Chapter 250: Goodbye, friendship.
The next day in Novera...
Seated on the desk with his feet hanging off the side, Haji turned to the person fixing the shelf in the corner of the office.
"Seriously, Amala, do you think she’s dead?" Haji asked, only to get a smack on the head from Silo.
"Haji! How can you say that?!" Silo fumed. "Lola just took a vacation—how could you say she’s dead!"
Haji rubbed the back of his head, wincing at Silo, who was huffing and puffing like a storm cloud. The latter marched toward the long couch, huffing even louder.
"Goodness, I’m just kidding," Haji muttered. "But Amala finally arrived in Novera, and Lola ditched her when they agreed to meet. Isn’t that strange to you?"
Besides, the text message they’d received had been suspicious. Too dry for his taste. Lola’s texts were usually short, but this one... something about it felt off. It didn’t sound like her at all.
Haji’s gaze shifted to the person still putting books on the shelves. A tall, slim figure with very long silver hair tied into a clean ponytail. Her skirt was above the knee, showing slightly hairy legs.
"She already called me," said Amala. "She’s fine and will be back..."
Amala paused, checking her wristwatch. "Probably today." Placing a book on the shelf, she turned slowly to face the two young men.
Haji and Silo both raised their brows at her, staring at the faint wrinkles her makeup couldn’t hide anymore and the well-trimmed beard around her mouth. They were long used to the feminine attire and gentle demeanor mixed with his masculinity.
Amala, after all, was a transgender woman.
"Don’t worry about her," Amala continued with a smile. "She sounds... safe."
Then, she turned her back on them and resumed arranging her office. The building had already been finished while Lola was away, after all.
"How could she call you and not me?!" Silo harrumphed. "Does she really take this friendship lightly?"
Haji’s face twisted at him, but he couldn’t blame Silo. He turned to Amala.
"Amala, if she called, why are you only telling us now?!"
"..." Amala thought for a moment, then glanced at them. "Because I know Silo would bother her."
"Huh?"
"Haha." She chuckled and shook her head. "I just wanted to confirm my assumption. If she were lying, she would’ve answered Silo’s incessant messages. But since he couldn’t reach her, that answered a few questions in my head."
"You used me in your experiment?!" Silo gasped. "Amala, how could you?!"
Haji looked up and thought about it. While Silo jumped from his seat to confront Amala, Haji stayed perched on the desk and shook his head.
"Yep," he muttered. "The gang’s complete."
For the next few minutes, Silo nagged Amala while she calmly continued to work. Haji watched lazily until the door suddenly flew open.
"How many times do I have to tell you—" Silo almost bit his tongue at the loud sound of the door being kicked open.
The three of them turned toward the entrance and saw Lola standing there.
"Good morning!" Lola greeted, smiling from ear to ear as she walked in. "Heard the building is finished. Amala, did you put a rush on it? We’re not in a hurry, you know."
She flopped onto the long couch, darting her eyes at the three of them. "What?"
Haji narrowed his eyes, Silo frowned deeply, and Amala studied her from head to toe before nodding in satisfaction.
A second later, Silo’s voice thundered, making Lola flinch.
"Lola, what kind of friendship is this again!?" he yelled, pointing a finger at her. "How could you just disappear like that without a word?!"
Lola blinked. "I told Amala, though."
"Not enough!" he scowled, turning his frustration from Amala back to Lola.
As Silo ranted on, Lola tugged her earlobe and let him vent.
"I’m sorry, okay?" she sighed, giving him an exhausted look. "I really didn’t mean to ditch you. I swear I didn’t."
"If you didn’t, how could you just leave without a word?!"
"I agree with Silo, though," Haji added, his tone lazy and curious compared to Silo’s fiery outrage. "I mean, you always go off on your own, but at least you tell us beforehand. What’s more important than this building and Amala’s arrival that you’d disappear for a few days?"
"A lover, of course," Amala teased, sitting on the armchair. "Am I right?"
Silo and Haji furrowed their brows as a smile crept across Lola’s face. She twirled a strand of hair around her finger, biting her lip. Both men scrunched their noses.
"What else can I do?" Lola hummed. "My boyfriend’s crazy about me. He thinks I work too hard and need a break. He even wants me to stop working because he said he’ll provide for me."
Their faces twisted further at her obvious brag, while Amala chuckled.
"He’s really in love with me. It’s such a headache," she mumbled, giggling to herself because it felt so nice to say. Even though Atlas never said some of the things she was claiming. "Seriously. I just gave him a chance, and he’s already over the moon."
"Seriously?" Haji deadpanned. "It sounds more like you’re the one who said all that to this unlucky guy."
To his surprise, Lola didn’t shoot him the death glare he expected. Instead, she smiled sweetly.
"I forgive you, Haji," she said. "After all, all your relationships ended with a tight slap. That’s how you trained that cheek to be so thick."
"You—!"
"Haha. It sounds like he is, indeed, crazy about you," Amala chuckled. "Must be a good man."
"Amala, I’m sure he thinks of me every second of every day. That’s how crazy my boyfriend is about me," Lola continued, puffing herself up. "Of course, he’s a good man. A handsome man... reliable... sexy... and smart, too."
And on she went, proving that in this relationship, she was the one smitten, not the other way around.
Amala chuckled as she listened, but Haji and Silo muttered under their breaths:
Haji: "Is she even talking about one guy? Or multiple guys?"
Silo (dramatically covering his mouth): "The day my friend chose her relationship has finally come. Goodbye, friendship."