JOAQUIN suddenly got tired of living on his bachelor’s pad. He had been living there since he was in college, but now it suddenly felt boring. He wanted a new home, new environment. Maybe it was one sign of adulting. When he told that to his uncle, his wife suggested to him her friend’s house, which was on sale. And now, they were heading there to check it out.

“Do you have a girlfriend, Joaquin? Are you getting married?”

He looked at Yvonne on the rearview mirror. He wondered when she will get tired of asking him the same question. She had been asking him that since last week.

“I don’t have a girlfriend yet,” he said, smiling.

“Oh… I see. I thought you’re planning to get married because you’re buying yourself a house.” She laughed.

“I just want a new environment. And Jackson will be out of the seminary for his regency. You can’t expect him to stay at our parents’ home.”

“Of course, your father will keep on pestering him not to go back to the seminary.” Yvonne clacked her tongue. “Why do some parents have that kind of mindset? As if going to the seminary is wrong. If that’s Jackson’s calling, he can’t do anything about it.”

“We should have been born as your sons,” Joaquin joked on Yvonne.

“Nah, children don’t get to choose their parents. If you want me to be your mother, let me frame you up for murder in this lifetime so you can be reborn as my son in our next life.”

She made him laughed at that. Yvonne always has this crazy stuffs in her pocket. It never runs out. It must have been the reason why his Uncle Rohan loves her so much.

“You have reached your destination,” said the female voice in the app on his phone.

“Oh, we’re here. Finally.”

Joaquin pulled over in front of the gate.

“Wait, I’ll text Lou,” said Yvonne.

After a few minutes, the main door opened. A woman came out of the house and opened the gate. He maneuvered his car and entered their vicinity.

Yvonne was the first one to get off of his car.

“Lou.” She gave the woman a quick hugged.

It seemed that they were close friends.

Yvonne turned to him afterward.

“Lou, this is Joaquin, Rohan’s nephew. Joaquin, this is Lou, a good friend of mine,” she introduced them.

“Hi, Joaquin. Nice to meet you.” Lou extended a hand that he accepted gladly.

“My pleasure,” he said.

“Let’s get inside?” Lou asked.

“Sure,” Joaquin and Yvonne said in unison.

Yvonne clutched on Lou’s arm, and they sauntered inside.

“I didn’t know Rohan has a nephew the same as his age,” said Lou.

“Haven’t I told you that Rohan was a menopause baby?”

“No, you never told me about it.”

Joaquin liked the house’s exterior, and he was in awe when he saw the interior.

“Who designed this house?” Joaquin asked.

“I really don’t know. I just inherited this house from an old-maid that I took care of,” Lou explained.

“Oh, I see…”

Lou toured him all over the house. Some parts need to be repaired, but it doesn’t matter for Joaquin. He was satisfied with it.

“So, will you buy this house?” Yvonne asked after they finished their tour on the second floor.

“Yeah… it suits my taste,” he said.

“Great!”

They were going down the staircase when he noticed a door near the landing. Lou hasn’t shown him what was behind that door.

“What’s behind this door?” he asked Lou.

“Oh, that’s the basement. I almost forgot. But I can’t show it to you right now. It was locked, and I don’t have the key to it. My friend is using the basement as her art studio,” Lou explained.

Joaquin shrugged. “It’s alright. I’ll just look into it next time.”

He saw her aunt nudged Lou on her side. They looked at each other, and it seemed to him that they were talking through telepathy.

“Is there a problem?” Joaquin asked them.

“Actually, my—I mean, our friend is having a hard time looking for a new art studio,” said Lou.

“Oh…”

“Can you give her a little more time until she found a new one?”

“Or you could simply let her use the basement. She’ll be renting it. I swear she won’t bother you. You won’t even notice when she’s here. She’s good at acting like a ghost,” Yvonne butt in.

Joaquin put his hands on his pockets. “If you can vouch for her that she’s a good person, I’ll let her stay in the basement. Besides, this house is big enough.”

Yvonne and Lou looked at each other and turned their gazes on him afterward.

“Of course, we can,” they said in unison.

“Great. There’s no problem then.”

“If you wanted privacy, it’s okay to lock this door. There’s a backdoor in the basement,” Lou added.

“Hmm… okay.” Joaquin nodded.

The two women smiled mischievously.

“I will call you soon, Joaquin,” said Lou. “I just have to set an appointment to my lawyer regarding the transfer of title.”

“Ah, sure. No problem.” He checked his wristwatch. “Anyway, I have to go. I have a meeting this afternoon.”

“Oh, okay. Thanks again.” Lou shook hands with him again.

Joaquin turned to her aunt.

“Are you coming with me? I can still drop you off to the coffee shop,” he said.

“Of course I’ll come with you.” Yvonne turned to Lou and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “`Bye, friend. See you again.”

“Hmm… Take care.” Lou waved at them.

They went out of the house and get into his car.

“Joaquin, are you sure you don’t have a girlfriend or a fling?” Yvonne asked when they were inside the car.

“Of course, I am sure about it.” He laughed. “Why do you keep asking me about that girlfriend thing?”

She doesn’t seem to stop with that. Now he could not help but be intrigued.

“You know what, you can tell it to me directly,” he said.

“Tell you what?”

Oh, here she goes again, playing innocent.

“If you’re setting me up on a blind date or something.” Joaquin laughed.

“Actually, I want to introduce you to a friend of mine. But… never mind. Like what Rohan said, fate will find its way.”

“Hmm…” He nodded continuously. “I kinda agree to that. If two hearts belong to each other, destiny will find its way for them to meet.”

“Where did you learn that?” She leaned toward the driver’s seat.

“Well… I read your webtoons during my past time. Your storylines were cute, and I’m hooked.”

“How about the drawings?”

“They’re great. I like them too.”

Yvonne doesn’t say anything. When she looked at her through the rearview mirror, she was leaning on the backseat, grinning. Joaquin just shook his head and smiled.