The four-wheeled vehicle stopped at the edge of the road right near the lamppost–a place where someone often lurks. He paid attention to the surrounding situation, more precisely to the straightforward house across the street, so quiet with the door tightly closed, no clothes drying, not even the curtains covering the windows were pushed aside. The light on the veranda was still on even though it was morning. Was this a sign that someone no longer inhabited the house?Denis began to guess in his mind. When he saw Aunt Romel coming out of the house, Denis immediately went out to the woman."Excuse me," Denis greeted her.Aunt Romel set the laundry bucket she was carrying on the grass, then looked Denis up and down while remembering something. "I feel familiar with you, and you're like ....""I'm Marra's friend.""Ah, right. You're Marra's friend who helped me take Lauren to the hospital that day, right? So, what are you doing here, kiddo?""I was wondering, is Marra at her house? It lo
The man in the brown apron stood by the door, and he glanced at his watch to ascertain how long his body had been there. At the same time, his eyeballs were still busy watching a human of the same type–sitting facing the screen of a laptop and printer for more than half an hour, his hands busy hovering in various directions without being certain–about what he wanted from the computer, seemingly daydreaming until Jose finally chuckled."What's bothering you? What are you doing there?" Jose's question got no response, he thought his voice was loud enough, but Denis didn't even turn his head. The man's body was still in the chair, but perhaps his mind was wandering far and wide. No, it wasn't like Denis. These days the man rarely daydreamed, and Jose was a little afraid to think about the dark life his best friend had once enjoyed.Jose moved closer, and he tapped Denis on the shoulder. "What are you thinking, buddy? What are you looking at on your laptop?"Denis turned his head, a diffe
"Are you going to buy this octopus, Auntie?" asked Marra of the woman across the table from her at the fish market. Still, it was almost empty by the time late afternoon reigned supreme, and it was raining so hard outside that every drop that hit the roof of the traditional fish market in that corner of Manila was like a drum beating in unison."Of course, even though I'm craving pinangat right now, I miss my hometown, it's been so long since I've been back there, and I can only feel it through pinangat." The woman with short hair was dreamy.Marra smiled faintly as she put some medium-sized octopus tentacles into a black plastic bag. "Pinangat, are you from Bicol?"The sad-faced woman looked at Marra and nodded. "You know. Then I'll cook adobong pugita instead.""That was very good, Auntie. Next time I'll leave out the catfish, tuna, and sardines so you can make pinangat. I promise." Marra gave the woman the black plastic."Alright, I'll come next time to collect." After paying for t
The Vespa and its rider pulled over in front of the low fence of someone's house. Tonight the weather was a little better without a touch of rain, but the temperature was still cold, considering the seasonal changes that seemed to slow down every second.North clutching a white pouch, the man's pair of steps led him to the tightly closed door of Marra's house. Just as his hand was about to knock on the door's surface, the house owner had already opened it, showing a flat, slightly intimidating look as his eyes watched North up and down.This was more like a scene where a wife was waiting for the return of her long–late husband. Marra's expression was not friendly, and the girl's arms folded across her chest.North swallowed, the man realizing more or less the error of his ways today, especially after he returned to the fish market and saw Marra's booth neatly closed without him finding the owner's whereabouts-plus the girl hadn't picked up a single call from North despite being connec
"Hah!" Marra jumped from the sofa as she had just opened her eyes and realized a strange thing was inside her residence. The girl's eyeballs rounded in alarm.She looked left and right before falling on Denis again–still sleeping comfortably on the sofa, the place she last sat on before being closed by the effect of someone's hand on her head a few hours ago.This was real, and Marra saw the man stretched out on his legs even though they were over the edge of the sofa because they were too long, a pair of Denis' arms folded across his chest, while the side of the couch became a head cushion.When remembering the incident last night made Marra chuckle, the last time, she took her hand away from Denis's head and let the man stay asleep in a reclined sitting position.Marra chose to sit on another sofa, waiting while hoping that Denis would wake up, she did not have the heart to shake the man's body to wake him up, but gradually Marra did not realize that the situation also defeated her
"Denis!" Bianca hugged Denis tightly after seeing him reappear at 24Night tonight, a presence that her friends hadn't noticed before. Denis had been absent from Matthew's club for two weeks and showed up again with a fresher aura. "Ah! I miss you so much, why don't you ever come here? Are there so many women out there for you that you forget about everyone here?" Bianca seemed to have forgotten her annoyance at the last situation when Denis just left during their almost make out the other day on the second floor of 24Night some time ago.Denis smiled. "No, I had a little problem, but it's solved now. How are you?""Of course, I've missed you a lot." Without further ado, Bianca stood on tiptoe and kissed Denis' cheek, then put her arms around his waist. "Let's meet your friends, and they'll be equally surprised.""Sure." From the main door of 24Night, they walked hand in hand to the sofa where Denis' friends usually gathered.Jamie and Jose were busy telling stories while exhaling smok
"Good morning," greeted Denis as he descended the stairs.Jose, standing by the dining table holding a plate, suddenly dropped it, shattering it on the floor, but his expression was as if he wasn't surprised by his actions. He continued to stare at Denis and said, "Good morning? Morning? Ah, I've lost my mind. Try repeating that one more time.""Good morning." Denis followed his best friend's instructions, and he was already standing before Jose, his smile perfect."Oh, my God! I'm creeped out now. Why are you doing this to me, Boss?" Jose stepped back, and he showed his fear to Denis."What did I do? Hurry up and clean up the trash." Denis pulled a chair behind the dining table before sitting on it. The aroma of the toast on the dining table's surface was delicious. Denis very rarely grumbled or protested about whatever food Jose made for him. Just having someone willing to make food was more than enough for Denis."Wait a minute. This doesn't seem real." Jose, still wearing his apro
"Thank you very much, Auntie. Make sure you add some soy sauce to your cooking later," Marra ordered the old lady after buying the girl's fish, letting her go with a friendly wave.Tring!"Ah, damn. Why does Denis keep disturbing my quiet morning," Marra muttered as she pulled out her cell phone from the pocket of her brown apron, finding a chat reply from Denis' number. "See, that guy is fifteen times more annoying than I thought."(You're so excited, watch me come.)"Hey! No one is expecting you!" Marra's lips made a sound. She did not reply and chose to turn off the activation of her cell phone rather than add to her illness if she continued to raise her blood in response to Denis.Not long after North appeared from a different direction, the man approached Marra's booth, two cold water bottles in each hand. Marra didn't seem to notice North's presence, and the girl sat dreamily thinking about nothing until North deliberately kept quiet, looking at her–hoping Marra would wake up wi