A friend

Raja then said, "M-Marry?!"

And Karla said, "Yeah, have you ever thought about getting married?"

"No, I've never thought about it."

"I see. Can I ask you something else?"

"... Sure."

"What do you think of my daughter? Do you think she's pretty?"

"Your daughter?"

"I'm talking about Cris, silly, haha."

"Well, she is pretty."

"Good. Raja, you seem like a great person. You and Cris could date."

"W-What?!"

"You could start by going out a few times and getting to know each other little by little; then, after that, things will happen naturally. You start dating, get engaged, get married, give me three grandchildren, and then you can run the tailoring shop together. If you want, I can even teach you how to make clothes. What do you think?"

"I-I can't because ... Gen! Come here!"

Raja then looked around but didn't see Gen anywhere. He then looked toward the door, saw Gen leaving the store, and said, "Gen! Where are you going?"

And Gen then stopped, and thought, 'Damn.', and said, "Haha, what's wrong, Raja? I was just going to get some air."

"I need your help here, please."

Gen then came back to their side and said, "Go ahead."

"Well, Miss Karla was saying that I should go out with Chris sometime, and I was saying that I can't because I ... ah! I'm going with you to Tólis tomorrow, isn't that right?"

Gen then shook his head negatively and thought, 'Poor you, Raja, you just said something stupid.', and then said, "That's right, tomorrow we're going to Tólis."

And Raja said, "And unfortunately, we can't delay this trip because Gen has important business there.".

Karla then said, "That's a shame."

And Raja said, "Yes, it is a shame. I would love to be able to go out with Chris, but it looks like it's not going to work out."

Gen, hearing this thought, 'Now it's over, you just made it worse.'

Karla then said, "Don't worry, Raja, you'll have other opportunities to go out in the future."

And Raja said, "That's true."

"For now, you going out today is enough. It's good that you can get to know each other and think calmly about how you're going to take your relationship from now on."

"That's true ... No! What do you mean?"

"What? Didn't you say you're going to Tólis tomorrow?"

"Yes?"

"Then you still have today to go out."

"..."

"What do you think? Perfect, right?"

Raja then remained quiet for a few moments until, at one point, he said, "Ah! Unfortunately, that won't work because Gen and I have already arranged to go out later with some of his friends, haven't we, Gen?"

Gen then thought, 'You don't know what kind of hole you're in. If you think this is going to be enough to save yourself, you're very wrong, but I'll try to help you.', and said, "That's right, we've already arranged to go out with Lina later."

Karla then said, "Just Lina? You didn't call Lapis?"

Gen then thought, 'Well, I tried.', and said, "Lina was going to call her after she got off work."

"Oh, perfect, you can all go out together then."

"That's right."

Raja then said, "Are you sure, Gen? Won't it be a problem with your friends if you call someone else? I know it was hard enough for you to include me."

And Karla said, "Hahaha, don't worry honey, after all, Lapis, who is one of Gen's friends, is one of my daughters."

"She is your daughter?"

"Yes, and I know she won't mind her older sister going with you."

Raja then looked at Gen as if to say, 'Help me out here.'

And Gen then approached him and said in a very low tone, "Forget it, I told you, it's too late now.", and then said, "You are right, Miss Karla, but changing the subject. Raja and I have come to buy some clothes. We lost our belongings on the way here."

Karla then said, "What a pity, but what kind of clothes do you need?"

"Well, I just need some clothes to go to the Oasis. I still had some clothes stored at home, but Raja will need a lot of clothes since he lost everything."

"Are you going to Oasis?"

"Yes."

"Hmm, I see. I'll have to separate a good outfit for the two of them, too. Now, about your clothes, what kind of clothes are you thinking of wearing?"

"Well, for me, it can be something simple. I just want to be neat."

"Got it. What about you, Raja?"

Raja then said, "... Well, for me, it could be something that draws a little attention."

"Okay, come with me."

They all followed Karla to a part of the store where they had more elegant clothes, and she then said, "See if you like any of these clothes."

They both then started looking around, and Gen said, "This one looks great on me. It's very simple, just the way I wanted it."

And Raja said, "I like this one. It's just the style I was thinking of."

Karla then said, "Ok. These two, then."

She then took the two clothes from where they were and said, "Come with me."

Everyone followed her to the counter, and when they arrived, she said, "Well, let's measure you two so I can make the adjustments. I will measure Gen, who is already an old client. You measure Raja Cris, hahaha."

And Cris said, "... Okay."

Karla and Cris then took two body measuring Tapes that were on the counter and approached to measure them.

Cris said very softly as she approached Raja, "I'm sorry. My mom is always like that."

And Raja said, "Don't worry, haha."

"If you want, I can not go out with you guys tonight."

"What? No, you can go. There's no problem."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, don't worry about it."

Karla then said as she approached Gen, "Hey Gen, I've been hearing some rumors."

And Gen said, "Rumors?"

"Yeah, about you and Lina."

"Oh yeah. I heard about those rumors."

"I know it's a lie, but the things they say are absurd."

"That's right, I heard some pretty heavy ones."

"Yeah, there's one that says you're dating her, haha. It's not like that, right? You can date Cris. Why would you choose her?"

"That's tr-", but Gen stopped in the middle and thought, 'This is a unique chance.' and then continued, "Actually, Miss Karla, I haven't told this to anyone yet, but I think I can trust you not to spread this around."

"Of course, my love, I would never break the trust you have in me."

"That's great. I knew I could count on you, Miss Karla."

"That's fine, Gen, but what do you want to talk about?"

"The fact is that Lina and I are really dating."

"What?! Really?"

"Yes. In this reunion that we had, the emotions of not seeing each other for over a year spoke louder, and we ended up starting to date, but since Lina is too shy, we are not talking about it to anyone. You are the only person who knows apart from us."

"I understand, Gen. When we are young, we often do things on impulse and end up having to bear the consequences."

"It's true."

"It's a shame. You were my number one candidate for a son-in-law."

"Cof cof, it really is a shame, but I am in love with her."

"Fine, but Gen, just between us. As a last resort, you could ... you know.", and then she pointed with her head towards Cris.

Gen then looked away and said, "I'm sorry, Miss Karla, I didn't understand."

"Well, what I mean is that Chris can always be your friend. I'm sure Lina wouldn't mind if you had a friend or two around you, if you know what I mean.", she finished giving Gen a little wink.

He then thought, 'A friend? Cris is already my friend. What are you ... ahh!'

Gen then started coughing heavily and said, "I don't know about that, Miss Karla. I would have to talk to Lina first, but I wouldn't get my hopes up. She seems to be quite possessive."

And Karla said, "I understand, but it doesn't hurt to try. Who knows, maybe she does think differently about this than you expect."

"I don't think so, but I promise you I'll talk to her."

"Okay. Ahh, I know. When she comes here, I'll tell her about it too."

"Please don't!"

"Why not Gen?", "Well, because ... she'll find out that I told you about us, and then she'll be super pissed at me."

"Hmm, that's true. I forgot it was a secret."

"Yeah, yeah. It is a secret."

"Too bad I won't be able to help you with it then, Gen, but don't give up. If you try hard and tell her how important it is to you, I'm sure she'll understand."

"You bet, Miss Karla, I'll do my best.", and then thought, 'To make sure she never hears about it.'