Touché (Complete)

Getting to Know

Carl was snoring.

And he was snoring so loud that it almost felt like he was doing it on purpose. Flor had already turned off the AC but he didn't even seem to notice. His body was still wrapped in the blanket like he was some kind of giant burrito.

"Hey, wake up! It's getting late."

"Ahhh..."

Flor continued to shake his shoulders but no matter how hard she moved him, he was a persistent sleeper, mumbling his dreams out.

A part of her was tempted to throw him a bucket of water. Or maybe drag him from the bed if he wasn't so heavy. Abandoning the thought, all Flor did was draw the curtains so that the sunlight shone directly on his face.

Surprisingly, it worked.

Carl's face was all scrunched up as his eyelids parted.

"Come on!" He whined, stretching out his sore arms. "I was having a good dream here."

"Huh, I didn't know angels can dream."

"I'm in a human body," Carl reminded her. She only scowled at him.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

"Shit!" she thought. She knew who it was. Only her mother would come to visit her unannounced. Flor quickly stood up, her first concern being Carl.

She immediately signaled him to hide somewhere. But the condo was small so there wasn't much to hide except under the bed.

The knocks were getting louder and Carl, puzzled, remained still.

"What?" he asked.

"Go! I'll explain later."

Carl frowned in confusion but just did what she asked him to. When everything was clear, Flor finally opened the door.

"Hey."

Her mother only came to ask for allowance. Her boyfriend broke up with her and she didn't have anyone supporting her for a while. Flor didn't mind, as long as her mother didn't bother her so much.

"Flor, when are you visiting home?"

Flor shrugged, earning a scowl from her mother. She had long since moved away from the house. Her experiences with her previous stepfathers weren't exactly good. In fact, Flor hated them. And she hated how blind her mother was.

After all, she had no choice but to live alone when she was young; all because her mother had to stay with a different family. She didn't like any of them. This was the reason her relationship with her mother had already been ruined.

"I don't have time," Flor said. Her tone came out sharp. 

"Why are you always so rude to me!?"

"Just go," Flor said indifferently.

The two of them glared at each other. After a while, her mother gave up and left, without even saying thanks for the money.

When Carl finally came out, Flor thought that it would be awkward. But it wasn't. Carl seemed to sense that she didn't want to talk about it so he silently followed her instead.

For the rest of the morning, Flor kept glancing at him. She still couldn't believe that he was real.

Now looking at him sitting across her, she realized that everything was either real or she had gone permanently deranged. Not that she'd mind the latter.

Carl waved his hands in front of her as if to snap her out of her thoughts. His bowl was already empty, and she hadn't even touched hers yet.

"Don't you angels have any food up there?" Flor asked, mostly out of curiosity.