Sniffing the flower in my hand, I gently closed my eyes, letting its sweet relaxing fragrance fill my nose.
"Does it smell good?" a deep masculine voice shouted.
I slowly opened my eyes and searched for the owner of that voice. My guy best friend was at the gate, watching me with a warm smile plastered on his face. I hurried down the mahogany front porch stairs, opened the gate, and threw my arms around him making him grin.
Squeezing me tight, he then kissed my temple. "You missed me, didn't you?"
"A little bit," I joked.
He pulled away from the hug, and I stared him in the face as his face grew serious. Pinching his cheeks, he started flinching but I didn't let him get away from me.
"Let me go or else I'll post your favorite elementary picture on Facebook," he threatened.
I glared at him. He started laughing and wrapped his arm around my shoulder—it was skinny so he could easily grab and hold me like this.
I remembered that day when a snobbish boy made me cry. Shooing the thoughts, I shook my head and let Jamal haul me back to the house.
"Stop frowning. You're proving him right," he said, smiling mischievously. "You look ugly when you frown, Tala."
"I don't care. Stop mentioning that kid."
We sat on the sofa and both looked at Hope who was walking down the stairs.
"He's not a kid anymore. I've heard he's grown up even more handsome," he teased.
I turned to face him, and his smile quickly faded. With his brows furrowed, he then looked back at Hope again. My sister sat across from us holding the promissory note.
I stood up and took the paper from her hand before Jamal could even get it. Folding the paper, I put it in my pocket and busied myself with my phone as I returned to my seat.
"Tala," he called my name, and I knew he wouldn't stop asking me.
Closing my eyes tight, I put my phone down the table and swallowed hard.
"You'll be late for work. It's okay if I won't be able to take the exam today—"
"It's not okay, Hope," I cut her off. "They won't give you another chance this time."
"Can you explain what's going on, Tala?" Jamal asked.
"We have a balance due today, and Hope won't be permitted to take the final exams."
"Why didn't you tell me about it?" He held my arm. "How much is the outstanding balance?"
"₱100,000. My bank account reached zero last month," I explained, avoiding his gaze.
Hope got admitted to the hospital the previous month due to dengue fever. She was taking up culinary arts in Visconti University, and because of what happened to her, we couldn't pay the outstanding balance.
"I'll check my account—"
"There's no need. I'm going with Hope to talk to the President of Visconti." I looked at Hope and signaled her to get ready. Forcing a smile, I picked my bag up from the coffee table and went out of the house.
Hope was watching me since we left the house, and I could feel her wanting to talk to me. We arrived at Visconti and went directly to the President's Office.
I knocked at the secretary of the president's door before entering. Paris, another best friend of mine, smiled widely upon seeing me.
She rose from her seat and walked towards us. "What brings you here?" she asked, hugging me tight.
"Is the president here? I need to talk to him. Today is Hope's final exams."
She pulled away and immediately went back to her table. Checking something on her tablet which she used for her secretarial duties, she smiled.
"He'll be here any minute now," she said. "He has a meeting at 8:00 o'clock this morning. If you wait, you might get a chance to talk to him."
And just like magic, the door opened and a man walked into the room. It was the president.
"Good morning, Mr. Davids," Paris greeted him, smiling graciously, before turning her head to me and Hope. "Ms. Auer asked if you could spare her a few minutes."
Mr. Davids checked his wristwatch first before nodding. "Sure, please come to my office, Ms. Auer."
"You wait for your sister here," I heard Paris talk to Hope. I mouthed 'thank you' to her before walking after Mr. Davids.
Once we were inside the office, he immediately sat in his swivel chair and watched me approach him.
"Having a problem with your sister's tuition fee again?"
His question didn't surprise me at all. Well, it was not the first time I went here to talk about Hope's tuition fee.
"Yes, sir." I took the promissory note out of my pocket. I smoothed the paper out by hand before placing it on his table. "I promise to pay it on the date written, Mr. Davids."
Leaning back in his chair, he just glanced at the paper. "Why don't you work here, Ms. Auer? There's this so-called employee benefits and your sister will enjoy a discount on her tuition fees."
"I've been working at Darina for five years, Mr. Davids."
"So it's a no?" he asked, a smile creeping across his face.
I wasn't able to stop my smile either. "I don't want to turn down the offer, but I love working for Darina."
Shaking his head, he took the promissory note and read it before signing. "You owe me a cup of coffee for this."
Handing me the paper, I came nearer and before I could take it, he moved his hand away. "When?"
"Next Saturday," I replied.
He was my schoolmate in elementary so I couldn't say no.
"All right. You promised."
I just smiled again, and finally, he gave me back the promissory note. "Thank you, Mr. Davids."
"I can't say no to a beautiful woman like you, Ms. Auer."
He walked towards the door and opened it for me.
I saw my sister and Paris watching us, but I ignored their questioning gazes.
"Thank you again, sir."
I went out of his office, and the girls started asking me questions.
"What happened inside?" Paris asked excitedly.
"I'm also curious." Hope held my arm, waiting for my answer.
I smiled at Paris and put my arm around Hope's shoulder. "We're heading to the accounting office so Hope can take her finals."
"He signed?"
I nodded. "See you later. Jamal just got home from Cebu."
"No joke? He called me earlier but he didn't tell me he's here! That jerk!"
I let go of Hope and kissed Paris on the cheek. "See you later in the tree house after the party in Darina. I'll call Mina to come over."
After we got the examination permit from the accounting office, I bid my goodbye to Hope because I was already an hour late.
I was sitting near the window and felt like someone was watching me since I got on the bus. But when I finally turned my head to the girl on my left, she quickly looked away.
"What is it?" I asked.
She slowly turned to look at me again and pointed to herself. "Are you talking to me?"
"Who else? You were staring," I tried to sound cool about it but I failed. I didn't like being stared at by strangers.
She flashed a smile, and the bus stopped. When I looked outside, I realized that we were already in front of Darina.
She took something out from her wallet and gave it to me. "I saw you went out of the President's Office of Visconti. If you need money, I can help you. Just reach me anytime using this number."
I got off the bus with her business card in my hand.
"Kupido?" I read the company name. Shrugging my shoulders, I ran to the entrance and went to the biometric ID card machine.
The sight of the workplace could haul people in distress. Good thing I was a company nurse who didn't have much paperwork to do like the other employees. Without turning the lights on, I walked towards the rest room to change my clothes.
Suddenly, the main door of the clinic opened and I looked in its direction. Hearing footsteps slowly coming near me, I tried to recognize who it was.
The person stopped right in front of me. And with its height, I knew he was a guy.
"I missed you," he said in almost a whisper and grabbed me by the waist, surprising the hell out of me.
Before I could even utter a word, I felt a pair of soft lips touch mine. And there, I lost my first kiss to a random guy in the dark.
