22 Introduction of Her

After the meeting, Mr. Carlson suddenly remembered something. 'Did he just say Charles' girlfriend cried aloud? So how and where is she now and what is she doing? '

Without giving much thought, he asked the mayor as they descended down from the hall. "So how's his girlfriend now? It must be hard for her to have watched him go?"

"Oh, yes Mr. Carlson, I almost forgot. Its good you reminded me about this." the mayor paused as they reached the ground floor. He held Mr. Carlson's hand and looked up at his towering figure.

"Charles was very specific about his will. He made us promise to him that his beneficiary should be a single young man. It sounds ridiculous for us but he was so particular about it. We don't know but he seemed to have said something to his girlfriend to comfort her." He said as the young man intently lowered his head to politely listen to every word.

The mayor continued, " Charles' girlfriend has been drepressed for some weeks, I dont know now. But she is very smart. She found herself a job to occupy her while she is self-reviewing for her Licensure Exam. From what I heard, she is assigned at the Capital City. Maybe she will come home later to take the exam. You should meet her too. She's very pretty. That is if you don't have a girlfriend back home." The mayor smiled faintly.

Nero nodded and smiled as he considered what the mayor just said. He replied, "I would be glad to meet her, mayor. She must be a very nice and loving lady." He said as they started towards the exit.

"Off course she is, if I had another son, I would tell him to take the place of his brother. She's sweet and responsible. She actually graduated the suma cum laude of her batch. They were classmates with my son." the mayor said.

"What's her name by the way?" Nero remembered to ask.

"Daryle Duran. She belongs to a family of teachers. Although I heard my son say that she didn't want to get old inside a classroom. She prefers to travel and meet other people." Mr. Marquez said.

"Wowww! Where can I find her in the Capital City, I can't wait to meet her already.!" Nero exclaimed.

"She's working under VinTranCo. I don't know what work she applied for. We don't have her contact number but if you are interested, she is not that hard to find. Just go to VinTranCo bus terminal and ask." Mr. Marquez chuckled.

They shook hands outside the municipal building then Mr. Marquez was picked up by a van and sped away. He had to attend a dinner meeting with the other mayors of neighboring towns. Nero on the other hand hailed s taxi and went back to the bus terminal.

He was pondering about what the Mayor said. His plans for Heart and Optical centers. 'Such noble minded people' he murmured as she nodded continuously not noticing that the taxi driver was glancing at him through the side mirror.

When the traffic stopped, he felt awkward keeping his silence. He glanced outside and blurted out, " Your place is great and you guys are the greatest people!"

"Haha! Really sir?" the driver was caught un aware

"Yeah, I'm sure. That's why I love coming here!" He said.

"Why do you say that sir? You see, traffic alone is not great!" the driver laughed.

"Yeah, I see that. But other than this traffic, you people are amazing! You all have big hearts!" He said.

"Sir, you can say that again if you find yourself a girlfriend from here. Hahaha!" the driver joked.

"I will.I'll definitely will. Actually right now, I'm on my way to find her. She's missing." He said in an amused tone.

"She's missing? What happened sir? Did you quarrel?" the driver was so entertained.

"Not so. I will never quarrel with her if I'll find her. I'll pamper her with all my love. " he said like telling a short segment of a romance fiction novel.

"Yeah, right. That's right sir!" the driver said as he maneuvered the taxi through a narrow passage towards the bus terminal. "Sir, we're here. Thank you for visiting our place." he said.

Nero thanked him back as he gave a thousand peso bill which was five times much more than his fare.