ROYCE
"Okay, I give up," I murmured as I took my phone from my pocket and then dialed Nelina's number.

While the other line was ringing, I was still hesitant and making choices about whether to turn it off or not. But before I could decide to cut it off, a fruity voice from the other line was heard.

"Hello?" I could clearly hear her voice as I put it in speaker mode. "Hey, you there?"

"Oh, hello, yes, I'm here." It took me a few seconds before I was able to respond. "I hope I'm not disturbing you. Are you out of work?" I inquired before I started talking about the reason why I called.

"Well, in my line of work, time is not the basis if I will be out of work or not. We have an event, so I'm still up working until 7 pm."

I rubbed my temple, remembering she's a make-up artist and gets to work with many people if they get hired for an event. "Yes, I understand. I'm sorry for disturbing you. It's just that." I paused and thought if it was the right time to ask.

"What is it? Any problem?" she asked, with a hint of concern in her voice.

"Ah no, no no, Well, since I have already taken time to call you. I'll just say it now. You have mentioned to me that you love cars. I thought you might be open to attending our practice next Sunday if you are available. I can show you around and maybe ride the sports cars we use for racing. What do you say?"

I waited a moment, but I didn't hear a sound. "Nelly? Are you mad?"

"I don't know what to say. What made you think I'll go there with you? Royce, I don't want to be mean, but we don't know each other that much. It's just that..." she released a long breath and continued. "You see. I don't even know if I have time for this," she said, her voice soft. She sounded sincere.

I knew how she would reject it, but it was worth the try. "I understand where you're coming from. But can you just decide when you have thought it clearly? We still have more than a week."

"Okay, let me think about it. I gotta go."

"Yes, thank you for considering," I exclaimed and felt victorious. There was a little hope that she'll say yes.

"Okay, bye." she cut off the line just after I uttered bye. My heart was still racing when the conversation ended. It was strange because I haven't been in a state of excitement for a woman for a while.

Later that night, I met up with Leo. When I arrived at the exact address, I spotted Leo's Ferrari 812.

"Buddy, I missed you, brother," Leo greeted. "What's up, Mr. CEO?" he said, with a hint of a tease in his voice.

"Leo, don't start. Let's head inside."

"Man, you forgot about me when you replaced your uncle as the CEO. When would be the victory party?" I pressed his shoulders, hearing him rant. This is my best friend who loves to rant about being taken for granted. It's funny because I think ranting was like a female trait.

A few people were sitting in the bar's center, so we chose the utmost left. The place is in a blast of music, bottles, glasses collided, and noisy people. I can barely hear Leo talking not unless we lean closer to each other. "Leo, I will only have a beer, not hard liquor. I need to work early tomorrow," I said out loud in his ear as we sat on the bar. My best friend shook his head but didn't protest.

A bartender came to attend to what we needed. Leo was served with a glass of scotch while I had a large glass of beer. "Leo, how was school? How have you been these past few days? I never get to talk to you that much. I have been busy," I inquired.

"Don't bother, the usual boring kinds of stuff. I'm so jealous of you buddy, you hold your time in your hands."

I almost spit the first sip of my beer, hearing his last sentence. The guy has no idea how to run a company. Although Leo might run one of his family businesses in the future, he wasn't strictly trained. "Buddy, you have no idea how occupied I am with running the business. Still working on the transition. The only reason I do this is to continue the legacy of my grannies. It fuels me and gives me the strength to dominate the market and grow the business even more."

"Now, that's what I expect the better and mature version of you. Maybe that's what being a CEO can do to a man," he said, tapping my shoulder. He paused to sip on his scotch then continued. "So, brother, why did you call me to meet up? Is anything new besides the CEO thing? I know you. You don't reach me for nothing," Leo said as he winked at me.

Yes, Leo was right. He knows me too well. "Actually, I have something to share with you," I raised the glass of my drink and gulped the ice-cold beer. The satisfaction of having a beer in this bar is different from what I usually had at home. "That was really good. Beer is better when we sit and talk with a friend."

"Spit it out. I'm all ears."

"It's hard to begin. I don't know where to start. I actually met a girl recently, and she's kind of different," I said, then raised my glass of beer for another sip. I couldn't continue with the story without having it. I was pretty surprised staring at Leo, who hasn't reacted yet. This man was supposed to be overreacting whenever I told him about my personal matters, especially with women.

"It's a little bit awkward to admit how we met."

"What? Where did you meet this girl?"

"At the fast-food restaurant, when I had breakfast on my way to the office."

"Man, you don't eat in a fast-food restaurant, except when we were in school. Are you kidding me?"

"It wasn't my plan to eat in a fast-food restaurant. We had an emergency situation at the office where I didn't have enough time to prepare breakfast. I was supposed to be there at 7 in the morning, but it was canceled on my way to our company building. So, I settled on having breakfast at the nearest fast-food restaurant. And then, I met this woman. I asked her to sit on the extra chair in front of her. It all started from there."

This time Leo cracked. He didn't even have the slightest embarrassment when he caught the bartender's attention. I hit his knees with mine to signal him to stop. My best friend is an embarrassment sometimes.

"Brother, I can't believe you. You're back," he said as he gulped his scotch and passed the empty glass to the bartender to fill it up again.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, narrowing my eyebrows. It's like I didn't have a woman before. I gripped hard on my glass of beer, turning my thoughts to Roxie. That bitch.

"It's not that. I believe you have moved on. Look at you? Those eyes, you seem fired," he said, tapping my shoulder.

I burst into laughter, hearing my best friend mention the last word. "Fired? It has nothing to do with my story Leo, grow up, man," I said, pretending not to care, and finished my first glass of beer. But Leo continued laughing, as usual; he loves teasing me. I had no choice. I stared at him like a fool. "Are you done?"

"Hold up, I'm having a good time. Look at you. Your face reddens. Maybe you're in love," he said, then sipped his scotch.

"Leo, stop. It must be the beer. " I said as I reached for my second glass of beer the bartender placed in front of me. The beer was ice-cold when I drank hard on it to fill my stomach. I only stop when almost half of the large glass is empty. It seems strange that my heart was still racing when I put down the glass of liquor.

"Brother, easy, I'm happy for you. Let's not argue about your complexion. Beer or not, let's celebrate." he said as he proposed a toast. I collided my glass with his scotch, and then we both had our drink.

We had a good talk, not dull, especially with Leo's humor. He is pretty annoying at times but bearable. The beautiful night ended with my best friend sleeping in my coach, mouth wide-open.

When I gained consciousness in the morning. My head throbbed. However, the beautiful face of a woman is so vivid to me. Last night she appeared in my dreamland. And I could remember every detail of it like it was real.