BRIANNA

“It’s me, Carlos—the guy who gave you a ride to an estate the other day,” the guy said.

“Which day was that?” I asked, trying to remember when he had given me a ride.

“I don’t really remember the day, but you said it was your boss who sent you on an errand, and the sun was scorching that very day,” he explained. I thought back to that day and remembered. How could I have forgotten so fast?

“Oh! Carlos, I’m sorry for not remembering you. Foolish me,” I said apologetically.

“It’s fine. There must have been a lot on your mind,” he replied. “How have you been?”

“I’ve been doing great, thanks for asking. What about you?” I said, then asked.

“I’ve been doing well, too. Is Adrian still acting like the jerk he is? Is he sending you on stupid errands? Has he changed?” he asked all at once.

“Hey, calm down!” I chuckled before replying to his questions. “Yes, Mr. Adrian is still being a jerk. No, he’s not sending me on stupid errands. And no, he hasn’t changed. I don’t think that man can change to save his life.” He laughed at the last part.

“You’re very right. He’s been like this for as long as I can remember. It’d be great if he could change, though, but I doubt he ever will,” he said, and I laughed out loud.

“Anyways, I came here to meet with someone and saw you. I thought you looked familiar, so I decided to come see up close. Now that I’ve seen it’s you, I can go.”

“Oh, alright.” I smiled at him.

“Do you mind if I have your contact? Who knows if I’ll ever see you again after this or not?” he asked. Carlos didn’t seem like a bad person, and it wouldn’t hurt to give him my contact, so I decided to. I called out my phone number to him, and he entered it into his phone. A second later, my phone rang.

“That’s my number. Do well to save it,” he grinned boyishly. “And thanks for giving it to me. I’ll call you later. Bye!” He waved before turning around and walking away, and I watched him until he was out of sight. I took my phone, which had just rung, and saved his number with his name.

“Who was that?” Cherry, who had been quietly watching the exchange, finally spoke up.

“Oh, he was the guy who gave me a ride to an estate the day Mr. Adrian sent me on an errand, not knowing it was a prank,” I explained, continuing to eat the food I had abandoned earlier, which was getting colder by the second.

“Wow, he’s quite handsome,” she grinned, wiping her mouth with a napkin before chugging down the glass of water in front of her.

“Almost every man you meet is handsome to you, Cherry,” I said, bored.

“Not all of them. This one’s really handsome,” she insisted.

“Fine, he’s handsome. I’ve admitted it. Now let me eat in peace before I lose interest in this food. It’s growing cold,” I practically begged her. She nodded, acting like she zipped her mouth shut.

“Thank you,” I sighed and began eating again. Within minutes, I was done and downed a glass of water, letting out an almost inaudible belch.

“Excuse me,” I said to no one in particular, as it had become second nature to say that whenever I belched.

“You can unzip your mouth now, I’m done,” I said to Cherry, who had been watching me quietly the whole time. She made a gesture of unzipping her mouth and exhaled loudly.

“Phew!” she exclaimed. “That was pure torture, and nothing else.”

“No, that wasn’t torture. It’s an act of learning to keep one’s mouth shut sometimes,” I replied with a smirk.

“It was torture!” she argued. “It was so damn hard, but I had to stay quiet to let you eat in peace. I’m never doing that again.”

“You should learn to do that more. It helps a lot. In no time, you’ll stop being a parrot,” I smirked, intentionally calling her a parrot, knowing she’d get upset about it.

“I’m not a parrot!” she whisper-yelled. “I’m just trying to make the atmosphere cheerful since you can be an antisocial idiot sometimes. You’ve hurt my feelings.” She blinked back tears. My gosh, I was just joking with her, and now she was close to tears. What’s wrong with me?

“Hey, Cherry, don’t cry, please. I was just kidding. You’re not a parrot, you’re the complete opposite of a parrot,” I apologized, moving closer to hug her.

“What’s the opposite of a parrot?” she hiccuped, still teary-eyed.

“Uhm… uhm… I don’t know, I wasn’t taught what the opposite of a parrot is in school,” I said, and she giggled.

“A parrot doesn’t have an opposite, idiot—or does it?” she wondered.

“That doesn’t matter. I’m sorry for calling you a parrot. I was just joking, I didn’t mean it,” I apologized again.

“It’s fine, I’m not angry,” she said, blinking away her tears.

“I can’t believe you fell for that. Ah, I got back at you!” she suddenly grinned, and I quickly disengaged from the hug. I stared at her face, now filled with a mischievous glint, her smile wide.

“Wait… that was a prank?” I asked, wide-eyed.

“Yes, it was. Instant revenge,” she giggled, and I stared at her like she had grown a second head.

“You totally messed with my feelings,” I stood up.

“It was payback,” she replied. Why am I even getting angry when I was the one who started it? It’s a draw now, 50-50.

“Fine, you got your revenge. Let it end here,” I said, and she nodded.

“Fine with me,” she agreed.

Since we were done with our meal, I waved the waitress over, asked for the bill, and paid. I picked up my bag, Cherry did the same, and we walked out of the restaurant.

When we got outside, we bade each other goodbye.

“Good night, Brianna,” she said.

“Good night, bestie. Good luck with your interview,” I waved, and we went our separate ways.