"El." He greeted his sister. He was caught off guard by her appearance, and his brows furrowed slightly.
"Where have you been? Why do you look like that?" Nathan asked Mariely.
"Ah, that girl forced me to be her third wheel," she said, pointing at Veron, who was with a guy.
"I thought you weren't home today?" He asked her again.
"We need to rest," she simply replied.
"Hello, good evening!" Veron greeted with a wave.
"Good evening, Veron," he said to her with a smile.
"Come in," he added.
"Thanks, po," she replied with a smile.
"Good evening," the man greeted him.
"Good evening," he returned the greeting.
"Please, come in. Sorry if the house is a bit messy," he apologized.
The man smiled. "It's no problem at all."
"Yeah? Where's Ate Nadia?" Mariely asked him.
"She's upstairs, resting. Do you need something from her?" he asked his sister.
She shook her head. "Brother, may I use the guest room?" she asked.
"Of course, you can," he replied.
"Have you already eaten?" he asked them.
"Yes, brother," Mariely answered as she massaged her foot. She rarely wore dresses and heels. He smiled at her.
"You really are beautiful; you need to have more confidence in yourself," he said and pinched his baby sister's cheek.
"Ouch, that hurts! I'm not a kid anymore," she complained.
He heard Veron laughing at her friend's reaction.
"By the way, what's your name again?" he asked the man who was quietly watching them.
"Oh, I'm sorry; I didn't introduce myself," the man said.
"I'm Andrew Carl Jackson-Flores," he replied.
Nathan frowned. "Did you say… Flores?" he asked.
The man nodded. Nathan tried to dig through his memory to remember where he had heard that surname before.
"Were you my classmate back then?" he asked.
The man chuckled lightly and nodded. "Yes, I was your classmate in primary school."
"Oh, I see. That's why you look so familiar," Nathan replied. "I didn't expect our paths to cross again, Carl," he added with a smile.
"I didn't expect it either," Carl replied. "You were so snobby back then," he said, chuckling.
"Were you really that snobby before?" His sister teased.
"No, I wasn't. Maybe that's just how I was. I don't know," he replied.
The two girls just laughed.
"By the way, congratulations on your wedding. I couldn't attend because I had to go back to work," Carl said with a sigh.
"Oh, thank you so much. I'm sure someone here will be getting married soon," he said, looking at Veron.
"That's still far off," she replied.
He laughed. "Anyway, just take it easy, Carl. You can use the room next to mine," he said.
"Thank you," Carl said in gratitude.
Nathan patted him on the shoulder.
"We'll change first, Kuya," Mariely said.
He just nodded. Then he went upstairs too—he needed rest as well.
XXX
"Nathan? Do you have guests?" Nadia asked as she stirred awake from her sleep.
"Did we wake you? Mariely just arrived," Nathan answered, sitting beside her.
"This late?" she asked, surprised.
He nodded. "Don't worry, she's with Veron. I think Veron dragged her along on a date," he said, laughing.
"Really?" she asked as she sat up.
"You want to take a peek? They might still be in the living room," he told her.
She nodded and quickly got out of bed, left the room, and peeked to see who Mariely's guest was. She saw her already changed, no longer wearing her sandals, and serving drinks to her guest. She was clearly a third wheel, especially with a guy around.
"Come on, I think you know him," Nathan said.
She raised an eyebrow. "Know him?" she asked.
He chuckled. "I guess you know that man—Andrew Carl Flores. Ring any bells?" he asked.
Her brows furrowed. "Really?" She couldn't believe what she heard.
"Yes, he is," he replied.
"He transferred schools in elementary and high school, right? I can't believe we'd cross paths again with Carl," she said.
"Yeah, I didn't expect it either," Nathan replied, wrapping an arm around her. "Let's go back to sleep," he added.
"Alright," she agreed, and they went back to Nathan's room. She lay down first, followed by Nathan.
He kissed her on the forehead and tucked her in. "Goodnight," he said.
"Yes, goodnight, hon."
He wrapped his arm around her waist. She fell asleep in his warm embrace that calmed her entire being.
She was already fast asleep when she was awakened by the call of nature. Her partner was still deep in sleep, so she got up quietly—thankfully, the bathroom was upstairs.
Still sleepy, she noticed voices from the living room, so she looked before going back.
Aren't they asleep yet? she wondered.
She went downstairs and checked the time—it was almost dawn.
"Nadia, good morning," Mariely greeted cheerfully.
"Good morning," she replied. She noticed Veron was still sleepy.
"Hello, Nadia, good morning," Veron greeted.
"Good morning. Where's your boyfriend?" She asked her.
"Oh, he already left. He said he had some things to take care of," Veron replied.
She nodded. "Why are you two up so early?" she asked.
"Well, Mariely and I have to head back to the condo early. I need to get my uniform for today," Veron said, scratching her head.
"Nadia, is Brother still asleep?" Mariely asked.
"Yes, he's still sleeping soundly. Did your boyfriend sleep well, Veron?" she asked.
"He's fine. Don't worry about it," Veron answered.
"Alright. I can't go back to sleep anymore, so I'll start preparing breakfast so my husband can eat when he wakes up."
The two girls exchanged glances and giggled softly.
"Nadia, don't spoil my brother too much, please," Veron said with a grin.
"You silly girl."
She shook her head as their mother appeared.
"Mom, I'll help you," Nadia said.
The girls laughed again.
"It really hits different when the wedding day's close," the two teased.
"Let them be," their mother said with a shake of her head and a quiet chuckle.
Nadia was already so used to being in the kitchen whenever she was at her fiancé's house—because there was always so much joy here.