Why Does Love Hurt?

"Brother! Why did you take so long?" Mariely asked him. She frowned at him.

He just messed up her hair. "I have a lot of work ahead of me, Sis. I just picked you up to make sure you're okay. After this, I will be working overtime at the office." Nathan just answered her questions.

"Oh, am I bothering you, brother?" Mariely asked him with a concern in her voice.

"I could just commute." She added.

He looked at Mariely then. Nathan saw Mariely, who had a worried face for him.

"You can't commute." That's all he's saying and sighing, looking ahead and glancing at his sister, he says, "It's okay, I can manage my time, you know." Nathan only smiled at her sister.

She just nodded at him and didn't argue with his decisions.

"Ely," he sighed. "I'm sorry, I'm just too busy right now because we also have a client to take care of." He'll ask for forgiveness about it.

Mariely just smiled. "Thank you for the ride, brother. I'll take care of myself." 

They're almost home; after that, he'll go right back to work. It still hasn't faded—what the man in front of him said this morning is still on his mind.

That bastard. He just said it to himself. He parked his car so his sister could get out.

"El, please tell Mom that I won't be able to come home today." His only response to his sister when she got out of his car was.

"Yes, brother, please be careful on the road." Mariely just waved at him. Nathan nodded and immediately drove the car toward where he works.

XXX

"Ely, where's your older brother?" her mother immediately asked after she closed the gate.

Mariely just sighed before answering. "Brother says that he is busy at work, Mom. Brother also said he's working overtime today because they have a client to take care of." She just blurted it out and what her brother told her.

"Ah, is that so? Come on, go get some rest first. We'll have dinner later." That was the only answer her mother gave her.

"Okay." She immediately went into her room. She just sighed. 

Tomorrow is Friday, El; you're going to be stressed out again. She just thought to herself and stretched out her two hands to stretch.

She has a lot to do today, but she needs to rest a little first. She still needs to check the answer sheets, and she will also be preparing a new lesson for tomorrow's class.

Please don't worry about that for now, Mariely. Mariely just said it to herself. She took a short nap; her eyes didn't fail her, partly due to her body's exhaustion.

Mariely felt a gentle tap, so she opened her eyes.

"Ely, it's time to eat," her father said softly.

She immediately got up and followed her father; she's rubbing her eyes. They were already seated at the table and did not wait for her brother, as he would not be able to come home tonight. Mariely was just eating quietly with her parents.

"El, you should rest now; you're very tired." Her father said it.

"Ah, I'm just doing a lot of school duties, Dad," she added, simply smiling.

"Child, you need to rest too; don't overwork yourself." She received another reminder from her mother.

"Yes, Mom." She could only sigh and smile.

After she ate, her mother wouldn't let her help clear the table; she kept insisting she go into her room and rest because she needed to wake up early tomorrow.

Mariely just scratched her head and sighed. 

Morning came, and her brother still hadn't arrived. 

There was no other option, El. You need to commute now. She just said it to herself.

"Mom, I'm going ahead." She also said goodbye to her parents.

They just nodded. She's going to wait for a jeep so she can get to class early. She heard a car horn and just turned around.

"El, hop in!" She heard a woman's voice.

Her brow furrowed; she didn't recognize her immediately because she was wearing glasses. She was just surprised when she took it.

"Nadia?" She was puzzled as to why Nadia was here.

"Come on, I'll take you first; Nathan asked me to do it," she even smiled at her.

Even though they're close to her brother's girlfriend, she's not shameless. Nadia persisted, so she just nodded.

"Thank you, Nadia. Are you also heading to your workplace?" She asked once she was inside the car.

"Yep, is your brother too busy?" she asked her.

Mariely just nodded. "He didn't come home last night." She even said that.

"Well, he's a hard worker—I even tell him not to overwork himself."

She just smiled and couldn't help but laugh, because Nadia really worries too much about her brother.

"Nadia, you and my brother should go on a date too; I know both of you miss that too much," Mariely teased Nadia and laughed.

XXX

Nadia's cheeks flushed at what she was hearing from Mariely right now.

"You're really a crazy kid." She even glared at Mariely to make her stop laughing.

"Nadia, I'm not a child anymore." And Mariely laughs at her again.

Mariely's laughter also infected Nadia, prompting her to laugh and shake her head. She knew her boyfriend was busy right now, and they had already discussed that someone would drop Mariely off at school. Also, he might be finishing what he's doing before picking up the woman she's with this afternoon.

She already considered Mariely a true sibling, and besides, Mariely had a weakness when it came to men.

It's my fault this time. I should have stayed with her instead of leaving her in the room that day. She glanced at Mariely, who was happily telling her another story.

I wish that damn man hadn't met her. 

"Nadia, I'm here now." 

"Ah, yes." Nadia just sighed and stopped the car in front of the school gate. 

"Nadia, thank you." Mariely just ended up saying it to her and giving her a smile.

She just smiled. "You're always welcome, Ely. Your brother said he might be able to pick you up today." She reminded Mariely.

She just nodded at her. "Yes, bye. Just take care." Saying goodbye to her.

"You too." She even smiled at her.

It immediately started walking around, and she even saw it hurrying. And that was to make her laugh.

"Oh, so you're the one who drove her today." A man inside the vehicle said something.

Nadia's eyebrow immediately shot up when she saw and recognized who the man speaking was.

"Why are you here?" was the only question she could ask.

"Oh, I don't know what I did for you two to hate me. Is it connected to what happened before?" Frank could only smile at her. "I bet she doesn't even remember what happened." He even said that.

"Are you really stupid?" was all she could ask the person in front of her. 

He even laughed at her. "Whatever, I'm going ahead of you. Bye." He immediately drove off and left. 

Nadia just clenched her fists and shook her head. 

I don't know why you're going after Mariely again; you really won't stop until you get her. 

She needs to calm down now, because it's too early for her blood to boil. Nadia just sighed and drove towards the hospital where she would be working as a nurse.