In This Lifetime

Chapter 37: You Know Better?

[A/N: I'll just put a trigger warning here]

A knock coming from the door broke out the silence inside Win's office which pulled his attention and focus from the paperworks he's been compiling since this morning.

"Come in." He gently said as the door opens, revealing someone whom he wanted to talk to to after the night of Adrian's party. It's been a day that has passed— but since work in the firm is catching up to him abruptly, he can't find the time to grace the architectural firm. "Architect Pam?"

"Hey engineer. Can I talk to you?" Pam beamed a smile towards him which the other ushers her to sit on the couch as he stood up and went in front of her.

"Y-yeah, actuall I do too." Win shyly remarked as he recalls how he mistook her as Bright's lover but recently found out that she's just his closest cousin. That's really damn stupid thinking.

"I know you are, Win. I came here because I saw the two of you last night talking outside and it seemed very serious." Pam chuckled as she cleared her throat and looked at him calmly. "Win, I'm sorry the other day for telling you I was the person who called you that night of the incident. I might have frightened you or made you overthink so much about it. Bright popped out of nowhere and I couldn't even explained myself because the two of you immediately left!" She giggled which made the other smile profusely.

"I-I just want to know everything... please." Win said firmly with his face etched with anticipation and Pam nods in response.

"I decided to tell you that time because I don't want to see the two of you walk in the dark anymore. You know, I've always seen Bright to be too reckless and naive— he's always been a coward, to say the least. What happened between the two of you is because of an accident and I'm sorry I couldn't help you that night." Pam heaved a sigh and Win just stared at her while listening to every word she is saying.

"This time, I'll tell you everything I know. I was meeting a colleague that night— and since I haven't seen him for ages, we decided to hang out somewhere and grab some drinks, with which I let him choose a bar since he told me it was his treat. But so after checking the hotel I was managing, I saw him walking around a bar near my building— which I thought was very odd because it wasn't the bar we were supposedly going. I just shrugged it off since maybe he had other commitments that night so I just went straight to the bar where we will be having our drinks and waited for him."

"T-this is Joss right? Your colleague?" Win breathily said while Pam nods to agree. That's what he's talking about when I met him that night.

"Yes, we were part of a student body organization when we were in college." Pam remarks which made Win huff in disbelief. "So then after a while, he arrived eventually and of course we drank alcohol and catched up with our lives. But out of nowhere, he just excused himself because he told me there was an emergency somewhere, and so I thought maybe it was just from the projects he has been working on and nothing more. I just let him leave and with which I stayed there a little longer. Until in the middle of the night, my staff in the hotel called me— saying that they have seen my cousin's drunken ass being dragged to my hotel."

"You know Bright never gets drunk right?" Pam hisses which made Win shakily nods his head. "He hasn't introduced me to you before but he had always talked to me about you, Win. Well one time, he was planning to use me to surprise you in your firm because our firms are already partners at that time— that's why I knew your contact number. I'm sorry, he's a bit sneaky please don't tell him I spilled that to you." Pam giggled which made Win frown in annoyance.