“Ouch!”
Dika winced as Kiran let out a pained groan while he applied anti-irritation cream on her face.
“Does it hurt?” Dika shot her a glare. “Of course it does! Think twice before pulling a stunt like that again! Who in their right mind pours coffee on their own face? You’re lucky it’s not scalding hot anymore!”
“Look at you,” Dika continued. “Ms. Vira worked wonders on your makeup to make you look stunning, and now you’re ruining it with this redness. And your uniform is a mess from the coffee spill!”
Once again, he handed a tissue from his desk to Kiran, who was still grimacing. Kiran then used it to blot her coffee-stained uniform.
“The guy from Baven Energy was furious about his coffee being robbed. Do you even realize it’s some fancy brand?”
Kiran shook her head. “I had no idea. I don’t know why I suddenly grabbed his coffee. Was I possessed or something?”
“Come on, possessed? Seriously?”
Facepalming, Dika then shook his head in disbelief. “You’re lucky nobody from Baven Technology caught that cringeworthy moment except for me. Did you see the looks on the faces of the Baven Energy folks when they saw you practically worshipping Mr. Jevan? Do you think he’s some kind of king that you have to bow down and shower him with prayers?”
Kiran’s face flushed crimson. “It… it was just a reflex. I got scared because you were telling all those scary stories about Mr. Jevan yesterday.”
Kiran was clearly fibbing. She was scared of Jevan, but not because of Dika’s stories. She feared facing Jevan and having her life threatened by a psychopathic killer after that. Yet, her words made Dika appear guilty.
“I didn’t mean to freak you out,” he admitted in lower tone. “If I’d known you were that scared, I wouldn’t have told you stories about him yesterday.”
“Was he mad?” Kiran whispered cautiously.
Dika arched an eyebrow. “Mr. Jevan? I can’t say if he’s angry, but he seemed pretty surprised. The folks at Baven Energy were having a good laugh, except for the guy whose coffee you robbed earlier.”
“What about the snack boxes…?”
“That turned out okay,” Dika swiftly said. “Your odd behavior made the Baven Energy folks handle their own snack boxes for the meeting. Maybe they’re worried you’ll snatch their snacks too, or they just think you’re a bit nuts and don’t wanna deal with you.”
“You should go clean those coffee stains off your uniform in the restroom,” he directed as his attention now on Kiran’s shirt. “You can dry it later with a hairdryer in the PR team’s makeup room. You can’t go around with a stained uniform all day. It won’t look good if our guests see you looking like a mess.”
“Dika,” Kiran called after a pause, “do you know why some people kill animals when they’re kids?”
Dika turned towards her. “A kid killing animals? Isn’t that a sign of being a psycho?”
“Exactly!” Kiran exclaimed, feeling validated. “I’ve heard that too. They say kids who enjoy hurting animals might turn into psychopaths.”
“What’s with that?” Dika asked. “Do you know anyone who’s into that?”
“I was just thinking… If someone like that held a grudge against you, especially if they had a history of hurting people, what would you do?”
“Well, that would be pretty unnerving,” Dika replied, his brows knitting together. “But your question is kinda out there. Is there some psycho out to get you?”
Kiran quickly shook her head, with a nervous chuckle. “Nah, just got spooked by a psycho movie I watched last night, haha!”
Dika shook his head again. “You’re a strange one, you know. Instead of chatting about random stuff, you should hurry up and sort yourself out. Can’t you see your eyes are as red as demon’s?”
Kiran suddenly rubbed her eyes. “They were stinging a bit from earlier. Probably got some coffee in them.”
“Then go wash up! Don’t give our PR team a reason to boot you out when they see you like this at lunch.”
“Alright, alright,” Kiran relented at last. With her vision still blurry, she headed straight for the bathroom to freshen up.
___
In the meeting room
“You’re still shocked by that girl?” Paskal’s smirk playing on his lips as he whispered behind Jevan’s back. He had leaned closer just to tease him.
“Which girl?” Jevan replied without turning to look at him.
“The receptionist,” Paskal repeated, barely containing his laughter. “I’m suspicious. You usually get ticked off when an employee embarrasses you, but earlier, you just kept quiet and walked away.”
Jevan finally turned to his assistant. “How could I be mad when she was just trying to seduce me?”
“Seduce you?”
“She bowed to me,” Jevan explained. “In cultures where bowing is a tradition, it’s one thing. But in this day and age, who does that just because they see me?”
“What’s the link?” Paskal asked, bewildered.
“Her clothes were loose, so when she bent over, let’s just say I got a glimpse of what’s underneath. She wouldn’t do that without a motive, right? You mentioned yesterday that if a girl bends over in front of me… well, you know the rest.”
Paskal’s eyes widened. “Whoa… I think you took my joke about bending over too seriously. Talk about narcissism! How could she be trying to seduce you? She seems new here; I’ve never seen her before.”
“She’s new?” Jevan echoed.
Paskal didn’t reply but instead approached Jevan with an even bigger grin. “So, did you really get an eyeful underneath her clothes? Is that why you were staring at her for so long?”
“It was… accidental,” Jevan muttered quietly, quickly diverting his attention back to the meeting speaker.
“Don’t act like you’re fully into this meeting, Jevan,” Paskal persisted, still grinning. “Come on, spill the beans. Are ‘those things’ worth the stare? And how does hers compare to Selia’s?”
“Huh? Um… Selia’s better,” Jevan responded, somewhat flustered.
“Wow! Three seconds!” Paskal burst into laughter again. “Took you three whole seconds to just say ‘Selia’s’. So, you think hers are better than Selia’s, huh?”
“I never said that,” Jevan retorted, starting to get irritated.
“You’re just too proud to admit it.”
Feeling annoyed, Jevan cursed under his breath. “Asshole! Do you want everyone here to think we’re harassing the receptionist?”
Paskal briefly chuckled before shifting his focus to the presentation screen, pretending to listen intently.
“But… Aldi’s new receptionist isn’t bad. She’s kinda cute,” he remarked, breaking the silence after a while.
“I didn’t get a good look at her face because she suddenly bowed,” Jevan replied, addressing Paskal’s observation.
“That’s because you were busy chatting up the energy team earlier. I kept an eye out, so I caught a glimpse of her before she turned into a human coffee pot,” Paskal explained.
“I remember that now,” Jevan muttered. “Why would she poured hot coffee on her face? Is she nuts, or was it just some weird new beauty treatment thing?”
Intrigued, Paskal turned back to Jevan. “It was bizarre, wasn’t it? Why is she acting so odd?”
“I’m curious about her,” he continued. “Should I ask Aldi for her personal info?”
“Why bother? She’s just a new receptionist.”
“But I have a feeling… she did that weird thing because she didn’t want you to see her face. I saw the panic on her face when she noticed you.”
Paskal’s observation was spot-on, but a few moments later, he changed his tune again, chuckling. “Then again, maybe she overheard all the gossip about you and got spooked. I mean, who wouldn’t be scared of you?”
“She’s scared of me?” Jevan repeated, his voice carrying a hint of vulnerability. “Why would a newcomer like her be afraid of me? She was clearly trying to flirt!”
“She’s not like Selia. Selia practically begged for your attention, but this receptionist seems to be bending over backward out of fear,” Paskal remarked.
“You want me to prove she’s trying to catch my eye?”
Paskal looked surprised. “What’s gotten into you? Since when do you care about this stuff? You’re usually so indifferent about the girls here.”
Jevan, realizing his outburst, shot Paskal a sarcastic look. “I… don’t want to discuss this nonsense anymore. Forget it. I’m just going to the restroom.”
Without waiting for Paskal’s response, Jevan rose from his chair and left the room. He made his way down the hallway toward the executive restroom on the floor.
Something had unsettled him deeply, but he couldn’t bring himself to share it with Paskal. Ever since eight years ago, Jevan had been experiencing inexplicable occurrences that strained his sanity.
He often heard a girl’s voice humming in his mind and had seen her faint figure in his dreams multiple times. Strangely, despite her blurred appearance, he knew it was always the same girl.
When the receptionist greeted him strangely, he felt his body freeze up. Her voice sounded exactly like the humming voice in his head.
Moreover, he sensed the echo of traditional music in his mind, and his vision blurred, altering the atmosphere around him.
He could vaguely see a girl dancing in a circle of fire, humming the same tune. Only, the image of the girl seemed clearer now.
Am I hallucinating again? Jevan wondered. Is it because I forgot my medication last night?
“Sorry, Mr. Jevan, the executive restroom is out of order.”
A voice interrupted his thoughts. He found himself facing a janitor and a ‘repair in progress’ sign that blocked his path.
“We weren’t informed of your meeting here today, so we haven’t had time to finish the repairs. If you don’t mind, you can use the front restroom for now.”
Irritation etching Jevan’s face, but he remained silent. He then turned away without a word, heading toward the front restroom. But once he entered the men’s restroom there, he was immediately stunned by what he saw.
It took him a moment to process the scene before him. He rubbed his eyes, yet the image remained clear.
In shock, he stepped back outside with his heart racing. After composing himself, he glanced at the symbol on the restroom door.
I didn’t make a mistake. This is definitely the men’s restroom. Why is she in here?!
Despite his astonishment, Jevan discreetly scanned the empty hallway before regaining his composure and reentering the restroom. He tried so hard to act casual.
“Miss, not to be impolite, but… you might be in the wrong restroom,” Jevan said to Kiran, who was humming and focused on washing her uniform at the sink and wearing only her bra and skirt.
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