies and flats—Roxanne walked along Hermosa Street.

Gone were the days for which the famous Tondo Street had become so notorious due to petty gang wars. People now could now walk the streets at night without fear of getting mugged.

She reached Abad Santos LRT station for a twenty-minute train ride to Gil Puyat Ave. A jeepney on queue was already waiting to be filled with passengers when she got off the station.

Upon arriving at the Advance Customer Solutions building, Roxanne fumbled for her proximity card to gain access inside. She almost turned her bag inside out, but neither her ID nor her access card could be found.

"Damn! I left it at the bar last Friday," she cursed under her breath.

Carlito arrived, one of their Spanish-speaking agents. At age fifty-five, he diligently worked eight hours every night for his son who was taking up law.

"Roxy, what are you still doing here?"

"Daddy Carl, I forgot my 'toot-toot' card. I can't get in," she said in a low voice, scratching her head.

"Come on, I'll sneak you inside. I'll hold the door open; follow behind me. Just use your ID and pretend it's your access card," the thoughtful old man suggested.

Agents started coming in and out of the building premises. The guard keenly checked their belongings and gave a curt nod to signal clearance for entrance.

Both of them moved a little farther away from the entrance, and away from the guard's suspicious eyes.

"That's the problem, Daddy Carl. My ID and access card are on my ID holder together." Roxanne glanced at her watch. She only had fifteen minutes to log in. She couldn't afford to be late. Aside from a clean track record, 1,000 pesos was given to agents with no 'late's.

Carlito shook his head as he said, "Tsk, tsk, tsk. You're so forgetful." Carlito took his own ID from the card holder hanging from his neck and handed it to her. "Just follow me, okay? Here's my ID. I'll go first. Act normal."

Roxanne eyed the ID for a moment. If they were caught, they'd be reprimanded for piggybacking. She looked at her watch again. Only ten minutes left before 9 P.M.