Chapter 6 – Double Trouble

The next day when 5:30 P.M. rolled around, Ehlo wasn’t the only one there waiting for Joanne and Yvonne to show up at East Shore Café. There was also Angela–because she wanted to keep Ehlo in line. Then the others were delayed in traffic. So by the time 6:00 P.M. rolled around, Ehlo wasn’t the least bit surprised that aside from Joanne and Yvonne, there were also Wallace, Andy, Achel, Kris, Nic, and Cynthia. What he was surprised about was seeing Bryant, Janine, and Novia with them.

“What’s with the whole town coming over?” Ehlo asked, eyeing them suspiciously.

“Hey, they wanted to come,” Wallace responded, shrugging his shoulders. He wasn’t showing fear of Ehlo’s wrath though, because he seemed laid-back as he settled at a table nearby with Yvonne. “And speak for yourself, Huang. Didn’t you say he moved on already?”

Ehlo wasn’t tongue-tied by Wallace’s confrontation either. He had on his confident smile. “Come on, Huo. It’s not your first day knowing me, or him.”

Wallace had on his amused smile. “Still trying to cover your tracks, Huang?”

Ehlo shrugged. “Whatever, man.”

By that time, the others had already settled down at some tables nearby as well. Bryant, Janine, and Novia were sitting at the same table as Wallace and Yvonne. Joanne, Andy, Achel, and Kris opted for a table next over. Nic and Cynthia had settled for the table to Wallace’s left, which now turned Wallace’s table into the middle table. Ehlo and Angela were actually sitting at the railing instead of at some table like the rest of them.

“Let’s get started then,” Angela interfered, knowing if she let Huang and Huo battled it out anymore, they would never get to the ‘meeting’ part.

And just like that, Ehlo had on an amused smile. It wasn’t one ready to mock the others of this particular meeting. Yet it was a sense of reminiscent washing over him. Like how it was years ago that one time when they held the meeting there for Jacky’s sake. Now? Still the same.

“So, we all agreed to investigate this whole Lynn thing, right?” Ehlo spoke up when the others were looking at him and Angela.

“I thought you said we didn’t agree on it,” Yvonne reminded him of yesterday’s conversation.

Ehlo wasn’t taken back by Yvonne’s comment either. “Come on, he was right there, what am I supposed to say?”

“You had no problem confronting him in the past,” Joanne reminded Ehlo. “Remember how you kept bringing forth the straightforward approach? Unlike the rest of us who were protecting him?”

Ehlo had on another smile, shaking his head. “You guys sure aren’t letting me off with this one, huh?”

“Might want to speed it up a little, Huang,” Wallace jumped in, looking at his watch.

Ehlo scoffed. “What’s your hurry, Huo?”

“Some of us have to get home, you know,” Wallace retorted, not missing a beat.

“All right,” Angela interfered once again. “It doesn’t matter if we agree or disagree before, but the main purpose today is to get to the bottom of the whole Lynn thing so we could all move on, okay?”

Ehlo had on his charming smile, trying to disarm Angela’s hostile expression. Yet he quickly turned to face the others again, knowing he needed to get home and finish his latest project as well. “Like I said earlier, you all should–okay, maybe most of us–should know him by now. If he’s really moving on and having a new girlfriend like it’s believed, then why does he seem troubled? I wanted to let him off yesterday because I’d learned from my past mistake. Getting mad at him won’t help. Let’s just see how it goes before we react.”

Wallace crossed his arms in front of him. “So what do you suggest, Huang?”

Ehlo gestured his hand in the air. “The typical getting him to talk about her and then suggest a meetup, what else? So we could get to know her and spy.”

“That’s it?” Joanne asked, her tone reflected of obvious disappointment.

“Patient, kid, patient,” Ehlo reassured her, though his tone was reeking of taunting.

Joanne scowled, not caring if Bryant, Janine, and Novia were witnessing another bout of her tantrums.

“Huang,” Wallace interfered this time. “You’re pushing it.”

Ehlo shrugged, his smart-aleck smile still on. “That’s just the first mini step of the plan. We have to lure her into the trap before proceeding, right?”

“Finally, you’re getting to the point, Huang,” Wallace complimented Ehlo, even giving him a thumbs-up signal.

“So after that, we confront him?” Andy asked, his eyes scanning all the faces present instead of at Ehlo–though he was obviously asking Ehlo.

Ehlo had on a secretive smile. “No, we’re going to stalk her to see what she’s really up to and then we strike.”

“Or we could do what civilized people do and pull her files,” Tony’s voice reached their ears at that time.

It was also then that the others turned to see Tony walking toward them with Esther and a stranger. It was strange to see Tony and Esther together these days, but it was indeed true. Yet no one spoke up, not even Ehlo who was supposed to be directing the meeting.

“Eddie!” Janine called out at that time, getting up from her spot and walking over to the newly arrived group. “What are you doing here?”

“I should be asking you that question,” Eddie–the stranger whom they haven’t met yet–returned, his smile teasing.

“Hey, you guys,” Esther greeted them.

“Hi,” The others by the table and railing returned, still staring and glimpsing between Tony and Esther.

“Oh, Eddie’s also my co-worker,” Esther told them, gesturing toward Eddie.

Joanne, Andy, and Achel were nodding while Esther told the others who’d never met Eddie before.

“Why are you two together anyway?” Ehlo found his voice around then. “You planning to get back together? Or are you already back together?”

And that was also when Eddie turned his attention to them. He and Janine had finished their side teasing already, so he had followed Janine to her table. Upon hearing Ehlo’s words, he turned to look at Tony and Esther also.

“Stop,” Angela said, hitting Ehlo on the shoulder. She turned to Tony and Esther after that. “You know him.”

Tony shook his head, smiling. “No, I saw them walking around so I offered them a ride here.” But then he turned to Esther–who was sitting between him and Joanne. “I’ll help you track the manager down later. Shouldn’t be too hard.”

Esther smiled and nodded.

“Totally getting back together,” Ehlo whispered to Angela.

“We can still hear you, you know,” Wallace said. “Come on, Huang, still the same meeting or not?”

Ehlo shrugged. “Tony interrupted me.”

Wallace had on his amused smile again. “That was the only excuse you came up with?”

“Actually,” Tony spoke up again, facing them, in general, this time. “If you’re worried for him, then why don’t you just do a background check on her? Wouldn’t that solve a lot of problems than resorting to past stalking methods?”

“No money?” Ehlo offered, obviously responding to Tony’s comment about them resorting to stalking methods instead of taking more effective measures.

It was Tony’s turn to turn on his amused expression. “Coming from you?”

Ehlo shrugged. “Hey, we have nothing to do recently, so I’m just trying to crank up the hype for us.”

“I could ask my old dad to scan her for us,” Yvonne said.

Ehlo pointed at her. “Come on, girl. Don’t expect me to believe that he’s going to help you after you resigned already.”

Yvonne shrugged. “What do you know? I’m just good like that.”

“So filtering out all your jokes right now,” Tony resumed the initial conversation. “I’ll be in charge of doing a background check. Just make sure to send along information when you guys finally meet her.”

“Yeah, we’ll send you a snapshot,” Wallace verified, knowing it was up to him and not Ehlo.

“But we can’t just suddenly pretend like we’re eager to meet her,” Yvonne pointed out. “Even if Ehlo said he supported Jacky, but he wouldn’t believe the rest of us.”

Wallace had on his cunning smile. “I have an idea.”

Yvonne turned to him. “What?”

“Have Huang and Qiao finish their argument at home.”

“What are you getting at, Huo?” Ehlo asked, his hands shoved into his jacket pockets.

“Come on, Huang, think about it.”

Ehlo wrinkled his face. Then he smiled and pointed at Wallace. “Clever.”

“What?” Joanne jumped in, obviously confused.

Ehlo turned to Joanne. “Remember that disagreement we had yesterday before he came back? Pretend we haven’t finished it yet and continue it today.”

“Then I’ll ease right into it with playing the peacemaker,” Wallace continued where Ehlo left off. “I’ll say something about letting us meet Lynn so we could decide for ourselves. Then he’ll have to let her meet us.”

“What if he says no?” Yvonne antagonized.

“Keep arguing until he says yes,” Ehlo answered this time, knowing where Wallace was heading–without Wallace needing to clarify it any further. Then he scanned everyone present once before tapping his watch. “Meeting’s adjourned, you can all go now.”

“That’s it?” Janine asked, getting up from her spot. “And I thought it would be all dramatic and…”

“Hey, Miss, we’re only in the first mini step,” Ehlo said, sounding defensive. “The reason why we have to do it here is because he lives with us, you know.” Then he turned to Bryant. “You still moving in tomorrow?”

Bryant nodded. “Yeah, I already lined up transportation.”

“Are you kidding me? Call them and cancel, we got it under control.”

“But what about furniture?”

“I’ll go back home and borrow Dad’s van.”

Bryant looked reassured then. “If you say so.”

Since Ehlo announced the end of the meeting, the others had already gotten up and were making their move. Yet when Eddie heard Ehlo and Bryant talking, he turned to Bryant.

“You’re moving in with him?” Eddie asked, surprised.

“Hey, it’s your loss,” Ehlo jumped in, still sounding defensive. “You let go of a chef to rent it out to some other guy so it’s not like we’re stealing the chef away from you.”

“Sure, Huang, keep talking,” Wallace said, yawning in the process. Although he wasn’t tired, just yawning to emphasize Ehlo’s tale was boring him. He grabbed onto Yvonne’s hand at that time. “Maybe we should go to dinner before heading home for the show.”

“Since we’re already here, why don’t we just order something?” Tony suggested.

“Duh, right?” Ehlo said, looking inside the café also.

In fact, the ones who were about to leave returned. They ended up returning to their previous seats. Ehlo, Angela, Wallace, and Yvonne ended up going inside to get menus and ordered drinks for them. Perhaps, it was also their first time in a long time–aside from holiday gatherings–to eat in a large group like this one. And it was probably also the first time they witnessed Tony and Esther talking and getting along like old times again. It wasn’t like they were at odds all these years yet they seemed to be interacting only for the sake of the group, not wanting others to feel the need to choose between them. This time, their interactions were more natural.

*****

The argument between Ehlo and Joanne got postponed until the next day. It was because Jacky didn’t return until late that night, so Joanne couldn’t stick around too late. The argument actually took place during Bryant’s move in. Although the guys claimed to have it under control with the move, Janine and Novia were also around helping. They had claimed something about wanting to see the habitat their brother and cousin–respectively–was staying at for the upcoming days. Ehlo and Wallace had no problem with that. As for Jacky, he left early in the morning to go take care of some matters. He said he would be back in time to help with the rest of the move. Aside from Janine and Novia helping with the move, there were, of course, Angela, Yvonne, Cynthia, and Nic. But what surprised them was Eddie’s appearance. Even though they’d known him to be easygoing and friendly after that first meeting at East Shore Café, but they hadn’t expected him to come along and help as well. Or perhaps Eddie was making an excuse to tag along and witness the so-called ‘grand plan’ going into effect. Joanne, Andy, and Achel didn’t come until around the time Jacky came back. However, they were still able to help with the move.

“I guess being famous has its benefits, huh?” Ehlo teased when they took a break around 10. “I mean, look at all these people coming to help you move in.”

“It’s not like I want to draw all this attention,” Bryant said, feeling helpless as well.

Ehlo clapped Bryant’s shoulder. “Relax, man. I’m just kidding. You’ll get used to it.” He looked around then. “Eh, where’s Yan?”

Andy shrugged. “When I called her earlier, she said she was going somewhere with Tony.”

Ehlo’s mischievous smile made its appearance then. “You mean they’re seriously getting back together?”

Andy shrugged again. “How should I know?”

“Want to bet?”

“You seriously have too much time on your hands, Huang,” Wallace sabotaged around then.

It was Ehlo’s turn to shrug this time. “What could I say, Huo? It’s just that it’s too strange to see them together recently and getting along like that.”

“They used to date?” Janine asked.

“Yeah. But they broke up because she didn’t want him to wait for her.”

Janine wrinkled her face. “What’s that all about?”

“It’s complicated.”

“It’s called ‘high-class society’ drama,” Wallace inputted, his tone far from helpful.

“Thanks, Huo.”

“I wasn’t talking about you.”

“Why are you anxious?” Joanne suddenly spoke up. “Have a meeting with someone?”

Joanne was talking about Jacky. He had been staring at his watch since they sat down for the break in the living room. Some of them were scattered around elsewhere.

“Leave him alone, will you?” Ehlo jumped in, giving Joanne a look.

Joanne returned it with an intense glare of her own. “I was just asking a question.”

“Oh, really?”

“What’s wrong with you?”

“Hey, you’ve been nagging and whining about it for two whole days, I’m sure we all know where this conversation is going.”

“Where is it going then?”

“Lynn again, right? Give him a break.”

“Hmp.”

Joanne had crossed her hands in front of her and scrunched up her face like the other day they had witnessed her giving Jacky the cold shoulders.

“Kids,” Ehlo said, shaking his head. “Seriously though, drop it. We’re already so sick and tired of it, and you know what? It has only been two days.”

Joanne got up from her spot and headed toward the kitchen, no longer caring to retort to Ehlo’s comments.

“Huang, don’t aggravate her anymore,” Wallace said. “Like you weren’t curious about Lynn too.”

Ehlo shrugged. “Well, unlike someone, I don’t just turn into a crazy maniac and attack someone I haven’t met yet.”

“I already met her!” Joanne shouted from the kitchen.

“You just got a glimpse and then ran back here to whine, kid.”

“Enough already, we’re taking a break right now,” Wallace interfered again. “So it would be better to save our energy for the move.”

“Huh,” Joanne let out, not wanting to lose.

“That doesn’t make you right, you know,” Ehlo taunted. “If I didn’t know any better, I would’ve thought you’re just waiting for the day until Jacky doesn’t see you as his sister anymore, but…”

“Yu Rong,” Jacky jumped in then, his face reflecting obvious seriousness. “You’ve gone overboard.”

“Don’t ‘Yu Rong’ me,” Ehlo continued, looking at Jacky at that point–since he had been eyeing Joanne. “You know how she was behaving when you were with Sophia? Now Lynn. It’s only normal to suspect.”

“How about we settle this the civilized way?” Wallace suggested, looking from Ehlo to Jacky at that time.

Ehlo’s attention was on Wallace then. “What bright ideas do you have this time, Huo?”

“Simple,” Wallace said, smiling. He looked at Jacky at this point. “Let us meet Lynn. Then we can all decide for ourselves, to go crazy like Qiao or tell her to back off.”

It was Jacky’s turn to look from Ehlo to Wallace. “Nice try, not falling for it.”

“What?” Ehlo asked, wrinkling his face.

Jacky’s teasing smile made its appearance then. It was the first time some of them had seen it, especially Bryant, Janine, Novia, and Eddie.

“What?” Ehlo repeated.

“This is another Huang and Huo production, right?” Jacky returned, getting up from his seat and entering the kitchen. He slipped a hand around Joanne’s shoulders. “Come on, sis, you think joining forces with them is better than confronting me?”

Joanne shrugged his hand off. She turned to face him, unlike the past previous times. “You didn’t care to answer me that day, why should I trust you now?”

Jacky’s expression–unlike that day when he was caught off guard with Lynn–reflected of confidence. “I’ll let you meet her. But you have to promise not to attack her. Things are not as they seem.”

After saying that, Jacky disposed his dish and fork into the sink before heading toward the front door.

“So much for the grand plan, huh?” Eddie teased after Jacky was out of sight.

Ehlo smiled. “You don’t know the half of it.”

Wallace didn’t say anything until a minute later. “He’s really gone now.”

Eddie wrinkled his face in confusion.

“He wasn’t out of earshot before,” Ehlo explained. “You don’t know how sharp his ears are.”

“What do you mean about earlier?” Eddie asked, looking at Ehlo. “What don’t I know the half of?”

“He fell right into our trap,” Wallace elaborated.

Eddie still had on his confused look. “What?”

“We improvised the plan, hello,” Ehlo said, his voice impatient. “We grew up together after all, except Wallace, but after all these years of living together, you think we could get past him with that little argument? We changed the plan halfway through.”

“When?”

“Just earlier, when Huo jumped in the first time. He wasn’t supposed to speak up yet. That was how Qiao and I know to change the plan.”

“How did you know it wouldn’t work with the other plan?”

“His confidence said that he wouldn’t fall for it,” Wallace responded this time. “It’s back on for some reason.”

“Which is weird,” Ehlo said.

Eddie exchanged a look with Janine at that time–to which she shrugged, indicating that she didn’t know either. Indeed, even Bryant and Novia were exchanging looks. They realized they still have a lot to learn before they could figure out this group of friends.

*****

As the others were waiting for Jacky to update them on the whole meeting with Lynn and in the process of trying to decipher Jacky’s latest change in moods, they moved forward with other details of their lives. It wasn’t like they needed the answer before they could continue living. After Bryant settled in with the guys, he seemed to get along with them fine. He was still trying to adjust to Ehlo’s unpredictable behaviors and bizarre nature but wasn’t affected by it that much. After all, if he wasn’t feeling good about the whole idea, he wouldn’t move in any way. However, his moving in also meant one of the guys would have to make sure to drive him to different recording events at times. It was until Bryant got his own car–that was. Yet it wasn’t because Bryant wanted them to, they insisted.

Things only got a tad more interesting at their residence the following weekend. It was Saturday and Ehlo was seen sitting in the living room doing some calculations and actually marking it into his notebook in a serious manner. He seemed even more serious than when he was working on his projects at times. Angela was actually in the kitchen getting some water for him. When she settled down at the sofa next to him, he was still tapping on the calculator and marking it in the notebook. But she wasn’t interrupting him, like at times when she reminded him to eat first. She was just sitting there waiting silently and sipping her water. It wasn’t until Ehlo did the final round of tapping and recorded another figure into his notebook that Angela spoke up.

“Well?” Angela prompted.

Ehlo had a smile on his face. It wasn’t his cunning one but the normal happy expression. “We met our goal. Well, at least the bottom-line of the plan aka the minimum amount for a simple wedding.”

“That’s great,” Angela said, her smile widening.

“But if we wait several more months, you could get even fancier options,” Ehlo pointed out.

Angela shook her head. “I’m fine with it. You know how Bianca was saying she wanted a simple wedding? It turned into a mega wedding in the end, didn’t it? Well, they got carried away, but we’re not competing for some grand wedding, are we?”

“No, of course not,” Ehlo said, his expression serious, like the wedding was just a sign to prove to the world he was serious about marriage, not wanting to toss money around just because.

“Then we don’t have to wait anymore.”

Ehlo grabbed onto Angela’s left hand with his right at this point. They were staring at each other now and their smiles widened to match one another’s as well.

“That means she’s really desperate to get married, you know,” Wallace interpreted helpfully at that time as he was walking to the kitchen. His smile, of course, like many times before indicated that he was far from helpful.

And that was also when Angela jumped up from her place and hit Wallace on the shoulder. “No one asked you!”

“You’re on your own, Huo,” Ehlo said, getting up from his seat and crossing his hands to watch the show instead of helping to ease the situation.

Wallace was still smiling since Angela’s hit was just for show, not really meaning to injure. “Hey, it’s not like it’s far from the truth.”

“You’re just jealous that we’re getting married and you’re not,” Ehlo inputted, his teasing smile on.

Wallace flashed on his challenging look. “Oh yeah? I could get married any day I want.”

“Have you asked Yvonne yet?”

And that was also when Yvonne walked toward them–from down the hall. She must have heard the argument so she stepped out of Wallace’s room to check it out. It was also when Wallace turned to her–with his glass of water still in hand.

“Hey, you want to get married?”

Yvonne had on a confused look as she eyed all parties present.

“Nice going, Huo,” Ehlo complimented, but his smile said otherwise. “Talking about anti-climatic.”

“What are you guys talking about?” Yvonne asked.

“We met our goal for the wedding,” Angela said, ignoring Ehlo and Wallace’s side argument.

“That’s great!” Yvonne exclaimed, placing a hand on Angela’s shoulder. “Congrats! When’s the wedding?”

“We haven’t decided yet,” Ehlo answered, eyeing Wallace with his dagger look. “We were getting to that part, but Huo just had to interrupt us.”

Yvonne turned to give Wallace a look then.

Wallace shrugged, his smart-aleck smile still on. “Hey, come on. It’s all in the fun, right? Besides, since they’re getting married anyway, why don’t we join in on the fun?”

“Before you could do that, Huo, there’s a thing called savings,” Ehlo sabotaged.

Wallace shrugged, still playing it cool. “I have a wedding fund stashed away already.”

Ehlo had one eyebrow raised. “You gotta be kidding me, right? Did you save that for Cyndi?”

And that was when Angela hit Ehlo’s shoulder. “Huang Yu Rong!”

It was, in fact, the only hit that got to both Wallace and Yvonne. Wallace wasn’t reacting to Ehlo’s question, but to Yvonne’s fierce expression. It didn’t take a genius to see that she was upset. But before she could walk away, Wallace reached out to grab her left elbow, steering her back to him.

“Don’t listen to Ehlo,” Wallace began. “He doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”

Just as Ehlo’s lips were moving, Angela grabbed his arm for him to stop. She didn’t need to say anything more; the expression on her face said it all.

“What should I be thinking then?” Yvonne returned, still not turning around to face Wallace.

“Come on,” Wallace urged, actually steering Yvonne toward his room.

“Hey, I’m not a kid,” Yvonne protested. “Let go of me.”

As they were stepping further and further away from the living room, Angela turned to give Ehlo another look. “You know that’s a touché topic for them, right?”

Ehlo was still able to smile. “Come on, it’s not like he couldn’t handle it.”

And Ehlo was right this time. Since when they entered Wallace’s room, Wallace reached for the top drawer of his desk and retrieved a special leather notebook. It was just a regular ledger when opened up. But he handed it to Yvonne without another word. Yvonne checked it page by page, her face softening when she saw the documented dates.

“I started it when I was 18,” Wallace said, though he knew if Yvonne had done mental calculations, she would know. “It wasn’t intended for anyone in particular, but it was meant for my future wife, whoever she might be. But I could tell you that you’re the first person to see this, okay?”

Yvonne closed the notebook then and reached over to hug Wallace–since he had settled down on the bed with her. “I’m sorry.” Her voice was a lot softer now, and it seemed to be way softer than normal, probably a tone Wallace hadn’t even heard of yet–nevertheless the others. “It’s just that I hate sharing, or be given hands-me-downs out of pity. I only want what’s mine.”

Wallace smiled then, hugging her back. “Well, Miss Yao, I’m not an item, so you don’t have to worry about hands-me-down. But I could tell you that this wedding’s as good as yours if you want it.”

Yvonne didn’t say anything but just nodded into Wallace’s shoulder.

“Then let’s get out there and tell them.”

And then they were back out in the living room–hand in hand–and with Yvonne being much calmer this time around. Ehlo and Angela were still standing there–with Angela still giving Ehlo a hard time for his previous slip.

“Hey, guys, good news,” Wallace announced. “We’re getting married too.”

That stopped Ehlo and Angela’s argument all right.

“You got to be kidding me, right?” Ehlo repeated his last comment–before things went haywire.

“No, we’re not,” Yvonne answered this time, swinging hers and Wallace’s linked hands. “I saw the ledger.”

Ehlo had on his amused smile before turning to Wallace. “Huo, you seriously always want to steal my thunder, huh?”

“You haven’t decided on the date yet, right?” Wallace returned, not missing a beat of it. “Then it’s still all talks.”

“Like you have a date in mind, Huo.”

“June 21st.”

“That’s crazy! That’s like only 2 months away!”

“About 3 actually, but we could pull it off, right?” Wallace had turned to look at Yvonne at that moment, waiting for her to speak up–in agreement or disagreement.

“Absolutely,” Yvonne said. “It’s just a small reception among family and friends. Not like some really fancy wedding.”

“Now I know why he chose you,” Ehlo jumped in then.

“Huang Yu Rong!” Angela blurted out, warning Ehlo not to step past the line–yet again.

“Because you’re both crazy,” Ehlo finished, knowing he was safe with that comment, unlike the previous slip.

“What do you say then, Huang?” Wallace asked, his tone challenging.

“We could do it on the same day and save even more,” Yvonne suggested, looking at Angela.

Angela’s smile lit up around then, having forgiven Ehlo for his latest mishaps already. “You guys don’t mind?”

Wallace shook his head, knowing that Yvonne had made up her mind.

“That’ll be great!” Angela exclaimed, her mind obviously leaping ahead with plans for the upcoming days.

“Then we should get started right away,” Yvonne continued, pulling Angela over to the sofa.

“Hey, hey, don’t I get a say in this?” Ehlo asked, annoyance creeping into his voice as he realized he had been edged out of the planning process.

“Give it up, Huang,” Wallace said, his taunting smile on. “You know how well they get along these days.”

Ehlo wasn’t far behind in the taunting department at that point. “Speak for yourself, Huo. You’re going to marry a temperamental chick. I mean, come on, she still gets worked up over history?”

Ehlo had said the last part in a whisper so Angela and Yvonne didn’t hear him.

Wallace shrugged. “That means I’m never getting bored.”

“Sure, keep trying with whatever reasons you could conjure up to make yourself feel better.”

Wallace smiled, shaking his head at Ehlo’s Drama King’s performance once again.

*****

The next day was when they made the official announcement with their group in regard to wedding plans. The others, of course, congratulated them. However, what was even more surprising was Wallace and Yvonne’s abrupt decision. Even if the others had come to like Yvonne–one way or another, but they were shocked as to how fast the two had decided on one of the most important moments of their lives. It seemed even more unbelievable when Ehlo described it to them–and even if Angela had jumped in to clarify some parts that Ehlo had exaggerated for dramatic purposes.

“Do you guys always decide stuff out of nowhere like this?” Bryant asked later when they were scattered around the room.

Ehlo shrugged. “I actually planned my proposal and wedding, okay? I don’t know what that psycho over there was thinking.”

Ehlo had pointed at Wallace when he said that last part.

“Stop,” Angela chided him. “It’s not like everyone has to be the same, okay?”

“No, it’s my fault,” Bryant interfered, realizing what he had started. “I was the one who asked, he was just answering.”

Angela turned to Bryant with a smile. “You don’t have to apologize. It’s in his nature to cause trouble around here.”

“Thanks,” Ehlo inputted at that time, feeling wounded.

Angela turned to Ehlo–with that same happy smile on her face. “You know how you are. It’s not like I’m exaggerating.”

“Uhuh,” Ehlo returned, his tone mono this time around.

Angela ignored his Drama King moment and headed back to the living room.

“Great,” Ehlo muttered under his breath before heading toward the living room also, leaving Bryant behind in the kitchen to resume his chef duties.

But Bryant wasn’t alone for long, because Joanne soon entered to help him.

“Are you all right?” Joanne asked when seeing Bryant’s troubled look.

“I’m fine,” Bryant responded with a smile. “Just still trying to get used to my roommates.”

“You’ll never get used to them,” Joanne said. “So don’t worry. They’re harmless though.”

Bryant smiled again. “I know.”

Joanne returned his smile at that point, not saying anymore about the matter. She just focused on helping him with the mini-tasks, like how it had been recently.

© Monday, June 23rd, 2014

Posted: Tuesday, July 15, 2014

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