Chapter 14 - Upgraded
Tuesday morning started with Celeste.
Not physically.
Thank God.
I was brushing my teeth when my phone buzzed.
Jane.
A photo.
I stared at it.
Then at myself in the mirror.
Then back at the photo.
Celeste.
New post.
Black dress.
Hair down.
Clean makeup.
Very polished.
Very—
fuck.
I rinsed my mouth.
Picked up my phone.
Why are you sending me this at 7:12 in the morning
Jane replied immediately.
new pic ??
I HAVE FACEBOOK
and yet I saw it first
I zoomed in.
Mistake.
Very pretty.
Annoyingly pretty.
Pretty.
Jane:
HAHAHAHAHAHA
Then—
polished
I stared.
stop
excellent nose
JANE
very nice legs
I looked at the photo again.
Unfortunately—
yes.
I hate you.
but am I wrong
I did not answer.
Jane:
silence means yes
I'm brushing my teeth
with celeste pic open?
I almost dropped the phone.
GOODBYE
Jane reacted with a laughing emoji.
Then sent:
pretty is an understatement
I stared.
That phrase again.
I sighed.
Correct.
There.
Honesty.
Then immediately—
DO NOT GET USED TO THIS
Jane:
too late
I put the phone down.
My morning had been operationally compromised before breakfast.
Excellent.
By eight-thirty, I was at the workspace.
No Celeste.
No Jane.
No legs.
Just printers.
Peace.
Assistant One was already checking the order queue.
Assistant Two was cutting packaging cards.
I unlocked my laptop.
Opened sales.
Orders.
Material usage.
Production hours.
Then stared.
Interesting.
The last four weeks had been—
good.
Not viral.
Not ridiculous.
But consistently better.
Repeat customers were increasing.
Referrals were increasing.
Small business packaging orders were becoming regular.
School materials remained steady.
Invitations were more profitable than I remembered because current Lia actually knew how to price them.
And family referrals continued to behave like an unauthorized marketing department.
Revenue was up.
Margins were healthy.
Turnaround times were acceptable.
Customer complaints—
low.
Production capacity?
Starting to tighten.
There.
The problem I liked.
Not:
We have no sales.
But:
We have sales. Now don't fuck it up.
Much better problem.
I reviewed our equipment.
One main printer.
One smaller backup unit.
Manual cutter.
Laminator.
Basic finishing tools.
Enough for now.
But barely.
The main printer was starting to become a bottleneck.
Not because it was bad.
Because it could only be one printer at a time.
Tragic limitation.
I checked usage logs.
Average print hours.
Downtime.
Maintenance.
Rush periods.
Then pulled up equipment options.
Assistant One noticed.
"Ma'am?"
"Hm?"
"Bibili kayo?"
"Maybe."
Their face brightened.
"Printer?"
"Yes."
"Bigger?"
"Better."
"Wow."
"Don't get excited. You don't own it."
They laughed.
Old Lia had upgraded equipment emotionally.
Very scientific process:
Madami order.
Need printer.
Buy printer.
Then discover later—
wrong speed.
Wrong ink cost.
Wrong maintenance.
Wrong paper handling.
Or worse:
machine was excellent but completely inappropriate for the actual product mix.
Current Lia did not do emotional equipment purchases.
I made a comparison sheet.
Purchase price.
Ink cost.
Speed.
Maximum size.
Paper compatibility.
Maintenance requirements.
Service availability.
Consumables.
Expected monthly volume.
Projected payback.
My Science Education degree remained deeply irrelevant.
Assistant One leaned over.
"Ang daming columns."
"Yes."
"Hindi ba kung mabilis, okay na?"
I slowly looked at them.
They immediately laughed.
"Joke lang po."
"Good."
I pointed at the screen.
"Fast machine with expensive consumables can make less money."
They nodded.
"Cheap machine that breaks often is expensive."
"Okay po."
"Machine you don't need is also expensive."
Assistant Two looked over.
"Parang life lesson."
"It is not."
Assistant One smiled.
"Pwede."
"No."
By ten, I had narrowed it down to two.
One was cheaper.
Good enough.
The other cost more but handled heavier stock better, printed faster, and had local service support.
Original Lia would have chosen cheap.
Then replaced it earlier.
Current Lia looked at the numbers.
Bought the better one.
Not the fanciest.
Not future-proof for ten years.
Just—
correct for the next stage.
That felt good.
Dangerously good.
Then I bought a proper heavy-duty cutter.
Assistant Two saw the order confirmation.
Their face lit up.
"Ma'am!"
I laughed.
"You hate cutting."
"Opo."
"That's why."
"Thank you po."
"You're welcome."
Then—
"Still need to know how to use the manual cutter."
Their happiness faded.
I smiled.
"Systems fail."
"Opo."
"Machines break."
"Opo."
"Backup skills."
"Opo."
Assistant One whispered—
"Science teacher."
I turned.
"What?"
"Nothing po."
I narrowed my eyes.
Mutiny.
The next upgrade was less exciting.
Storage.
More bins.
More labels.
Additional shelves.
Nobody celebrated.
Correct.
But inventory had grown enough that—
I think we still have some
—was no longer acceptable.
We started basic reorder points.
Not sophisticated.
If frequently used stock dropped below a certain quantity—
flag.
If special-order material had lead time—
note it.
If an item sat unused for too long—
review before buying more.
Simple.
Assistant One looked at the spreadsheet.
"So parang warning?"
"Yes."
"Pag mababa na?"
"Yes."
"Okay."
Then—
"Pwede red?"
I stared.
"Conditional formatting?"
They smiled.
"Yes po."
I nodded.
"Approved."
Their eyes widened.
"Color?"
"Useful color."
"Growth."
I stared.
"Who taught you that word?"
They laughed.
"Friend niyo po."
Jane.
Of course.
At eleven, my phone buzzed.
Speaking of.
Jane.
Another photo.
Celeste.
Different angle.
I stared.
WHY DO YOU HAVE MULTIPLE
carousel post
I closed my eyes.
please work
I am on break
then rest
this is rest
I looked at the photo.
Celeste sitting somewhere expensive.
Crossed legs.
Beautiful.
Polished.
Excellent nose.
Very nice—
No.
Absolutely not.
Jane:
?
I typed:
No comment.
legs?
JANE
Assistant One looked over.
"Ma'am?"
"Nothing."
They nodded.
Then—
"Pretty?"
I froze.
Slowly turned.
They immediately looked down at their work.
"Sorry po."
I stared.
"How much have you heard?"
"Konti lang po."
"Define konti."
They smiled nervously.
Assistant Two was visibly trying not to laugh.
I pointed at both.
"Workplace confidentiality."
"Opo."
"Especially about noses."
That broke them.
Both laughed.
Excellent.
My authority was gone.
At lunch, Ate Bianca came by.
She saw the equipment brochure on my desk.
"Bibili ka bagong printer?"
"Ordered."
"How much?"
I told her.
Her face changed.
"Mahal."
"Yeah."
"Bawi?"
"Yes."
"How long?"
I gave her the estimate.
She nodded.
Then—
"Pwede gamitin sakin?"
I stared.
"For what?"
"Packaging."
"That's what I already do for you."
"Mas mabilis na?"
"Yes."
"Edi more."
There.
Ramos manual.
Upgraded edition.
More capacity?
Sell more.
I laughed.
"What?"
"Nothing."
Then she looked at the shelves.
"Dami mo na stocks."
"Yeah."
"Pwede na talaga—"
"No."
She laughed.
"Hindi pa ko nagsasalita!"
"Experience."
"Fine."
She sat.
Then looked around.
"Hire ka pa?"
"Maybe."
"Need?"
"Not yet."
"Pero madami order."
"Exactly why I'm measuring."
She nodded.
Actually listened.
Progress everywhere.
By midweek, the new printer arrived.
The entire workspace became temporarily useless because everyone wanted to watch installation.
Assistant One.
Assistant Two.
Me.
Papa, somehow.
He had come after work because Mama told him there was new equipment.
Of course.
The technician set it up.
Calibration.
Test print.
Alignment.
Color check.
Paper feed.
I asked questions.
Too many, probably.
The technician answered patiently.
Papa watched.
Then asked—
"Warranty?"
I pointed.
"Two years."
"Service?"
"Local."
"Parts?"
"Available."
He nodded.
Again.
Papa approval.
Five stars.
First proper print run—
fast.
Very fast compared to the old machine.
Assistant One stared.
"Ma'am."
"I know."
"Ang bilis."
"I know."
Assistant Two:
"Pwede na madami."
I looked at both of them.
"No."
They froze.
I smiled.
"Pwede tayong gumawa nang mas maayos. Hindi ibig sabihin automatic accept lahat."
They nodded.
Important distinction.
Capacity was not permission to become stupid.
The heavy-duty cutter arrived the next day.
Assistant Two almost applauded.
"Try."
They did.
Clean cut.
Fast.
Less strain.
Their face—
pure happiness.
I laughed.
"Worth it?"
"Opo."
"Good."
Then they looked at me.
"There it is," I said.
They laughed.
Apparently I had become vulnerable to my own running jokes.
Production improved almost immediately.
Not magically.
There were new learning curves.
Printer settings.
Paper profiles.
Maintenance routine.
Cutter safety.
Workflow adjustments.
But by the end of the week—
average turnaround had improved.
Rework decreased.
Assistant One had more time for layouts.
Assistant Two handled more finishing without rushing.
I spent less time physically producing.
More time on—
customers.
Costing.
Suppliers.
Quality.
Planning.
Which was exactly where I should be.
Not because physical work was beneath me.
Because if I spent six hours cutting paper when someone else could do it—
I wasn't saving money.
I was wasting management capacity.
Original Lia learned that after years.
Current Lia had receipts.
Then something interesting happened.
A local business messaged.
Not tiny.
Not huge.
Three branches.
Food products.
They needed labels.
Menus.
Promotional cards.
Occasional event materials.
Recurring.
I read the inquiry twice.
Potentially good account.
Original Lia would have replied:
Yes po, kaya po lahat.
Current Lia asked questions.
Monthly volume.
Variations.
Delivery frequency.
Approval process.
Payment terms.
Rush expectations.