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Photo: Emma Stone as Dianne

Chapter 12

Daniel's P.O.V

It took another hour before the movie finished. Before going home, Jared and I had an early dinner in his favourite restaurant, which offers a free kiddy meal every Sunday. It was only four at noon; however, Jared being a hyperactive kid, I was sure that he had drained all his energy from our little daddy-son day out and he'll be dreaming anytime as soon I tucked him in on his car seat. Of course, I didn't want the kid to sleep with an empty stomach, that's why we ended up ordering his favourite pasta.

Sure as I was, Jared was sound asleep just right after I buckled him up in the car seat. His face was so calm and so angelic, such innocence and happiness. It made me realized how much I was  blessed to have a son like him. I kissed his forehead before closing his car door, but I was stopped when he speak up. "Daddy...he is the angel." I was about to answer him when I realized that he was sleep talking.

I leaned closer to his ear and softly whispered, "Daddy promise you that we will find your angel." He smiled, as if I was on his dream.

This guardian angel that he was talking about a lot lately must be special. Jared doesn't usually pay a lot of attention to the strangers, but this guy that he was calling angel had somehow touched Jared's interest and liking. I need to find him. And I will.

We got home at around 5 o'clock in the evening. I took Jared right straight to his bedroom and tucked him in while he was in a deep slumber. I told my mum that I was going out with Alex and Dianne, to which she merely told me to enjoy the night and I deserve a good time.

That gave me an hour to prepare and meet my best friend and his crazy girlfriend. That gave me time to take a brief precaution on what to expect, knowing how Dianne was when it comes to our love life. That woman knows no boundary; if she wants information, she will have it. Never mind her bluntness which really gives us some serious embarrassment.

My phone didn't stop vibrating in my pocket until I rang Alex's doorbell. I didn't need to have a look at it, knowing that it was just Dianne sending all those text messages to me.

Right after the first doorbell rang; Dianne came up busting out the door and jumped on me. I almost stumbled on the footstep if I didn't get a hold on the door frame.

"Who is he? Tell me...Is he cute? How does he look like?" Dianne, like a crazy koala, didn't waste any time pestering me about Angelo while clinging on me.

"It's nice to see you too, crazy woman." I snorted. She jumped off me mumbling about how rude of me to call her crazy.

Alex was still upstairs, probably bathing with his perfume.

"So tell me about this guy! Alex won't tell me about him. He said it's better if you're the one to tell me. And ohh!!!!...my daddies will love you more than they do now!" she said without any pause, almost choking her every word.

"Why don't we talk about it at the bar?" I said, "Alex! Let's go!" I screamed at Alex upstairs. After a while, he came down, his perfume's scent invading the whole house.

We drove to Dianne's bar using Alex's car. Alex was driving, Dianne on the shotgun, though I was the first one who screamed 'SHOT GUN!' I was stuck in the backseat. "So much for "bros before hoes" I thought, but I didn't voice it out or else there might be a greater chance that I would walk alone all the way to the bar.

Dianne's daddies owned a bar called No Limits. However, they rarely visit it due to the hectic schedule of their job. Dianne was assigned to check it out, but same as her dads, her University schedule was hectic more than the bar operates. Right now, Dianne's cousin Max, 30 years old, was managing the bar and all.

Dianne literally dragged me out of the car when we arrived at the bar, leaving her boyfriend Alex trailing behind us with a smirk on his face.

We entered No Limits and seated right away to the vacant table on the side. The bar was pretty popular in town and lots of customers are visiting it every night to have a good time after a long tiring day. Every minute, customers are walking in, filling every space in the room.

No Limits is open to every type of customers as long as you respect the golden rule; NO TROUBLE. There were some history rule violation so far, how ever, it didn't affect the bar's reputation in giving the customers a good time and relaxation.

"Now tell." She ordered me. He cheeks are turning pink, probably from grinning like a hyena or from excitement.  I'd like to say it's the latter.

"Geez woman. Calm down. Can we order a drink first?" I said.

"No can do Dannie. I'm done waiting for your story. And let me remind you, you're in my territory now, mate." She said, quirking her right eyebrow.

I cocked my head to the side where Alex was seating and sent him an S.O.S look. Unfortunately, if his girlfriend was acting like a gossip hyperactive girl, he couldn't do anything to strain her.

I sighed.

I started telling Dianne all about Angelo. I told her how Alex and I was messing around and made a bet about meeting an angel,how he came tripping on the floor, how it was my fault, how he had beat me in the class debate, and how Derek tried to hit on him (I gritted my teeth). I left the part where his eyes changed from light brown to pure black.

She asked me to describe him; the way his lips moved when smiling, the way he speaks my name, the way how he was confident but a little bit shy and the way how he can turn from tamed lion into wild one baring his fangs and claws.

While I was on my sincere thought on describing Angelo, Dianne suddenly squealed like a teenage girl who just saw her favourite actor in person. Everyone turned to look at our direction and the whole bar turned silent.

Dianne suddenly sat up from her seat and said "Everyone in the bar will get a free glass of drink! Any drink you want!"

Everyone cheered up and resumed to whatever they were doing, that includes flirting, talking, kissing, and dancing.  More than 87% of customers are above 18 and the rest are adult who were just looking for some interesting things.

"Oh my gosh Daniee! You are so in love with this guy!" she squeaked.

"And he even called him 'His guy'" Alex added. I tried to punch him on his side but he was quick and dodge it on time. "Time for drinks!" he called one of the waiter to place our order.

"Hold on there, love." Dianne turned to Alex. "You are not drinking tonight. Remember, you are driving." She patted Alex's head.

"Ohh. Not fair. Daniel can drive back. Yeah?" he asked for my back up.

"Uhhh, well, yeah I'm cool to drive. I'm not planning to drink tonight anyways. I have work tomorrow so there's no need to get wasted I supposed." I answered.

Alex looked relieved. He threw me his keys and ordered some rum immediately. Dianne let Alex do what he wants.

"So what are you planning now?" Dianne asked me out of nowhere. Alex was enjoying his drinks. He usually gets a free drink in the bar even if he insists on paying it. Dianne won't let him pay it, so there is no sense for argument at all.

"Well, I'm planning to ask him out." I answered, completely clueless on what to do.

"Is he even gay?" she asked.

I frowned. "I'm not sure, to be honest. And I'm kinda bit nervous to know the answer to that. What if he rejected me? What if he's not into guys?" I stressed out.

"One question Daniel, are you even gay?" she asked looking concern.

I sighed. "I don't know. I think I'm not. I think I'm still straight, or maybe I'm bi. But other guys grossed me out like they always do. Maybe, I'm just attracted only to Angelo. I'm Anj-sexual" I mumbled, smiling to the non-sense I just said. Is there anything as Anj-sexual?

"Dude, you wouldn't find out if you wouldn't ask. You are the mighty Daniel of QUT. Everyone was dying just to be with you. So why get afraid now?" Alex shrugged.

"I dunno mate. It's just Angelo was different from everyone else." I trailed off.

"Say, what if things got better between the two of you. Are you ready for the next level?" Dianne quirked her eyebrow.

"What level?" I asked, dumbfounded.

"Ohh Daniee boy. Don't play innocent. I'm talking about sex." she said, as if it was the most natural topic to talk about.

Alex choked from his drink.

"What?" my face turned tomato red from embarrassment.

"Come on. Do you even know where to stick your ding-dong when you two are doing your business in bed?" she smirked, probably enjoying how embarrassed I looked.

Curse Dianne and her being blunt.

Alex choked the second time and his drink sprouted from his mouth and nose.

If red can turn redder than it was, then that's the one to describe my face looked like.

Unfortunately, she wasn't finish yet. "Well, I can tell my daddies to give you some lesson sometime."

Alex choked the third time. "Dianne. Stop now. Please." Alex said between coughs.

Dianne was obviously enjoying the moment. She held serviettes to Alex to wipe the alcohol of his face and she turned at me.

My face turned pale when he mentioned about getting a lesson from his daddies. Don't get me wrong, I respect Dianne's parent but thinking about them having sex together while I was there watching, that's another level of gross.

"Fine. I'll stop now. But think about it Daniel." she patted my shoulder.

"Thanks but no thanks." I replied, trying to contain my embarrassment and awkwardness.

"But seriously, I want to meet this guy so bad."

"Well babe, beware of what you wish for. That guy and Daniel has some unique connection somehow." Alex said.

"What do you mean?" Dianne said, looking intrigue.

"You see, they seem to meet each other if someone wished for it to happen. Like faith was playing with them." Alex explained.

"Uhh hello guys, I can hear you." I interrupted, waving my hand on their face.

They ignored me. Dianne was looking frantically around the bar, until she gasped.

"Holy mother of cow!" she gasped.

"What? What is it?" asked Alex.

"Who is that beautiful guy on the counter? I never had seen him before. I wanna squeeze his face! He looks adorable!" Dianne squeaked.

"Maybe if you visit this place more often, you'll know your employees." I deadpanned, not even interested to look on the direction where Dianne was looking.

"Oh shush there Dannie boy!" she snapped.

"I thought I'm the most adorable guy you've seen?" Alex pouted, looking straight at Dianne for attention.

She ignored my poor best friend. "I bet he's new here. Oh my gosh, everybody here loves him."

That's when Alex and I decided to look at the counter and to the guy that she was talking about.

My face paled in just a matter of second. Alex gasped, just liked his girlfriend did.

Dianne noticed that I haven't said a word and she looked at me. "Are you alright Dannie boy? You look sick?" she said while pulling Alex's sleeve.

Alex looked at Dianne with his mouth hanging wide open. "What's the matter with you guys?" Dianne asked, a slight concern was in her voice.

Alex gulped and looked straight to Dianne. "That guy over there... Your employee... That guy on the counter..." he trailed off.

"What? Who is he? What's happening!" she demanded. She was looking annoyed now rather than concern.

"That guy over there was..." Alex voice trailed off as he looked at me.

"Angelo..." I continued after regaining my composure.

Dianne looked back and forth on me, Alex and Angelo over the counter. Finally, she spoke up, "Oh My Jolly! Are you kidding me? That adorable boy there is Angelo?" she asked in disbelief.

"Yes babe. It is indeed Angelo in flesh." Alex confirmed. "I told you, faith is playing between these two."

Suddenly, a smug smile painted on Dianne's face. The smile that tells me she's up to something. It was like I've seen a light bulb lightened up to her sudden idea, and I never liked her idea ever since I met her.

Dianne stood up from her chair and started to walk straight to the counter.

"What is she doing?" I asked Alex, a trace of panicked lurking in my voice.

He shrugged. "Probably ordering another drinks for us."

"Come on mate, you know what she's up to. You have to stop her." I pleaded.

We looked over at the counter to see Dianne talking to Max. They were discussing something in very animated mode, complete with hand and face movement. I didn't see Angelo serving on the counter at that moment, which I was really thankful for. He probably went to the back to clean some mess and I wished he stayed there until we leave.

After a while of Max and Dianne's discussion, Max went on the back room, leaving Dianne leaning on the bar while checking her nail polish. A minute later, Angelo emerged from the room, looking shy and a bit worried.

He held his hand to Dianne and Dianne shook it. She whispered something to Angelo that I couldn't make out because her back was facing me. Angelo looked embarrassed and scratched the back of his neck. I wished Dianne haven't told anything about me yet or else I would dig my own grave right on the spot where No Limits was standing and would curse their business forever.

Alex was grinning like a Cheshire cat when I looked at him. "I think I'm gonna be sick" I said.

"What? Are you nervous?" he asked. I nodded.

He patted my back as if to comfort me. "Don't worry, my girl knows what she's doing." He said.

We looked back to the counter where Dianne and Angelo were talking, but they were gone. I was feeling nauseous with the nervousness I was feeling; especially when Dianne was up to something with Angelo. I was just hoping that it was a good one.

I was tensing on my chair when suddenly; Dianne coughed behind our back, grabbing my attention as well as Alex.

"Angelo, this is my boyfriend and my friend." Dianne said. I didn't turn to face them but I can feel that Angelo was standing beside her. His scent was like a rose invading my nostril, completely eliminating everybody's perfume including my best friend Alex who was sitting next to me.

"How you doing sir?" Angelo said in a very polite way. His voice was soft just like our first meeting. My faced brightened up in red like Rudolph's nose, and I felt my ear was sharing the same colour as my face.

Alex turned first. "What's up Angelo? He greeted while grinning, so big even emoji emoticons would be embarrass to show face.

"Alex?" he answered, sounding surprised.

"Yup, you got that right. How have you been?"

"I'm very well. Thanks for asking."

"Well, you remember my best friend here?" Alex put his arms on my shoulder and turned me to face Angelo.

"Sure. Mr. Bradley right?" he mused. There was a slight blushed on his cheeks.

Everybody in the group felt silent. I didn't notice that no one was saying something until Alex elbowed me on the side and Dianne broke the ice once again. "Well, this is interesting. You guys know each other eh? Wonderful." She clapped her hand dramatically.

"Uhh. Yes ma'am. I go to the same university with them and same classes as well." He answered Dianne politely.

"Oh don't be silly. Just call me Dianne. We're on the same age. You are so adorable." Dianne gushed.

Angelo started to blushed and I can tell he was feeling awkward. I started to divert his attention to me. "So you work here?"

"Ahh, yes sir." I cut him off.

"Please Angelo, call me Daniel." I almost pleaded.

"Uhh, yes Daniel. I work here part time when we don't have any class at uni." He answered.

"You know what, why don't you sit here with us." Alex jumped in.

"That's a wonderful idea babe." Dianne grinned.

"Babe?..." he said, more likely to himself but it came out louder than he thought. "Oh I'm sorry. I must have said that out loud." He said, looking embarrassed.

"I'm starting to like this guy a lot." Dianne said, putting her arms around Angelo. "You see, Alex is my boyfriend. And this awkward guy here is Alex's best friend. And he is single." He winked at Angelo.

"Hey!" I complained.

Angelo blushed and said a silent "ohh".

Dianne softly elbowed Angelo on his side. "Are you single by any chance?" she asked Angelo.

Angelo looked down on the floor and whispered in a very low voice. "Yes, I am." Dianne squeaked like she just won a lottery.

I didn't realize that I was checking out Angelo. I noticed that he was wearing a black earring on his left ear which suits him very well. His uniform suits him too.

Dianne started to drag Angelo but he halted. "I'm not sure if it's alright while I'm on my shift." He said.

"Come on. I'm the owner of this bar." Dianne answered.

"But Ma'am.." Dianne cut him off.

"Dianne..." she said.

"But Dianne, Max and the other two guys couldn't handle all the busy crowd." He reasoned out. "Say, I'll meet you up again on my day off. We can chat and have a drink as long as you want."

"Ughh. Fine. When is your day off then?" Dianne asked.

"Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday nights." He answered.

"Well then, just tell it to Daniel whatever day you're free, alright?" I was surprised by the mention of my name.

Angelo blushed. "Yes, sure I will".

"Dianne, the crowd's getting busier now. I think we should let Angelo go now." I suggested.

"Yeah babe, let Angelo do his job. We'll see him again, don't worry." Alex added.

"Okay fine.. Off you go lovely. See you again later." She gently pushed Angelo to the crowd until he was gone and back to his post, serving the customers.

"Oh my gosh Daniel. You sure know how to choose." She said, while walking back to her seat.

"I need to go to toilet." Alex stood up from his seat and marched straight to the toilet.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well, Max said ever since Angelo came here to work, the bar's customers suddenly doubled up each night. Customers are always looking for Angelo." She said.

"However..." she trailed off.

My heart pounded on my chest. "However what?"

"He is not gay." She answered. Looking straight at me.

"I thought so. So he isn't interested to me after all, and he wouldn't." I sighed. "How'd you know anyways?" I felt like my hope shattered inside me.

"Seriously, my parents are gay, so did you think I wouldn't know if someone is gay?" she whined, feigning hurt.

"You tell me." I said, trying to act cool.

"But worry not. That guy surely likes you. He is not gay. Yes. Just like you are not gay. But I can feel that he is attracted to you. He likes you."

I was surprised by her sudden statement.

"What? How?"  A sign of hope was growing inside me.

"Well, Angelo is so innocent and naive for that matter. I can tell he's been through a lot and still facing some issues. I can see it on his eyes. You need to try hard to fix him." She said, suddenly turning seriously. "And the way his adorable cheeks blushed whenever he looks at you, that's saying something." she added

"I don't have any idea how. This is all new to me." I confessed.

"Don't worry. I'll tell about your situation to my parent and see what they can do to help." She offered.

"Thanks mate. Thank you and your crazy idea."

"Everything for my boyfriend's best friend." She flipped her hair. "Speaking of boyfriend, what's taking him so long?"

"I'm here now." Alex said, emerging from the crowd.

"Can we call it a night now? I have work tomorrow." I asked.

They both looked at me and said in unison, "Sure. Let's go now."

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