[junebaby]

Mark didn't reply me the entire week. I felt it was best not to press the issue anyway. I had let him know I would be there for him if he needed me. I was sure he would reach out if he wanted to.

Life sort of went back to normal for me, other than working from home for 4 days a week. I was seriously bored whenever I was alone. Mike and Tom obviously were back at work after we all recovered from whatever virus that was afflicting us. My daily routine was to clear emails, attend Zoom meetings when required and watch lots of shows on whatever streaming service I had subscribed to, and of course amazing sex with my two guys whenever they weren't killing monsters.

Another week passed. Still no response from Mark. Not to be morbid, but I actually wondered if he was still alive. I texted Alicia but she told me he probably just entered his cave and would come out when he was ready.

By the time it hit the 3rd week of September, I was getting pretty worried. Even though I did bump into Shirlyn and Rebecca sometimes during lunch on Mondays during the past few weeks, we never actually talked about Mark, or Jasmine for that matter.

Since I was working from home, or to be more precise, remotely, I decided to head out on Wednesday as I didn't really have much to do anyway.

I popped by Jasmine's place, bought them lunch, and we chatted for awhile as I sneaked in queries about Mark. However, as expected, he still wasn't replying to them.

My next best bet was Darren and Nat. I tried to figure out where their block was as the daytime view was totally different from the night. As luck would have it, I spotted a heavily tattooed female sun tanning by the pool.

Me: Hey Nat!

She sat up and removed her sunglasses.

N: June? What are you doing here?

Me: I came to see Jasmine and Alicia.

N: Oh. Yeah. It's quite sad.

Me: She looks fine though. Cheery in fact.

N: Well… maybe it wasn't meant to be?

Me: I wanted to ask about Mark.

N: What about him?

Me: Have you heard anything from him?

N: Nope? Should I?

Me: Oh. I thought you'd still be fucking.

N: Haha! I wish. He stopped when they announced the pregnancy. Jason's been trying to pick up the slack but…

Me: Right. So you didn't contact him? Or he didn't contact you?

N: Not really. I did text him to ask if he's ok, but he didn't reply.

Me: Oh. Aren't you concerned at all?

N: Nope? Should I be?

Me: He's your friend right?

N: I guess so? But it's more of his cock that I want.

Me: Didn't you guys have heart to heart talks?

N: We did. But at the end of the day, it's still the sex for me.

Me: Right.

N: I'm sure he'll turn up somewhere la. Don't think so much. Jasmine and Alicia aren't even this worried.

Me: I don't know how to explain this.

N: Is it because you never got to sleep with him? Hahaha.

Me: Of course not!

N: Just kidding. But you're like the only one among us who hasn't slept with him.

Me: What the.

N: Kidding again. But still, don't worry so much ya? He'll be fine.

Me: I hope so.

N: Anyway, since you're so free, why don't you join me for a tan?

Me: In the nude? I don't have a swim suit.

N: I bet there'll be a queue forming if you're in the nude.

Me: Funny.

N: Go home and grab one?

Me: If I go home, I doubt I'll wanna come out again. Just in case there's another storm like yesterday.

N: Oh yeah. That storm was madness. I went to buy food and got stuck at the hawker centre. I've never seen anything like it before. Darren couldn't even come and pick me cos he was in a jam.

Me: Yeah. I stupidly went out shopping at Orchard and I drove. Was stuck on the CTE for like an hour on the way back.

N: Yeah. Darren told me a tree fell or something. At Yio Chu Kang exit.

Me: 2 trees actually. From what I saw.

N: No wonder.

Me: Anyway, I guess I'll head off first.

N: All right.

Me: Let me know if Mark contacts you?

N: Sure.

I left and headed back home. Thank goodness the Sumatran squall decided to leave us alone and I got home without incident. I guess had one other person to check with. So I texted EoS. For some reason, he left me on 1 tick so I went about my day. Couple of hours later, it became 2 ticks but he didn't reply.

Just as I was about to turn in for the night, my phone buzzed.

E: Yeah. He did contact me.

I almost jumped out of bed.

Me: How is he? Is he ok?

E: No.

EoS’s single word reply really didn't help much.

Me: Huh? Oh no! What's going on?

No reply.

Me: Hello? Anyone there?

E: Was showering. About to go to bed. Text you tomorrow to tell you more if you want.

Me: Of course I do. Just text me anytime. Please?

E: Ok.

Me: Thanks EoS. Good night.

Thinking about it, I guess it did make some sense that Mark would go to EoS, after all, he did seek him out for advice previously. And if I recall correctly, EoS did have some experience with a miscarriage.

I guess I wasn't going to be able to sleep well worrying about Mark until I found out more from EoS.