2 What’s Your Name? Wednesday, 31 July 2019 (1/2)
”Gab come over. We have some serious plotting to do.” After maybe ten rings, Apollo's buddy finally picked up as he constantly peeked through the window, hoping to get a glimpse of the new neighbor.
Gabriel didn't seem to sound so happy. Apollo then realized that he woke him up so early in the morning. ”What the fuck dude!” Yep. Not happy. His voice was too hoarse it cracked.
Apollo let out a silent laugh. ”Come on over. Something's up.”
”At five in the morning?” He said, respiring so distinctly like he was short of breath. It almost sounded like he has asthma. But of course, he didn't. Gabriel was just a healthy impatient boy.
”You're going to help me with something. And I can't wait so come over.”
”Don't you think you're a little overbearing?”
”Yes. Now come over in here or our friendship is over!”
”You're such a child.” He hung up.
Waiting for two hours was the longest wait in Apollo's entire existence. But it didn't matter now because he was right outside his door with a choleric expression on his face. He had anticipated the reaction, so he was ready with a little enticement on hand. And so, with a magician's ”Tada!” gesture, he flashed a business card, showing him his most radiant look to share his first step to success.
As expected, the card quickly changed Gabriel's bad mood. ”You got me a gig at Dulcimer?” He was obviously excited. Mission Accomplished. The business card was handed to Apollo by the owner himself; someone who unconditionally admired his mom from a distance. He has been keeping it in his wallet for quite some time and never expected to use it.
”Yes.” Apollo lied. He hasn't talked to Luke, the owner of Dulcimer, an infamous music joint downtown. His plan was to talk to him later after completing his main goal for the day.
”Holy shit, dude!”
”I know.” Apollo's arrogant look came out naturally.
Gab's momentary excitement ended when he sensed a motive behind Apollo's fabricated statement. ”What the heck is in it for you?” He threw a suspicious look as he landed on the crimson red beanbag chair. Apollo's entire room consisted of only three colors: black, white and red. It had a feel of a Kawasaki motorcycle logo…or Coca Cola.
He parked himself on his own bed, facing Gab but about half foot or 15 centimeters away. ”We have a new neighbor and I want her.”
”That's it? That's the emergency?” Slack-jawed, he uttered each word with emphasis.
”If I had told you I saw a beautiful sexy woman right in front of my house because she's our new neighbor. Would you have come and treated this as an emergency?”
”All these years and you still don't know me.” Gab shook his head in disbelief. ”Dude, you would've had me at sexy.” And there he goes with that evil grin he normally shows just like how Jim Carey does in The Grinch.
He was right. Apollo should've just told him. He probably would've scurried towards Apollo's place without even brushing his teeth. ”Our goal for today is to meet her. But it has to be a coincidence.” Apollo's face turned dreamy just thinking about hearing the new neighbor's name for the first time.
”How do we plot this right without being obvious?” Again, Gab's contemplating expression looked exactly like The Grinch. Apollo liked that Gab's mind started to process like a detective, and he liked the rhetorical question, but he meant to respond because Gab was never good when it came to decisions, planning, and decision planning.
”You don't have to think. I got it all figured out.” Apollo meant every single word.
For almost an hour, they monitored the new neighbor's house. Apollo wished he had the ability to see through things so he could just find out what she was doing. Gab, as expected started to lose his patience. ”Are we going to be like this for the rest of the day? We've listened to Puddle of Mudd's entire Come Clean album twice and she's still not coming out of the house. Maybe she's not even home.”
Gab preferred current releases over old albums. Apollo should've known better. He stopped the CD player and plugged in his cellphone to the speakers to play the top hits in Spotify. Gab was a whiny dude, but it was very easy to please him. Sure enough, he was singing to Post Malone's Goodbyes. ”And don' tell me to shut up when you know you talk too much but you don't got shit to say. Say.”
Gabriel has been Apollo's best and only friend and they went to the same school. Gab majored in music and there were a few classes he and Apollo took. Gab was a freak. He freaked just about anything; he was a worry freak. He always complained but the good thing about it was the fact that he could easily get over anything with a simple distraction…MUSIC.
A thought suddenly popped into his head. ”Dude, have you watched Murder Mystery? It's trending in Netflix. My girl Jen has become really old but she's still sexy just like her Friends days.” Right. He was also obsessed with Jennifer Aniston which Apollo thought was creepy because his mom looked a lot like her.
At last, after almost two hours of listening to the Top Billboard Charts and Gab reminiscing hilarious moments from the Friends sitcom, the beautiful sexy neighbor's garage opened, and Apollo instantly saw her in jeans and white top. Her long black hair dangled freely to her waist and he thought, whomever invented the handy microscope he was using to see her cleavage should be rewarded. ”There she is. Let's go.”
Ears glued on the garage door, Gab and Apollo listened very carefully to make sure that the neighbor already took off before they follow. They swiftly got into the Honda Civic the minute they heard a creaking sound. ”Did you tell your mom we're using the car?” Gab asked with a concerned look on his face.
”Nah, I think she was in the shower, so I didn't bother.” He responded in complete haste.
”Wow, really?” Gab seemed interested.
”Oh. You wanna go back inside the house?” Apollo asked, hoping that his sarcasm was very evident.
”Yes.”
He threw a box of tissue on his face. Unfortunately, his reflexes were good.
”Hey!” Gab yelled with a questioning look.
”You are never going to be my stepdad even if it means war.”
”Relax, dude. Your mom doesn't even know I exist.” He answered with a hint of sincerity.
”That's good then. That's her.” They spot the midnight blue Hyundai Tucson they saw earlier.
”Her car is bad ass. It could pass as an SUV.” Gab looked impressed.
”Yeah. Almost.”
”Where do you think she's going?”
”It's almost 9am. Maybe she's going to work. Most work starts at nine. I think.”
”Let's guess what her job is.” Gab likes guessing games.
”Wow, I couldn't really think of one.” Apollo was not a fan of it, but he normally just did whatever made him happy because that's what friends are for.
”Come on. Winner gets a treat at the movies.”
”What are we? Girlfriends?”
He gave out an ugly chuckle. ”Man, you're too serious and focused.”
”I don't wanna lose track.”
”I bet she's a nurse.” Gab guessed.
”Maybe. Or she's probably a model or fashion designer.” Apollo quickly gave Gab a suave look and returned his focus back on the road. ”I mean. Judging from her physical looks.”
”That's a good one. How about a teacher?”
”Oh, that's even more sexy and I'm willing to go back to school for that.” He giggled, still focused on the road.
Gab let out another chuckle. ”You're really into this girl and you don't even know her.”
”That's what this mission is for.” A big signage of Samgyeopsal (Korean restaurant) gave Apollo another idea. ”Maybe she's a restaurant manager.” To his surprise, her car slowed down to park right in front of the restaurant.