“Brother!” Phoebe exclaimed. “I thought you've forgotten about me! Where are you? I tried calling you when I got to the airport. I even thought you changed your number immediately you got back.”
"Look at you. Have you been expecting my call that badly that you couldn't even wait before picking up?” Asher teased.“Uhn.” She replied quickly. “Besides, I'm angry that you didn't call at all.”“But I'm calling now.” He defended himself.“You should have called earlier.” She insisted. “Whatever! Are you fine? Where are you?”“One at a time, lady. I'm fine and about where I am. . .” He paused looking round. ". . .I'm not sure, but I was with brother not too long.”“Brother Jared?”“Uhn.”“Really? Did he ask of me?”“Uhn.”“I should go see him soon.” She replied quickly. “Are you coming home?”“No. I'm not.”“Why?”“Hey, don't worry about me and start worrying about yourself.”“What do you mean by that?”“When will you start working at the hospital?”“In the next two days.”“Make your brother proud so I'll be able to call you my one and only reliable doctor, okay?”“Why do you sound like I might not be able to see you for some time? Brother?” She asked with an obvious change in her tone. She knew him so well that she could predict whatever was wrong with him judging from the look on his face and the tone of his voice. "Brother, what do you plan to do?""Phoebe. . .” He started.“Brother, I know you.” She interrupted. “I thought you came back because of me at first, but when I thought about it, I figured out it wasn't because of me, seeing that you came ahead of me. It's because of her, right? I know it's because of her. Annette Nittolo. You still think about her, don't you? You should forget about what happened then. It's gone and it was nobody's fault. You don't have to feel like you owe anything and you should forget about what happened then and forget about her now, she's gone and it's been very long now.”Asher paused and thought about what she said. He kept quiet for a short while.“Brother.” He heard Phoebe's voice from the other line leaving him with no choice than to talk.“How can I forget about her? How do you expect me to forget about her and forget what happened then?”“But you did nothing.”“That is what is wrong. I did nothing. That is exactly the problem. Do you know what mother said before she died? "Do your best to protect Annette, I owe her something. When the time comes, you will be the one to give what I owe back to her, but until then, stay by her side and protect her‟. That was what mother said on her sick bed but I couldn't fulfill mother's wish. I did nothing back then and I did nothing all these while for fifteen years, but I'm not going to stand back anymore. I don't have a plan yet and I don't know where this is going to lead to, but I promise not to stand back anymore.”“Brother, what are you going to do? Uhn? What do you plan to do?”“Revenge! I'll do everything possible to—”"Brother! Are you crazy? Revenge? Is that the only thing you can think about? I had better get through Brother Jared and tell him about your crazy plan! I heard he's a detective now. He should—”“I told him already.”“You did?” She paused and sighed. “I understand you, but brother, if I was Annette, I wouldn't want you to do that. I'll want you to move on with your life and act like it never happened. I'll want you to live happily and do something good with your life rather than spending your time to dig up what happened long ago.”“That's good, since you're not Annette.”“But still. . ." Pausing, she took a deep breath as she gave it a faint thought. “I wasn't as close to Annette as you were, but still, she was my friend. Believe me, she wouldn't want you to do this.”“Don't cause any trouble when you become a resident and make sure you listen well to your seniors, okay? I'll call you some other time.”“Brother!”“And make sure you eat well since you're at home. I don't want to see those neck bones of yours when next I see you, okay?"“Brother!”Before she could say any other thing, Asher disconnected the line and replaced the sim card before ordering for another bottle of drink.An ApartmentJosie carried her drunk friend, Isabella to Frederick Hart, one of her friend's apartment and knocked loudly on the door. She knocked the second time but there was no reply. She was about knocking the third time when the door went wide open and Frederick stood at the entrance.“Josie?” he called surprised to see her with Isabella at his doorstep.“Hey! Fred!” She greeted him with a fake smile that disappeared quickly as it came.“What are you doing here?” He asked, still surprised as he watched her force her way into his apartment.Josie walked inside with Isabella and dropped her on one of the couch before turning to Frederick.“What does it looks like I'm doing? I'm leaving Isabella here with you.”“Why?” He asked with a puzzled frown.Sighing, she raised her hand to demonstrate. “You see, my mother just got a new credit card in my name recently, but I had to use the money for something very important. Mother found out, and I've been in trouble since then. Also, you know that guy she's dating, I think they broke up and she went ahead to get herself drunk. That's not all, she even went to my brother's apartment and he had to call me where I was having a difficult time trying to—"“Enough with the story, Josie." He interrupted. “What exactly are you trying to say?”“What do you mean by what am I trying to say? I thought I told you earlier that I'm leaving Isabella here with you.”“And I asked you why!”“Don't you get?” She asked folding her arm. “I'm in big trouble, so I can't go home where my Mom lives.”“What about your apartment?”“My neighbour moved out and I haven't been staying in my apartment since then.”"You should have taken her to her rooftop house!”“Right!” Josie agreed. “I would have but, I don't know the password to her rooftop house and there's no other place to take her to.”“How can you not know the password to your friend's house?”“I know it, but she changed it when her sister kept on disturbing her.”“Then you should have asked her for the new password."“I did!” she defended. “But she didn't tell me because I was the one that told her sister her former password.” She explained as she took a glance at her wristwatch. “Listen, Fred, I know we're not too close but you should know that I wouldn't have brought her here if there wassomewhere else to go. It's late already and I have to see the restaurant woman before she leaves. I'll see you later.” She told him quickly as she rushed to the door.“Hey! How can you leave your friend in a man's place?”Turning back, Josie thought about it. “It's not a man place, but a friend's place.” She replied after a few seconds. “Make sure you prepare some hangover soup for her tomorrow. I might not be here to do that.” She turned back to the door and was about opening it when she suddenly turned back to face him, startling him.“You startled me!” he exclaimed.“Fred,” she called him as she pointed a warning finger at him. "I'm leaving her here because I trust you, okay?”“What is that supposed to mean?”“If anything happens, I'll just. . ." Pausing, she nodded her head. “Never mind, I'm just saying that I trust you. I hope you understand.” She added as she opened the door and left hurriedly.“Hey! Josie!” He shouted after her. “Don't do this to me! Josie! Josie Maran! Aishhh, seriously!”Granny's Restaurant Asher sat down with the empty bottles of drinks in front of him while different thoughts of his past ran through his mind.Flashback Fifteen years ago At a garden, 14years old Asher and a 12years old girl, Annette Nittolo played around. They kept on laughing as they played on the swing and then they moved to the seesaw. They played for a long time and when they finally got tired, they sat on the grass. Asher brought out a necklace with a pendant that made it look like a locket and gave it to Annette.“It's my mother's necklace.” He told her as he gave it to her.“Why are you giving it to me?” She asked as she rejected it. "It's the only thing of hers you have to look at whenever you miss your her. Why are you giving it to me then?”“No.” He insisted as he offered it to her again. “I want you to have it so that whenever I miss her, I would like to look at you and the necklace at the same time. Also, my mother told me that it's a key to something I'll get to under
Aunt, you're still around? I told you to stop closing late. Do you want the thugs that came by the last time to reappear? If you continue closing late, they'll come back to disturb you." Josie scolded the restaurant woman."Oh my! See this girl. You keep on telling me to stop closing late, but you yourself still come by looking for me late. Besides, I can't leave until all my customers leave.""You still have customers this late?" She asked worriedly. "It's past twelve already. Aunt, if you go on with the rule of customers leaving first, you'll end up sleeping in this place one day. You tell the customers to leave when you want to close, that's the rule.""But what do I do?" She asked, looking at Asher worriedly and dropping the bottle of drink she was holding. "That person over there is not ready to leave yet. He even ordered for another bottle."Josie turned to look at Asher who had already placed his head on the table. "Don't worry Aunt, I'll take care of this for you. Just watch a
Richard Maran's ApartmentAfter taking a glass of water, Richard was about switching off the light and retiring to bed when he suddenly heard someone imputing his pin. Knowing who it was, he walked to the dining table and watched as Josie entered the apartment.Glancing at the wall clock, he scoffed at how late she was. Closing the door gently behind her, she tiptoed to the couch, dropped the nylon bag she was holding on the table, removed her shoes and she jumped on the couch feeling exhausted. Sighing, she closed her eyes while Richard stood up from the dining table and walked up to her."What do you think you're doing here?" He asked.Startled, Josie flickered her eyes open quickly and sat up. "Hey! You startled me!"Folding his hands, he looked at her closely. "Hey? Am I your friend? I asked you what you're doing here. You should be at home and if not, your apartment."Looking up at him, she smiled. "My darling, why would you want to send your wife away?""What? Darling? Who is yo
The Hernandez's House That morning, the Hernandez family sat for breakfast at the dining table. Chazz and his mother, Rita couldn't help but notice the annoying presence of Phoebe, who didn't bother to acknowledge the obvious fact that her stepbrother and stepmother were feeling uncomfortable. Despite the fact that she spent three years with them before going to the states, they were not fond of each other. They only acted all nice and close in front of Chairman Gabriel - their father, but once alone, they acted cold and distant. “Wow!” Phoebe exclaimed. “It's really nice to be eating homemade meal after a very long time.” She turned to Rita and smiled. “Mum, I missed your cooking. It tastes nice just the way I remember it.” Rita gave her an approving nod knowing she was being sarcastic as she never really liked her cooking and complained a lot before she left. “No wonder Brother Chazz is looking fresh.” She commented, looking at Chazz, still smiling. Chazz tensed at the name she
Roosevelt Kitchen.With everyone preparing the ingredients for the night course, Josie had a difficult time trying to work with her junior who turned out to be Asher. Since he came in with Mason, she had voiced out her opinion that she didn't want Asher to be her junior judging from the times she had met with him, but Mason told her she didn't have a choice since she was the one that requested for a junior to work with. Asher had also asked for someone else to work under but everyone told him they had a partner, even Rose who would have loved to drop Mason as her partner and Isabella who would have done the same. However, the stern look on Josie's face gave them a message. Whatever reasons Josie must be rejecting Asher for, they weren't ready to interfere. Out of curiosity, they both asked them if they knew each other but the two of them denied flatly. Josie had later decided to work with him stating that it was because she had no choice. Others had encouraged Asher to learn from her
Hernandez GroupAfter a long working day, Chazz called Rachel, his secretary to ask about what he asked her to find out. Bracing herself up, Rachel walked into his office to give the information she had. Finding out information about the names he gave her wasn't an easy thing to do especially with the fact that they both returned back to the country recently, however, she knew she had to report back to Chazz. Not only because she was trying to get on his good sides but because she also had feelings for him and she was still at the verge of verifying if he felt the same way for her."What have you found out?""I'm still on it." She replied. "Phoebe Hernandez is currently in the country and she is a licensed doctor. She'll start as a resident from tomorrow.""Which hospital?""Theodore Medicals.""Not that close to this place. Alexander? What about him?""I haven't been able to get any leads on Alexander Hernandez. His whereabouts, whether he's in the country or not, I have no idea, bu
Granny's RestaurantAsher stormed into the restaurant upon receiving Jared's call. Panting like he was being chased, he hurried to where Jared stood and examined him."Brother, are you okay?" He asked worriedly. "Are you hurt?""Do I look like someone who is hurt?" Jared chuckled lightly as he stared at his concerned brother.Asher had always been like that. Even though he wanted to hide it so bad, it still showed how much he cared for his close relatives. Calming down, he studied Jared, "No, you look fine. If nothing is wrong, why then did you call me like that asking for help? How can you call someone like that when there's nothing wrong?""How did I call you?" Jared asked with raised eyebrows, the. he scoffed. "I only told you I needed your help and that you should come over here.""And I came running here, thinking something happened to you. Anyways, since you're fine, it's a relief. What do you need my help for then?" Asher snapped back at him. He had left what he was doing and
Josie rushed over to where Noah was, but getting to the entrance, she hesitated to enter as she watched Noah for a few minutes. She had stopped by Isabella's place to tell her about what she planned to do. It was the first time she'll be having a drink with Noah ever since she had a crush on him and she planned on telling him about her feelings."Do you think this is the right time?" Isabella had asked her."It doesn't matter if I do it now. I would have to do it one day." She had replied.Finally able to gather the courage to enter, she approached him and stood in front of him until he asked her to sit. Josie felt very anxious as she watched Noah pour her a drink. Noticing the sweat on her hands, Noah could tell she was very anxious. Sighing, he tried to think of a way to make her feel better."Will you eat rice cakes?"Still feeling very anxious, she hid her hands underneath the table, glancing at the drink in front of her and then at Noah."Sorry I came late." She apologized."It's