Seeing her again

“Hello neighbor."

It was a message from an unknown number.

Abe stared at his phone's screen in confusion, he hasn't made a new friend lately, and he also didn't think he had any reason to give out his number to anyone.

Angel didn't give him her number, and there was no way she had gotten his number.

Also, she wasn't his neighbor.

“Save my number, and text me back."

He received another text, making him more confused.

With his fingers on the keypad, Abe was about to ask who it was when it hit him.

On the bus earlier, Jemina had passed him her phone, telling him to type in his number.

But with how nervous he was, he didn't really remember and it was a surprise that he had typed in the right number for her.

‘What does she want?’Abe thought in his mind

“Good evening, Jemina." Abe replied

“Oh you remember, that's good."

He got a reply almost immediately

“Yes I do, I would like it if you can refer to me by my name and not "neighbor”." Abe tapped on the send button

“No. Neighbor is better, I like it and I'm not changing it." Jemina replied

She was obviously teasing him, and she was enjoying it.

There was nothing Abe could do about it, she had a leverage over him.

Even though she isn't talking about it now, there is no telling if she won't bring it up in the future.

“We should hangout." The vibration of the phone indicating a new message brought Abe out of his thoughts.

He didn't know what to reply with, but he decided to play safe.

“I don't know, my work this…” Abe was still typing when a new message came in.

" Are you free on Sunday? I won't take ‘No’ for an answer.”

Now Abe didn't know how to answer

“I'm not asking. Yes, you're free on Sunday, and yes you will hangout with me."

This was definitely a blackmail.

She is definitely forcing him, and her not mentioning the incident was making it even more scary for Abe.

He was being made to do what he didn't want to do, just because he was stupidly caught spying.

Abe sighed deeply, “Yes, I usually don't have anything to do on Sundays so I'm free." Abe replied, trying to make it sound like it was his choice.

She wasn't mentioning anything about the incident, so he just assumed (in his mind) for the moment that she was pestering him about hanging out and he finally accepted.

“Good. Remember to always reply to my texts. Goodnight."

Abe stared at the new message for a minute, he shut his phone off and placed it back on the nightstand.

He shifted that thought to the back of his head.

“Not tonight." Abe thought as he shut his eyes to sleep.

*****

Early morning, in front of a not-so-big hair salon, a car pulled up in front of it.

Opening the door, a woman alighted with a smile on her face.

“I'll call you later.” John said as Anita shut the door

" Bye.” Anita waved as the car made a reverse and drove back onto the street.

Abe had initially thought that Anita would have been gone the next morning just like the other day, but his uncle insisted he drove her to work.

So driving for 30 minutes in the opposite direction of the construction site, Anita was dropped off at the front of her salon.

" So you're getting married.” Abe said as he stared at an homeless man sleeping by the lamppost

“Yes, I am. Staying single is boring, and Anita thinks the same." John replied as he drove

“Finally gave in to Gary's persistent urging?" Abe teased

“No, it's nothing like that. I had always wanted something more with Anita, but I didn't want it to seem like I'm rushing things. So for a while we both messed around with each other, then things started developing. Finally she suggested we make it official, she wanted something more committed." John explained

“Uhnn! You seem happy." Abe said

“Yes I am. At first it was all about f-----g, then it developed into wanting to see her almost everyday, then it developed into not wanting to let her go, always wanting to be with her." John said, smiling.

“Will you be telling Gary?" Abe asked

" Not yet. He's more fun when he thinks he knows everything, don't you think." John chuckled

Few minutes later, they arrived at the usual restaurant opposite the construction site.

John packed the car and the uncle and nephew duo got out of the car, heading to the restaurant to get breakfast.

Another week was almost gone by with Abe waking up early in the morning, then going to work then coming back to eat take out.

But now he had improved a little bit, he had gotten used to the stress of the work.

He didn't fall asleep immediately he got home anymore, even if he wanted to, he couldn't.

A text message from Jemina every night made sure of it.

That was a new addition to his daily routine.

Wake up early, go to work, eat at the restaurant, work, come back home to eat take out, then take a bath before replying every message Jemina sends until she says goodnight.

Abe shut off his phone's screen, Jemina texted him goodnight.

He sighed as he placed the phone on the nightstand, but he smiled as he remembered he would be seeing her again tomorrow.

(Author's note: you guys might not be aware, but your encouragement goes a long way for me. Your gifts, your votes, and your reviews does not just make me happy, it makes me motivated to continue writing for you. So please encourage me.)