2 What’s Your Name? Wednesday, 31 July 2019

"Gab come over. We have some serious plotting to do." After maybe ten rings, Apollo's buddy finally picked up as he constantly peeked through the window, hoping to get a glimpse of the new neighbor.

Gabriel didn't seem to sound so happy. Apollo then realized that he woke him up so early in the morning. "What the fuck dude!" Yep. Not happy. His voice was too hoarse it cracked.

Apollo let out a silent laugh. "Come on over. Something's up."

"At five in the morning?" He said, respiring so distinctly like he was short of breath. It almost sounded like he has asthma. But of course, he didn't. Gabriel was just a healthy impatient boy.

"You're going to help me with something. And I can't wait so come over."

"Don't you think you're a little overbearing?"

"Yes. Now come over in here or our friendship is over!"

"You're such a child." He hung up.

Waiting for two hours was the longest wait in Apollo's entire existence. But it didn't matter now because he was right outside his door with a choleric expression on his face. He had anticipated the reaction, so he was ready with a little enticement on hand. And so, with a magician's "Tada!" gesture, he flashed a business card, showing him his most radiant look to share his first step to success.

As expected, the card quickly changed Gabriel's bad mood. "You got me a gig at Dulcimer?" He was obviously excited. Mission Accomplished. The business card was handed to Apollo by the owner himself; someone who unconditionally admired his mom from a distance. He has been keeping it in his wallet for quite some time and never expected to use it.

"Yes." Apollo lied. He hasn't talked to Luke, the owner of Dulcimer, an infamous music joint downtown. His plan was to talk to him later after completing his main goal for the day.

"Holy shit, dude!"

"I know." Apollo's arrogant look came out naturally.

Gab's momentary excitement ended when he sensed a motive behind Apollo's fabricated statement. "What the heck is in it for you?" He threw a suspicious look as he landed on the crimson red beanbag chair. Apollo's entire room consisted of only three colors: black, white and red. It had a feel of a Kawasaki motorcycle logo…or Coca Cola.

He parked himself on his own bed, facing Gab but about half foot or 15 centimeters away. "We have a new neighbor and I want her."

"That's it? That's the emergency?" Slack-jawed, he uttered each word with emphasis.

"If I had told you I saw a beautiful sexy woman right in front of my house because she's our new neighbor. Would you have come and treated this as an emergency?"

"All these years and you still don't know me." Gab shook his head in disbelief. "Dude, you would've had me at sexy." And there he goes with that evil grin he normally shows just like how Jim Carey does in The Grinch.

He was right. Apollo should've just told him. He probably would've scurried towards Apollo's place without even brushing his teeth. "Our goal for today is to meet her. But it has to be a coincidence." Apollo's face turned dreamy just thinking about hearing the new neighbor's name for the first time.

"How do we plot this right without being obvious?" Again, Gab's contemplating expression looked exactly like The Grinch. Apollo liked that Gab's mind started to process like a detective, and he liked the rhetorical question, but he meant to respond because Gab was never good when it came to decisions, planning, and decision planning.

"You don't have to think. I got it all figured out." Apollo meant every single word.

For almost an hour, they monitored the new neighbor's house. Apollo wished he had the ability to see through things so he could just find out what she was doing. Gab, as expected started to lose his patience. "Are we going to be like this for the rest of the day? We've listened to Puddle of Mudd's entire Come Clean album twice and she's still not coming out of the house. Maybe she's not even home."

Gab preferred current releases over old albums. Apollo should've known better. He stopped the CD player and plugged in his cellphone to the speakers to play the top hits in Spotify. Gab was a whiny dude, but it was very easy to please him. Sure enough, he was singing to Post Malone's Goodbyes. "And don' tell me to shut up when you know you talk too much but you don't got shit to say. Say."

Gabriel has been Apollo's best and only friend and they went to the same school. Gab majored in music and there were a few classes he and Apollo took. Gab was a freak. He freaked just about anything; he was a worry freak. He always complained but the good thing about it was the fact that he could easily get over anything with a simple distraction…MUSIC.

A thought suddenly popped into his head. "Dude, have you watched Murder Mystery? It's trending in Netflix. My girl Jen has become really old but she's still sexy just like her Friends days." Right. He was also obsessed with Jennifer Aniston which Apollo thought was creepy because his mom looked a lot like her.

At last, after almost two hours of listening to the Top Billboard Charts and Gab reminiscing hilarious moments from the Friends sitcom, the beautiful sexy neighbor's garage opened, and Apollo instantly saw her in jeans and white top. Her long black hair dangled freely to her waist and he thought, whomever invented the handy microscope he was using to see her cleavage should be rewarded. "There she is. Let's go."

Ears glued on the garage door, Gab and Apollo listened very carefully to make sure that the neighbor already took off before they follow. They swiftly got into the Honda Civic the minute they heard a creaking sound. "Did you tell your mom we're using the car?" Gab asked with a concerned look on his face.

"Nah, I think she was in the shower, so I didn't bother." He responded in complete haste.

"Wow, really?" Gab seemed interested.

"Oh. You wanna go back inside the house?" Apollo asked, hoping that his sarcasm was very evident.

"Yes."

He threw a box of tissue on his face. Unfortunately, his reflexes were good.

"Hey!" Gab yelled with a questioning look.

"You are never going to be my stepdad even if it means war."

"Relax, dude. Your mom doesn't even know I exist." He answered with a hint of sincerity.

"That's good then. That's her." They spot the midnight blue Hyundai Tucson they saw earlier.

"Her car is bad ass. It could pass as an SUV." Gab looked impressed.

"Yeah. Almost."

"Where do you think she's going?"

"It's almost 9am. Maybe she's going to work. Most work starts at nine. I think."

"Let's guess what her job is." Gab likes guessing games.

"Wow, I couldn't really think of one." Apollo was not a fan of it, but he normally just did whatever made him happy because that's what friends are for.

"Come on. Winner gets a treat at the movies."

"What are we? Girlfriends?"

He gave out an ugly chuckle. "Man, you're too serious and focused."

"I don't wanna lose track."

"I bet she's a nurse." Gab guessed.

"Maybe. Or she's probably a model or fashion designer." Apollo quickly gave Gab a suave look and returned his focus back on the road. "I mean. Judging from her physical looks."

"That's a good one. How about a teacher?"

"Oh, that's even more sexy and I'm willing to go back to school for that." He giggled, still focused on the road.

Gab let out another chuckle. "You're really into this girl and you don't even know her."

"That's what this mission is for." A big signage of Samgyeopsal (Korean restaurant) gave Apollo another idea. "Maybe she's a restaurant manager." To his surprise, her car slowed down to park right in front of the restaurant.

"You know she might just be there for breakfast. Or maybe she's a cook?" Gab said.

Two cars away from where she had parked, they saw her approaching a different path. Instead of heading towards the restaurant, she went inside the pharmacy right next to it. Gab and Apollo looked at each other inquisitively. "She's having her period and she's probably there to buy tampons?"

Gab threw a disgusted look and asked, "Should we go inside or just wait here until she comes out?"

"Let's wait. I'm sure it'll take just a few minutes for her to buy what she needs."

After 15 minutes of total silence, Apollo got taken aback by Gab's sudden exclaim, "Is she buying the whole pharmacy?!"

"Dude, patience is really not one of your virtues." Apollo uttered in dismay. "Oh right. You don't have virtues." He was obviously just kidding but Gab scowled at him. "Alright, let's get out now and take a peek."

After stepping out of the car, they watchfully took their steps towards the transparent pharmaceutical glass door, feeling a bit like the Boston private detective Patrick Kenzie in Gone Baby Gone except they looked like dorks. Gab easily spotted her. "Dude, none of our guesses were right. She's a pharmacist." They looked at each other and Apollo grabbed Gab's arm before someone saw them like psychos peeping on people buying medicine.

They discreetly stood at the far end corner which was four cars away. The entire building was a commercial place called Daylight Avenue because it closes earlier than most establishments. It was a cross between an assembly and mercantile building with restaurants, stores, and market. The second floor had a food court, theater and exhibition halls. The parking area could only accommodate a dozen vehicles for perpendicular parking, but they had a space for motorcycles at the other side of the building. Apollo then realized it was easier to get a closer look at the new neighbor, knowing that she was a pharmacist. It would be a lot easier to interact as well. "I got an idea." He said in the lowest possible sound but more than a whisper.

"Yeah. Me too." he rolled his eyes as Gab beat him to it. "I noticed your mom has occasional headaches because she's writing all day so why don't we buy her pain relievers?"

It was brilliant but Apollo had to give him a peeved look. "Gab, stop thinking about my mom. It makes me sick."

He turned his face away with a frown. "It was just a suggestion."

"I didn't say I didn't like your idea. I just hate that you suggested it because you were concerned about my mom." He meant every single word. "Anyway, I think we're bound to know her name without any efforts because they have name tags."

"They do?"

"Yeah. I think so. Let's go." He took a deep breath but before Gab pushed the pharmaceutical glass door, Apollo grabbed his arm.

"Now what?" He asked, impatiently.

"I'm going to act like a really sweet kid. I mean, MAN. A sweet man to my mom and you gotta incorporate a sentence in response to whatever I'm going to say, and it must imply that I'm a good kid. I mean, MAN….to my mom. Got it?"

Gab's expression was blank. "Whatever." He finally went inside.

Apollo found himself in front of the feminine hygiene products like female wash, tampons, and napkins that he once experienced buying for his mom though he swore not to do it again.

"Dude, seriously?" Gab looked at Apollo as if he had committed a crime. "What are you doing here? Let's go to the counter."

"Let's wait for those two lovebirds to get out of there. They're probably buying a pregnancy kit." Gab breathed heavily at the sight of a couple with their arms wrapped around each other's waist. Apollo punched his left arm to get a brief relief from his annoying lack of patience.

"Awww. What is it?"

"Why are you so in a hurry?"

"Because this mission is taking too long." He responded with exasperation all over his face.

"I'm just taking up all the courage I can get, you jerk." Apollo whispered. Feeling half-ready, he sauntered towards the counter, acting cool even though he was going to die any minute. He was finally facing the beautiful new neighbor in white coat but couldn't seem to utter a single word. He was clearly flabbergasted by the smile on her face.

"Anything I can get for you?" She asked, sounding like an angel sent from above.

Oh my God. I forgot my lines. Apollo thought with a slight panic. He had discreetly memorized it before coming in, but his mind went blah.

Gab made up for his being impatient by rescuing him. "He needs something for his mom."

How can he act so cool and natural and I cannot even breathe? Apollo thought and finally had the courage to speak. "Pain relievers."

Gab subtly pinched his right hand.

"Oh, and can you please recommend the safest painkiller for everyday use?"

"You're such a mama's boy, dude." He liked Gab's comment. He was playing it as they have discussed earlier. In Apollo's own opinion, girls liked mama's boys.

"Just making sure it's safe. You know how I worry about my mom." He smiled but Gab was clearly holding his laugh, so he discreetly frowned at him.

"Oh that is so sweet. I can give you acetaminophen." She said.

The confused look that the two guy's faces displayed as they stared at each other with their eyebrows slowly raising gave her a hint that they had no idea about what she had just said.

"Tylenol. It's the safest painkiller that adults can use for as long as it doesn't exceed 3,000 milligrams per day."

She sounded like a doctor and it impressed Apollo. "Yes. Of course. That would be it." He was back to his sweet smile until he realized she didn't have her name tag. "I think you forgot to put on your name tag."

She looked at her left breast. "Oh my gosh. Thank you for reminding me." She disappeared through the white door in between display shelves and quickly got back with the painkillers but still no name tag. "It's twelve dollars and forty-five cents for 50 tablets."

Apollo quickly reached to his pocket then handed her a twenty-dollar bill. "You still don't have your name tag."

"Yeah. I'm so forgetful. I think I left it at home since it's not in my purse." She answered.

"What's your name?" Again, Gab to the rescue.

"Nike." She said.

"Well. Nice to meet you, Mikey." Apollo responded gratefully.

"No, it's Nike. Not Mikey."

"You mean like the shoes?" He asked.

"More like the Winged Goddess or goddess of victory. Daughter of Styx and the Titan Pallas. Sister of Bia, Zelus and Kratos."

The guys simultaneously looked at each other in amazement. "You know your mythology." Apollo said.

She smiled and handed him his mom's painkillers and some change.

"You know what? I have a gig at the Dulcimer. Here." Gab showed her the Dulcimer business card. "I'm a singer and I have a gig there. If you can give your number to Apollo, he can text you my schedule. He's my manager."

"Yes. Here's my cell. And yes, my name is Apollo. He's Gabriel, but you can call him Gab.

"I see." She took Apollo's cell and started adding her number. "Did you know that Apollo is a god in Greek mythology?"

God, I love this woman. Apollo thought. "Now I do." He responded. "You and my mom have the same interests. She loves to read. And write. She's a Writer."

She gave the most beautiful smile anyone can get.