“Remember about the random bouquets I told you?”
“The one from anonymous sender?”
“Yeah,”Ayle nodded, “the fucking shop owner wouldn’t tell me who the sender is.”
Ayle’s words piqued my interest thus making me turn my head looking at the screen. I’m still at Rosie’s house doing some work since the rain is still pouring, meanwhile Ayle is staying at dad’s house because she feels lonely in her apartment.
“You’ve found the flower shop?”
“My office guard said the deliveryman often delivers the flowers at ungodly hour. So, I sacrificed my sleep just to get up early and follow the deliveryman.”
I set aside Rosie’s laptop to pay full attention to my sister. “You have offered the owner some money, right?”
“Yeah, I can’t even believe myself offering her half of my sala
‘Hello, you’ve reached Rosie here! I can’t answer the phone right now but I’ll call you back as soon as possible. Thank you.’ I sighed as I was answered by the voice mail for the nth times. I haven’t heard anything from Rosie today. She said she would attend an interview for a newly opened book store in the morning. I was eager to hear from her how it goes, but she didn’t reply any of my texts nor calls. Guess I’ll just visit her at work later. “What’s with the long face?” I looked up, only to find Bryan placing several documents then proceed to sit above my table. Ever since I got promoted, I got my own room which just a floor above Bryan. He often comes here for coffee or just chilling. “Got into a fight with your girlfriend?” He didn’t even bother to hide his teasing smile. He must have heard it from Ayle. News do travel faster than light. “Nope,” I loosen my tie and lay my back on the leather chair. I glanc
“Thank you for the food.”Soon as I replied her, Milly began to eat her food. She had her head hanging low, not even trying to make an eye contact as we speak. I turned to Rosie whose eyes are staring blankly at the food, not even bother to touch it.“Rosie?” I called softly, bringing her back from her own world.She blinked twice before finally looking at me. I motion her to eat by nudging my head over her untouched food. She got the message as she sighed and started to scoop a little bit of the chicken soup.We are currently at the hospital canteen to have some dinner. There are less than ten people here, including the canteen lady. It’s understandable since it’s almost midnight now. I watched these two sisters eat in silence. Well, it’s only Milly who actually eats. Rosie was just playing with her food.“He hit her, didn’t he?”Rosie’s eyes are fixed on her sister. On the o
“Ayle?”My sister turned towards me and gasped.“What are you doing here?” We asked in unison.I fasten my pace towards my sister who just pressed the lift button to the ground floor. She looks surprised then whispered something to the man beside her, which I assume is her assistant. The man nodded and step aside, giving us space to talk.“What are you doing here?”“Hi to you too, Alex.” She rolled her eyes before proceeding to hug me. I was the first one to let go of the hug, because I was curious to what she was up to.“I’m here just for monthly check up.”“But you never do monthly check up?” I quirked my eyebrow.“I’ve been a bit stress lately, you know, work stuff.” She shrugged. “What about you?”“I just accompanied Rosie here. Her mom got hospitalized.”“Oh I see,” she
“Alex, I swear! Stop looking through the albums and help me here for Pete’s sake!”I almost throw the photo album when Rosie yelled. I turned around and found a fuming Rosie while holding a big box which looks heavy.“Chill down Rosie. You are slowly giving me a heart attack.”I walked towards Rosie and take the box from her, making sure to give her a sweet smile before bringing the box to my car. We are currently in Rosie’s house, sorting things out from the shed so the room could be used for Rosie’s mom and her sister. We’ll put the unused things at my house, since I have a spare room.“I guess my car can only fit one more box. I will bring the rest tomorrow, okay?” I announced as I get back to the shed.“Nothing much left. I will continue it later. Let’s take a rest.” Rosie handed me a bottle of cold water, which I gladly accept. We both decided to sit on the cold floor after hours of packing.I reached for the photo album I left on the floor earlier. I look at Rosie, waiting for h
“Good evening, Ma’am. I brought you some fruits.” I greeted as I entered the room. I just got off work and decided to pay Rosie’s mom some visit before going to bed shopping.“You don’t have to, young man. I don’t want to trouble you even more.”Rosie’s mom quickly tries to sit, but I stopped her from doing so. “No, please don’t say that. Oh, and you can call me Alex. I’m…” I stopped mid-sentence, not sure if Rosie has introduced me as her boyfriend. Wait, has she even introduced me to her family?“Rosie’s boyfriend?”I looked up to find her mom smiling softly at me. I scratch my nape and let out a sheepish smile, “yeah.”“Thank you for taking care of my daughter.”I smiled, not really knowing what to say. I glanced over Milly who is looking at me, like she wants to say something.“Hi Milly, have you eaten?”“Yes, I just finished my porridge just now.” She answered while pointing at an empty bowl on the table.“Oh I see. Here, I bought you an ice cream.”Hearing the word ‘ice cream’,
“Mom?”I shouldn’t be surprised, considering how long it has been since the last time I saw her. But still, seeing mom reading in the living room when I just got home at eleven, got me surprised.“I saw you at the bedding store just now.” Mom said while looking at my hands, noticing I didn’t brought anything home. “I see, you are buying that girl stuffs?”I sighed out, feeling tired and not really wanting to argue. “I just help Rosie to look for something.”Out of all responses, I didn’t expect mom to nod and set her attention back to her magazine. She didn’t start any fights?Sure, I find it weird, but who am I to complain?“I’ll head to my room then. Good night, mom.”“Good night.”Mom, once again, got me surprised. It’s been so long ago since she wished me good night. Maybe… mom finally realize everything and start to change? I should tell Ayle about this.As I reach my room, I put my phone and car key on the table. I saw an unread message from Ayle. I was mentally debating whether
Everyone is busy with their own tasks. There are several nurses walk in and out from that room where Ayle and mom are being kept. Also a few policemen keep running here and there. Dad and his wife, also some other people I might or might not know, tried to talk to me. But everything felt like some muffled mess voices.Everything happened too fast. One second I was at home, then in a blink of an eye, I’m here. At the morgue. Waiting for my turn to see my sister and mom for the last time. Honestly, I feel numb. No more tears coming out from my eyes. I’m exhausted. And confused. And… numb.What exactly has happened? Is it even possible to loss two family members at the same night? Or maybe, at the same time?Why? I know life has gone wrong at some points, but do they really need to do it? What has gone really worst to the point they committed suicide? Is it easier to leave this world behind, than to strive together?The worst part is, why didn’t I notice it before? They might have given
The next day after the burial of Ayle and mom.‘Ms. Angelo sent me a farewell text. I called the emergency responders right away while rushing to her apartment. But the moment we arrived, she has been founded unconscious on the floor. She was declared dead.’‘Mrs. Beth Anderson is the best work mate I have ever had. She never showed any signs of depression, problems, or stress. That’s why we never had a clue on what’s going on in her life. We are really sorry for the lost.’‘Based on our investigation, we found bunch of flower bouquets on Ms. Angelo’s apartment. It has some notes written on it. Turns out, it was some secret code numbers. Like 6124 means ‘you are so annoying’. 0383 means ‘you are the reason I have this depression of mine’. 4202 means ‘let’s end this’ which we assumed is the last bouquets she received before taking her own life.On top of that, we found a hand-written note on her working table which only contain four numbers on it.9488.Meaning ‘I wish I could sleep a