Articles, Guns, and Poisons

#02

Harper...

May 20th, 2022

"Seriously, what happened? I thought you guys were okay?" Charles entered my house as a father worried about his dear chickens. He's been like this since we were children, he's more worried when I trip over than my dad who's so cool and just says 'put some bandage on and go back playing'. Don't get me wrong, I love my brother and I'm thankful that I have someone to talk to, but bro, get a life!

"Nothing. We just got on some disagreements over things, about work." I said while pouring tequila on two glasses and giving it to him. "Don't worry mom, it's gonna be fine." I don't even want to remember that day. And I'm also going to admit, I thought we were fine. That's why I agreed to go to dinner when he asked me. He said it's a peace offering. What an ass.

May 16th, 2022

I put on my blazer as I went out of the car. It's not that cold given that it's close to summer. My heels are louder than the whispers on every single person I passed by. It's 6 pm and this restaurant is not that full, yet. I reached the entrance and talked while getting my phone from my shoulder bag. "Reservation for Wesley Reed,"

The receptionist led me towards a private room where I saw him, sitting in his very fancy clothes. He has a navy blue shirt, and a black blazer partnered with the same color of pants. He stood up not taking his blue or black eyes of mine. I gotta be clear, there's no spark or anything. but I think he couldn't take his eyes off me because I'm that gorgeous. I know.

He texted me earlier today about this and I said yes, just so we can break the ice. And who says no to a free dinner? No one. We started ordering food. While waiting we had some talks. He said sorry about what happened, saying this is his peace offering. We decided to get to know each other, and it's fine with me. I'm liking his personality but...

"When did you start studying in the Philippines?" he asked me while the waiters put the second food on the table.

"Well, I moved there in 2015 and stayed there until I finished my master's degree in 2021. But I stayed for a year longer to rest and explore the country because they have great beaches." I said in excitement and even though the waiter's hands were blocking him, I can still see his reaction, raising his eyebrows, saying the same 'hmm' every time I answer and looking not interested in my stories but on something else.

This is what bothers me. He does this ever since we started talking earlier. Plus, he's asking different and specific questions. Like, we're going to food-related questions and he's gonna shift it back to my whereabouts in the year 2019. I hate it when I'm making efforts to do something and someone is pretending to care. Can they just say that they're not interested? It pisses me off when they're trying hard to care when it's clear that they're not.

I tried to forget that and just sliced a small amount of food when he asked, "So, when did you leave or did you go out of the Philippines to go anywhere else?" I couldn't stop my eyes from rolling and dropping my fork to the plate so loud it echoed on the entire room. "Is everything okay?"

"Oh, now you're concerned?" I left out a sarcastic smile and wiped off the bits of the sauce that went to my dress.