Playing with Fire

彼は煙草のヤニで黄色くなった歯を出して笑った。「1ヶ月100ペソだって。1年で1,200ペソにもなるじゃないか。40ペソの食事くらいおごれるだろう！」マリナはどうやって断ればいいだろう？ボスの次の要求はどうやって断れば？彼は意地の悪い男だ。しかもマリナは昇給が必要だった…。

He smiled, showing teeth yellow from cigarette smoke. He looked at his desk diary, then at her papers again. 'Mmm... a hundred pesos a month. Why, that's one thousand two hundred pesos a year. Surely, you can afford to buy me a forty-peso dinner!' How can Marina say no? How can she refuse the Chief's next request? He is an evil man, but she needs her promotion... These World Stories, from Tonga, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, and New Zealand, are by Epeli Hau'ofa, Denise Whittaker, F. Sionil José, David A. Kulu, and Graeme Lay. CEFR B1 Word count 12,589