They Know The End

Matt

3:18 pm

After Russell's abrupt question, I was kneed on the balls.

"What the fuck?!" I exclaimed after I fell to the floor in a fetal position. I felt so weak, as if I had gone through an intense training regimen in my room.

"What the fuck, Matt?!" Sasha yelled. "What are you guys thinking when you caused ruckus in my building?"

"I missed you too," I sat up, managing a small smile. "And. . .you deserve it after you kinda left me after you said that you had a celebration party today."

That stopped her in the middle of her anger. She took more deep breaths.

"Excuse me, is she your ex?" Russell cut in.

She laughed as loud as the guard earlier did. It took a couple seconds for her to calm down. She turned to him. "Good joke, but we're not exes. Imagine the disaster if we were, though. . ."

"Not the point," I groaned. "Anyways, Russell, meet Sasha. Sasha, meet Russell. Best friend and Last Friend."

She studied him with interest. "Nice to meet you, Russell. Where are you from?"

I was about to make up an excuse for him, but he replied, "From the poor side of things."

The elevator dinged and the doors slid open. "Cool, cool. That explains the barging into office buildings. You're not supposed to do that. And you're not supposed to be running around at this hour either."

I helped myself to my feet and stumbled out of the elevator, where I was met with a long hallway, with a fancy door at the end.

"I'm guessing that's where your tita is," Russell said as we walked towards it.

"Yeah," she replied.

We arrived in front of it. She knocked on the door and we heard a slightly muffled "Come in!" from behind.

She pushed open the door and I found the room brighter than the hallway. It was probably because of the glass walls that surrounded the majority of the room. There were chairs, desks, tables, and a door that led to another section of the room. The highlight was, of course, the table at the center, where there was a figure walking back anf forth while they were in a call.

"You should sit down," Sasha advised.

Russell and I sat down in front of Sasha's mess. There was a lot of paintings and drawings, though they seemed less colorful than the ones I saw her draw.

"Sasha, dear, the door," her tita reminded her in the middle of the call.

She closed the door and took a seat with us. "At around this time, she's always busy with phone calls from investors."

Russell's mouth made an "o" shape just as we heard the telephone being put down.

"Who are these friends of yours?" her tita asked in a gentle voice. I heard a hint of strictness from it; it probably came with the job.

"This is Matt and his Last Friend, Russell," Sasha told her.

That was the cue for Russell and I to go behind her desk and "bless" her (the mano po).

She looked at me. "So, you're dying too?"

"Too?" I choked out.

"Yeah. . ." Sasha began. "I wasn't able to go to the celebration party because in the middle of our trip there, my mom had a panic attack. Right now, she's in the hospital, and the nurses told us she was fine. But I still couldn't help but think. . ."

"She might get called soon," Russell supplied.

She took a deep breath. "Yeah."

"What happened to the party?" I asked.

"They still went with it. It was also some relative's birthday, so they still had a reason to party. I assume they're all still on the sea."

"Good for them."

"Well, chin up, dear. Your mother will be okay. I'm sure of it. If--simbako--her struggle complicates, I'll always be there to provide financial aid."

I patted Sasha's back. "She's gonna be okay."

"Well, you won't," she replied.

"I know. That's fine."

We hugged as tightly as we could. "I'm going to miss you."

"I know."

"Sappy moment, but we're wasting time," Russell interrupted. "And it's a little risky to be with two people who are about to die and on the very top of a building."

Sasha's tita pointed at him. "I like you. You're blunt and direct. You'd make a great businessman under me. It's a shame you have to go so early."

He seemed to blush at that compliment.

"Anyways, he is right. You need to make the best of your time left. And as much as reuniting with friends is a nice thing to do, I'm sure that you both have better things to do."

"I know, tita. Can we bring Sasha with us?" I asked her.

"Sure," she said without a second thought.

"Yes!" Sasha exclaimed.

"We should get going now." I beamed. "Thank you, tita."

We waited for Sasha to pack her things and we exited the room of the boss. I held the door open for Russell and Sasha.

"Bye, tita!" She waved.

"Goodbye, dear. Stay safe!"

"Bye!" I said.

"Goodbye as well." I was about to turn away when she added, "And Matt? It's nice meeting you and Russell."

As I closed the door, I lamented over her goodbye. No "stay safe", unlike Sasha's. Because death was inevitable from here on out.

-

When we exited the building, I asked them, "What are we gonna do now?"

Russell and Sasha stopped and turned to me. "I don't know," she said. "What do you both have in mind?"

For a while, we were quiet.

"Well, I wanted to get away from the city," Russell offered. "Every day, I've always seen what the city is like."

My mind immediately had an idea. "We can go to the countryside."

"That's gonna take two hours!" Sasha exclaimed. "We would be wasting time, like what Russell said."

"If we're going somewhere, then we're not wasting time," I announced proudly.

She shrugged. "Well, it's both of your days, so. . ." She huffed and looked at the buildings and roads and cars. "Anyway, we should get some snacks from a 7/11. And we have to hope that we can catch the bus south in time."

"And if they don't," I added, smirking at her. "we can always order a special one for two Deckers."

She raised an eyebrow at me. "So you're abusing your status now?"

"Well, everything is free so--"

Russell cleared his throat. "We should get going, remember?"

Sasha and I became embarrassed. We shared a laugh.

"Right. Let's go."