Olifina: Love And Trouble

41. Settling In

The next day Oliver left the house early to his uncle's place. Rodas was going to see his Apple customer. Mum and I went to visit the Itasos.

Melisanda and I had a lot of catching up to do. I joined her at the bakery later in the day while Mum and Aunt Mireya stayed at home to "talk".

"Javi!" I called out to Javiera immediately after I walked in. He left the front desk and came to engulf me in a bone-crushing hug.

"Don't ever do that again!" Javiera scolded and I laughed.

"Never."

He smiled at me and gave me another hug. "We were all scared for you."

Mel left to go and meet her father so it was just Javiera and I. He allowed me to sit on his chair as he leaned on the desk in between us. He held an expression which I knew too well. He was curious and had a lot of questions to ask.

"Ask away," I gave him the go-ahead and he smiled broadly.

"I heard about your dad," my eyes lit up as I heard the mention of my father. I just hoped Javiera wasn't going to ask any sensitive questions. I didn't want any bad moods.

"I'm sorry about what happened. I miss him."

The silence lingered between us for some seconds before he asked. "Have you guys done a burial?"

"No, we wanted the whole family present so we thought coming here first would be a good start in the burial preparations."

Javiera nodded. "What about those guys you lived with? Oliverio and Ranchodas?"

I laughed. "It's Rodas, not Ranchodas, and they're fine."

Javiera kept asking a myriad of questions as I sat there with no escape plan. I wasn't planning on escaping though, I wanted him to know about my trip.

"Babe!" I turned around to see Melisanda coming into the room.

"Yeah?" Javiera and I both replied at the same time. I looked over at him like he was being silly. They both laughed at my expression and I began to wonder what was going on.

With curious eyes, I looked from Mel to Javiera.
Mel blushed as she walked over to Javiera and hugged him. It was normal for them to hug but I felt I was missing something.

"Javiera and I are a thing now," Mel finally broke the ice. It sent chills down my body. What? These two were always at each other's necks. How had I not seen through their whole act?

"When did this start? Before I left? Or after..."

"After," Mel replied.

"You can call us Jamel," Javiera smirked.

"More like camel," I laughed and they glared at me.

"I wanted to go with Melisanja but he doesn't agree."

Javiera rolled his eyes. "That's your name with a replacement of the letter 'd' with 'j'."

"Wow! Guys, congratulations."

"Thanks," they both replied.

"So, are you guys done with the interview? We have to go now."

"Yeah, we are," I said, giving Javiera a look and he laughed.

"When would I be seeing you next?" He asked as I walked to the door.

"I don't know, I haven't resumed officially but I'd drop by occasionally."

"Bye," Javiera waved and I waved back before exiting the store.

As we walked back home, Melisanda gave me the full gist about her and Javiera. There wasn't much to say but I was thrilled. When we arrived, our mums were still having a discussion. I wondered what they'd been talking about since we left. Although considering the number of years Mum had been absent, there was surely a lot to discuss. Plus, Mum and Aunt Mireya were close friends before Mum left.