[8 A Neighbor, Coworker, and Friend]

“This is awkward,” Joel broke the silence ten minutes after we’d left the office.

“Yep,” I agreed but couldn’t do anything.

Then there was silence again. The chill music played didn’t help at all. Ugh, I’m so bad at breaking silence.

He cleared his throat. “How was work today? I mean, was it difficult?” he finally asked a trigger question. That’s smart.

“Well… It wasn’t.. too bad. I think I did...uh, just fine,” I stammered a bit. Come on, Bianca. You can do better than this. Don’t let silence take over again. “I mean, I was a secretary and now being a personal assistant is nothing different. Liam gave clear instructions as well and surprisingly enough, he’s a caring person. I mean, between an employer and the employee, of course.”

With eyes still fixed on the road, he nodded. “That’s how Liam is. That’s why everyone admires him,” he supported my opinion. “I think because he got it from his dad. They were very close.”

“Oh? His dad passed away?” I guessed and he confirmed it.

“Mr. Campbell was the wisest and nicest man I’ve ever known. It’s no wonder Liam resembles him,” Joel stopped the car as the traffic light turned red. He turned his head to me. “I was just a nobody when I first met the two of them. They considered me as their own son and that’s why I work with him until this day.”

“Ah! I suddenly remember Mrs. Wilson told me about your work hours. You don’t work with fixed schedules. You sometimes work only for several hours on one day and all day long on the other day,” I expressed my curiosity. “Oh, it’s green.”

He turned to the road again and ran the car. “Hm, about that… I’m a music producer so I often deal with the artists and Max as the music engineer. I arrange songs, deciding the sound and contribute to the compositions. I spend a lot of time at the studio with Max or my home studio back at the apartment, and sometimes go to meetings with the artists and their managers. Then I also work with Liam regarding the artists’ requests. So you see, I never have fixed schedules,” he explained very clearly.

This topic was very interesting to me, so I turned my body facing him a bit. “It actually sounds like you do some parts of my job,” I opined.

He nodded. “Well yeah. The reason why Liam hired you was that I’ve been too overwhelmed with work. I want to focus on being a music producer,” he admitted.

“What does Harris do then?”

“Ah, right. Harris is my assistant. He deals with new materials based on what the artists or partners request.”

“So, Harris only is not enough that you asked for a personal assistant?”

Joel sighed. “Hm, how do I put it?” he scratched his temple.

“I’m sorry. Did I ask too much?” I just realized I asked several questions in a row already.

He chuckled. “No, it’s fine. This is way better than the silence,” he said the truth. “Well, to simply put it, Harris is a bridge between Max and me, and you between Liam and me. We just don’t want things to go overlapping.”

That made sense to me. Working in a pretty big company like this could be complicated if one person had several tasks. “Anyways, how did Mrs. Wilson go home after working at foster care today?” I changed the subject. “I don’t think I saw you leave the office.”

“Yeah? Wasn’t it because you were busy avoiding me?” he brought up that topic again and made me silenced. But then he laughed. “Sorry. I was just teasing you. Let’s not feel awkward about this anymore.”

I raised OK-shaped fingers without a word said.

“About my Nana,” he continued, “the foster care turned out to be under the care of the church she goes to, so the pastor gives her a ride home.”

“What about when she has afternoon shifts? Who picks her up?”

“Ooh, look who turns out to be a chatty girl,” Joel teased me again. “But don’t you think it’s bad. I like you this way.”

I didn’t know what to respond to, so I remained quiet. To be honest, I didn’t know how I turned to be this chatty talking with Joel. I just couldn’t help it.

He flicked his fingers in front of my face. “You zoned out. What were you thinking?” he asked.

“Did I? Sorry,” I bit my lower lip. “So, if you like me this way... then answer my question.”

He smiled. “Yea, yea. So it’s also her pastor who picks her up,” he gave his answer.

“Hm, okay. Cool,” this time I gave a short response to hold myself from asking more questions. Even though he said it was okay, I wasn’t sure about it.

There was silence again but this time it wasn’t long since Joel said, “You’re not gonna ask any more questions, I guess?”

I shook my head.

“Then, let me ask you something. But if you don’t feel like answering it, just ignore it,” he said.

Uh-oh. I think I know what he’s gonna ask. I have a bad feeling. I was unprepared and wouldn’t know what answer I should give him. There was no way I would tell him the reason why I was sensitive to men.

“How could I be your friend?” his question wasn’t like what I thought he would have asked.

My lips were tightly zipped and I was taken aback.

“I know it’s a silly question but I truly want to be your friend,” he confessed. “So far, I’ve seen you avoiding people and keep some distance between you and us. Somehow I think you’re feeling alone, so I want to be there with you.”

In my entire lifetime, this was the first time I’d ever heard such sweet yet sincere words from someone. No, it was different from that jerk who could only sweep me off my feet with those commonly-used pickup lines. Joel wasn’t trying to flatter me but genuinely wanting to be my friend. My heart was somehow moved because of it.

“Hey, I’m sorry if I--”

“Let’s be friends,” I cut him off. I turned my body to him at the same time he parked the car in our apartments’ parking lot.

He pulled the handbrake, turned off the engine, and turned his body to me. “Really?” He widely smiled from ear to ear as if a kid getting a new toy.

“But bear with me, it’s gonna take a while for me to get used to being your friend,” I told him one possible thing to happen in my process of adjusting to a new situation.

“That’s not a problem at all. So friends?” He extended his right hand to me, but then put it down again as I didn’t take his hand. “Not yet? Okay.”

I was dilemmatic about shaking hands with him or not. However, if I wanted to beat my fear, I had to step out of my comfort zone. Shaking hands should be the first step. “Friends,” I extended my hand to him and he shook it with a wide smile.

Knock knock! The sound of knocking on the window coming from my side disrupted this good vibe. Both Joel and me let go of each other’s hands and looked at the window.

“What are you guys doing there?” asked Jeanette when the window was opened automatically by Joel. She rested her hands on the sill.

“We, uh, it’s just--”

“We were just talking, Jeanette,” Joel quickly replied. “Why don’t we get off now, Bianca?”

I agreed so both of us unbuckled our seatbelts and got off the car. Then he came to where Jeanette and I were standing.

“I was still in the car when I saw your car coming,” Jeanette looked at Joel then me. “I remember talking on the phone for more than five minutes after that and you guys haven’t got off the car. That’s why I wondered what you were doing inside.”

Joel and I looked at each other as if discussing who was gonna explain to her. “I’ll do it,” he said.

“What was that? Are you guys doing telepathy or something?” she frowned and snorted.

“You might laugh after hearing this,” he said. “Well, we have just become friends.”

Exactly as Joel had predicted, she laughed out loud. “Really? What were you guys before? This sounds so hilarious,” she commented.

“Well, because I used to avoid almost everyone, especially the opposite sex, remember?” I tried to give a reasonable reason. “So Joel knew about it and wanted to be my friend. That’s why now we’re officially friends.”

She held her laugh for a while only to say, “But still, you guys are unbelievably hilarious.”

I looked at Joel and we just shrugged it off, none of us bothered to explain more. At least it made sense for me and him, and that’s enough for me. As a matter of fact, I was very glad to make a new friend.

Having a friend like Joel was super fun. It turned out that we shared a lot in common. Leaving for and returning from work together had become our routine. Sometimes I would come over his apartment to have dinner with him and Mrs. Wilson when Jeanette came home late.

With Jeanette and Joel as my best friends, I felt like having Matt and Penny here even though their personalities were different. They were there for me through ups and downs. I couldn’t be anything but grateful because actually, I had never been alone.

Two days earlier, Matt and Penny told me that they’d spend their weekends here in Pittsburgh. They’d arrive at eight in the morning. Since Jeanette had to work half a day this Saturday and wouldn’t return before noon, I asked Joel’s help to pick them up at the airport with me. We had no work on Saturdays and Sundays after all. That’s another thing I liked about working at Liam’s company.

We were standing at the arrival gate five minutes after Penny texted me that their plane had arrived. They wouldn’t take long to go out since they didn’t bring any luggage. It had been four months since we last met so I couldn’t wait to see them.

“Bianca!” Penny called out my name unashamedly and made everyone turned to her. That’s how she was and why I liked her.

“Penny,” I burst into tears being able to hug her again.

Matt also wrapped his arms around me from behind and stayed like that for a minute before finally pulling away. “We’ve missed you so much,” he said.

I nodded. “Me too. I miss you guys,” I said. “How was the flight?”

“It was fine. I wouldn’t have cared even if it had been bad as long as I can meet you again,” Penny’s words made me thrilled. “Anyway, who’s him?”

Joel smiled and half-raised his palm to greet them. “Hi, I’m Joel. Bianca’s neighbor, coworker and, friend,” he introduced himself.

Matt looked at me and Joel in turn. “So you’ve moved on?” he asked me a question he shouldn’t have asked so I shushed him.

I turned to Joel. “Please, pretend that you didn’t hear anything,” I requested. “And don’t discuss it.”

He chuckled and nodded repeatedly. “Okay, okay. I promise,” he said.

“Wow, you guys are so close,” Penny commented.

I threw a sharp glance at her. “Do you want me to leave you here?”

Both Penny and Matt laughed. They gave me a sideways hug. I absolutely couldn’t get upset because of them. They’re too lovable to be mad at.

“So, are we leaving?” as Joel said that, the three of us pulled away from each other and walked side by side to the parking lot.

We didn’t stop anywhere but went straight to the apartment. I thanked Joel for picking up my friends and then we split up. Since Matt and Penny were a bit tired, I let them rest in my room. Jeanette and I had agreed that I would sleep in her room tonight.

While they were resting, I spent my spare time to listen to the Mp3 file Max had sent me yesterday. He was really serious about working on my music. It wasn’t a bad idea at all since this might be a chance for me to do a little more with my talent. Who would know what the future might bring?

My feet and hands were tapping against the floor and the table, following the beat of the electric drum. I really liked the arrangement Max had made. The raw music I composed surprisingly went along very well with the style he picked.

As I felt a tap on my shoulder, I unplugged my earphones. “Oh, you’re not sleeping?” I asked Penny who then sat beside me with a glass of water in her hand.

She shook her head. “I am tired, not sleepy. So, I don’t feel like sleeping. But Matt, you know him. He’s a pillow head,” she replied. Her right hand rested on the table. “You know, I’m actually surprised to see you with Joel. Speaking frankly, you were so difficult to reach by anyone ever since that particular day. Even Matt and I couldn’t influence you. And yet, here… you’re with a guy.”

I raised my forefinger in front of my face. “First of all, don’t think too far about my relationship with Joel. We’re purely just friends,” I stressed the last word. “Secondly, I got a job as a personal assistant that requires me to be a people person. Then Joel came, offering himself as a real friend so I accepted this rare chance to get back to the old positive version of me.”

Penny nodded repeatedly with her mouth gaping in disbelief. “That’s inspiring,” she commented. “Well, I actually could see his sincerity too from the way he treated me and Matt too, not only you. It’s just like, your friends are his.”

“So, you think I made the right decision by befriending him?”

 “Yes, my dear best friend. I’m glad and thankful to see you back as the very Bianca I knew before,” she gently held my wrist.

My phone buzzed. I didn’t remember turning on the silent mode. Before answering the call, I turned on the ring mode, or else I’d forget. “Hey Joel,” I replied.

“Bianca, Nan invited Matt and Penny tonight to our apartment for dinner. She decided to make a special meal for them once she heard about them,” Joel went straight to the point, telling me the reason why he’s calling.

“That sounds great. I’ll let them know, okay? Please tell Mrs. Wilson I thank her.”

“Yes, dear. You’re most welcome!” Mrs. Wilson’s voice was heard.

“You put this call on handsfree mode?”

He tittered. “She made me do it, Bianca,” he replied. “Well, then I’ll see you guys--oh, with Jeanette too, tonight?”

“Sure. See you, Joel,” then the call ended. “Joel’s grandma--”

“I heard that,” Penny chimed in. “We’ll definitely go. Nobody would refuse a treat.”

I threw a glance at her and shook my head in disbelief. “You’re still fond of eavesdropping on people’s conversation, aren’t you?” I commented.

She stuck out her tongue at me. “As long as I don’t hurt anyone, then it’s not a sin,” she said in a melodious tone.

I slowly pinched both sides of her cheeks. “Bad, bad girl,” I said and we both laughed. Oh, how I love a moment like this.