Chapter 13
1055 Words
Janus and Miguel are sitting around a table together with their cousin, Revi. Not too far from their table was Mikko and his father who’s also talking to some people at the birthday party, including Revi’s mom, Joice. Mikko’s presence has been bothering Miguel since the very beginning.
“Why is he here? Does that mean he’s also one of our relatives? Is that the main reason why we always bump to each other in the same location?” Miguel told himself. He’s beside his brother who’s currently talking to their cousin who’s celebrating his birthday.
“Thank you so much Revi for inviting us to your party. This is also an opportunity for Miguel and I to get in touch with our relatives that we haven’t seen for a long time.” Janus told their cousin.
“You’re always welcome. I can still remember the last time we saw you, Kuya. You’re still in high school and Miggy was I think 6 that time.” Revi told them.
Something came into Miguel’s mind.
“Revi, hope you don’t mind, who are those people Aunt Joice is talking to? I never saw them before in any of our family reunions.” Miguel humbly asked.
“That man over there is Tito Ric. And that guy beside him is his son, Mikko. They used to be neighbors with our grandparents before. They’re literally a few houses away from grandma’s house.” Revi told him. Miguel looked at them, and Mikko was also looking in their direction. He simply smiled at Miguel but he didn’t respond at all.
“He’s really familiar.” Miguel told himself. “Mikko, that’s his name. I didn’t know any Mikko in our neighborhood before.”
The time passed by and it’s getting dark already. The people in the party are talking to almost everyone. Miguel was sitting alone at the table. His brother Janus is talking to their other relatives.
“Hi…” Miguel was startled when someone called him. It was Mikko.
“Can I sit here? I noticed you from our table a while ago.” Mikko asked him. Miguel agreed hesitantly. After Mikko sat on the chair in front of Miguel, no one dared to say anything.
“I’m J- - I’m Mikko, by the way.” Mikko told him. Miguel is looking at him, because he finds him very familiar.
“Miguel…” he just replied. The two didn’t even dare to speak a word after that. They felt an awkwardness with each other’s presence. Mikko wanted to tell everything to Miguel but he doesn’t want Miguel to be shocked.
On the other hand, Miguel’s eyes are skimming around the people to look for a sign that his childhood friend is there, hoping that he’s not, not knowing that the person he’s looking for is already in front of him.
Being the only two people of their age bracket in the party, both of them didn’t want to interact with the others.
“Want some drinks? I can get one for you.” Mikko stood up, offered Miguel to grab him anything. Miguel felt kinda enlightened, for the act of kindness Mikko is showing him.
“Umm.. yeah, sure. Just grab me the same drink that you’ll get.” Miguel answered. He looked at his phone and there’s a message from Michael. His mom and him went to a resto to eat dinner, since his stepfather and stepbrother are not home with them, the two decided to have their dinner outside home instead.
“Here, I hope this is fine with you.” Mikko gave Miguel a bottle of beer. Miguel smiled as a response.
“So where are you from Miguel? Hope you don’t mind.” Mikko asked him.
“I’m living in Cecillia, how about you?” Miguel replied. The two talked about many more things that were initiated by Mikko, confirming to himself that Miguel was really his childhood friend. Now he’s sitting in front of him, he wants to tell Miguel everything. But he refrained for doing so. He wanted to know more about Miguel first, especially if he remembered him and their childhood.
“You know what, you remind me of someone very important to me.” Mikko told him which made Miguel stare at him. Miguel was confused about what Mikko said and he noticed it.
“Ohh.. don’t mind what I just said. It was a friend of mine.” Mikko added.
It was already 8 pm and Janus noticed the two were talking since a while ago.
“Looks like Miggy found a new friend.” He told himself. He told their Aunt Joice and Revi that they already need to go since it’s getting late already. After saying goodbye to their other relatives, the two went to the parking lot. Coincidentally, Mikko and his dad were also in the parking lot and were preparing to go home as well.
Mikko waved goodbye to Miguel and he answered with a smile. Miguel still feels a little awkward about Mikko since all day long, Mikko is acting like they know each other for a very long time. Miguel went inside the car first while Janus was talking to the two for a few more minutes more.
“Nice meeting you again, Mr. San Gabriel. You too, Mikko. See you around.” Janus waved them goodbye. Janus went inside the car and Miguel was already sleeping.
“Good night, Miggy.” Janus smiled and started the car. He’s thinking about Mikko and Miguel while the two were talking a while ago. He noticed that his brother is kinda awkward while talking to them. He then remembered what Revi told him a while ago.
When he noticed that his brother had made a new friend at the party, he instantly asked Revi more about Mikko.
“From what I know, mom told me that Mr. Ric is the owner of SG Capital, one of the most successful companies in their field in our state. And that’s his son, Jan Mikko San Gabriel. He’s of the same age as Miggy, I think. They moved to this state just recently.” Revi told Janus.
He had been thinking about that for a while.
“Jan Mikko San Gabriel. Hmmm… could he be JJ?”
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