HER LOVE FOR DARK

"Melody. She is your new assistant Lyrical and she is our boss Melody." Gisselle introduced them still looking confused. She suddenly doubted if she was doing the right thing.

Gisselle had no idea what had happened, but knowing and having worked with Melody for all these years, Gisselle was sure her boss must've done something to upset the poor girl. Not everyone understands Melody, and neither does Melody makes an attempt to get close with everyone.

'Does that mean..?'

"I like her", Melody whispered to Gisselle.

"You do?" Gisselle remarked with wide eyes, but was not much surprised.

"Maybe.", Melody cleared her throat and immediately clarified. "I mean.. at least she looks.. uhm.. decent and I think she is hard working too." Melody chuckled, but then she looked at Gisselle and pretended to be serious. "Now everything depends on how you've trained and how she much she has understood."

Melody walked past Gisselle, but stopped midway, "I better not have to over-work myself because you chose an amateur who is nothing but a burden." Gisselle followed her boss.

"Don't worry, Boss. She is sincere and hard-working, seems very keen about learning new things, and a fast learner. I don't think you will face any problem, even after I've gone back to France." Gisselle assured.

"Hmm." came her reply.

Melody entered her cabin and Gisselle who was following her stopped abruptly, "Oh, Boss. Did I tell you?"

"Tell me what?" Melody tilted her head to one side and looked at her questioningly.

"Your new assistant. Her name is.. ahem.. Lyrical." She covered her face with the file in her hand and tried suppressing her laugh.

"Yes. You just introduced us, didn't you?" Melody raised her brows suspecting something fishy.  "What?" She looked at Gisselle narrowing her eyes, waiting for what she'll say next.

"Nothing. Just that, Melody and Lyrical." She said dramatically gesturing with both her hands and moving in the air. "Sounds like.. Made for each other, huh?" she whispered flirtatiously.

Having said that she hysterically burst out laughing and sat down on the burgundy sofa behind her.

When she finally managed to stop laughing, Gisselle with all seriousness enquired, "Now tell me, my dear Melody. Did you pick on her? What did you do to make that poor girl so upset?"

Melody kept silent, but a smirk was slowly showing up on her lips. What she had not realize was the her cheeks showed a different emotion.

"Are you blushing my dear?" Gisselle teased inquisitively. "C'mon. Tell me so I can handle the situation and control the damage." She nagged, forcing her to speak, but Melody did not budge.

"Fine, I won't ask anymore." Gisselle shrugged her shoulders. "But don't forget to pick me up tomorrow morning, we have to go to the airport." She reminded. "I'll take your leave now. Boss!!"

That's when the realization hit Melody. Today was the last working day of Gisselle, her assistant, and a dear friend.  "Wait! Let's have dinner together." Melody tried to stop her, sadness was evident in her voice. And Gisselle did not want to leave her friend on a sad note.

"Sorry, can't stay. I have a prior commitment." She replied teasingly. She was trying to provoke her to speak about whatever happened outside a few minutes ago.

Melody furrowed her eyebrows, wondering as to what possible 'commitment' could Gisselle have, especially now that she was leaving tomorrow.

It took a few seconds for Melody to registed what Gisselle implied. She dashed towards her, "What? Where to? Are you going out with her, G?" Melody's sad voice had turned rather cheerful.

"Not telling you." Gisselle stuck out her tongue. "Only if you tell me what exactly happened between you two, will I tell you where we are headed to."

Melody could feel a massive adrenaline rush inside her as if she could start flying any moment. "I'll tell you everything, I promise. Please take me with you." She pleaded earnestly. But, Gisselle shook her head.

Gisselle left immediately after she received a call from Lyrical, not before teasing her friend again, "I couldn't take her out for dinner, because I was busy taking care of a kid like you. You are not allowed with us, especially after whatever prank you played on her."

But the truth was, Gisselle wanted to have a serious chat with Lyrical and she did not want anyone, especially not Melody to disturb them.

Gisselle and Lyrical sat in the classy restaurant, looking at the menu. "What would you like to eat, Gisselle?" Lyrical asked, her eyes were still trained on the menu.

"Just salad for me" Gisselle replied.

Lyrical looked at her, "But why? Shouldn't you eat more?" she asked curiously.

"I know.. I know.. I have to eat for two people and I should be taking care of what I eat and how many times I eat. Don't worry, I ate just an hour ago as per my schedule and right now I am not very hungry. Just salad, please." She flashed her sweet smile.

Lyrical went through the menu one more time. "One salad and a spaghetti with meatballs please." she placed the order with the attendant.

"Can we add roasted chicken too?" Gisselle added.

She raised her fingers, "Two people, remember?" and pointed towards her stomach.

Gisselle felt stupid, just a minute ago she had said that she wasn't hungry at all and now here she was ordering for two people. However Lyrical did not question.

Actually, the order was for Melody. Gisselle knew she would come sooner or later.

They placed the order and chatted while waiting for the food. They spoke on random things at first. Lyrical told her about her family and Gisselle told her about hers.

But if she had to be honest, Gisselle was looking for the right moment to tell her what she came here for.  She was stunned and amazed at the same time, when suddenly Lyrical said, "So.. What is it that you wanted to talk to me about, Gisselle?"

"What?" she stared at Lyrical in confusion. Not sure if Lyrical really had guessed her motive.

"You said you were busy because you had to 'handle' something for boss. Also, you seemed a little hesitant, or uncomfortable would be the right word." Lyrical explained.

"I'm happy to see that you are observant. That's a good quality", she let out a laugh.

"Ok listen to me, Lyrical." Gisselle started to say, "What I'm about to say, you may not agree with me, especially after getting on the wrong foot with Melody." Gisselle wasn't sure what happened, so she didn't know what to say. "Please, believe me, Melody is the nicest person to work with, because she has good intention towards her employees. I'm saying this because I've known her for a long time."

She paused in case Lyrical had something to say, but her face was neutral. Gisselle cleared her throat, "Honestly, Melody is lonely, and needs someone to take care of her. She tends say something or act in a certain way that will annoy you, but it's only because she likes you." Gisselle would have added something else, but Lyrical finally spoke.

"But she barely even knows me. We met like.. what? Two times? That's not even meeting, it's called passing by," Lyrical commented sardonically.

"…and she also craves attention, but in a good way." Gisselle suddenly felt so dumb, when she tried to justify whatever it is that Melody had done.

"And of course, let me also tell you the worst part of being her assistant. She is absolutely irrational and careless when it comes to taking care of herself." She groaned in frustration. "Which is why I said she needs somebody who would take care of her."

Lyrical sat silently and nodded occasionally, urging her to continue.

Gisselle told her how she spent her time taking care of a crazy kid named 'Melody'. She always shopped for her especially the grocery, as Melody can be very mindless when it comes to herself and that she liked cleanliness, so her apartment needs to be tidied every other day. And especially before she is returning from a business trip.

"Sometimes, we might also have to accompany her, so a set of clothes should always be kept ready, as such trips always happen unexpectedly." Gisselle concluded.

Gisselle also told her about how Melody has always been a perfectionist, but she never gave Melody a chance to complain. Melody was always distant, yet she had managed to come close to her. Overall, how she went from being just an assistant to Melody, to being upgraded as a friend and now Melody called Gisselle her 'guardian angel'.

They both laughed. "No! I am serious. It feels like I've known her forever. She is an important part of my family," Gisselle admitted with a smile that told Lyrical, how much she adored Melody.

Food was served on the table and as they picked up the spoon to eat, Gisselle's phone blinked.

"Where are you, G? Still not telling me?" came a message. They both noticed the message, but Gisselle chose not to reply and simply ignored it.

However, Lyrical suggested her to reply and that she has no problem if Melody wanted to join them for dinner.  She did not want Gisselle to spend her last evening dining without her boss-slash-best friend by her side. And tomorrow onwards she had to work with Melody anyway, avoiding her was not an option for her.

Lyrical was apprehensive as to how Melody would behave and how long would she be able to control her annoyance towards Melody.  It was not until the next morning that she realized, Melody was completely a different person with Gisselle and how deep their friendship had grown.

More than friends, they looked like sisters. Just like Gisselle had said, they felt like family. Melody did not bother Lyrical the entire time and the night went by smoothly.

After dinner, they planned to go back to Melody's apartment and also invited Lyrical to join them. They sat in Melody's grey Landrover and drove there. Her apartment was small, but neat and clean. But what struck her odd, was that the place was also very dark and gloomy.. in a way, which was exactly the opposite to their office.

The walls were dark blue in color. The kitchen was small, but spacious enough for two people, its cabinets were light grey in color. There was an oven and an induction, a small refrigerator that looked more like a mini-bar.

'She definitely does not cook herself', Lyrical concluded and sighed. What kind of a person was her boss, Lyrical wondered.

The kitchen countertop was off-white in color attached to it was a wooden table with bar stools beside it. A little further was a small couch, again dark mauve in color, kept neatly cusioned.

Further inside was a bedroom, which looked as dark as a cave, and especially since the lights were off, it looked more like a haunted room. Lyrical thought silently observing.

Gisselle must have noticed the look on her face, she quietly came and stood beside her, "That's how she is. Follow me, I'll show you her room."  They both went inside towards her bedroom, where Lyrical noticed her bed was charcoal grey and it had reddish-brown curtains. Her walls were dark brown in color and the wardrobe was deep red.  "She loves dark colors. The walls were even darker in color, the curtains were black. I got it changed." Gisselle interrupted her thoughts.

"How is that possible? Our office is so bright and lively." Lyrical argued in disbelief.

"You haven't seen her cabin yet, isn't it?" Gisselle arched her eyebrows, amusingly. "These colors that you see.. apart from her usual black and dark favorite ones? That is because I made her change it. I'm not kidding, the walls, curtain and that couch, they all used to be black in color." Lyrical blinked, still not believing what Gisselle said.

"Remember this Lyrical, Melody is different from what she actually pretends in front of others." Lyrical could hear the warning in her tone. Was she trying to scare her, by any chance? Lyrical hoped that wasn't the case, because she needed this job.

Before Gisselle could explain further, Melody came back from the bathroom and was looking for something to eat in the kitchen, shuffling it upside down. Gisselle scolded and joined her in the kitched as well.

Melody and Gisselle chatted all night, joked, laughed and even argued. Melody's attention was totally on Gisselle, she took utmost care of her comfort and Lyrical was loving this side of her boss.

The next morning, Lyrical accompanied her boss to the airport, in her car, to see Gisselle off. She also noticed Melody trying her best to hide her tears when Gisselle went out of sight. Lyrical couldn't describe the feeling when she saw this side of her boss. As if that audaciously annoying woman and the one in who was now in front of her, weren't the same person.

Before she could leave to board the flight, Gisselle gave a tight hug to Lyrical and then Melody, for one last time.

"Don't attract much attention at the office, my dear. Always keep this in mind, you are their boss." She patted Melody on her shoulder, as she whispered in her ears.

"If you want to pursue the girl, do it a little discreetly. Don't go all bold and blunt on her," Gisselle winked. "You don't want to scare her away." Melody did not know what to say, she just stood there thinking what was that about.  After Gisselle's flight took off, Melody offered to drop Lyrical at her house.

"Where do you stay?" Melody asked, as they were leaving from the airport.  Lyrical shook her head and insisted, "I can take a cab back home." Lyrical wasn't sure if she wanted to spend her time with Melody in her car, when Gisselle wasn't with them.

But, Melody wasn't taking no for an answer. She smirked, before she blantantly said, "My sweetheart! Either you tell me where you stay or I'll take you to my place."  Lyrical could only gulp with the sudden change in Melody's attittude. So, she obidiently gave her the address to her place.

When they reached near Lyrical' house, "You don't need to come to the office today, take a leave and rest well" and she just drove away." Melody ordered.

Lyrical went home and slept almost the entire day, as she did not have to go to office anymore.

In the evening, she brought her aunt to the doctor for her check-up, then they went for a stroll in a garden.  After they returned home, Lyrical called her father and when he did not answer she left him a message.  Before dinner, Lyrical went out for a quick visit to Mr. Parker and also invited a few of her colleagues to her place for dinner.

After a long time, Lyrical had cooked today. She had been very busy with her work, so today when she had nothing much to do, she went to meet up with her friends and cook for her aunt.

Lyrical was exhausted by the time she was about to go to sleep. She checked her phone one last time, to see in case her father had called and she had missed it, but there was nothing from him. She dozed off right after her head touched the pillow.

The following morning came too early, Lyrical wanted to sleep for a few more minutes. She rolled on her bed dawdling time.  She checked her phone again to see if her father had called. There was only a curt message from him, 'I will call you tomorrow.'

It was unlike her father to delay or ignore their call, at least not for this long. Out of habit, he always called back immediately after he realized he had missed a call from his daughter. So, Lyrical decided to call him again, instead of rolling on the bed.

She dialed his number and the call immediately went through. However..

"Hello" an unknown voice answered from the other end.

"Hello. Who is this and why do you have this phone? Can I speak to my father?" She spoke rapidly out of nervousness.

"Oh, he is in the hospital." The man replied.

"What?" Sweat broke out on Lyrical' forehead, a sickening knot twisted in her stomach as she pressed her phone to her ears, doubting if she has heard it wrong.

"Right now he can't be here on the phone. Can I ask him to call in some time, Ms. Lyrical?" The man suggested.

"Who are you and why do you..?" Lyrical babbled also frowning in confusion. Her heart was beating faster.  She heard somebody talking to the man on the phone. 'What are you doing?' to which the man replied "It's Mr. Fernando's daughter calling and she wants to.."

He might've grabed the phone from the other person's hand, as Lyrical heard some disturbance, before another man's voice could be heard on the phone,

"Ah! I apologize for the misunderstanding my junior staff has created. He must've made you worried, isn't it?" The man said, in an solid voice, yet it held tenderness in it.

"Well, let me introduce myself first. I am Evan and I am a senior nurse in this hospital." Lyrical wasn't interested in his introduction, also she knew that man knew her, so she did not bother saying anything.

"Don't worry, your father is fine," Evan continued to say, "..but right now he cannot take this call to talk to you, because he is with one of his friend who met with an accident last night and he has left his phone with us because the patient cannot be disturbed." He carefully explained, "Also because.. we all know each other very well. So, in case anybody wants to talk to him, can leave a message with me," he concluded.

"Oh, Is that so?" Lyrical felt relieved and finally relaxed. She let out a breath she hadn't realized she's been holding.  "So that is how you know my name." she chuckled when she realized they knew her, but she didn't know them.  "Sorry once again. My junior can be a little dumb sometimes. He should've told you all this at the start itself. Bad social skill I guess." Evan laughed awkwardly, over the phone.

"Thanks, Mr. Evan. Could you please ask my father to call me as soon as his friend recovers? Please?" She solemnly requested.

"Umm.. Of course" came the reply from Evan. He assured her not to worry about her father.

Lyrical looked at the wall clock, she had wasted a lot of time rolling on the bed and she is going to be late today. Her first day as Melody's assistant, minus Gisselle.  She rushed to her dresser and chose a white chiffon blouse with blue ankle-length pants, threw it on the bed and went to take a bath.  She got ready as fast as she could and took a cab to reach the office as soon as possible. Lyrical must not even have reached halfway, when Gisselle called.

"Good Morning Gisselle. Have you reached safely?" Lyrical chirped.

"Yes, my dear. Okay Lyrical, I'd called Melody but she did not answer. So.. how far have you reached?" Gisselle enquired, but did not wait for Lyrical's answer, "I'm sorry to do this, but I think you will have to pick her up from her apartment. Melody might still be sleeping." Exasperation was evident in Gisselle's voice, and Lyrical found it cute.

"Gisselle. I am on my way to the office. Should I check at the office first? In case she is not there, then I will go look for her at her place." Lyrical offered a solution.

After they disconnected, Lyrical told the cab driver to speed up a little and hurriedly reached the office.  She rushed towards her boss' cabin, only to find that her boss was not in there. But..Lyrical did not move. She stood at the door, looking inside the cabin, which was no different from her apartment. It would be her first time entering inside her boss' cabin. She had not yet been here.. never had to.

Melody was traveling, so it made no sense to her coming here, because, occasionally, Gisselle came to fetch something or checking on the cleanliness. There was no need for Lyrical to follow Gisselle over here. Anyway, now Lyrical knew whar Gisselle was trying to tell her.

The walls in the cabin was brass blue in color, a small dark brown table, black cushion chairs, and a burgundy couch. The décor of the cabin was kept to minimal. But what stood out among all this was a punching bag and the iron dumbles.

"Gisselle was right, she loves dark colors. But why? And seriously.. a punching bag? In the office?" she mumbled to herself.

Lyrical jumped out of her body, when she heard a voice behind her, "Yeah. My favorite color is Black, isn't yours too?" She scoffed. "Sadly I can't paint the walls black, right?" she clucked her tongue.

Lyrical recognized the voice of her boss and suddenly remembered, she came here looking for Melody. Now that she is here, Lyrical turned around to leave.  "Ouch" Lyrical cried as she bumped into something... someone. Her boss!

"Whoa! Watch where you going, Ms. Assistant. Why are you in so much rush?" Melody teased provokingly. "By the way, you look pretty today."

Lyrical did not respon to her goading. Instead, she said, "Thank you, Ma'am. Gisselle is looking for you, call her back. Please. I'll come back in sometime."

Having said that Lyrical rushed out of the cabin and heard Melody laughing, still standing behind.

As soon as she left the cabin Lyrical realized, going forward she has to handle her boss on her own. She is not Gisselle, so her boss won't go easy on her and Gisselle was no longer around here to help her anymore.

"God save me!!" She prayed or more like groaned.

When Melody called Gisselle, "Hey! Where were you? I called you so many times already." Gisselle sounded a little upset.  "Sorry, I got caught up with something. My phone was on silent, so I missed your call." Melody told her.  But, instead of being upset, Gisselle laughed. "My dear Melody, you are such a bad liar. Tell me what are you up to?"

"What? Nothing." Melody shrugged her shoulders, wondering what Gisselle meant by that.

"Are you sure you weren't secretly waiting for her, outside her house or something?" Gisselle playfully taunted.

"I seriously don't understand what are you even talking about? Anyways, tell me one thing, I'm still in a daze. How did you guess..? You know what I mean, right?" Melody inquired curiously.

Gisselle shamelessly guffawed and Melody waited feeling desperate and wanted her to stop wasting time. She wanted to know the answer to her question. And once Gisselle was done laughing to her heart's content, she simply replied "Your face."