CHAPTER 3

  "Gosh, Zha, if I hadn't read the article about his shipping company and his short biography, I wouldn't believe he is not Dion Dausel," Caroline commented as she gazed away from the tab on her laptop's screen where Gin's picture is on.

  Like what I did the first time I heard Dion's name from Lady Maya, Caroline and I made research about Gin after telling her everything that happened this morning. And it turned out that everything Gin told me was true.

  He owns a shipping company, Gracious Express, and it was launched last year, and so far, the performance it gives to the customers is good. According to our research too, he separates his personal life from business and is very keen on his privacy, hence the short biography we found.

  We also tried to find anything that will connect him to Dion, but indeed, his personal life was separated from business. In fact, there were only a few articles about him and his shipping company, and mostly, the information written in those articles was the need-to-know-basis only.

  And I remember he told me he wanted to stay lowkey and away from the prying eyes of the press and public. He wanted to enjoy life and go with the flow, fix the things that needed to be fixed, then go again and enjoy.

  "I never aspired to be on top of the chain. Gracious Express is doing good, we offer fair and nice services, customers are satisfied. My employers are paid fair and I get enough profit. That's enough for me."

  Those words made me smile and I sat down on my bed, listening to Caroline as she reread the article, still it was all the same, and we couldn't find anything about him that will connect him to Dion.

  "Zha, I really can't find anything," she said with a heavy sigh. "Perhaps they just really looked like and not the same person. We've proven this one already through our research and the things he told you."

  "But how did it happen?" I asked. "They looked exactly the same, Caroline. Only that Gin is the mature version and they have a different background."

  She sighed again and stood up, walking to my bed. I moved to give her space which she took and lay beside me, the mattress bounced because she made it like a free fall.

  "Douple ganger, Zhanaia. Have you ever heard of that?"

  My brows furrowed. "No."

  And she explained what douple ganger is.

  "A douple ganger is a biological unrelated look-alike of someone. It has something to do with the genes something and cross-breed whatever is that." I chuckled at her incomplete scientifical explanation for douple ganger. "But in some beliefs, they say douple ganger is bad luck, an evil twin, but hey, we're in the 2000s, so that's the least of the things I should explain. Surely, this has something to do with that Science thing."

  My brows arched. "Well, what about the I met him at the place that's special to me and Dion? Do you think that's just a coincidence or it has an explanation?"

  "Zha, how would I know?" she grumbled.

I just sighed and let her be. Silence fell on us as I stare at the blank ceiling while she was busy on her phone. From my peripheral vision, I can see her brows arched. Turned out that she was searching for Gin's F******k account, but there's nothing except for a professional F******k page.

  "You know, I am getting more curious about this Gin as I try to dig deeper about him. I wanted to see this Gin in person."

  She looked at me with that sinister smile on her face and stood up, searching for my phone. When she found it, she tossed it to my side and it bounced on the bed.

  "Come on, you have his phone number, right? Text him, and ask if we can meet him tomorrow."

  I was thrilled at her idea, yet I felt shy to make the first move and text him.

  "What? But... I-I'm... do you think it is right if I text him first?"

  She rolled her eyes. "Zhanaia, we are in the modern world. It is not a big deal for a girl to do the first move. Come on, text him!"

  And when I didn't move, she grunted and get my phone again, typed something while her brows were creased and when she tossed my phone on me again, my eyes widen seeing a text message was sent to Gin's number a few seconds ago.

  I jolted up and looked at her in horror before reading what she sent, and it sounded flirtatious!

  "Gosh, Caroline, what the hell is this?" I exclaimed.

  The text message said,

  "Hi, there. This is Zhanaia, the girl you met this morning. I am thinking of calling you, and perhaps we could talk over the phone for some time. What do you think? xx."

  And the xx thing! Caroline!

  I was about to scold her when my phone rang and Gin's name registered on the caller ID, making me jump in surprise. She peeked at my phone and squealed when she saw who's calling.

  "Come on, Zhanaia, answer it! Put it on a loudspeaker!"

  And when I didn't move again, she rolled her eyes and swipe the screen, and turned the loudspeaker. Before I knew it, Gin's voice filled us. Caroline's eyes widen when she recognized the voice, a bit mature and deeper than Dion's.

  I gave her my I-told-you-so-look, and she urged me to go on.

  "Uhm, h-hell-o?" I stammered.

  I heard his smile from the other line. "Hello, Zhanaia. What's up?"

  "H-hi, Gin. How are you doing?"

  I bit my lips as I suddenly felt nervous, or was it nervousness? I don't know. There's just something in me that I can't explain. Was it nervousness or excitement? Of what and why?

  "Well, I am currently staring at my room's ceiling, then I received your text."

  "I didn't disturb you or what?" I asked.

  "No, you didn't. Don't worry. Want to talk over something?"

  "Uhm, no, I just..." I looked at Caroline who's urging me to say it. With a silent sigh, I continued, "I just want to ask if we can meet again tomorrow?"

  There was a pause from the other line as soon as I asked him, and for a while, I thought he was going to decline. But then after a while, he spoke again.

  "Yea, sure, why not?"

  Caroline has this triumphant smile on her face as she heard him say those words. She even mumbled something that I didn't get and just focused on Gin.

  "Really? That's great. I'll be with Caroline tomorrow."

  "Your best friend?"

  I nodded as if he could see me. "Yes."

  "Ah, okay. No worries. Tomorrow, at Miró Coffee again?"

  "Yes."

  "Okay, sure, no worries. I'll see you later, then."

  That made me smile. "Yea, see you. Goodnight."

  "Goodnight, sweetheart."

  And those words were the reason why I had a sleepless night.