18

"Thanks. You know, for coming over and talking to me about stuff I usually can't tell anyone."

She chuckles. We were at the front door as I was seeing her out, but it seemed like it wouldn't end so shortly. We were standing here for almost 10 minutes now and the 'goodbyes' never seemed to end. We'd say goodbye and then open another topic. But it was fine to me.

"I'm always here if you need someone, you know that. And stop bottling everything inside. You have me, Daniel, Christian, and Mina. It's not like how it was before. You're not alone now." She smiles, hitting me playfully on my shoulder.

And I am thankful for that. I'm thankful to have people beside me who're willing to listen, but I'm not… I'm not used to it. Yet. Opening up to people has always been a struggle for me, but I'm slowly trying to.

"I know, I know." I chuckle softly. "Now go on unless you want to hear Daniel and Christian rambling."

We both laugh as she hastily runs out of the door step and to her car. She knows how annoying those two can be to the point that you'll feel your ears bleed out. She waves her arm for a good minute, she smiles ever so widely and enters her car. She even opens her window to wave again and say goodbye for god knows how many times.

I just laugh a little bit when I finally see her car move away from my house. Shortly after she left, there was a loud banging on my door once again. And based on my hunch, gut feeling, I just knew that it was Daniel or probably Christian.

To say that I was shocked when I opened the door was an understatement. Because not only was it Daniel and Christian, there was Mina at the back with Aunt Zack.

"Why—I mean what…why are you guys here?"

"Because Christian proposed a very brilliant idea when you weren't answering our calls." Daniel says, rolling his eyes when he looks at his best friend.

"Okay, first of all, it was not me. /Someone/ fed me with those scenarios that's why I came up with that idea."

"To clear my name, it was certainly not me. I just told Christian a few things and he started to make fake scenarios in his head and decided to make a panicked call to the other old man." I chuckle at Mina's statement.

"I never said that it was you!"

"I never said that you said that it was me." She shrugs, totally getting Christian off.

"That's why I warned you to stop spending time with Gem. Look what she's done to you!"

And their endless bickering starts. Although Daniel wasn't fully participating in the back-to-back answers the 2 are giving, he was still there giving overreacted expressions which sometimes make me crack up.

My gaze was cut off when I felt Aunt Zack's hand wrap around mine. "What the children mean to say is that they thought you passed out somewhere in the house and you're not waking up."

I shyly smile and shoulders slowly rise caused by the timidness I was feeling. "I'm sorry for worrying you. I was actually sleeping cause I can't seem to find the time to when my phone was turned on. The three of them called me for like every hour, and I guess it did tire me out." With careful hands, I accompany her to the dining area so she can put all the tupperwares she has down.

She chuckles in response. "That's what I've been telling them. They're just too protective of you, aren't they?" She starts unpacking, so I help her instinctively.

We both don't know where the three have gone off, but we assumed that they were in the living room still bickering so we left them be. Having time with Aunt Zack was now hard to have because of how busy I've become. That's why I love having to spend time with her like how we are right now. I could call preparing the dishes for dinner as bonding as I haven't really had an experience like that, never really had a family act like one. Except for this one.

"Three little birdies, would you please stop running your mouths and come over here because we need to have dinner together," she slightly shouts so that it's enough to hear.

Not even 5 seconds pass and the fast footsteps are being heard, and we both laugh at that. They sit one by one with sour faces and throw dagger looks at each other from time to time.

"Gem shut off her phone because of the 3 of you who called her nonstop so she wasn't able to sleep. Do you know how tiring you guys can be?" Auntie sighs but she hides a small smirk as she nudged me with her elbows.

"We know, and we're sorry. It's just that… Gem is incredibly hard headed and what if she misses a meal. She's used to doing that." Daniel looks down for a brief moment before eating a spoonful.

"What if she doesnt take her meds? All of those would've been wasted." Christian butts in.

"Yeah!" Mina says, slightly loudly so she presses her lips together. "Yeah, and what if she works when she's supposed to rest? She's so workaholic that she sometimes forgets that she's human, too." She rolls her eyes causing me to laugh.

"Why do I feel so attacked? And for your information, I am hard headed but I'd do what it takes to get rid of this… whatever this is, so I can return to work. I have myself to feed." I shrug.

They burst out laughing, even Auntie laughs though she looks at me with this fond expression that she's always had ever since Daniel made me pass time at their home.

Just like that, dinner was filled with laughter, stories about what happened at work and the randomest things they could remember. It was warm. Very warm that it felt like home to me. Because they indeed are. People who weren't related to me by blood were who I considered as family.

—

"Good morning." I calmly greet a staff member who passed as she also greets back.

I was bowing from time to time to the people who greeted me when I was walking around my mother's company as I had some business to attend here today. I wasn't with Mina 'cause she was needed in the publishing company. I'm having a meeting here today, and another one later with Christian and the other authors. I don't know who arranged these schedules, but what an incredible coincidence.

"Ah, it's 5 minutes before it starts. Shall we proceed to the meeting room?" I glance at my watch and back at Jerome, the one who was assisting me for today.

He nods shyly. He's quite timid and quiet which I like. I can comfortably check around the building to make up for the time I haven't attended to my duties because of the recent flu I had.

"All managers will be present today, ma'am. The reports and requests have been printed and everybody will have a copy during the meeting."

"Right. Thank you."

He opens the door for me. With how I am used to, I walk with my chin up, the sound of my chelsea boots resonating inside the room. "Good morning. Shall we start today's meeting? Everybody present?" I raise my head to look at Jerome for confirmation. I nod as an answer.

"Okay, who would like to start?"

—

My phone lit up while the last manager was speaking. I was still listening to him when I opened my phone to open a text from Mina

/Mina:

It'll start after lunch. Got moved bc the other party had something to do./

And to be honest, reading the text made me puff out a breath 'cause I could finally listen comfortably without thinking about how much time I have left before my next meeting. I place my phone down with the screen facing down to avoid getting distracted.

"That's great," I say while flipping the page where their requests were placed. "But I do have an issue with one of your requests. Is it really necessary for you to have this? I mean, how would that benefit us or the customers?"

He stays silent. Although it was not my intention to mock him or anything, I did not have control over my lips that slowly rose up, but I did try my best to be discreet about it.

"Let's think about it for now, yeah?"

He just nods with a shy expression on his face, head hung low, and hand scratching his nape.

"Let's end here for now. I have somewhere I need to go to." Just like magic, when my eyes were looking for her inside the room, she entered. "Geleen will be the one telling you all the details you will need to know. Please excuse me." I stand up and bow slightly before gathering my things and walking towards Geleen to say a few words to her.

When I caught a whiff of her perfume when I stood beside her, she smiled like how I remember. She smelled like summer, something citrus, and it smelled refreshing whenever I smelled her. It made me smile before finally opening my mouth to talk.

"I need to go. You take charge, okay? Having a meeting with Christian and Daniel today."

She smiles sweetly. "I know. Dan texted me to let you go early." She chuckles with her hand partly covering her mouth. Still well-mannered as ever. Although there was a time I wondered whether she ever cleaned her work desk.

"Old man's been extra clingy these days. Anyway, I really need to go, and they're waiting for you." I tap her shoulder slightly before finally walking out the door.

Naturally I drove to Christian's company without having to rush since the meeting was moved. To be frank, I have no idea what the meeting will be about. I haven't been briefed by Mina yet but she did give me an idea that it was about a collab or something. I haven't been exposed to those kinds of things, so I don't know what I'm putting myself in.

I wasn't even halfway to where I needed to be and I was already getting bored. The sound of the radio playing was what made me more sleepy. It was a bunch of DJs talking about a topic which I never found interesting, so I pressed bluetooth to connect my phone to the car.

Thanks to the traffic, I was able to browse through my playlist and find the one I think suits my mood best right now.

/In this moment I see you

It always comes around as I believed

When the rain stops, you shine on me

Your light's the only thing that keeps the cold out/

It was starting to get cold, a feeling that always felt familiar to me. The memories kept coming to me like water coming out of a dam. It was flooding. It was this time of the year when he left. When the days were shorter, the nights were longer. When I was spending the night looking out my window to talk to the moon about him. When I'd get a clogged nose because of the coldness.

/Moon in the summer night

Whispering of the stars

They're singing like Christmas trees for us/

I walked in the building with anxiety with every step I took. There was always a part in me that waited. It clinged on to the possibility that you'd be back, that you'd come back. And every December, my heart would pound profusely, my steps would falter from time to time, and my mind would go blank when I'm alone.

I enter the room with a heavy breathing. I wasn't able to update any of them when I arrived. The room smelled oddly familiar, maybe Daniel? Maybe Christian? But as the door slowly reveals the people behind it, my breathing stops.

/So I'll tell you a million tiny things that you have never known

It all gets tangled up inside

And I'll tell you a million little reasons I'm falling for your eyes

I just want to be where you are/

It was him. It was /Theo./