“Hello?” I ask from the other line.
Work was very hectic. A lot of customers kept coming in and out so I have to do my job fastly. I even multitask just to finish everything on time. I was so busy that I didn’t even notice the time. If Paulo didn’t call out my name and informed me that it is already half past three in the morning and that my phone has been ringing nonstop, I wouldn’t have stopped wiping the floor.
[“Alwin, where are you?”]
Oh? Bryle? I pull the phone away from my ears and look at the caller ID. Yup, indeed him. But why is he calling me so early at this hour?
“Bryle? What is it? Why did you call?”
Paulo stops what he’s doing and looks at me with raised brow. I just shrug my shoulders at him.
[“Answer my question first, will you?”]
“Grumpy much?” I joke. He didn’t reply and just sigh from the other line. Okay, he’s serious. “Sorry. I’m still in the restaurant though I’ll be out in a minute.”
[“Good,”] he says and immediately cuts the call.
What the hell? That’s it? He called me just to ask where I am?
I just sigh and then arrange my things before walking towards the door. But before I can even walk out, Paulo suddenly holds my shoulder and I flinch. I stop walking and look at him with a glare.
“Paulo! What the! Why are you scaring me?!” I snarl at him but he just laughs at my reaction so I slap his shoulder harshly.
He raises his hands in the air in surrender. “Ouch! Sorry! I didn’t expect that you’d get scared,” he explains.
I just roll my eyes at him and continue walking out of the restaurant. He then follows me. I stop walking when I see a familiar car parked in front of the restaurant. I narrow my eyes at the car while contemplating whose car it is and where did I saw it before. But my eyes widen when I see Bryle descending from it and hurriedly walks towards my direction.
“Bryle?! What are you doing here?” I ask in a surprised voice when he reaches me.
“Alwin—” Paulo cuts his own sentence when he sees Bryle standing next to me and creases his forehead afterwards. He didn’t noticed him a while ago because he was busy closing the restaurant. “Why didn’t you tell me that someone’s gonna fetch you?” He jokes and then stretches his hand forward for a handshake to Bryle who’s only looking at me seriously. “Hi! I’m Paulo, Alwin’s friend and manager,” he introduces himself.
Bryle immediately looks away from me and accepts Paulo’s hand. “Nice to meet you, Paulo. I’m Bryle,” he replies and turns his attention back to me.
He is throwing me a sharp look that’s why I can’t help to feel nervous. My heart pounds so fast inside my chest and my knees feel weak.
“Let’s go home, Alwin,” he calmly says to me.
My eyes go wide again because of what he said. What does he mean by ‘let’s go home’? Where are we going home? Is he gonna escort me to my house?
I can’t look at his pretentious face any longer so I avert my eyes at Paulo to think of an excuse so that I can’t go with him.
“A-Ahh... Sorry, but I have a company here. I can’t just leave him alone. We planned on going home together,” I excuse.
Paulo also seems like he understands what I am trying to do so he smiles. “Yes,” he agrees to what I’ve said.
I hear Bryle sigh. “Then we will let him ride in with us.”
My forehead creases. “To the house?” I ask perplexed but he shakes his head.
“No. To his house,” he answers calmly but I know he’s already starting to get irritated at me but he’s just not making it obvious because I have a company.
“Then, what are we waiting for? Let’s go!” Paulo happily exclaims and immediately walks towards Bryle’s car.
My jaw drops at Paulo. I glare at him even though I know he can’t see me because he’s facing his back to me. I thought he’s going to help me run away from Bryle?! This friend of mine is such a traitor, he and Sean literally suits each other.
I turn to look at Bryle when I hear him chuckle lowly. “What now? Are you just gonna stand there or what?” He asks me in a mocking tone before turning away from me and walks towards his car.
~
I haphazardly get inside Bryle’s room and sit down the bed while he doesn’t care at all. He just rolls his eyes at me when I glare at him before taking off his red T-shirt.
“Childish,” he whispers but I still hear it.
I was gonna talk back to him but it seems like something suddenly clogs my throat when I see his broad and white back and his hard muscles in view. I feel my face heat up and I immediately look away from him.
I stand up from the bed and walk towards his balcony so he won’t see how red my cheeks are. Why does he keeps on making me blush?! I pat my cheeks to make my blush go away.
I look at the beautiful view of Bryle’s garden from the balcony. The fireflies are really astonishing — illuminating the plants with their light. The gentle breeze that keeps on kissing my skin lifts off the tiredness I’m currently feeling. The buzzing sounds of the lurking insects feel so good to my ears. And add the twinkling stars and the beaming beautiful moon above. Everything is giving me a very relaxing feeling.
A very bright star catches my attention. I suddenly remember what Bryle and I talked about. He once said that the brightest star I can see up the sky is called ‘Sirius’. I chuckle to myself, he really loves Astronomy.
I slowly direct my eyes towards him and see him coming near me. He’s topless so I immediately look away again, as always. I then feel him beside me but I restrain myself to look at him. His mere presence alone is making me feel things I can’t quite decipher.
I don’t know why, but this past few days, every time we’re together, it seems like there’s something swimming inside my stomach that I can’t quite decipher. I want to be with him twenty four seven. I can’t sleep properly if I couldn’t see him the whole day. And it confuses me so much. I can’t concentrate in class and Sean would always reprimand me about my ‘suspicious’ behavior. His words, not mine.
“The stars are really beautiful, as always,” I hear him say beside me. I glance at him and see him looking up at the stars while smiling in adoration.
I nod my head even though I don’t know if he can see my response or not. “Indeed. It makes us calm and forget our problems just by looking at it.”
A short silence engulfs us. After a while, I decide to get inside his room to change my clothes. I’ve been wearing this student uniform since morning and I bet I’m starting to get smelly. Thank goodness there’s no class tomorrow or else, I’m not gonna function in class again and just sleep.
He also follows me inside. “Are you sleepy now?” He asks me and sits down at the edge of his bed. I nod but I stay standing near his walk-in closet.
“Then why are you still standing there? Come and lay down.” He taps the other side of his bed, telling me to lay there.
I shake my head. “I still haven’t changed and I don’t have clothes with me.”
He rolls his eyes at me and stands up. I raise a brow and step back a little when he walks towards me. And there it is again, my knees start to tremble and my heart beats so fast when he stops in front of me. He’s so close that I look away.
“Why didn’t you tell me since the very beginning?” He asks. Even though I’m not facing him, I can still smell his minty breath while talking.
“W-What are you d-doing?” I ask, stuttering, and I hear him chuckle.
“You said you still haven’t changed yet so I’m going to get you clothes inside the closet that you can change into.”
I blush red in embarrassment because of what he said. I forgot that I’m standing near his walk-in closet, so I cough and push him a little to the side before stepping aside.
“A-Ah...”
He shakes his head before getting inside. I breathe out deeply and pat my cheeks. “You’re so embarrassing, Alwin!” I say to myself.