PLEASE DON'T IGNORE ME

After Gisselle gave her the answer to the question that had been bothering her, Lyrical felt that she very much agreed with her. 

Carol and Leia must certainly have their own reasons to be upset with Mia, but even if they hated her, they would never stoop so low and insult her like this. Lyrical had this gut feeling, it had to be the infamous and most hated trio, because they had nothing better to do in life.

But now there were two questions that remained in front of Lyrical. How will she settle the dispute between Mia and her friends and how will she find proof against the trio.  She sent a text to Melody and asked for her help. "Fine. We'll see what can be done. Sleep Well" was Melody's quick reply.  Since Melody had agreed to help and sort out this issue concerning Mia, Lyrical was relieved. She knew Melody will surely find a way out.

And she was damn right.

The following morning, Melody was already in the office before everyone came in for the day. Melody called Lyrical, Mia, Leia and Carol in her cabin and asked them think three reasons for their hatred for Mia. 

Apparently, they did not hate Mia. But the reason that Carol was being so upset with Mia was simple and very sweet.  Carol was hurt, because Mia is her best friend and she believed she should've been the first person to know that Mia was in trouble.

She was more disappointed with herself, as she believed that she had failed Mia. Leia had not notice that Mia was sad and worried. On the other hand, Carol said they saw each other everyday and still she missed noticing Mia worries, her sadness. Even though her friend was smiling, but there was sadness hidden behind her smile and that she was hurting.

As for Leia, she refused to speak for a long time, then demanded to be left alone. She was not involved or interested in this topic and Melody did not force her either.

Instead when they all left the cabin, she told Lyrical to stay back and suggested an idea to her. She recommended Lyrical to take them out for dinner or something. Just like last time and find an opportunity to leave them alone and talk things out. 

"Hey. I really have to take care of few things. I seriously can't get involved in these personal and emotional issues, but I also can't leave them be. This is as far as I can help them, rest is on them to settle." Melody argued and Lyrical agreed.

Melody left the office immediately after and did not come back again that day.

"How about this? Let's go out for the dinner that you had promised me, Leia?" Lyrical convinced Leia and then rest of the girl friends to go out for dinner together.

Leia avoided them as much as possible. But, Lyrical was adamant to know the reason behind this ignorant attitude and hatred she was showing towards Mia.

'How can someone, all of a sudden be so rude to her friend, just because she does not agree with her decision? It's not that Mia did this on purpose. If only possible and if she could turn back time, Mia would have done that already.' is the message Lyrical wanted to indirectly convey to Leia. 

They ordered Mia's favorite dishes to cheer her up.

Surprisingly, Leia did not complain and that was the first clue that showed Leia still liked Mia. They talked about Mia and her baby. Lyrical asked her a few random questions about her pregnancy and then her doctor's appointment. She again came back to the topic where the father of the child left her instead of taking responsibility.

Lyrical was actually trying to get a reaction out of Leia. Something that she can catch on and understand the reason behind Leia's rude behavior.  Out of the blue, Lyrical remembered something and smirked mentally. She wasn't sure if this plan would work, and it also sounded stupid. But anything that would help Leia and Mia to become friends again was worth a try.

"Mia. I just remembered, last time when we came for dinner, you were crazy drunk. So much so that, you were vomiting continuously and out of no option I had to take you home." Lyrical scolded her.

"How dare you?" Leia interjected. "You don't care about the baby at all, right Mia? Then why don't you just abort it instead?" Leia ranted some more and Lyrical got the desired outcome of her provocation, just what she needed. Leia still cared for her and the baby.

No doubt, Mia deserved to be disciplined, because what she did was absolutely wrong. Even if she did what she did, because she wanted to forget everything.  Mia still did not have the right to drink herself to oblivion, she should've been more careful about her unborn child.

Just like the last time Lyrical offered to drop Mia home and while waiting for the cab Lyrical pretended to receive a call from Melody and excused herself.  She hid somewhere nearby until their cab came. Lyrical knew if she is not around, then Leia would be the one who stayed nearest to Mia.

Carol and rest of the girls had already left, so Leia had no other option and offered to take Mia home. They took the same cab and left, not before dropping a text to inform Lyrical that they were leaving.

Lyrical called up Melody and narrated the incident to her. "OK" was the only reply she received and then it got disconnected.  Lyrical cursed and swore at Melody. There was no doubt the call was already disconnected, but she wanted to cuss her for behaving rudely and spoiling her good mood.

However still, since Lyrical was happy and proud of herself for successfully implementing her plan, she chose to ignore Melody, took another cab and came home, still beaming with happiness.

Lyrical called Mia once she reached home to check on her and also because she wanted to know if they both have sorted out their differences.  But, her phone was busy, then she tried calling Leia and it was the same with her too.  She concluded they both must be talking to each other or hoped sincerely that is the case. Before sleeping she dropped a text, like a group message informing them, she has reached home.  Lyrical knew it was silly.. but she wanted to be silly.. just for fun.

The following day, Lyrical checked on Mia to know if Leia was still ignoring or they had started talking to each other or anything good happened after they went back home. But, sadly Mia simply shook her head and it disappointed Lyrical because she was hoping they both soon beome good friends again.. just like old times. But that did not happen.

Anyway, she still had other things to take care of. Like looking for some proof against the Trio gang. Lyrical was cautiously snooping around here and there to find evidence. Laila was smart and she quickly guessed what Lyrical was trying to do, so she tried and was successful in diverting Lyrical' attention towards something that was totally unrelated to work.

"Melody is gay." Laila retorted angrily.

"What makes you so annoyed on me I don't know. But, where is all this shit coming from?" Lyrical asked in exasperation.

Laila scoffed, "I think either you are too dumb to notice or you don't want to acknowledge it. Because everyone except you, knows this. You can ask any one person from your so called 'Knack club.' I swear I am not lying. Your boss, Ms. Melody is gay—oops. I mean Lesbian. She is into girls." she chuckled deresively.  "You should stay away from her too" another girl from Trio, whose name was Diana, warned Lyrical.

Lyrical was so annoyed and upset about the tone Laila used with her, but what bothered and made her even more mad was all her friends were ignoring the discussion. They even avoided looking at Lyrical. 'So that means they all knew about this and it also means that Melody was really...' Lyrical stood stunned as she realized what the girls meant.

"Shit." she huffed. She went straight to her boss' cabin. "Is it true Melody? They say you are.. I mean.." Lyrical wanted to ask, but was afraid to do so.  To start with, because she was angry, and hated how Laila spoke and her friends did not even tell her anything about this-- gay secret or maybe not a secret, only she was dumb not knowing anything. Or they may have hinted something, but Lyrical did not notice. And secondly, she was bothered. If what they said was true and Melody confirmed, how was she supposed to work with her?

"The word that you can't even say aloud is Lesbian.. and yes I am. Do you have problem with that?" Melody confirmed, she knew there was no point in hiding. And neither did she want to. She was in an odd way feeling relieved, now there would be no hide and seek with Lyrical.

Lyrical stood very still, too shocked to react. She had so many signs laid out in front of her right from the start, but she was too blind or maybe she deliberately ignored it.  Lyrical felt goosebumps on her skin. She left from Melody's cabin without a word, then went straight to her desk and sat there staring at nothing, completely in daze.

Mia came to check on Lyrical and Carol followed. "Initially, we thought you knew it and then we became friends, so we avoided talking about Melody. We did not intent to hide anything from you. It's just that.. Melody is a good person and we did not want to question her because she has different sexual preference."

Lyrical showed no reaction and gave no reply. Her friends did not know what to say anymore, so they left, leaving her alone for sometime.  Lyrical' mind was a whirlpool of thoughs and soon she began to feel dizzy. There was no point in calling Gisselle, Lyrical believed. They both are best friends and she will naturally support Melody in this matter.  Lyrical started to avoid Melody again. The little bond they had built in this short period was shattered in no time.

Lyrical did not wait for Melody to drop her home that day, or the next day or the day after that. She avoided going into her cabin when Melody was in office and they would possibly be alone. Lyrical came up with excuses every time Melody offered to drop or pick her up  from home and also when Melody called once or twice to talk to her about it. She strictly stuck to text messages.

One day she accidently entered Melody's cabin when she was still present in there. Melody seemed to have not noticed her, because she was too busy working things out with the punching bag. But, it seemed like things weren't quite working out between them.

Melody was punching the bag left and right pouring all her anger, sweat was dripping down her body. Lyrical stood there observing her, but as soon Melody realized that she was being watched, she turned around and Lyrical ran back to her desk, stumbling on the way, before she could get caught by her boss.  Lyrical was feeling guilty for being rude to Melody and rejecting her all the time, she spent nights awake, trying to figure out what she should do..

Avoiding is not the right solution, she will not be able to change either Melody's preference nor accept it. And not to mention, Melody was her boss and Lyrical was misusing her boss' lenient attitude towards her.

Lyrical lay awake on her bed every night, facing the ceiling and staring at nothing, till morning came to greet her. Because of this she even avoided calls from her brother, afraid he would figure out the change in her mood and interrogate her. And her brother knew he could coax everything out of Lyrical in no time, once they started talking. Her mind was frenzied as it is, these sleepless nights were adding up and making her mind befuddled.

While having lunch she observed that, Melody was talking to Leia, her face showed it was a serious matter. Melody sort-of dragged Leia to where rest of them were seated and announced.

"There are two things, I need to talk about. One, with immediate effect Laila, Diana and Jess are asked to leave. It was proven that they were the ones who played this notorious prank on Mia and upon confronting they have also confessed. Till the time new staffs are not hired Leia will be helping Lyrical to handle their work.  Two, Leia has something to confess to Mia." Melody tilted herself to look at Leia and motioned her to speak.

Leia sobbed while she confessed and apologized to Mia for her rude behavior. Leia told everyone that she had a younger brother, who was favorite of her parents as well as her. He died in an accident, which is when she realized nobody loved Leia. Not even her parents and they blamed her for her brother's death and threw her out of the house.  Since, then she has been living alone, for herself. It was only later, she realized that her mother became pregnant with her when she had gone to her prom and randomly hooked up with a classmate.

"That is what made you feel angry on me, is it Leia? Do you hate me now?" Mia asked wiping hers and Leia's tears. "I am so sorry for what happened with you, but I won't do anything like that, I promise… Promise to never let you down."  Mia hugged her friend and Carol joined her. They wept together and the rest who were watching also could not hold back their tears. It was overwhelming to see both the friends sorting out their issues and moving on... together.

Melody randomly called Gisselle during that day, or maybe she wanted to talk to her angel.  She told about what happened with Mia and how finally it was sorted. How she managed to find out who sprew nonsense against Mia, and that the trio were thrown out today.. finally. Also that she was outed and since that day Lyrical had been avoiding her.

Gisselle had no idea that Lyrical was homophobic, until Melody told her today. Melody also told her about the incident that happened between Lyrical and Joey on the day Melody had taken her to the art gallery. How Lyrical cringed when Melody told her about Joey. Gisselle remembered Lyrical confessing about what she thought Joey was and made a fool of herself, but not about how she had gagged when Melody told her about Joey's interest in having a male partner.

The next day, Melody called Lyrical at her office. Lyrical hesitated, but she knew she can't do anything about what Melody's personal choice was, it was not her concern anyway. Also, she couldn't forget that Melody was her boss. Therefore, Lyrical went to her cabin anyway, ready to face her boss.  Melody put a file in front of Lyrical that showed some data that were sent to a client. There were lot of inaccuracies and errors in calculation and so the client almost rejected the offer.  However, Melody convinced them to give them another chance.

"What in the fucking hell do you think you are doing?" Melody was vexed, she spoke with anger in her tone.

"W-what do you mean?" Lyrical stuttered.  Whenever Melody was immensely angry, for some reason she grew larger than life size, at least that is how Lyrical felt.

"Listen, and listen very carefully. Let me reiterate this to you again and for the last time. My sexual preference has nothing--- nothing to do with you and especially not your work. So quit avoiding me," Melody couldn't help, but be mad at Lyrical. It's been exactly ten days Lyrical had not spoken to her properly or travel together and Melody had counted each day.

"And let me also remind you.." she growled ".. because it seems like you have forgotten the words that came from your own mouth once. If anyone of you make mistake I am responsible for it, hence, do not make me regret hiring people like you who have the audacity to avoid their bosses over petty issues."

Melody dismissed her, leaned back resting her behind on her chair, she took a deep breath and kept her eyes shut. But, before Lyrical could close the door when she was leaving, Melody spoke again, "I am warning you, check this shit and send it back to me or you are not going home tonight."

Her strong and loud voice, just a few seconds ago turned low and soft, but it was still stern and held authority.  Later that evening Melody dropped by to the office and found Lyrical sitting and working at her desk.

"Crazy fool, what do you think you were doing?" Melody scowled.

"We.. I mean, I had to complete this tonight. We cannot afford to miss the deadline, or we miss the deal. Melody, I was trying to help." Lyrical was bemused by her boss suddenly appearing when least expected.

"You must be really tired. Sleep in my cabin. Just stay here, if you want." Her voice was gentle this time and she looked worried.  Since, Lyrical had already informed aunt Marissa, that she has work and won't be back tonight, she thought she can stay the night and rest. Work again when she has replenished herself.

Lyrical went to her boss' cabin and sat on the sofa resting her head on the wall behind. Before she could realize, she was fast asleep.  Melody intently watched her assistant's tired face when she went to sit beside her. Soon Lyrical' head dropped on Melody's shoulder.  Melody deeply regretted reprimanding her today, Lyrical looked so sad when she was leaving her cabin. And now she even stayed back, because Melody had scolded her.

After hesitating for a long time, she carefully, not to disturb her sleep, pulled Lyrical towards her and adjusted her head and placed it properly on her shoulder.  Melody would never accept this, but the fact was she could take blame for everything when it comes to Lyrical. The reason she was upset and scolded Lyrical was to get her attention.  Lyrical had been avoiding her so much that Melody deliberately found a reason to force Lyrical to face her. And now she felt like a fool.

As a result of Melody's action, Lyrical exhausted herself trying to complete her work on time. That was not what Melody wanted. In fact, forcing Lyrical to work overtime was the last thing on her mind.

Melody gently rubbed the back of Lyrical' neck with her fingers, as she relaxed and dug herself even more into Melody's shoulder. Lyrical hugged her and smiled in her sleep, as she savored the gentle caress of Melody's hands. All her tensed muscles started to relax and she slept well that night.

The next morning, Lyrical woke up in the arms of her boss, only to realize that she was the one clinging to her.  She jerked and moved back, which also woke up Melody. "Good Morning", Melody's voice was husky and she sleepy smile that she flashed at her was somehow appealing.

"W-what.. Sorry Melody. I didn't mean to.." Lyrical stuttered and blabbered some more.

"Mean to what sweetheart? You slept snoring so peacefully last night. I'm sure you must've also had a sweet dreams." Melody winked.

"As if you know what I dreamed of." Lyrical whispered to herself.

"Ah, You kept smiling all night my love." Melody smiled cheekily, "So, tell me. Was it me you were dreaming about, huh?", She playfully teased.

"No", came an instant reply. "I ..should go home and freshen up, and will come back later." She got up the couch to leave, but Melody held her hand, got up and stood face to face with Lyrical.

She kissed her cheek, like a soft peck. "You didn't yet reply to my Good Morning, so I had to wish you in a different way."  Melody let go of her hand and turned to walk out of the cabin, but then she stopped on her way and said, "And you look too cute when you are shy. I like it, so I couldn't help it."

Melody left closing the cabin door behind her, while Lyrical stood right there, with her palm on her cheek, still trying to figure out what just happened.

Lyrical left from office, before anyone could see her and went home to freshen up. When she came back, to her relief, Melody was nowhere around. She checked her schedule, there were no meeting. She called Melody to check if she would be in today.  However, she regretted as soon as she dialed the number and the call went through.

"Hey! Missed me?" It seems Melody was back to her flirty self. Lyrical groaned inside her head and palmed her face. She could literally kill Melody.. if only she could stop herself from feeling a sense of panic. As if she had done something wrong. The thought of her clinging to Melody when she woke up this morning was still fresh in her mind. Goosebumps kept following as soon as that image flashed in her head.

"You coming to office." Lyrical directly asked, instead of running around the bush.

"If you want me to? I can." Melody laughed on the other side of the phone.

Lyrical rolled her eyes and cursed under her breath. "No. It's ok. I will mail you the files. You can check it later. Take care."  Before Melody could reply, Lyrical disconnected the call and let out an exhausted sigh. 

Near about fifteen days had passed, when Melody finally came back to office. All this time she was either from home or gone missing.  Even Lyrical did not know where she was and Lyrical did not dare to disturb Gisselle. She needed rest as her due date was nearing.

That morning, as soon as Lyrical saw Melody she had this sudden realization. She had been missing Melody, even if a teeny-tiny bit, but she was. Her heart swelled and fluttered in her chest. That realization scared her shitless, so she made an excuse and left early that day.

In her panic while she was leaving in hurry, she left her wallet behind. It was only when in the evening she went out with Uncle Simon to buy some things from the convenience store, did she realize her wallet was not in her bag.  She excused herself and came to the office. Luckily, she had spare keys. But she did not need it, because the main office door was open.

She went in and grabbed a long wooden stick along with her. Madam Smart... that is Leia had kept it hidden behind somewhere at the reception, just in case of something happened they needed to use it.

Lyrical slowly and carefully went inside. She heard someone talking, which felt like it was two female voices.

"Was somebody still working?" Lyrical wondered. She was afraid it would be Mia, her parent could've kicked her out after she rejected the marriage.  Then who could be the second person? Lyrical scratched her head, thinking about it.

Lyrical, still cautiously walked inside. Her heart pounding, she was breathing heavily as she reached near the mini-cafeteria, when she heard Melody talking to Gisselle while she made herself a coffee. Melody was telling her about the proposal which almost got rejected, finally she convinced them to take the offer.

As soon as Lyrical heard Melody say that they got the deal, she lurged towards Melody and embraced her.

Melody's phone which was kept on the counter top, accidently dropped, breaking the glass screen and the call also got disconnected. The coffee cup in Melody's hand also dropped because of the sudden jolt and broke. The coffee spilled all over and on the way spoiled both of their shirts. But, Lyrical couldn't care less, she was too much excited.

It took some time for both of them to realize what just happened.

Lyrical, the moment she realized that she was hugging her boss, she moved behind and clumsily apologized. She cleaned the pantry and made two cups of coffee and entered Melody's cabin.

Melody was overwhelmed with Lyrical' reaction and was still stuck in that moment. Her mind refused to let go, even begged a little to hug Lyrical again. This time for a longer period of time.

"Sorry!!" Lyrical' voice dragged her back to the reality. "I was so happy to hear we.. I mean.. you got the deal, I couldn't control my happiness and may have overreacted a little. But, I am glad you could prevent us from missing the deal."

Melody stared at her absorbedly. She was struggling between hugging Lyrical again or just ignoring her feelings. She, of course chose the latter.

"You, know you had messed up, right? Like almost?" Melody bent her body forward on her table and stared at her. Lyrical felt oddly uncomfortable, because of the intensity that Melody was looking at her.

"I know.. What do I need to do, to make you forgive me." Lyrical averted her eyes and looked down, as if she was guilty.  However, the truth was something in Melody's intense eyes, was troubling her, she was unknowingly scared and at the same time drawn towards the eyes in front of her.

"Go out with me" came Melody's reply.