***

FLUKE

Never thought that he would be so invested in it. The day after our dinner talk, he sent me a bouquet followed by some text messages greeting me and asking thoughtful questions. I never skipped meals since then because he had always reminded me to do so. He sent me messages every day or called when we both had time free. He was always attentive whenever we saw each other. Yes, we have regularly seen each other since then. Once a week meet-up became twice, it suddenly became an every other day schedule. We had become closer and known each other even more.

It was weird already not to receive or hear from him during the day. He didn't send me the usual greeting this morning, and I haven't received any replies to the messages I sent to him, so I got worried, for he never failed to send me anything.

It was already almost noon when I decided to just call him.

"Hello." Said a woman on the other line.

I thought I made the mistake of clicking on my contacts, so I looked at it again, but it was Ohm's number. I furrowed my eyebrows thinking about who might be answering his phone. He told me last night that he didn't have any work today, so was that the reason why I didn't hear anything from him? So he was busy with another woman? This was no good. And yes, jealousy was what I felt when I first heard the woman's voice. My thoughts were already eating me when I heard the woman on the other line keep on talking to me. That's when I realized that I zoned out and didn't pay attention to her.

"Hello?" She said again for the umpteenth time. "P' Fluke? Hello? P' Fluke?"

How did she know it was me though I haven't said anything.

"Uhm. . . I'm sorry. I think I got the wrong number." I said hurriedly. I was about to end the call when she stopped me.

"Phi. . . wait!" She exclaimed. "You're P' Fluke, right? And you're calling P' Ohm?" She asked with a cheerful voice.

"Hmm. . .yeah."

"Yey!" She screamed which made me remove my phone from my ear for a while. "O my! I need to tell this to my mom!"

Why would she tell to her mom? I was confused and stunned at the same time that I wasn't able to say anything.

"P' Ohm didn't tell us anything about you and him being this close now. I'm gonna punish him later."

That even made me more confused.

"May I know who I am talking to?" I asked 'cause I wanted to end whatever it was I was feeling.

"I'm Pine, P' Ohm's sister."

"Oh. . ." Yes, that was the only thing I said. I felt so bad that I got jealous and thought bad of Ohm.

"P' Fluke, are you looking for my brother?" She asked and I answered yes. "He was with Dad. We came here to his condo very early in the morning, and Dad asked him to accompany him somewhere. He forgot his phone on his bed. Maybe he didn't notice that he had left it. Dad was in a hurry, you know. They said they would come back by lunch, but I don't think that would happen."

So that was the reason why he didn't send me any messages. I wondered how his reaction would be once he knew he left his phone.

"Oh. . . Are you alone there?" I asked.

"Yes. And my brother only has instant noodles in the cupboard. I wonder how he survives living alone." She complained, and I chuckled.

"Do you want to grab something to eat? I am about to go out for lunch. So would you like to go with me?"

"Of course, Phi."

***

Pine and I were almost done with our lunch when her phone rang.

"Yes, Dad?" She said, then she signed for me to be quiet and turned on the loudspeaker, so I could hear him as well.

"Princess, where are you?" He asked gently. "Why are you not in your brother's place?"

"I'm eating lunch. Dad, don't expect me to eat my brother's instant noodles for lunch. I am with my friend."

"Man or woman?" He asked seriously. Dads would always be protective of their daughters.

"A man."

"What? Who is that?"

"Dad, calm down. I'm in good hands, and you will be happy, too, if you know who he is."

"Huh? Who is he?"

"Wait," She said and smiled. "Where's P' Ohm? Is he somewhere near you?"

"He's in his room. He went straight to his room and said he would call someone."

"Oh. Okay. But just be quiet, Dad." When we heard him agree, she continued. "I am with P' Fluke right now."

"What? How?" She told him how we ended up meeting up for lunch. "Hmm. . . He was complaining to me when he realized he left his phone. So, Fluke must be the person your brother is calling right now." He chuckled.

When I heard his last statement, I put out my phone from my bag, and true enough, he had already had five missed calls and more than ten messages. I showed my phone to Pine and she laughed.

"He must be worried sick right now that P' Fluke is not answering his calls." She stated. "Just don't tell him that I'm with P' Fluke, Dad. Okay? I'll be back in no time."

"Okay. Just say hi to Fluke for me."

"Will do, Dad. See you!"

She laughed out loud once the call ended. I gave her a confused look.

"I can imagine my brother's look now that he can't contact you. Don't answer his calls for the day, okay?"

"You're so mean to him."

"No, Phi. He was at fault here. He didn't tell us that you were already dating. How could he? No one in the family knows about it. If this morning didn't happen, I wouldn't even know about it." She said and pouted. She looked like her brother when she was whining.

I smiled as I looked at her. "So it's okay to you that. . ."

"That you are dating?" She asked and I nodded. "Of course, Phi." She reached for my hand and squeezed it a little. "The whole family loves you. We don't want any other partner for my brother but you. Remember that, Phi." She said seriously.

"Thank you. But we. . . we're not in a relationship yet."

"Take your time, Phi. I know you'll get there. You don't have to rush. You have all the time in your hands to get to know and be comfortable with each other. Don't go into a relationship if you're in doubt, you will just end up getting hurt. Hmmm?"

I nodded my head and smiled. "I'm comfortable with him. Aside from my best friends, he's one of those people I'm close with now and someone I could lean on. I'm just waiting for some signs."

"So does that mean, you can be my brother for real? I mean soon, right?" She moved to the seat next to me and hugged me. "P' Fluke, I'm so happy, right now."

I hugged her back and caressed her head. It felt so nice to talk and spent time with her. She looked at me and smiled. "By the way, I haven't told you that your contact name on my brother's phone is My Baby. That's why I knew it was you." I stared at her in confusion. "He told us that you were his baby even though he had only met you once then. He was that crazy in love with you."

I just stayed quiet, for I didn't know how to react to that.

***