“You heard about the news this morning?” Kayla asked as she placed her cup of coffee and took a seat right across Kate, her office friend. Kate is an HR specialist in the company whom Kayla met when she had her first-day orientation. Since then, they’ve clicked and now way closer to each other than she was with her own teammates. Yeah, go figure!

“Which one?” asked Kate as she sips from her mug. “I didn’t catch the news this morning. I was almost late.”

“I am late!” Kayla said, wide-eyed.

“I know. I saw you running in a while ago.” Kate teased. “A first by the way, since you were never late.”

“You don’t say.” She answered while shaking her head. “Anyway, I heard the news as I was heading out. A body was found close here, murdered.”

“Really? Probably a robbery.”

“No, he was not robbed according to the police, which bothers me.”

“You even walk on that same road every night.” Kate agreed, looking a bit concerned now.

“Right. And you know, last night…” Kayla started to relay her experience the previous night to Kate. She was more comfortable in sharing the story with Kate than with her parents as she refuses to make her parents worry. However, she just felt that she needed to share her worries with someone somehow for her to feel a bit better.

“Oh my God! That is totally creepy!” Kate exclaimed when Kayla finished with her story.

“I know, right! Do you think they’re connected?” Kayla worriedly asked.

“It can be! It’s the same night. And the same road.”

“Also, I’m worried about that guy who helped me. I mean he went back to the same street. I’m concerned he could be the guy that was murdered?” she bit her lower lip. She can’t help but feel guilty if that was the case. “Should I, you know, at least check?”

“What, go to the morgue or something?” Kate asked. “You were not even his family, I don’t think they would even let you. If you try checking with the police, they might take you in for questioning. Remember, you are not even sure if the events were connected.”

“I get your point.” She said nodding but still concerned.

“I think it’s best to not worry too much about it. It might be a different person and someone might have a personal grudge against that person, getting him killed eventually. You know, the likes. It’s nothing new here in the Philippines. Maybe it was just a coincidence.” Consoled her friend which she answered with a smile.

Yes, maybe it was really just a coincidence. She should think it like that for her own peace of mind as well.

“On another note though, I have heard a different news regarding last night.” Kate changed the subject while grinning.

“What news?” Kayla asked, her forehead knotted.

“Some bird told me you had an encounter with a totally kissable man last night.”

“Excuse me?” Kayla was shocked. She thought the torment ended last night when she left her teammates. She cannot believe it would reach even Kate who was in a totally different department! “Do you guys accept complaints about chatterboxes? Because I am seriously considering submitting a report against Sylvia right now.” She could feel the headache from last night creeping back in again. Where do you even get better teammates? And why was she not blessed with some?

To her disappointment, Kate just laughed at her last comment.

“Hey, cut her some slack! She might have shared it with me this morning because she knows that we are close.”

“I doubt that. In fact, I could bet she shared it with everyone she met this morning.” Kayla answered, shaking her head. Should she file that report for real?

“Well, couldn’t blame her. That was one juicy gossip she got there.” Kate teased.

“Kate!” she said, wide-eyed.

“What? It’s not every day we hear news about you and some gorgeous guy.” Kate idly said “So who was the guy?”

“Didn’t she tell you about the most important part of the story?” she lazily asked. “That I do not know him?”

“Oh, she did say that. But she kinda implied that you obviously know him and just don’t want to share it.” Kate shrugged. “She thought you might be willing to share it with me since we’re friends. So are you?” she pressed once more.

“Kate, I do not have anything to share. I really don’t know him.” Kayla insisted.

“For real? But I thought he hugged you?”

“He did and I do not know him!”

“Okay, that is totally weird.” To her relief, it appears that Kate believed her. This is the difference between a friend and a person who just thinks you are close when she thinks you are gossip-worthy. “What’s with you last night, girlfriend? It’s like you just turned into a weirdness slash creepiness magnet.”

“I know. It was the weirdest night of my life after all.” She dismissively said.

“But is the hugger guy really hot?”

“Kate!”

“Hey, don’t blame me! Sylvia insisted he was ‘yummy’” Kayla frowned at her friend. “Her words, not mine. But is he really?”

“Okay, I am late and I have a lot of things to do, so I’ll see you at lunch,” Kayla said, ignoring her friend’s question. She picked up her coffee mug and stood up.

With no intentions of backing down just yet, Kate picked up her own coffee mug and started walking beside her.

“Oh come on, share something with me about that guy. I’m dying of curiosity here!” Kate flashed her puppy dog eyes at her, trying to look pitiful.

“I told you, Kate. I do not know him. It’s the first time we met and I doubt I’ll ever---“ She suddenly forgot what she was saying when she shifted her gaze in front of her and caught a glimpse of the group of men walking towards them. Actually, her gaze focused on the man at the center, bearing that disturbingly handsome face. The face that had been haunting her thoughts since he hugged her the previous night. She felt the familiar drumming of her heart as she watch him stride towards their direction while talking to the person beside him.

She held her breath when the man finally turned his head towards their direction. It is really him!

She felt her heart skip a beat when their eyes finally met. And when his lips curved into a smile, she felt her energy slowly slipping away.

Before she even noticed, she already lost grip of her coffee mug. It went crashing down to the tiled floor of their office cafeteria, the mug breaking in pieces and spilling hot coffee all over the floor and her poor exposed legs.

“Ah!”