Leus
"So I can call you with this number, right?" I asked Aera. "Don't you really have any social media accounts? Like, you don't connect to your friends online?" I asked again.
Aera shook her head.
I am amazed. "How can you do that? I can't live without it." I told her. "You are the first person I met that does not have any social accounts. If you have it, you can easily contact your friends who are far away from you. You can also contact your other relative, who may be in another country." I am trying to explain the benefits of having social media accounts.
I think I can be a market influencer.
'I don't have that many friends and I don't have any idea where my other relatives were'
She said in her notes.
Oh, right? I totally forgot about that.
"But who is the one you told me that gave you a phone? You don't consider him your friend?" I asked.
No one will give you a phone as a gift if you don't know each other, right? So they definitely have a connection with each other.
Aera tapped on her phone slowly.
I laughed at her. "You are cute. I can really tell that it's the first time you have had it. You are typing cutely." I told her.
She showed me her phone.
'Lance is my friend too. He was my first friend. The second one was his sister, and the third one is Bricx. And then I met you, as well as your friends'
I nodded. "I am glad that you have other friends. It's fun to have a lot of friends, although having a few is already good. When did you meet Lance? Where is he studying?" I asked.
Now that she is starting to open up about herself, I can slowly ask things about her. She became more comfortable and I found her smiling all the time. I guess this is a good start for her.
'Lance met me when we were still young. He is not studying anymore. He has his own company already. Like his friend, his name was Bricx. He said that he owns a five-star hotel, while Lance's sister is still studying at our university'
Why is their name so familiar?
"Lance... Bricx... do you mean the man who owns UniSuites? Bricx Espinoza?" I asked.
"May I interrupt your conversation?" Uncle commented.
Aera and I looked in his direction.
My uncle put down a plate for Aera. "This is called Roast Pork Loin, it is a slow-roasted pork loin finished with a portabella demi-glace. Served with marrow-scented couscous and wilted kale," he introduced the food. He also put a plate in front of me. "And this one is called Surf and Turf. A grilled, queen-cut ribeye served with shrimp and scallop alfredo." he added.
Just by looking at the food, it was already appetizing. How much more if we are eating it?
"Dang, uncle. These look good. Super B." I complimented.
Uncle smiled and bowed a little. "I want to hear your feedback before you go home, okay? You have to tell me honestly what's on your mind. I would be glad if you helped me improve them before releasing them as our new menu." Uncle said.
"Do not worry, uncle. We will." I told him.
Aera tapped uncle on the shoulder and showed her the note.
'We will enjoy the food, Uncle Ji. Thank you very much! :)'
"That's good to know. You may now eat it. Enjoy! " Uncle said before walking back to the kitchen.
"Thank you for the food." I said before picking up the utensils, while Aera took a photo before putting her hands together.
"So back to our topic. Are you talking about Bricx Espinoza?" I asked again.
Aera nodded her head. Getting her phone on the side and wrote.
'How did you know him? It looks like you knew each other when I introduced you to them'
I bobbed my head. "The food in their dining hall is ours. We have met a few times already." I replied. "You know what, his hotel name has a deep background. Although it was a sad one." I added.
She drew a question mark in the air.
"He has a younger sister named Eunice, but unfortunately she was missing. After her mother gave birth to her, someone kidnapped her and they have not heard from her since. That is why his hotel is called UniSuites. You will hear his sister's name on it." I explained.
Even though it's been years, I can still see how much Bricx loved his sister. I hope they can still get any information about her. They must be devastated after knowing that their youngest had gone missing, especially his mother, who carried the kid on her stomach for nine months.
'I did not know. Bricx was always happy and smiling. He also loves teasing Lance. I did not know he was carrying that problem'
I shrugged my shoulders. "That's how they cope up. However, you mentioned Lance. You also told me that he met you when you were still young. How is that?" I asked.
If he had met her before, why did she end up in this kind of condition? How did they meet?
She drank her drinks before getting her phone again.
Does that mean that he knows what happened to her before? Did he witness her situation too?
But how?
Like, how did he know about her?
What we heard from Sister Ailee... was just the moments they saw her. How about the story before they saw her? Does he know about it too?
'When I was still at that house, he happened to go there and see me. After that, he would always visit me and give me some food to eat. He tried to save me too. That was the day the orphanage found me too, in the street, unconscious'
Wow.
He really knew what happened to her.
That's how he became her first friend.
"And you still meet each other often after you got out of that house?" I asked, curious about her story.
If he tried to help her, does that also mean that Aera's parents were in jail too?
Or not?
What does she mean about 'he tried to save me too?'
Was he able to save her or was he not able to do that?
'After that day, we never saw each other again. Since I do not know many things, I could not even call his name or write his first name. After six years, his sister found me at our school'
My eyes widened. "The girl named Lizzy? She was the one who saw you?" I asked, and Aera nodded. "Woah! After six years, that was too long. You guys are destined to meet each other since you were still able to meet after those years."
"That was so long. The world is big and look at what happened. God made a way for the two of you to meet outside." I added.
I only know about Bricx, but I am not very familiar with Lance.
I want to meet him.
And ask him everything he knows.
He knows a lot about Aera.
He also knows the story behind Aera's condition.
No wonder Aera labeled him as her first friend.
I would do that too.
'Yes. I also did not expect that we would meet in the future. I was not hoping because I just learned that the world is too big for me. I do not really know what his name was. I am happy and thankful at the same time that we met'