Curiosity.
"The eagerness to know or learn about something that took your interest. Some might say that curiosity kills the cat, but not all the time it does. Sometimes it could lead you to something unexpected yet beautiful circumstances."
This was how Jimhuesh Anderson would approach life. Discovering the hidden truths in anything he found interesting was his favorite pastime, but what if his own curiosity could kill him someday?--well, not literally, but what if his curiosity would eventually lead him to something unexpected yet not so beautiful circumstances? Would he regret playing the detective or would he face the truth bravely?
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The day before yesterday at GMC...
Pile of papers on the table. Approved stamp in his hand. Last applicant for the day.
Senthie Salvador. Female. 25 years of age. Single. Apparel store.
The photo of the last applicant caught JIMHUESH's attention. She looked familiar. He thought he'd seen her somewhere before, but couldn't remember.
He put down the stamp on the table and turned his swivel chair 180°, now facing the wall that was behind him earlier. He rested his elbows on his knees and crouched as he leaned his forehead on his slightly closed fist, trying to concentrate and rewind his memory to remember the woman.
Where did he see her? He was sure that he had seen her before. But where and when?
He was deeply sunken with his jumbled memories and felt the creasing of his forehead against his fist when a voice pulled him out of his thoughts.
"Uh, sir, are you okay?" his secretary asked with a concerned voice.
He almost forgot that Liam was in the room the whole time. Jimhuesh cleared his throat and turned his swivel chair back to face him. "Don't worry about me. This will be done in a second."
As the level of his curiosity rose, the more he wanted to unravel the memory he had forgotten. He picked up the stamp, dipped it in the ink, and pressed it on the lease application form, hearing the thud that left a mark of 'approved'.
He put the last paper on top of the approved applications. More than half of the applicants had failed. He approved the application of the woman named 'Senthie Salvador' because he was curious about her. Something was telling him that he had to satisfy his desire of meeting her.
"All done, you know what to do," he said, looking at his phone vibrating against the table. The name 'Ry' flashed through the screen.
"Yes, sir," Liam replied as he walked towards the table to collect the papers. He nodded and excused himself, gently closing the door.
Jimhuesh reached for his phone and sighed. Knowing Rychie, he must be calling to annoy the hell out of him. He took his call not bothering to say hello.
"Why?" he said, sounding annoyed.
"Are you busy?" Rychie asked. Jimhuesh heard faint voices on the other line, saying that the chicken was delicious.
He asked him 'why' again, trying to sound as uninterested as he could.
"Why? Because I'm busy." Rychie's answer made Jimhuesh annoyed. He shut his eyes, furrowed his brows, and gritted his teeth. He could see Rychie's smirk in his mind by the sound of his voice.
"Are you kidding me? I'm hanging up."
A smirk formed on his mouth as he imagined Rychie's regret of messing with him. He knew he was right since Rychie yelled in his reply to make sure Jimhuesh could hear it before he could hang up. "Wait! Let's hang out later!"
Keeping the phone away from his face, Jimhuesh feigned not hearing him because of poor reception before he ended the call. "What? I can't hear you. Tut-tut-tut."
He let out an audible sigh and put his phone on the table. "So annoying."
Rychie Aquino was 26 years old and was four years older than Jimhuesh. They had known each other since they were kids. Rychie was like a brother to him--though he was the son of Arnold--the driver of Jimhuesh's mother, Rychie didn't treat him like he was above him. He treated him like he was just an ordinary kid. Jimhuesh was the only child in the family so his mother requested Arnold to let his son play with her son. Jimhuesh's mother didn't pressure him on becoming the heir of the company, she'd let him experience being a child and supported him in everything he did. It was Jimhuesh's decision to work in Grand Mall Corporation--their company. He was given the position of vice president last year at the age of 21.
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As soon as Jimhuesh stepped inside their mansion. Right--by the word mansion, it literally meant mansion. Their house was big as the mall. Though it was just two-story, it was wide as the golf course. If anyone would visit, it wouldn't be surprising if they would get lost. They had ten bedrooms with a jacuzzi each, they also had a gym, theater room, library, swimming pool, and other rooms for leisure. By entering the mansion, two stairs connecting the left and right to the second floor would welcome its visitors, and below, big sofas encircled half of the area in between the stairs. Their family was one of the billionaires in the country so it wasn't something to be surprised about.
Jimhuesh saw his mom and dad sitting cozily on the sofa, watching the TV. They both looked over their shoulders to see their son behind them.
"Oh, you're late," his dad, Ronaldo, said.
"You're here!" his mom, Jennifer, squealed.
"Yeah." Jimhuesh nodded and adjusted his necktie.
"You're working too hard. Give yourself a bit of rest, once in a while, Jim. You might just replace the CEO in no time," Ronaldo said, looking at his wife in the last sentence as he placed his arm on top of the sofa behind his wife.
"Ronald," Jennifer whined. She gave him a nudge and a playful glare then pouted. "Don't say that. I want my baby to live his life according to his will. We do not want him to feel pressured." She turned her gaze to her son and then back to her husband as she pointed a hand to herself and declared, "besides, I can still manage, as you can see."
"Of course! You're the best CEO, honey." Jimhuesh's dad said, patronizing his wife.
"Oh, honey, you're so sweet. Thank you!" she replied.
"Okay, you two can continue your so-called lovey-dovey, while I will evaporate from this area," Jimhuesh stated while trying to hide his irritation.
He hated that they could still do that in front of him. It made him sick. He hated the idea of showing affection to someone else openly. He hated the public display of affection.
He forced a smile and turned his back to head into his room. His room was on the second floor so he took the left stairs connecting the direction near to it. When his foot reached the second step, he heard his mother ask why did he even use the word 'evaporate,' and his father replied that he had no idea.
He clenched his jaw to prevent the slipping smile from his lips. Despite the fact that he was irritated a while ago, he couldn't help but find their reaction funny. As he came closer to his room, noise coming from the inside echoed outside. The TV was on. Someone was inside his room. The corner of his mouth twitched as he had clue who it was.
Jimhuesh opened the door and saw him sitting on the couch in front of the TV, face upward, pizza in his hand. Nice, great. He was doing it again. Barging in his room without his permission. Not that he minded it, but he didn't want him to know that he actually liked spending time with him. Of course, he was like a brother to him. He was there for him all the time, through thick and thin. Okay, that was an exaggeration.
"Just what are you doing here, Rychie Aquino?" He made it sound like he was irritated.
Jimhuesh's hand was still on the doorknob when Rychie turned his gaze to the right-- Jimhuesh's direction--he officially entered his room and shut the door behind him.
"Eating?" Rychie said nonchalantly and took a big bite of the pizza.
Jimhuesh couldn't help but gulp as Rychie took another bite. The mouthwatering smell of pizza was all over the room and it was hard not to be tempted. Cheese, pineapple, bell pepper, beef, name it. There were two boxes of pizzas and four coke-in-can on the center table.
"Seriously?" Jimhuesh said, trying to maintain his poker face.
Rychie chuckled, moving his hand to his side not visible in Jimhuesh's sight, then the sound of crinkling plastic echoed.
"Come, let's eat! I got your favorite, Rychicken's Barbeque!" Rychie said enthusiastically, lifting the plastic bag with the name of his restaurant on it--Rychicken's Barbeque.
Setting aside Jimhuesh's excitement for the chicken, he walked to the left and ignored him. He headed towards the bed, a few meters behind the couch that Rychie was sitting on, and took off his coat and tie. He tried to hold back his laughter but slowly his mouth slipped into a smile. He quickly pressed his lips together to stop it but his laughter came out from his nose and snorted.
"I just can't get used to that name. So hilarious! I can't believe you named your restaurant after your name," Jimhuesh said and burst into laughter.
"It's not even funny," Rychie responded indifferently, picking up the coke-in-can and taking a gulp. "Whatever." He sighed as he put back the plastic bag and his drink on the table. He turned his gaze to the screen and some romcom tv show was airing.
Jimhuesh thought to himself that it was no fun teasing his best friend. He let himself inside the wardrobe room, changed into brown shorts, and slid the sleeves of his shirt into his arms, leaving his torso exposed. He pushed the sliding door to close the wardrobe room and turned his gaze to Rychie. He was quietly watching and eating chicken.
"Hey, Rychicken! Are you mad?" Jimhuesh asked, approaching while buttoning down his shirt.
He shrugged, not averting his eyes from the TV. "No, why would I? I don't bother getting mad at you, anymore."
Jimhuesh furrowed his brows as he sat beside him. "And what do you mean by that?"
What did he mean by that? Did he mean that being mad at him was just a waste of time? Or maybe, he just didn't want to be mad at him, and that was all to it?
Rychie's voice snapped him out of his doubtful thoughts. "Hey Jim, look!" He pointed at the screen with a chicken in his hand. "That scene reminds me of something in the past!"
Jimhuesh turned his gaze to the screen--the scene was a girl confessing her feelings to a boy and getting rejected.
He narrowed his eyes and asked Rychie. "What past?"
"I just remembered that time when I was in high school, some tomboy girl confessed her love for me," he answered indifferently.
After that information, a flick of memory made Jimhuesh's eyes blink a little faster. He rested an elbow on his knee and crouched so that he could lean his creased forehead on his slightly closed fist. A sudden flashback ran into his head. As if he just saw a lightbulb turned on, he replied, "yeah, right."
That was her. He finally remembered.
"Huh?" Rychie asked. The confused expression on his face was as if asking Jimhuesh what the hell he was talking about.
Jimhuesh let himself sit straight. "I think I saw you with that girl back then when I gave you a ride home."
Jimhuesh grabbed a chicken, took a bite, and felt the urge to bite again. It just tasted so good. Probably, the best chicken barbecue he had ever had, the texture was tender and juicy. Every bite felt like heaven, the sweetness and saltiness blended perfectly in his mouth, and the spiciness strengthened the flavor, leaving his mouth craving for more. Before he took a bite again, he turned his gaze to Rychie--his eyes were wide.
"Really? So, you saw how I rejected her?" He scratched the back of his head.
Well, that was not surprising. Her appearance back then--she was like--a boy wearing a skirt? Her hair was in a barber's cut, her bag was like Rychie's, and her uniform's sleeves were rolled up. So, Rychie rejecting her was to be expected.
"I just saw her looking so disappointed," Jimhuesh said after he gulped the chicken in his mouth.
"Were you friends with her? What's her name?" he added, trying his best not to give his best friend a hint of how interested he was.
Rychie shrugged. "Nah. I can't even remember her face now. I was so popular at school at that time. Everyone falls in love with me just by seeing me once. Even the boys couldn't resist my charm."
Even if Jimhuesh wanted to object, he didn't. Rychie was telling the truth and he had seen a lot of girls confess to him--and boys? That was also true--but they were homosexuals. Rychie never seemed to be interested in any girls or boys. He never talked about what he thought about them, but would always flaunt how many of them had been heartbroken because of him.
Jimhuesh glared at him. "Okay there, stop now."
Rychie smirked and shook his head. "Anyway, why were you suddenly asking about her? Are you interested in her or something?"
Jimhuesh scowled at him defiantly. "Forget that I asked, then."
"Okay, okay." He conceded, but Jimhuesh could tell that he wasn't convinced. Nonetheless, he just shrugged it off.
Even though she looked a lot different now and many years had passed--that was definitely her. He just knew it.
Rychie was right. Jimhuesh found her interesting.
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Hello, Noomiells!
Thank you for reading this chapter. Hope you liked it. :D
By the way, if you are wondering how to pronounce their names, you can say it like this:
Jimhuesh -> Jim-wish // Rychie -> Rye-chi
Anyway, what do you think of Jim's personality?
How about his friendship with Rychie?
I would like to know your opinion. Please, let me know! :D