It’s been three days since the last time the world saw me. I missed classes but that was fine, I could always catch up, this wasn’t my first rodeo after all. As I sat on my seat, Tristan patted my back and I just smiled at him.
“Oh, Mr. Wu, you’re back!” cried my professor. Her hair was short and tidy, a metal chain hung under her cat-eye spectacles, her thin scarf wrapped carelessly yet also precisely around her wrinkled neck.
“Family emergency, Professor.” the Godfathers replied in unison. We came up with the generic excuse for my absence together. Like most other classes, I was the best in this one and Tristan and John would always compete for the second place. My absence therefore was always noted by our professors.
As the class continued, I caught a glimpse of a figure peeping through the window in the door, it was Gab. He was scanning the room and when he saw me, he gave me a quick wave and pointed to the right. I stood and went out of the classroom.
“What are you doing here?” I was curious as to what he could be doing again in our building.
“Where have you been? How are you? Did you go to the hospital?”
He bombarded me with questions as he held my face with his hands, tilted it left and right, and continued to examine my knee.
“I’m fine. I told you it was just arthritis.” I was now annoyed. He pestered as he patted my body.
“I’m not carrying a gun if that’s what you’re looking for.”
“Sorry, I just got worried after what happened.” he gave up the search.
“I know. I’m sorry for slamming the door on your face too.”
“That’s all right. I just hope you’re fine.”
“I’m perfectly fine,” I shrugged, raised my hands, and gave him a whirl to prove my complete recovery, “what else do you want?”
“Well I was hoping to study with you again today --” the bell rang signalling the end of class. Tristan came out carrying my bag and John followed with my laptop. I thanked them as they handed me my belongings.
“Hey, guys, can Gab come study with us?”
“Sure” replied the other Godfathers in harmony.
Taking our spot in the cafe, we realised that there were some classes I was taking that Gab had already taken, being that they were his major classes in the previous years and my minor classes for this year and vice versa. We took this opportunity to teach each other and Tristan and John pitched in to help explain. Admittedly I’m not the best teacher. John often tells me my mind travels faster than my mouth so sometimes I make assumptions that people already understood this associated concept therefore I wouldn’t explain that altogether, leaving my tutee confused. Gab was smart though, oftentimes he could cope up with my pace leaving only a few moments of bewilderment.
After dinner at the neighboring restaurant, Tristan and John decided to head home. I elected to stay at the cafe as this was the best place for me to study and no one was waiting at home for me anyway.
“What about you?” inquired Tristan
“I’ll stay here with New,” smiled Gab, “thanks.”
We sat across each other at the communal table. Sometimes I would look up to crack my neck, and this time I catch Gab in the act; looking at me. I pretended to pay no particular attention to this. To make things interesting, I rolled a tiny piece of paper into a ball the diameter of about 2 millimeters and flicked it at his face. He jerked as the paper landed on his eye.
“Asshole!” yelled the victim.
He threw the same paper at me but I managed to dodge it while laughing at his expense. We resumed studying but I couldn’t help but smile. Few minutes later, he moved and sat next to me holding out his iPad.
“Hey could you explain this to me?” he asked as he leaned his shoulder on mine to get comfortable.
I was taken aback but I couldn’t react to it. Touched at the gesture, I pretended like nothing happened and this is completely normal. I explained the concept as thoroughly as I could given that the other Godfathers were no longer around to help me. Little did I know Gab was already asleep on my arms. I checked the time and it was late, time to head home. I shook him gently, “Gab, Gab.” His jerking reaction caused him to fall from his seat. I laughed and helped him up.
“Let’s go home.” I suggested as I packed his things for him, He was still recovering from his fall.
Heading out, I took my remote key and unlocked the car. Gab hastily opened the door for me and gestured for the car like a footman.
“In you go, sir.”
I closed my door and opened the window as he was still standing next to my car looking down at the window. I smiled and asked, “What?”
“Thank you,” was all he said but the words didn’t match the expression in his face. He was happy, his smile genuine; it was different from the smiles I saw from afar when he was around his crowd of “friends”.
I poked my arm out of my window and lightly patted his bag, “You’re welcome.”
“Not just for the lessons,” he swayed his head, “I greatly enjoyed our dates.”
I couldn’t help but smile and blush as I looked away.
“Good night, Gab.” I said as I turned on the lights.
“Good night, New,” he replied “drive safe.”
“You too,” I said while waving him goodbye and driving off.
Friday finally came and the Godfathers sat around the board table in the department with Prof. Long. The meeting went by quickly as Prof. Long was impressed by our work. I opened the door as we headed out of the office and my eyes immediately saw Gab waiting just to the right of the door.
“We’re heading to the gym before studying.” I clarified to manage his expectations.
“That’s alright, I brought my gym clothes.” he smiled enthusiastically. Now I’m starting to wonder how he knew about our schedule. My face probably betrayed me because he explained thereafter.
“I asked Tristan what you will be doing today.”
I looked back at Tristan surprised at the entire revelation. He gave me this look as if asking “What?”
“He’s part of the godfathers now.” Tristan defended.
“I didn’t know we agreed to this.”
“You didn’t but two of three voted in favor of it,” replied John as he hooked his right arm around my neck and his left around Gab’s, “your say wouldn’t change things.”
We made our way to the gym but Gab had to take the guest entrance. I waited for him on the other side of the door and escorted him to the office to register. Tristan and John made their way to the locker and were already beginning their workout by the time we left the office.
You could tell he was battling with his eyes as he discreetly tried to look away from my glistening skin. I couldn’t resist the urge to tease him so I repositioned myself to give him the full view of my sweaty arms. I gave every barbell curl a good squeeze to accentuate those biceps and boy could he not be more obvious. He was now looking at everything but me.
We had a good workout, I’ve never felt so much burn. In the locker, I suggested we study at my place as I don’t think my body would be able to compose itself while in the cafe. Everyone agreed and we made our way to the condo. I opened the door to reveal a spacious one-bedroom unit. The bright bamboo floor and furniture contrasted against the white walls, curtains, and bed; anything that couldn’t be wooden or white could only be metallic and that had to be kept discreetly away. I like to keep my room clean and modern, it felt like a showroom for those Japanese home furniture brands. My room also boasted a perfect view of the skyscrapers.
“Whoa!” awed Gab.
“You can put your things there. I’ll just take a quick shower then we can study,” I told Gab. Tristan and John already knew what to do since this wasn’t the first time we spent studying here. John turned on my bluetooth speakers and played some acoustic tunes to relax as they waited for me.
I got out of my room in my royal blue silk pajamas and to my surprise lay on the table hot food. The chef was cleaning after his mess in the kitchen while John and Tristan were on the couch napping.
“You know how to cook?”
“My grandmother taught me. She was the best, every meal she made she cooked with love and she wanted to pass that down to me.”
I was surprised at the wide array of dishes on my table. Who knew that I had enough ingredients to prepare a meal fit for a king?
“Could you come visit tomorrow? I need help with groceries.”
“Yeah, sorry about that. There’s four of us here so I was left with no choice. I can pay for it.”
“That won’t be necessary,” I assured him.
I made my way to the sofa to wake up the snoring guests. A thunderous bang resulted from my slap on their knees. They woke up to the pain but I was in more. I hit my finger on John’s pointy bone and it stung like a bee.
“Gab made us supper,” I declared as I soothed my sore fingers.
Everyone dug in quickly but I was too busy massaging my left hand. Gab noticed my throbbing red hand and took it with his right. Since he was left handed, he could manage to feed himself while massaging my hand for me.
“Thank you.”
John giggled at the sight and nudged Tristan to get his attention to us. My cheeks turned red, their grins embarrassed me so I quickly took my hand away from Gab’s.
“It’s fine now.” I smiled at the ignorant fellow. He was too busy eating and massaging my hand to notice Tristan and John’s teasing.
We studied until midnight and everyone agreed it was time to head home. Tristan and John left ahead while Gab volunteered to clean up. I tried to help him but by the time I got back from the door, all that was left was for me to wipe the table and counter. I then walked Gab to the door. He thanked me again.
“Thanks as well,” I smiled and opened the door for him.
“What time should I be here?”
“Can you manage 09:00?”
“It’s a date.” He declared as he smiled and turned around to walk away.
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