Breakfast service was from 8 to 11 am, and the customers were a mixture of local Filipinos catching a quick bite on their way to work, and local residents who preferred the ambiance and the service of a restaurant to eating breakfast alone at home. There were several foreigners among this last group of customers, and Abbey knew all of them and what they usually liked to eat for breakfast.

 

Joe White was one of the foreign regulars who Abbey often stopped to chat to. He was about 65 years old, and he had told Abbey that he had just recently retired from his post as Chief Financial Officer for an American multinational. As part of his duties, he had had to visit different branches of the company, and he had been impressed by the quality of life in Philippines when he had visited his company's office there. Now he was considering moving to Philippines for his retirement, and he had rented a two-bedroom apartment in Makati while he decided where he would like to settle.

 

Joe was aware of Abbey's family situation, and he admired the way that she was so willing to sacrifice her own life in order to support the family of her dead brother. At 33 years old, Abbey should have been married or at least in a stable relationship, but, from conversations with her, Joe knew that she was still single and that she had no boyfriend.

 

Joe also knew that she was constantly worried about money, and that she had no savings to fall back on if anything unexpected happened. That morning, Joe noticed that Abbey seemed very preoccupied and that she was not her usual smiling self.