Chapter 6

      Estelle winced when she got up her bed. She made the stupidest mistake of cleaning her ears with Q-tips and she reached too deep. She can feel the inside of her right ear sore because of it but she can't carelessly drink pain reliever or any medicine because her body can't take the strong ones. One time, during college, she drank a pain reliever too strong, her eyes swelled. It took a week before her eyes reverted back. She's scared to make the same mistake again. Whatever pain she's suffering from, all she can take is paracetamol. Slowly, she got ready for work.

"Papa, can you drive me to work?" 

Her mother's about to protest but stopped when she saw how she looked. "Why? Are you okay?" she touched her forehead. "You're hot, are you sure you don't want to stay at home?"

"No, I don't have anything much to do at the office, anyway. It would be a waste not to go" she doesn't want any deductions from her salary. But she really needs to keep herself from moving too much. It's just her ear that's sore but her whole body hurts.

"You call me if you feel worse and I'll pick you right up" her father worriedly told her.

"Okay" she just replied.

"One time, during college, I was hit by a motorcycle. I was limping the whole day, and still went home alone" Markl mindlessly said.

"Why are you still here?" their mother pulled his ear up making stand up. Estelle heard him cry out of pain before running away. Not long after, they also went out.

"Thank you, Papa" she kissed him before getting off his truck. 

She walked slowly to the biometrics to clock in.

"Good morning" someone greeted her.

When she turned around, it's Theo. "Good morning" she greeted back.

"Have I ever told you how much I appreciate that you can tell me and Kuya apart?" Theo tilted his head, looking at her. "There's something different about you today. How should I put it? You look like you're on the verge of malfunctioning" he's rubbing his chin.

Estelle shook her head. "I'm not malfunctioning today, sorry" she started walking to her office. Curiously enough, Theo didn't say anything more than that. He watched her walk away for a few seconds before going on his way himself.

Her day is just as she anticipated. She encoded the database she's been assigned to, slept during lunchbreak and clocked out as soon as it hit five in the afternoon. Her father is already outside waiting for her. The next day is the same, and so is the day after that. Her parents are so worried of her still going to work even when she's not feeling good, but knew that in times like this, she will also learn from it. On the fourth day, Friday, the pain is already subsiding it's tolerable for her to be her usual self again, laughing and eating as much as she wants. That's the only time she really read her messages. Some of it were from her father, telling her he's almost there, or reminding her to eat her lunch and take medicine. And all the others were from Santi. The last message she got from him was yesterday.

What's wrong with you? Why are you not answering my messages?

Do you want me to go there and ask you myself?

Estelle scratched the back of her head. Must he really threaten her to personally go at her office because she wasn't able to answer his messages? She sighed. And that's yesterday. That day, she didn't receive anything from him so she went on her day as usual. She was about to sleep when she received a message, it's from her father.

Baby, I can't pick you up later. Are you strong enough to commute now?

Estelle smiled. She's the eldest of them but she's the only one their father call baby.

Yup, don't worry, and sent.

After five, she went to clock out when she received a message from Santi. 

Meet me at the usual parking spot, he said.

Estelle can't count how many times she sighed already. The usual parking spot, it's the place where anyone commits a murder, no one will know. She walked ever so slowly, like she'll find her doom at the end of the procession. She gasped when she felt someone grabbed her arm. It was a little late when she flinched from it. The pain from her ear might have subsided, but it's not completely gone. The pain is resonating to her whole body.

"What is wrong with you?" Santi growled and pushed her to one of the enormous columns of the area.

"You're hurting me" she whispered, not wanting to antagonize him more.

"I've been calling you, sending you messages. You do know I can see that you've already seen them, right?"

"I was sick" was the only explanation she can give him. She needs to give him a brief, reasonable one before he could think of doing anything.

"What?" his grip of her arms loosened.

      Ah, it worked, she thought. "I was sick, I can't call or read message"

"But you still came to work?" he sounded like it was the silliest thing he's ever heard. "Never mind that, how do you feel?"

"It's not as painful anymore" she replied.

"What's painful?" Ah, she doesn't really want to tell anyone. She just wants to pass it off as a simple fever. But looking like he'd let her live, she told him all about the Q-tip incident. "How can you be so careless?" he's guiding her to the car already.

"I know! I know! I'm stupid, you don't have to shove it in my face" she rolled her eyes.

"I'm not saying you're stupid, only you're careless. Let's go have dinner" Santi declared. It's not a question, it's not even a request. They were already out of the company building when she started regaining herself. What was he even mad about? "What do you want to eat?"

"Anything's fine by me" she simply answered but was surprised when Santi laughed a little. "Why?" she asked him.

"I always hear that women often reply with that" he smiled at her.

She didn't answer for a while, and Santi didn't bother saying anything after that. He didn't bring a driver with him so they're both sitting in the front. "Why are you mad about it?" she asked him when she's composed herself again. "It's not like I'm the only friend you have"

Santi understood her question and his eyes went back to the road. "I'm not sure. But those days, I was craving for your company. Is it unusual?"

VERY unusual! Estelle can only think to herself but didn't have the nerve to say aloud.