“Bro, what’s wrong?” Matt asked as soon as he saw a disillusioned Gerald step towards the table.

 

     “’What’s wrong’ is that I just met the most amazing girl, and I lost her,” he said, sitting down, burying his face in both hands.

 

     “’Lost her?’” Matt asked. “Why? What’s her name?”

 

     “Kim,” Gerald said, looking up. As Matt watched his best friend get lost in a reverie, he saw him smile. A warm, tender smile—as if he was at his happiest. Moments later, his expression turned grim.

 

     “Kim what?” he asked his friend, jolting him back to reality.

 

     “I don’t know,” he said, shaking his head. “I don’t know.”

 

     “You don’t know?” Matt asked. “How can you not know?”

 

     “I forgot,” Gerald explained. “I forgot to ask her. I asked her for her name and she said it was Kim. Then we got so caught up in talking that I forgot to ask her for her last name."

 

     “Well, what do you know, Ge?” Matt asked.

 

     “All I know is that her name is Kim, and that I need to find her,” Gerald said.

 

     “That’s it?” his best friend asked. “Nothing else? Are you sure? Keep thinking, Ge.”

 

     “There is one thing,” he said.

 

     “What?” Matt asked, urging him to say it.

 

     “She’s the same girl I ran into this afternoon at the store,” he said, smiling.

 

 

 

 

     “Sheila, how’s the search coming?” Gerald asked, stepping into his office. It’s been 2 days since that fateful night and he still has no idea where or who Kim is. He hasn’t been able to finish any of the things that he needed to do. Even Matt was surprised on how his best friend has been acting these couple of days—but that doesn’t mean that he’s not happy. For the first time in years, Gerald has come out of his workaholic state and spent some time on something that’s important to him, other than his job.

 

     “Sir,” his trusted secretary began, “according to the sales records, a woman bought two dresses and two masks at the store you mentioned at around the same time you were there. It wasn’t a Kim, though. It was a Melissa.”

 

     ‘Melissa?’ Gerald thought. ‘That name rings a bell,’ he had a train of thought and he didn’t want to lose it. ‘Her cousin!’ he finally realized. ‘That’s right! She mentioned her cousin, Melissa. She’s probably the woman she was with that day at the store.’

 

     “Look her up,” Gerald immediately said. “She can lead me to Kim.”

 

 

 

 

     “So you really think you’re gonna find this girl?” Matt asked, sitting down at their usual table at the café.

 

     “Absolutely, bro,” Gerald said with confidence. “Sheila has already tracked down her cousin. And by the looks of it, they’re very close.”

 

     “Cousin?” Matt asked. “What’s her cousin’s name?”

 

     “Melissa,” Gerald said and quickly handed Matt a paper towel, because he choked on his coffee. “Hey! What happened? Are you okay?”

 

     “I’m fine,” Matt said, wiping his mouth. “I know Kim!”

 

     “What?!” Gerald asked, obviously shocked.

 

     “We met,” Matt said. “That night at the masquerade ball!”

 

     “Why didn’t you tell me that earlier?” Gerald asked.

 

     “Well, Kim is a common name,” Matt said. “There could easily have been more than one at that ball.”

 

     Gerald knew that Matt had a point. He couldn’t really blame his friend for not giving that a second thought. He probably just didn’t want to get his hopes up just to disappoint him if the Kim he met wasn’t the same one he did. But it was.

 

     “I can make it up to you,” Matt said.

 

     “How?” Gerald asked skeptically. He then watched his best friend reach into his jacket pocket. He pulled his hand out with a napkin in its grasp. “What is that?”

 

     “This, my friend,” he said, handing him the napkin, “is the answer to your problems.”

 

     “A napkin?” Gerald asked, referring to the small, folded piece of paper-like item on the table. “How the hell will that help me find her?”

 

     “Open it,” said Matt, and Gerald obliged. Matt watched as his best friend’s eyes sparkle and his lips curve into a huge smile when he realized what he had given him.

 

     “Matt, you rock, man!” Gerald said getting Matt's phone out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

     “Mel!” Kim called out.

 

     “What?” Melissa’s voice rang from the kitchen.

 

     “Your phone!” Kim yelled again.

 

     “Who is it?” Melissa asked.

 

     “’Matt,’” Kim yelled, reading from her phone. And in the blink of an eye, her cousin was in the room with her.

 

     “Why don’t you get a neon sign that says ‘desperate?’” Kim asked, laughing.

 

     “Hello Matt?” Melissa said, playfully hitting her friend’s shoulder. On the other side of the line, Gerald immediately handed Matt his phone back.

 

     “What’s wrong?” Matt whispered to Gerald.

 

     “It’s Melissa,” he whispered back. “You talk to her first, and ask for Kim.”

 

     “Fine,” Matt said, grabbing the phone. “Hello, Mel?”

 

     “Hey,” Melissa greeted, “you called?”

 

     “Yeah,” Matt said. “I just wanted to know if Kim was there.”

 

     “Yeah, she is, actually,” Melissa said. “You need to talk to her?”

 

     “Oh, no,” Matt said, “not me— a friend of mine.”

 

     “Okay,” Melissa said. “Let me go get her.”

 

     “Here,” Matt said, handing Gerald the phone back. “Melissa’s getting Kim.” Gerald held the phone and took a deep breath.

 

     “Hello?” came a beautiful, angelic voice. Gerald froze. He had no idea what to say. Then he realized something. “Hello?” said the voice again, and Gerald then pressed the ‘end’ button and gave Matt his phone back.

 

     "Mel, no one's answering," Kim said, giving her cousin her phone back.

 

     "He probably lost signal," Melissa said, pocketing her phone.

 

     “What?” Matt asked, taking the phone again. “Why didn’t you talk to Kim?”

 

     “I can’t,” Gerald said.

 

     “Why not?” Matt asked. “Bro, do not— do not— tell me that you’re afraid of talking to a girl.”

 

     “No,” he said, “not like this. I want to meet her.”

 

     “And how do you expect to meet her if you can’t even talk to her?” Matt challenged.

 

     “You don’t happen to know where Melissa lives, do you?” Gerald asked Matt.

 

     “I can ask her,” Matt said punching in Melissa’s number again.

 

 

 

 

     The next morning, Melissa was the first one to wake, excited with the fact that Matt was coming over. She went out to buy groceries at 6:00 A.M., and cooked a feast up until 8:00 o’ clock. In the middle of her cooking, the doorbell rang. She immediately rushed to the door to be greeted by the faces of Matt and another man.

 

     “Good morning, Matt,” Melissa said, cheerfully. “And—“

 

     “Gerald,” he said, holding out his hand.

 

     “Nice to meet you,” she said shaking it. “Come on in.”

 

     As the two men stepped in, they immediately saw how bright the living room was. Bright, red walls surrounded them and the black oak finish tables, topped with white, porcelain vases filled with red carnations. A creamy white sofa stood at the left wall, below photographs of Kim and Melissa’s family and friends.

 

     “Thanks for having us over, Mel,” Matt said.

 

     “No problem,” she said sitting down and tapping the couch with her hand, signaling the two of them to have a seat, and they obliged. “Kim and I are free for three whole weeks. We both decided that we need a break from work.”

 

     “Really?” Matt asked. “What do you guys do?”

 

     “Well, Kim is a writer for the local newspaper and I work as a secretary,” Melissa said and suddenly remembered something. “Do you guys want something to eat?”

 

     The three of them walked to the kitchen, and Melissa rushed to the stove. “Whoa,” she heard them mutter. “Do you girls eat like this every morning?”

 

     “No, of course not,” Melissa giggled, “just once in a while.”

 

     “Mel?” a voice called from upstairs—a voice Gerald knew by heart. “Mel, why are you up so—hello?” Kim asked when she saw two different faces in her dining room. She was standing in the doorway, wearing light wash, knee-length jeans and a shirt that hugged her body comfortably.

 

     “Hi Kim,” Matt said waving a hand. “Remember me?”

 

     “Matt?” Kim asked. “Wow, you look different without your mask on.”

 

     “Kim?” It was the first word Gerald had uttered since he introduced himself to Melissa.

 

     “Yes?” she asked. “I’m sorry have we met before?”

 

     Kim then gasped and squealed when she felt herself being lifted into the air by strong arms grasping her waist. When she felt the ground back below her feet, the tight grip on her waist remained. That familiar sensation came back, warmth rushing through her body. And when she looked up, her eyes met his deep, gentle, brown ones, and her speculation has been confirmed.

 

     “Gerald?” she breathed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

     Thank you guys so much for reading this story! Thank you for the comments, too!! They keep me going.