Until The Very End

CHAPTER 17: News

            Morning. The bedroom was bright. Hushed, tranquil, serene. Silence. Fishes on the aquarium swam their morning happiness. Birds outside sang a song. Wind, well, just like last night, still whirled around. Leaves on the trees were dancing. Curtains were flying. No clocks that made tick-tock. Nor a ringing noise from an alarm clock. The sky was in its usual sky blue colour. And a fireball heats up fastly. White clouds became more white. In Me Guarda was still filled with silence. Late morning.

On the bed, two silent bodies were lying. Heads were exposed outside while bodies were covered with a blanket. No snorts.

            At the stroke of 9:23 in the morning, no alarms interrupted but Matt woke up. Rodolfo’s sleeping face greeted his morning. Similar to last night, they were close to one another. Matt did not shriek nor jumped in shock like he did when he and his friend stayed at the penthouse in Italy. Moving himself gently in a comfortable position while he stuck his eyes on his friend’s face, he remembered what Rodolfo did last night. He stared and made a smile.

            Matt kept staring until both ends of his lips reached his ears. He ran his palm on his chest. Heart was racing forward. Eyes grew bigger after feeling it. He was tempted to touch Rodolfo. Just one simple touch on the cheek. As Matt raised the same hand that he used to check his heartbeat, something came. “We’re both men.”

            There was a tear in his eyes.

            Another minute had pass staring at his friend, and after, he got out of the bed carefully, avoiding his friend to wake up. Matt saw himself on his underpants. He was aware that Rodolfo took off his clothes because of the skin-to-skin contact situation. Matt took his clothes and went to the bathroom. He came out wearing a bathrobe. Seeing his friend’s clothes on the floor, he took and fold. And from under his pillows, he grabbed his phone – the same phone that Rodolfo used to have access to the smart home and get instructions from Dr Smith. He walked out of the room after.

            Downstairs was as silent as upstairs. Matt’s footsteps echoed in every corner. He went to the kitchen, placed his phone on the kitchen counter and moved on to the fridge. He took out a bottle of milk and caught a glass. While pouring the milk into the glass, he yawned. Next, he grabbed his glass of milk and put it inside the microwave, setting the time for only 30 seconds.

            While waiting for that 30 seconds to finished, he gazed at the kitchen pitch. There was nothing more to examine outside. Just a few dry leaves flying. The microwave made a “ting” sound, saying the 30 seconds was already finished. Matt took his warm milk and went out of the kitchen. He left the bottle of milk on the table and his phone on the kitchen counter.

            Matt made his first sip on his warm milk. He passed the living room, going to the foyer when he saw the thermostat. He adjusts and decreased the temperature, then went outside of the mansion. He left the pivot door open. The cool breeze approached him. He put his hands inside of his bathrobe pocket while the other one was holding the warm glass of milk – he sipped another. When he walked a couple of steps to his front porch, he noticed his cheap car parked on the driveway. The first thing Matt noticed after going near to his car was that the key fob was inside of the car. And the car door was ajar. If the mansion wasn’t highly secured, then the car would probably be reported stolen. Instead of feeling anger at his friend’s stupidity, he laughed because he understood that Rodolfo was in a panic last night. He drank again.

            Rodolfo’s bags were still inside the car. Matt left the car and went to have a little walk in the long driveway, thinking. He watched the trees up and kicked some dry leaves. He continued to move on.

            He was already far away enough from the mansion when he realized that he needed to check something on his phone. Without any easier solutions to get back to the mansion quickly, Matt walked fast as he could. He did not run nor jog. Before he reached the opened main door, his glass was already empty.

            Like before, when Matt came downstairs, there was silence. Matt immediately rushed to the kitchen to take his phone. There was his phone was, at the top of the kitchen counter, moving carelessly. The vibration of the phone died when he came closer. He placed the empty glass on the counter and took his phone, walking away. It struck him to see a hundred-plus missed calls from Dr Smith, 47 missed calls from Chairman Richard, his uncle, 19 missed calls from Dhan, 18 missed calls from his secretary, and 5 missed calls from Mr Cauffman. It’s a lot of phone calls to check. There are also tons of phone text messages. He did not remember that when Rodolfo entered his closet room to get a scarf and a bonnet, he took his phone, muted it and hid it under his pillow.

            As Matt sat on one of the sofas in the club room, he opened the phone app and went to the phone logs, the recent missed phone call was from his uncle. So he first called his uncle. He heard the ringback tone, and without five seconds had passed, his uncle answered, saying in worried voice;

            “What happened to you? Why aren’t you picking up? Where are you? Are you okay?”

            “I’m okay, uncle. Sorry for not telling you last night. I wasn’t in condition to talk,” apologized Matt.

            “What happened? Do you know how worried I was?” his uncle asked more.

            “I don’t know. After yesterday’s school, I felt myself in cold and I thought it’s normal. I didn’t know it would become worst. But I’m fine now,” Matt answered.

            “Are you sure?” asked again his uncle. “Your private doctor called me and said that he won’t be able to check you. But he said he sent one of his colleagues to your place yet no one had answered to let him in. Dr Smith told me that you are with a friend, and I wondered who that friend is. So I called Dhan and your personal secretary to know if one of them was with you. But it turned out that they aren’t the one. Who was this friend that Dr Smith was talking about? A college friend? Why did he not open the gate for the substitute doctor to check on you?”

            Matt moved the phone from his left ear to his right ear and explained, “A new friend from college. His name is Rodolfo Carl Petterson. You know his father, Mr Petterson. The one who gave us a resignation letter without addressing his reason. Anyway, it was Rodolfo that called Dr Smith. I have heard everything – from Dr Smith’s car crash accident to him saying that his colleague will take his position temporarily. I hate it, and uncle, you know it. So while my friend was busy inside the closet room looking for something to cover my head and neck, I took my phone, muted it and hid it. I have no trust in any new doctor. It’s a good thing that Rodolfo fell asleep waiting for that doctor.”

            “But your health is more important. You should have let your problems with doctors go away for a single night. Plus, your friend is beside you,” his uncle replied. “I understand that it’s too hard for you to trust anyone, but I can’t lose you.”

            “Alright, alright. I’m sorry,” Matt said again his apologies then went on, “Still at down south?”

            “I have travelled last night to the highest north. And If Director Yang of International Yang Enterprises had only more time, then I will cancel and re-schedule every business meeting and proposal with him. Then I’ll go back there to New York and take care of you. But no, he said that by midnight, he needs to go back to Taiwan for another meeting,” his uncle answered in his deepest voice. “I know what you are doing. Don’t change the subject. Where is your friend? And how did he find out that you were sick?”

            “While his father was in Singapore, his father pleased me to stay his son here for a couple of days. It is due to being over-worried and lonely in their house,” Matt started to explain. “Rodolfo knew that I was sick when I arrived at their house half-conscious, I think? I can’t really remember. At this time, he’s upstairs. Still sleeping.”

            “Over-worried to what?”

            “To her younger sister, named Bonnie. She needed a heart transplant. And the only country that has an available heart that is suitable for Bonnie’s age last month was Singapore,” he replied to his uncle.

            Matt stood up from the sofa, waiting for his uncle’s response. He walked and passed the glass walls, yet again, cool air came. Continuing to walk to outside, he’s still waiting for his uncle’s voice. The surface of the pool made multiple endless ripples as the air blew around. Matt watched it.

            A long moment in silence over the phone, Matt talked again, “Uncle? Is it okay if I don’t go to the school for like two or three days?”

            “Speaking of school,” his uncle suddenly said. “Mr Cauffman called me. Something serious came.”

            Then Matt remembered the 5 missed calls from Mr Cauffman. At that moment, he began to confuse himself about it. When nothing came to him, he talked, “He called me too. Why? What’s this ‘something’?”

            “The university was on fire. Or still on fire at this time. It just happened this morning. According to Mr Cauffman, some child pyromaniac started the fire. It’s unclear. Let’s wait for the final police report.”

            “It isn’t that big, right? The fire? I mean, the university was huge. It can’t be eaten by fire in just a short period of time,” said Matt, who was aghast to hear the news.

            “Oh, but the fire covers 68% of the university. I assume the fire increases if not stopped by now,” his uncle replied.

            “And the students? Staffs?” Matt asked.

            “Are all safe. Most of the students were outside, and they were not many of them. Mr Cauffman said that there weren’t any classes held yet when the fire started. All students who were on their way to come to the university were alerted to return and stay back at home, while students who witnessed the fire were all checked and were sent home. I believe the president called because he wanted to check on you if you were there. He wanted to see you safe. I’ll call him myself and told him you are home. Get well.” the uncle kindly answered. Before he hanged up the phone call, he warned that Matt made a soft chuckle, “And don’t leave your friend alone. He might get lost inside.”

            Matt went back to the club room, to the living room, to the foyer and, finally, outside the pivot door. He immediately rushed to the car that Rodolfo used last night. The ajar door gave Matt a chance to get inside the cheap car. While inside wearing his bathrobe, he took the key fob and sat there for a moment. Then, he remembered Rodolfo driving in panic. He smiled.

            From the rearview mirror that that was a few inches higher from his forehead, he spotted Rodolfo’s bags. The bags were a mess at the back seats. Matt went out of the car, opened another door from the back, and took those bags. He came inside of carrying them. They were a bit heavy.

            Without stopping from the foyer or in the living room, Matt continued to bring the bags upstairs. But instead of going to his bedroom, where Rodolfo was still sleeping, he went inside another room – the bedroom beside his. Unlike his bedroom, the room was not big, it wasn’t small either. It’s perfect for two people. After getting inside, he placed the bags on top of the bed. He was tempted to see what’s inside of those bags, probably wanting to see his friend’s underwear, but he stopped himself. He left right after putting the bags.

            Carefully, he opened the door of his bedroom and charged his phone. Again, without making any sounds, he opened the door that leads to his fancy bathroom. He did not spend more time on the sofas inside. Normally, he would watch on the television before he cleans himself. But at that moment, he instantly took his warm bath.

            Not many minutes after, Matt came out wearing a different bathrobe. He went to his closet room and passing the cloth shelves, looking for a simple outfit. When he already had his shorts on, for a moment, he heard the closet room door opened followed by his name. The voice was tiny. He heard it almost a whisper. He thought he was just hallucinating, so he went on looking for a cloth that will suit his shorts. Next, he picked the right shoe, watch, and sunglasses and wore them. He checked himself on the big mirror that that was on the wall. Matt was handsome.

            Scared yet shocked, he stared at the closet room door for a moment. It was open. He closed it when he got it, but now it wasn’t. Then he thought he wasn’t hallucinating. He got out of the room and checked on his bed. Rodolfo wasn’t there anymore. But Matt noticed his friends clothes that he fold, not bothered. The door of the bedroom and to the bathroom was also open. Clearly, Rodolfo was looking for him. Matt closed all the doors that Rodolfo left unclosed and stormed outside of the room, remembering his uncle’s voice saying ‘Don’t leave your friend alone. He might get lost inside.’. Rodolfo might indeed get lost because of how big the mansion was.

            “Rod!” Matt made his first call to Rodolfo while he made his way downstairs, arranging his sleeves.

            “Rodolfo!” he called out again when no one answered.

            Matt passed the living room and stood in the foyer. He gazed at the closed pivot door, then went to the kitchen. Still, Rodolfo wasn’t there. He passed again another living room that was bigger than the first one and went inside his office, where everything was entirely made of glass. He saw one piece of paper and a book on the floor. Someone might have accidentally dropped it. Matt picked it up and placed it on the glass table.

            “Rod!” Matt called thrice to his friend’s name that seemed lost completely inside. And still, no Rodolfo had answered him.

            While closing the glass door, Matt looked from right to left. He went back again to the kitchen, which took him about five minutes before arriving there, and passed the club room, and went outside where the pool was. Still, still, Rodolfo wasn’t sighted anywhere. He went and looked around the area near the pool. There was no Rodolfo.

            Taking his first search from the pool area, Matt expanded his searching grounds until he was already at the backside of his mansion. After he toured his outside part just to look for his friend, he went back inside. He passed the foyer, the first living room and entered another unopened door. Matt forgot to check this room earlier. The room welcomed him with so many books. It was his library. But, obviously, Rodolfo wasn’t or never been there. Matt knew if someone had entered the room or not.

            Dread and sweat started to fill Matt’s body. He marched out of the library and closed the door. He passed again the second living room, his office, which was made of glass and stared at the plain, black, wooden, two-way door. A moment or two after, he pushed it open and took the three steps down. It was his fancy garage where his sports cars were hidden. The garage was huge and was very bright due to the source of lights everywhere.

            “Rodolfo! Where are you?” it was the fourth time that Matt yelled Rodolfo’s name.  His voice echoed in the garage. Still, no one answered.

            Matt came back up, and directly upstairs.

            “Matt!”

            Matt heard his name called out by a voice in a worried tone and nervousness. He also heard a door closed inside his bedroom. Without any more thinking, Matt went inside. There, he finally saw Rodolfo holding the door handle of the bathroom door, wearing only underpants. The looks on Rodolfo’s place was no joke. His friend was sweating, and breathing fast, and his eyes were balling, probably because of the nervousness he had been feeling while looking for Matt.

            Rodolfo released the door handle, rushed to his feet and wrapped his arms around Matt. Matt did not mind his friend’s sweats being wiped to his newly worn long sleeve, he hugged his friend back. He could hear Rodolfo’s heart pounding and his friend’s heavy, deep breaths. Rodolfo’s arms started to squeeze Matt’s whole body, which Matt did not mind for a moment. After minutes of hugging each other, Matt let go of Rodolfo, asking;

            “What happened to you? You look… so, unwell.”

            “Where have you been? I’ve been looking for you. How are you? I thought you drive again on yourself,” Rodolfo asked, panting.

            “I was about to,” Matt answered. “Calm yourself down, Rod. I’m here.”

            “How are you? How are you feeling? Can you move and talk well?” Rodolfo threw multiple questions, staring at Matt. Eyes were wet.

            “Calm down,” Matt said again for the second time. “I’m all fine. Great, exactly. Thanks to your body heat.”

            “Are you sure? I couldn’t find your phone when I – ” Rodolfo stopped for he remembered his dreams where he and Matt had s*x together. After a second, he stopped asking more questions. He calmed himself down and just accepted that Matt was indeed fine.

            Matt passed Rodolfo, took his phone the phone that he left on charge earlier, and said, “Your clothes and other belongings were inside of the other room. The room was just beside this. There’s also a bathroom there. You may clean yourself, and I will prepare something for you downstairs. Is there anything you want for breakfast?”

            “Anything you want will do,” Rodolfo answered.

            “Now, don’t be lost. I suppose you’ve been in the kitchen this morning?” there was a little teasing smile when Matt talked. He was kidding.

            Rodolfo gets the joke and went to the other room. Matt, after taking his phone, went downstairs, then to the kitchen. He wore an apron. From the freezer, refrigerators, and cabinets, he began to prepare a morning breakfast for Rodolfo, though the time was running fast to lunch.

            Thirty minutes later, Rodolfo came to the kitchen. He saw his friend placing a bowl of mixed fruits on the table. Matt looked straight to him with his cute, memorable smile as Rodolfo made his way to the table, where breakfast foods appeared in front of him. There was waffles, pancakes, slices of bacon and eggs, two bowls of a mix of slice fruits and a pitcher of orange juice. Plates and other utensils were beautifully placed. Rodolfo stared at the food on the table at once, admiring the set-up and arrangements. He loved it and wished he could do the same to his friend.

            “It’s not much,” Matt began as he went back to the sink on the kitchen counter. “Lunch’s coming.”

            “My mother wouldn’t let me do this at home,” Rodolfo said.

            “Why not?” Matt asked, sitting down.

            “I don’t know. I don’t understand whenever she said that it’s a women’s job to prepare a meal.”

            “What about this, we prepare together with our lunch and dinner later. Are you good with that?”

            “I’m in.”

            “Settled. Let’s eat, then.”

            They started to eat.

            Rodolfo kept throwing secret glances and looks on his friend, who was busy chewing. He felt again his heart beating fast and imagined himself surrounded with red hearts. He smirked happily.

            As Matt stretched his hand to take the honey, Rodolfo noticed his friend’s sleeves rolled carelessly to his elbow. This made him asked his friend;

            “Are you going somewhere?”

            “Yeah. To check the university,” Matt answered, holding the honey dipper back to the jar.

            “Oh, no! We’re late!” exclaimed Rodolfo, dropping down his fork and table knife. He began to panic.

            “We aren’t,” said Matt. “I haven’t told you yet the news.”

            “What news?”

            “The university was burning. Literally, burning in fire. Like, like The World Trade Center on the 11th of September, 2001. Fire. I’m not sure if the university is still on fire, or the fire department has gotten rid of it already. That’s why I’m going out to check it,” Matt told Rodolfo the news about the university fire.

            “How did it start?” asked Rodolfo, stupefied.

            “Still unclear. But Mr Cauffman, the president, stated that it was because of a child pyromaniac. Don’t worry about it too much. It is said that everyone was safe,” replied Matt, looking at his friend.

            “That means no school?”

            “I presume. When my uncle told me the news, he said that the fire eats almost three-fourth of the university. So, it has a high chance that Mr Cauffman will suspend every class from freshmen to seniors until further rebuilding.”

            There was a silence. And then, Matt’s phone rang on the kitchen counter. When he came to get it, it was Hailey who wanted to have a video chat with him. Matt answered it and got back to his seat.

            “Hi!” she said in her most exciting voice. “Have you heard the news?”

            “Yeah,” Matt faced the camera in front of him, uncomfortable. “Were you there?”

            “No. But I think Rodolfo is. He wouldn’t answer any of my calls,” Hailey responded over the phone.

            She was inside her bedroom. Her camera was a bit waving to Matt’s phone as she was walking while trying to focus her camera on her face. A minute later, Matt replied, turning the camera to Rodolfo, who was eating.

            “Well, actually, there he is.”

            “Wait, you two are… together?” she asked in disbelief. “And at a breakfast table?”

            “Yeah. And we were just talking about the fire,” said Rodolfo, smiling.

            “Hold on. Are you in Matt’s house, or Matt is in your house?” she asked Rodolfo.

            Before Rodolfo could answer her question, Matt turned the phone to face her and answered. He hated it, but he has to lie, “He visited me this morning, and I invited him for breakfast since he was already here.”

            “I see. Now that it is sure that we will be having our school postponed, where shall we go? We agreed that we’ll have another fun,” she started to remind the two. “How about I come over to your house. Since Rodolfo is already there, let’s watch a movie!”

            Matt placed the phone down the table, arranging it so Rodolfo could also be seen at the camera. Then he thought for a moment about watching a movie in his house. If Hailey knew that he was living alone at a huge mansion, she’ll throw many questions. And Matt doesn’t want to lie, yet he wasn’t ready to tell Hailey who he really was. So, he disregards the movie and said instead;

            “How about we got out of New York for a single day?”

            Rodolfo was stunned.

            “What do you mean?”

            “A roadtrip to Los Angeles? Or San Francisco? California?” Matt suggested.

            Rodolfo, who was in silence after not answering Hailey’s question before, spoke, “That’s perfect.”

            “How about Miami Beach?”

            “Beach is fun,” Matt said.

            “But, it’s autumn. We wouldn’t enjoy it as anyone did in the summer,” Rodolfo said.

            “Come on. It’s the best!” Hailey said excitedly. “It’s a peaceful time to visit a beach! No irritating crowds on your way.”

            “I agree with her,” Matt turned her head to Rodolfo.

            “Okay,” Rodolfo said, at last, agreeing with them. “Miami Beach it is. When are we gonna go?”

            “Tomorrow,” suddenly answered Matt.

            “WHAT?!” Hailey and Rodolfo asked, lacking in belief. “Seriously?”

            “Fine,” Matt moved his eyes to the two. “Today is Wednesday. You guys could make it this weekend?”

            Rodolfo nodded while Hailey answered, “Sure.”

            “Let’s talk about more details tonight. Gotta go! Bye!” Hailey talked so fast and hanged up the video call.

            Matt looked at Rodolfo, whose eyes were locked in his friend’s. Their heart started racing, pretending it wasn’t happening to them. Excitement filled their body. Eventually, Matt took the pitcher, drank a juice and went back to his plate. Rodolfo followed him, questioning;

            “How long should you be like this to her? Lies have limitations.”

            “I am working on it. It’s just… - ughh.”

            “It’s her friends, isn’t it?”

            “I hate lying to Hailey. This has to stop. She’s our friend.”