At lunch, Luke and Giselle sat in the cafeteria and enjoyed their sandwiches quietly without speaking a word, only occasionally glancing at each other and sharing a smile. Suddenly, "ding," a notification popped up on Luke's smartphone. He checked it under the table and opened it, his eyes widening once again because the alert was from the bank, stating that a sum of $1500 had been deposited into his account.
"Huh... more money from MS... what did I even do? Wait... if I'm not mistaken," Luke muttered.
Luke immediately reopened his chat with Amanda; it was written clearly that he had firmly turned down her dinner invitation.
"So if I reject a girl who asks me out... I get money? That's what happened yesterday too, right? Someone asked for my number even though Lorna was late telling me, and I got paid? Are you for real?" Luke wondered in his heart while staring at his smartphone screen, completely unaware that Amanda had actually gotten engaged just a few hours earlier.
"What is it, Luke? Why did your face suddenly change like that?" asked Giselle, who had been watching him from across the table.
"Huh... it's nothing... anyway... what did you want to talk about?" Luke asked, looking up to meet Giselle's eyes.
"Hmm... is your real name actually Lucas Davis?" Giselle asked.
"Yeah, that's right. You heard it in the first class when I was late?" Luke asked.
"I did. That's why I felt sure and wanted to talk to you... you know my mom, don't you?" Giselle asked.
"Huh... your mom? Who?" Luke asked, startled.
"You went to the hospital to visit my mom yesterday, right? Which means you're also the one paying for her treatment, aren't you?" Giselle asked, cutting straight to the point.
Luke flinched at her question. He took a long, hard look at Giselle's face, really studying her features this time.
"Lorna told me yesterday that you and your siblings were left behind when your parents passed away when you were ten. Then you lived with your aunt at the cafe until you were fifteen, and then your aunt fell into a coma after a mountain climbing accident five years ago. Is that right?" Giselle asked once more.
"Good grief, Lorna. Her mouth is a total sieve," Luke muttered, annoyed.
"My mom's maiden name was Sharon Davis. Sound familiar?" Giselle asked.
Luke was stunned. As far as he knew, his aunt —who was his father's younger sister— hadn't married; she had taken over raising him after his parents died when he was ten because Noel was only eight and Ava was only five. Additionally, his aunt had never said a single word about having a child of her own.
"You're Aunt Sharon's daughter? How? I thought Aunt Sharon never married... oh... wait, she did mention once before her accident that she was married but got divorced," Luke muttered as he thought it through.
"Well, I'm her daughter. My mom and dad got divorced when I was eight, and she moved back to her hometown after losing the custody battle. I've been living with my dad ever since, and I only found out Mom had an accident last year. I used to chat with her all the time, and it suddenly stopped a year ago. That's why I got worried and came here; only then did I find out the truth—that Mom was in a coma," Giselle replied.
"Oh... so you're my cousin?" Luke asked.
"That's right. We're cousins, you know," Giselle answered cheerfully.
"But wait... you said you were always chatting with Aunt Sharon? That's impossible. Aunt Sharon has been in a coma for five years," Luke said.
"I'm not lying, just look at this," Giselle said, opening her smartphone to her chat history and sliding it over to Luke.
Luke read through it immediately, and it was true. The last message in the history was from Sharon to Giselle a year ago. Scrolling up, it was full of conversations between Giselle and Sharon that shouldn't have been possible. Luke pushed the smartphone back toward Giselle, looking confused and thinking hard.
"Aunt Sharon's smartphone is at my cafe... so who has been answering your texts all this time?" Luke asked.
"Well, that's exactly why I wanted to talk to you, get it? A month ago, I heard from the hospital that Mom has been in a coma for five years," Giselle asked.
"Let me see those chats again," Luke said, reaching out his hand.
Giselle handed her smartphone back to Luke. He immediately began reading, and this time he paid close attention to the conversation. Looking at the grammar and the topics discussed, the pattern made it look like a conversation between two young girls rather than a mother speaking to her daughter. Then, something clicked in Luke's head; he remembered who had been holding onto Sharon's smartphone at the cafe.
"Hmm... this is probably Ava's doing. She was using Aunt Sharon's smartphone for a while before she got a new one," Luke muttered.
"Oh... who's Ava?" Giselle asked.
"My younger sister. Look, how about this—come to the cafe after classes. I'm getting curious about this, too, and I'd like to introduce you to my siblings while we're at it," Luke said.
"Okay. I also want to see the cafe where Mom supposedly lived. By the way, who actually owns that cafe?" Giselle asked.
"My parents. Originally, that building wasn't a cafe; it was my dad's printing business because the location is so close to campus. When my parents passed away, Aunt Sharon moved in and lived with me. When she heard the bank was going to repossess the building, she stepped up to take over the mortgage and opened a cafe there, since she was a barista," Luke answered.
"Oh, so that's the story. Sorry, I didn't know and ended up asking," Giselle said.
"It's fine... I'm just surprised. Turns out I still have extended family... thank God. I really thought it was just me and my siblings against the world," Luke said, smiling happily.
"Hehe, yeah. I'm also happy to find out I have a cousin. It's a shame, though—I actually had a bit of a crush on you yesterday. I guess that's over now since we're cousins," Giselle said with a smile, but her eyes suggested she was being serious.
"Hahaha... really?" Luke asked with an awkward laugh, while in his head, "wait... she's serious... man, why does she have to be my cousin? Just when a girl says she likes me and she's actually very beautiful, it turns out she's family... what a disaster," Luke muttered.
In the end, the two of them chatted cheerfully, sharing their memories of Sharon and catching each other up on their lives. Giselle explained her reasons for moving to the city; besides wanting to be close to her mom, her father had remarried, and she suddenly had a stepbrother her own age, which made living there uncomfortable.
She mentioned she planned to stay in the city for good and look for work here. Meanwhile, Luke told Giselle all about his younger siblings. As their conversation grew more animated, "bam," their table was suddenly struck. Both of them looked up to see Lorna standing beside them.
"So that's how it is... you're cheating on me," Lorna said to Luke, glaring at him even as she wore a smile.
"Relax, Lorna. I'm not going to chase him after all. I'll leave him to you," Giselle said casually with a wide smile.
"She's my cousin," Luke said, pointing at Giselle.
"Huh... seriously? For real?" Lorna asked, looking as stunned as if she'd been slapped out of nowhere. She stared blankly at Luke and then at Giselle, both of whom nodded in unison to confirm her question.
***
[Quest: Find 110 match (102/110).]
[Reward per Match: $1500,- received.]