The Independent Women's Club

[7] VVV

[7]

It's been a week since the last time I saw Yano. I've decided to distance myself from him, so I won't confuse myself anymore. I'm not saying that it was a big deal. I'm just the type of person who easily jumps into conclusions, and to protect myself from getting any future damage, I'd rather think in advance. Also, I want to maintain living a simple life, just like what I used to.

I woke up at 6:00 am because today is an important day. A week has passed so quickly. We didn't realize that Dionne's third branch will be opening today. She informed us for the second time around that we have to be there at 9:00 am, and right now, I'm good to go.

Her new branch is located at BGC, so it took me almost an hour to get there. There was traffic, as usual, but that's the advantage of driving a motorcycle. After parking my motorcycle, I went to a nearby convenience store to buy a bottle of water. I suddenly felt dehydrated because of the hot weather.

I checked my Viber and found out that Solar, Yumi, and Zani are already there. I finished my bottle of water first, before heading to the restaurant. It's not that far from the convenience store, so I had a glimpse of the people waiting outside. I also saw Yumi, Solar, and Zani from afar. Dionne's probably at the front row because she'll be cutting the ribbon.

"I told you, he's cute," says Solar while I'm walking towards them.

"Who's cute?" I interrupted. Before she can answer me, someone took our attention.

"Hi, ladies. I'll take a group photo of you," the photographer said while pointing the camera to us. Before I can start taking a pose, I saw someone familiar. "Ma'am? Can you look at the camera?" says the photographer, but I didn't give him a response. Instead, I just stared at the man who's approaching us right now.

"That's the cute guy," Solar whispered to me.

"What are you doing here?" Yano and I asked each other. We're both surprised, but for him, it's an excitement kind of surprise. For me, it's a troubled one.

"What's happening here?" Solar asked while looking so confused.

"I'm here for work. My company's covering the event for TD's branch opening," he answered to me. "You?" he asked.

"The owner is a friend of mine," I answered.

"Hello? Hello? What's happening here?" Solar asked again.

"He's the book cover artist," I answered without looking at her. I can see their shocked reaction from my peripheral vision.

"What a small world," Yumi says while looking at me...and Yano.

"Sir, I'll go check the front row to take some photos," says the photographer to Yano. He nodded in response.

"This is interesting," he said with a smile in his face.

"I don't think so," I thought to myself.

Yano introduced himself to my friends before he went back to his business. Solar gave me that tell-me-everything-later look, while Yumi kept teasing me. As usual, Zani just laughed it off. After the ribbon-cutting, we rushed to see Dionne, so we can extend our greetings.

Nearby, we saw her talking to a young, tall, charismatic guy. We couldn't help but wonder who he is, so we approached them. The guy noticed us before Dionne could. Solar went to Dionne and gave her a quick hug before sending her greetings. Then, followed by Yumi, Zani, and the last one is me.

"Thank you, girls!" she said with a big smile while reaching for the flowers we gave her.

"You love tulips?" asked the guy. The hidden meaning behind that question was, 'are you not going to introduce me to them?'