3

“Brother!” Phoebe exclaimed. “I thought you've forgotten about me! Where are you? I tried calling you when I got to the airport. I even thought you changed your number immediately you got back.”

"Look at you. Have you been expecting my call that badly that you couldn't even wait before picking up?” Asher teased.

“Uhn.” She replied quickly. “Besides, I'm angry that you didn't call at all.”

“But I'm calling now.” He defended himself.

“You should have called earlier.” She insisted. “Whatever! Are you fine? Where are you?”

“One at a time, lady. I'm fine and about where I am. . .” He paused looking round. ". . .I'm not sure, but I was with brother not too long.”

“Brother Jared?”

“Uhn.”

“Really? Did he ask of me?”

“Uhn.”

“I should go see him soon.” She replied quickly. “Are you coming home?”

“No. I'm not.”

“Why?”

“Hey, don't worry about me and start worrying about yourself.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“When will you start working at the hospital?”

“In the next two days.”

“Make your brother proud so I'll be able to call you my one and only reliable doctor, okay?”

“Why do you sound like I might not be able to see you for some time? Brother?” She asked with an obvious change in her tone. She knew him so well that she could predict whatever was wrong with him judging from the look on his face and the tone of his voice. "Brother, what do you plan to do?"

"Phoebe. . .” He started.

“Brother, I know you.” She interrupted. “I thought you came back because of me at first, but when I thought about it, I figured out it wasn't because of me, seeing that you came ahead of me. It's because of her, right? I know it's because of her. Annette Nittolo. You still think about her, don't you? You should forget about what happened then. It's gone and it was nobody's fault. You don't have to feel like you owe anything and you should forget about what happened then and forget about her now, she's gone and it's been very long now.”

Asher paused and thought about what she said. He kept quiet for a short while. 

“Brother.” He heard Phoebe's voice from the other line leaving him with no choice than to talk. 

“How can I forget about her? How do you expect me to forget about her and forget what happened then?”

“But you did nothing.”

“That is what is wrong. I did nothing. That is exactly the problem. Do you know what mother said before she died? "Do your best to protect Annette, I owe her something. When the time comes, you will be the one to give what I owe back to her, but until then, stay by her side and protect her‟. That was what mother said on her sick bed but I couldn't fulfill mother's wish. I did nothing back then and I did nothing all these while for fifteen years, but I'm not going to stand back anymore. I don't have a plan yet and I don't know where this is going to lead to, but I promise not to stand back anymore.”

“Brother, what are you going to do? Uhn? What do you plan to do?”

“Revenge! I'll do everything possible to—”

"Brother! Are you crazy? Revenge? Is that the only thing you can think about? I had better get through Brother Jared and tell him about your crazy plan! I heard he's a detective now. He should—”

“I told him already.”

“You did?” She paused and sighed. “I understand you, but brother, if I was Annette, I wouldn't want you to do that. I'll want you to move on with your life and act like it never happened. I'll want you to live happily and do something good with your life rather than spending your time to dig up what happened long ago.”

“That's good, since you're not Annette.”

“But still. . ." Pausing, she took a deep breath as she gave it a faint thought. “I wasn't as close to Annette as you were, but still, she was my friend. Believe me, she wouldn't want you to do this.”

“Don't cause any trouble when you become a resident and make sure you listen well to your seniors, okay? I'll call you some other time.”

“Brother!”

“And make sure you eat well since you're at home. I don't want to see those neck bones of yours when next I see you, okay?"

“Brother!”

Before she could say any other thing, Asher disconnected the line and replaced the sim card before ordering for another bottle of drink.

An Apartment

Josie carried her drunk friend, Isabella to Frederick Hart, one of her friend's apartment and knocked loudly on the door. She knocked the second time but there was no reply. She was about knocking the third time when the door went wide open and Frederick stood at the entrance.

“Josie?” he called surprised to see her with Isabella at his doorstep.

“Hey! Fred!” She greeted him with a fake smile that disappeared quickly as it came.

“What are you doing here?” He asked, still surprised as he watched her force her way into his apartment.

Josie walked inside with Isabella and dropped her on one of the couch before turning to Frederick. 

“What does it looks like I'm doing? I'm leaving Isabella here with you.”

“Why?” He asked with a puzzled frown.

Sighing, she raised her hand to demonstrate. “You see, my mother just got a new credit card in my name recently, but I had to use the money for something very important. Mother found out, and I've been in trouble since then. Also, you know that guy she's dating, I think they broke up and she went ahead to get herself drunk. That's not all, she even went to my brother's apartment and he had to call me where I was having a difficult time trying to—"

“Enough with the story, Josie." He interrupted. “What exactly are you trying to say?”

“What do you mean by what am I trying to say? I thought I told you earlier that I'm leaving Isabella here with you.”

“And I asked you why!”

“Don't you get?” She asked folding her arm. “I'm in big trouble, so I can't go home where my Mom lives.”

“What about your apartment?”

“My neighbour moved out and I haven't been staying in my apartment since then.”

"You should have taken her to her rooftop house!”

“Right!” Josie agreed. “I would have but, I don't know the password to her rooftop house and there's no other place to take her to.”

“How can you not know the password to your friend's house?”

“I know it, but she changed it when her sister kept on disturbing her.”

“Then you should have asked her for the new password."

“I did!” she defended. “But she didn't tell me because I was the one that told her sister her former password.” She explained as she took a glance at her wristwatch. “Listen, Fred, I know we're not too close but you should know that I wouldn't have brought her here if there was 

somewhere else to go. It's late already and I have to see the restaurant woman before she leaves. I'll see you later.” She told him quickly as she rushed to the door.

“Hey! How can you leave your friend in a man's place?”

Turning back, Josie thought about it. “It's not a man place, but a friend's place.” She replied after a few seconds. “Make sure you prepare some hangover soup for her tomorrow. I might not be here to do that.” She turned back to the door and was about opening it when she suddenly turned back to face him, startling him.

“You startled me!” he exclaimed.

“Fred,” she called him as she pointed a warning finger at him. "I'm leaving her here because I trust you, okay?”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“If anything happens, I'll just. . ." Pausing, she nodded her head. “Never mind, I'm just saying that I trust you. I hope you understand.” She added as she opened the door and left hurriedly.

“Hey! Josie!” He shouted after her. “Don't do this to me! Josie! Josie Maran! Aishhh, seriously!”

Granny's Restaurant 

Asher sat down with the empty bottles of drinks in front of him while different thoughts of his past ran through his mind.

Flashback 

Fifteen years ago 

At a garden, 14years old Asher and a 12years old girl, Annette Nittolo played around. They kept on laughing as they played on the swing and then they moved to the seesaw. They played for a long time and when they finally got tired, they sat on the grass. Asher brought out a necklace with a pendant that made it look like a locket and gave it to Annette.

“It's my mother's necklace.” He told her as he gave it to her.

“Why are you giving it to me?” She asked as she rejected it. "It's the only thing of hers you have to look at whenever you miss your her. Why are you giving it to me then?”

“No.” He insisted as he offered it to her again. “I want you to have it so that whenever I miss her, I would like to look at you and the necklace at the same time. Also, my mother told me that it's a key to something I'll get to understand later in the future. So, till I get to understand what it is, keep it with you.”

Annette accepted it happily while he went behind her to put it on for her.

“It looks pretty on you.” He commented as he stood up.

“Thank you.” She replied smiling. “I have an idea.”

“What is it?”

“We come to this garden almost every day and we have happy memories here. Since it's like a special place, let's hide a time capsule somewhere and in the nearest future when we grow up, we would come back for it. What do you think?”

“That's childish.” He teased her.

“But still, we should do it. It's what I want.” she insisted.

“If you don't comply, I'll stop making you cookies and you know that's the only thing I learnt to do from my brother.”

“Okay." He agreed.

They wrote their wishes on separate pieces of paper, wrapped it and buried it somewhere beside where they were. They planted Annette's favourite flower beside it so that when they come back together in the future, they would be able to get where the time capsule is easily. Annette offered to put the necklace with the time capsule since he might need it for something important in the future but Asher disagreed.

Few minutes later, they both had to leave for Asher's house where a party was taking place to congratulate Asher's father, the chairman, on the success of his project. They got to his house late and the party was already going on. Seeing that none of the elderly ones had their time, they both went outside where the party noise wouldn't disturb them.

“I don't like what my father is doing.” Asher complained to Annette.

“Why do you say that?” she asked concerned.

“My mother.” He started. “She died few weeks ago and he's not acting like anything happened, instead he's here having a party.”

“Is that it?” Annette asked him and he nodded. “If that's it, then I like your father. Life is simple. People that are alive shouldn't spend the rest of their time thinking about those that are dead. The dead are gone, but those that are still alive have a lot to do while being alive. The 49th day since your mother passed away has passed. It's close to two months and I like the fact that your father is not letting the death of your mother weigh him down, instead, he's moving on with his life and succeeding so that wherever his wife is, she'll be proud of having him as her husband. You're a man, if you keep on with this, then I'm not going to marry you in the future.”

“What? Seriously? How can you say that? I'm to decide whether I'll marry you or not, besides your comment was too childish. I really have a lot of things to teach you so you'll start acting matured.”

Annette suddenly saw one of her friends and she stood up quickly as she rushed to meet her so as to introduce her to Asher while he followed her as she did the introduction. 

“Meet my new friend, Josie.” She told Asher. “We became friends when I was waiting at the garden for you yesterday, although you didn't show up.”

“I apologized already.” Asher defended himself.

“So you're the one she was waiting for.” Annette's new friend flashed him a smile before giving Annette a brief glance. “She even cried while she was waiting for you.”

“You cried?” Asher asked smiling to himself. “Why didn't you tell me you cried while you were waiting for me?” he teased. 

“Hey!” Annette hit both him and her friend. “How can you tell him that? And why should I have told you? She invited me to her house when the rain started falling. Her mother and brother were very nice to me and they fed me before I left after the rain stopped.”

After mentioning her mother, the girl remembered what she had been doing before Annette found her.

“I was looking for my mother.” She told Annette. “I went inside for a brief moment and I've been looking for her since I came out.”

“Let me help you look for her.” Annette offered to help her with her search and walked away with her, leaving Asher behind.

Asher was about going with them when a man approached him. He stopped in his tracks immediately as the man bent down in front of him. He had never seen the man before and it was obvious that he wasn't there for the ongoing party judging from a bunch of guys that appeared behind him.

“What do you want?” He asked trying not to sound scared of the man.

“Hey boy, where did you keep the necklace your mother gave you?” the man asked bluntly.

“What?”

"Hey, you rascal, I don't like repeating myself. Where is the necklace your mother gave to you?” he asked again.

“I don't know what you're saying.”

“Hey, listen, that necklace is really really important, so, if you want to live, just hand it over.” The man threatened him.

He became confused and scared when the other five men standing behind him surrounded him. He was unsure of why they wanted the necklace but all he could think of was the fact that he gave the necklace to Annette, meaning she wasn't safe with it. Knowing he might not be able to outrun the men since they were outside and nobody inside knew what was going on, out of a scared and confused state, he shouted Annette's name and asked her to run. 

Annette and her friend who were oblivious to what was going on turned back upon hearing her name. The man threatening him turned towards their direction and sighed.

“Which of them is Annette?” the man asked making Asher realize that he shouldn't have called her at all. He blamed himself for complicating the issue and refused to talk.

Annette and her friend realized he was in danger and before Annette could move, her friend asked her to help Asher while she offered to go get help. Annette asked her to get the attention of the elders inside while she distracts the men. The young girl took to her heels immediately to get help while Annette ran towards Asher to help him. The man seeing how the girl ran asked the men to go after her while he followed leaving Annette and Asher behind.

“Those men, who are they?” Annette asked him after seeing them leave like that.

“I don't know.” He replied. “They just came out of nowhere and I thought they were coming after you, but seeing how they left you here, that means they weren't after you after all.”

“That's a relief.” Annette sighed and was about to smile when she suddenly figured out her friend was in danger. “My friend!” She exclaimed. “She ran to get help immediately you called my name. They must have followed her thinking she was me.” She explained quickly putting the pieces together.

“You're thinking like a matured person for the first time.” He commented sounding serious and also trying to ease her at the same time. 

Frightened, she asked him why the men came to him and why they were after her. He turned to think and told her he wasn't sure leaving her to decide rashly to go after them. He was about telling her what they asked him for was the necklace he gave her but before he could turn back to tell her, she had already gone in the direction the men took. 

“Annette! Annette!” He shouted her name as he went after her but she was too fast for him to catch up with her and before he knew it, she was out of sight.

Frightened, he rushed inside to get help but no one paid attention to him. He told several people that his friends have been kidnapped, but no one paid attention to him. Few seconds later, he saw Annette's brother, Jared at a distance and rushed quickly to meet him.

"Brother! Annette is in danger.” He shouted and just then, a woman stopped in front of them.

“Excuse me, have you seen my daughter?” she asked them.

The thought that Annette's new friend must be the woman's daughter crossed Asher's mind but he couldn't conclude on that fact and he shook his head and left hurriedly with Jared, more concerned about Annette. Getting outside, he explained everything that happened to Jared, who immediately asked which direction they took. 

Asher pointed and they were about to rush towards that direction when they heard someone scream from inside. Both boys stared at themselves before rushing inside. 

On their way inside, they noticed that most of the guests were already making their way outside as it was announced that there was fire somewhere in the house. Asher and Jared made their way inside concluding that Annette and her friend were not safe. They struggled to go in while colliding with the people who were trying to get themselves outside to safety. 

They later found out that the fire was coming from the storeroom and Asher became alarmed knowing that the materials in the storeroom could make the fire severe. Firefighters got there as quickly as they were called and stopped anyone from getting close to the storeroom while they tried to stop the growing fire. 

Asher and Jared tried their best to pass by the firefighters, but to no avail. They had no choice but to wait for the firefighters to do their job. Three of the firefighters were seriously injured from the fire making Jared and Asher worried at how serious the fire was. 

After waiting for a long time, five wheels were pulled out, three injured firefighters and two people, a man and a young girl burnt beyond recognition. Jared walked to the body of what looked like Annette but he argued that it wasn't her. Asher also confirmed it and told the 

firefighters to go back in there and bring Annette. They both argued that she was still inside and that she might die if they don't save her. One of the firefighters asked them how they could be so sure she wasn't the one and just then, the necklace Asher had given Annette earlier that day dropped from the burnt hand. 

Falling to his knees, he picked up the necklace and cried having no choice than to believe that it truly was her.

“Annette! Why? Why didn't you fight for your life? Why didn't you try to stay alive? You should have held on a bit longer!” He kept on crying until she was wheeled away.

Present 

Recalling the incident that happened fifteen years ago, Asher kept on pouring himself drinks until he couldn't get a hold of himself. Looking at his phone, he berated Phoebe for saying something similar to what Annette once told him.

“You're right!” He spoke to no one in particular as he poured himself more drinks. “Although I believed what you said then as you being childish, but for the second time, I'll agree that you're right.” His eyelids started closing but he forced them open while he poured himself another drink and kept on talking to himself again, slowly this time. “The living has a lot of things to do while being alive and one of them is bringing justice to the dead.” He poured himself another drink only to realize it was empty. Raising his voice and the bottle, he called the woman at the bar.“ Elder woman! One more bottle!”

The restaurant woman was about taking a bottle of drink to him when a lady suddenly walked in looking bright as always. Smiling, the woman stopped to look at her.

“Uhn, Josie, you're here.”