SWEET MELODY

It was late hours of the night, Lyrical was still awake and busy chatting with Aunt Marissa and Uncle Simon when her phone began ringing. She saw Melody's number flashing on her phone screen. Lyrical wondered what could be the reason that her boss was calling so late, since just an hour ago Melody had dropped Lyrical home..

"Hello!" Lyrical whispered softly on the phone and excused herself. She leisurely trudged towards her bedroom and plopped on her bed. There was no response from the other end, "Hello!" she said again. There was still no response from the other end.

"Melody?" Lyrical softly called her name. "Are you there? Say something." But the call got disconnected. Lyrical immediately pounced on the green button on her phone and called back.

The call went through, it kept ringing for a few seconds, but to Lyrical it felt like the phone has been ringing for hours.. Melody finally answered her phone only to be scolded by her assistant.

"What is wrong with you? You call me, but you don't talk." Lyrical nagged. "Now tell me.. are you alright? Have you even reached home?" she huffed.

"Yes," Melody chuckled while replying.

"What yes? Yes, I have reached home or Yes, I am alright?" she probed further to get a clear answer.

"Both," Melody replied.

"Are we playing some stupid childish game here? Why are you answering in word?" Lyrical snarled in a low voice.

"Yes. My dear Assistant. I am perfectly fine and I've already reached home. Thank you for checking in on me," Melody purred in reply.

Lyrical heaved a sigh of relief. "Good. You got me worried. Not that I care about you, OK. It's just that you looked so exhausted today.."

"Is it?" Melody interjected provoking her.

"Is it what, Melody?" Lyrical half expected Melody to say something extremely cheesy and make her cringe.

However, Melody simply thanked her again.

"Thanks for worrying about me. And, believe me, I'm fine." Melody assured her.

"But.. I had called you for a different reason. Uh..mm-" Melody replied with hesitation. "…there is one thing, I still haven't apologized for."

Lyrical frowned trying to remember what has she missed out on. She was curious as to what forced Melody to call this late only to apologize to her. It also excited her to know why the person who was trying to kill her just a few days ago, sounded so nervous and was asking for forgiveness.

"As in? I-I don't think I understand. What is it?" Lyrical queried, trying as far as possible to keep her curiosity and excitement under control. It would be rude if her boss was apologizing and Lyrical's voice sounds excited. 

There was a hesitation in her voice when she replied, "that.. mark on your neck." She paused after saying it. Lyrical understood the reason behind her hesitation but didn't know what to reply. "..I saw you had to wear a high neck top and also a scarf, just to hide it.

Frankly, I do not mind you wearing anything and there is no doubt you will look awesome in anything you wear. But, I figured that I must've left a mark on your neck in my fit of anger. I am extremely sorry for my behavior the other day."

Lyrical was genuinely surprised to see, Melody sharing this softer and caring side with others today that was initially limited only to Gisselle. Lyrical figured she needed to say something now or else the conversation will get awkward.

"Melody." Lyrical tried her best not to show the awkwardness, and kept her voice steady as she spoke sincerely. "We both know I deserved it. I did not do my work properly, and I made a huge mistake. I don't know what's the problem between you and that lawyer or how you will handle this situation. But if at all, any mishap would've happened that day, then you might have had to face the consequences and that would've been only because of my carelessness."Lyrical sincerely accepted her mistake and tried to reason with Melody that if she is wrong then so is Lyrical.

"So, I am the one who is sorry. And as for the mark? It'll be gone in a day or two. So, please don't worry so much." Lyrical, to Melody's genuine surprise was defending her and assuring her too. Lyrical went on to further add, "And let me tell you, I have a brother and we use to fight, like literally hit each other when we were kids. I'm used to a little tough fight. And, I would've punched you too, if it I wouldn't have been at fault." 

"Is it?" Melody let out a laugh, as if the weight of guilt had been lifted, "Thanks for understanding. Not that I'm justifying my action. I still think of it as a mistake and neither can I undo what I've done. But thanks anyway." Melody smiled and it was a genuine smile that showed she was relieved and satisfied that she made amends to Lyrical.

"Enough of this discussion." Lyrical stopped Melody from showing her emotional and dramatic side, she was simply not used to seeing Melody getting all emotional, at least with her. That made her feel uncomfortable - in a weirdly funny way. Suddenly her heart fluttered and stomch churned. And it was something Lyrical had experienced for the first time-- for Melody.

"By the way, Ms. Melody. Just to let you know.. Earlier today, you were wrong when you said everyone in the office hates you, they don't. In fact, they think you are too perfect. They try to do their best to perform as per your expectations. It's just you, who doesn't open up to them." Lyrical declared. "They look up to you, Melody."

Melody guffawed, "Hmm.. is it? What do you think I should do then?" 

Lyrical thought for a while. "Umm.. it's just a random thought, ok. Why don't you show this soffttterrr.." She hissed, "..side of you to everyone? If not every day, but occassionally. At first it would surprise them, but they need to know what their boss is thinking and her expectations. Believe me, it will help you gain their trust. For now, you already have their respect," Lyrical gave a genuine suggestion.

"You know my ex-boss once told me, 'being friends with people you work with, makes it easier to work together.' Before I started working for him, I used to hang out only with my brother and his friends. But, now I know how to make my own friends," Lyrical chuckled.

"Tell me something I don't know," Melody whispered and rolled her eyes as if she knew Lyrical very well. "What? Did you say something?" Lyrical felt she heard Melody say something.. but she wasn't sure.

"Then tell me, Lyrical. Do you think me getting involved in the matters related to my employees would be a good idea?" Melody questioned.

Lyrical clicked her tongue, "You know what I have noticed in this short period of time? That you.. can easily get along with people, you are not judgmental, apologize easily whenever you make mistake, and without hesitating. But you deliberately keep your distance. No, actually you chose to show your stern side all the time." she remarked and encouraged Melody to start being friendlier with her staff and she further explained.

"Trust me, now is not the time to be distant anymore. You and Gisselle have worked hard to be where you are now and because of that, you were able to give these people a place to work and earn means for living. Correct me, if I'm wrong. But that.. bloody lawyer, as you say..." She scoffed "..is behind you to shut us down and therefore you need these employees to stand by you more than ever."

There was dead silence on the other end and Lyrical for once bit her tongue. She cursed herself for rambling without thinking. Melody was her boss, at the end of the day and she should watch her tongue before speaking unrestrainably.

"Melody. You there?" Lyrical looked her phone screen. The call wasn't disconnected, but she wondered why was Melody not saying anything? It was weird of her not to react and tease Lyrical.

"Did I talk too much?" Lyrical queried embarrasingly.

"Nooo, not at all. I mean. Wow!! Ms. Assistant." Melody exclaimed. "You seem to have noticed such details about me. Are you sure you are not falling for me?" Melody chuckled and then rolled on her bed laughing loudly, while on the other side Lyrical facepalmed herself.

"Oh God, Melody. You are too much. Seriously, what was I even thinking?" Lyrical groaned in irritation. "Good Night. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Good Night, Ms. Assistant." Melody sang on the phone, before disconnecting.

The next morning Lyrical searched through her wardrobe to find something to wear that would hide the mark that was still visible on her neck. She could easily hide the mark with her long hair but did not want to take any unwanted risk of her hair betraying her and her aunt- or anyone else noticing the mark and raising questions. Even after looking thoroughly several times, she couldn't find anything that would help.

Luckily, Jennifer who had worked with her at Mr. Parker's office, called. She wanted to ask if Lyrical would be able to help her with her portable charger and her favorite red and white sneakers. Jennifer had plans to leave for an outing with her cousins and would love to have those sneakers. 

Lyrical was struck by a perfect idea, so she asked for Jennifer's favorite neon lime turtle neck top and high collar white shirt in exchange.

Jennifer was there at Lyrical' house within forty minutes after their call ended. As she was getting late, Lyrical called her boss to inform her that she would be late for the office. However, she completely forgot that from today onwards she had to accompany Melody for her various meetings. Therefore, as expected Melody offered to pick her up from her house in an hour. By the time, Melody slowed her car in front of Lyrical's house, she and Jennifer were standing outside, ready to go their own way.

Before Jennifer could leave, Lyrical introduced her to Melody. She was quite surprised that Lyrical's boss came to pick her up and instantly guessed, something was definitely not right with this 'boss' and she should at least warn Lyrical. Jennifer decided to talk to Lyrical once she is back from her vacay. She will personally come down to return the shoes and charger and will talk to Lyrical.

Melody scrutinized Jennifer too. She had an uncomfortable and angry look pasted on her face and when Lyrical entered the car, she tried to curb her anger and calmly asked. "What's up?? Did you.. like, have some other plans.. or-r something, Ms. Assistant?"

Lyrical rolled her eyes, "Nah. My friend did."

Lyrical told Melody about how why she had to ask Jennifer for help, which obviously made Melody feel a little guilty again. But Lyrical reiterated that it was not her fault, she got what she deserved and Melody should not feel guilty anymore.

Lyrical assure her that she took Jennifer's clothes in exchange for her sneakers and a charger.

"You could've asked for my help, instead of giving away your favorite sneakers. " Melody casually mentioned while driving. She did not even look at Lyrical, until suddenly Lyrical said. "How the hell did you know it's my favorite sneakers?"

Melody grinned broadly, "Isn't it obvious? You said you were working to support your studies and grew up with a brother and his friends. So, obviously, those sneakers are your favorite. They are comfortable footwear, right."

"Oh. True that I prefer wearing sneakers instead of stiletto or any other shoes, but those are my favorite once. The one that Jennifer took. Because my brother had bought it.. no actually, he had gifted those to me. " Lyrical chuckled lightly. "And here I was wondering how did you guess my favori-- anyways." 

Melody nodded her head and continued driving. "By the way, instead of going on this trip with Jennifer. I would've preferred going on a trip to meet my father. I miss him." Lyrical continued as she was lost in her thought and looking outside the window. Melody called her name thrice, but Lyrical was so lost in her thoughts that she did not hear Melody calling her name and failed to notice that they have already reached the office-- almost ten minutes ago.

While Lyrical sat there still lost in her thoughts, Melody kept staring at her in amusement. "You're cute." She whispered. And god knows why Lyrical had to come out of her dreamland, right at that moment and hear what Melody had said.. "W- what's wrong?" she looked around, panicking about the weird-funny feeling rolling in. "Why are we still here?"

Melody face palmed herself. "You seemed obsessed... with my car. O-orrr, are you in love wit-"

Lyrical literally jumped out of the car and walked right in.

Leia greeted Lyrical with her gorgeous smile "Gooood Mor—" and paused, just as she saw Melody walking behind, she was stunned.. but only for a moment. She stopped smiling for that moment, only to grin back at Melody again.

"Good Morning, Melody." Leia chirped.

"Hey! Will you stop and listen to me? I meant my car. You were in a daze for so long, I thought. Yeah.. maybe, you are. Ughhh! why the hell do I even bother clarifying?" Melody left, going back to her cabin, leaving Lyrical behind.

As soon as she reached her cabin, she picked up her phone and made a call. "Mia?" Lyrical called her desk. But Carol answered the phone and Lyrical stiffened.

"Where is Mia?" she asked while her heart was beating fast inside her chest.

"She's not in office yet," Carol confirmed. "Okay" Lyrical cut short the conversation and walked towards Melody's cabin. Her legs were a little shaky due to strong sense of nervousness taking over.

Instead of knocking, she barged in. "Mia is not in the office. What do we do?"

Melody looked at her in confusion, because Lyrical paced back and forth in her cabin, looking nervous. "So?" Melody shrugged her shoulder, puzzled why Lyrical was acting so anxious today.

"D-Do you understand what it means? M-Mia has not come to the office." She stuttered and repeated her words again.

"So?" Melody asked again. Lyrical banged her fist on her desk. "Mia has not come today..after what happened-- we said to her--" Lyrical rubbed her forehead, "..and you are saying you're not worried, is it?"

"Mia is not in office... YET." Melody stressed the 'yet'. There was a hint of scorn about the way she spoke. "But she will be here by lunch, she had texted me earlier this morning and might have sent it to you too. If only you had bothered to check. Now should I still be worried?"

Lyrical calmed down and sat on the chair opposite Melody. She finally let out a breath that she had been holding or maybe forgot to breathe altogether for a few minutes.

"Don't you have work to do, Ma'am? If you are worried about others then maybe you should be worried about your boss too." Melody paused and Lyrical gave her an apologetic look.

She knew she had overreacted, but Melody had a scowl 'don't mess with me' look on her face.

A few moments of silence passed.. between them. Both trying to gather thoughts of their own, before Melody spoke..

"Let me tell you one thing, Ms. Assistant. We need a strong plan, as well as a backup one. The people we are dealing with, are going to break our bones when they attack. I don't know if we will be able to win against them in this. But, I am preparing myself to fight back. And for that, I need your help to keep a tab on every single detail of the deals we made, contracts we drafted and transactions that took place especially the last six months to a year as well as for the upcoming months. Understood?"

Lyrical nodded and got up from the seat to leave the cabin. "Sorry Melody. But, can I ask who are they? This lawyer.. for some reason his name sounds very familiar."

"For now." Melody let out an exhausted sigh. "Can you go and start studying all those reports? I hope by next Monday you'll make a little progress and get me something.. anything concrete on my table. I'm sure they must have installed a bug.. So anything suspicious.. bring it to my notice?"

Lyrical nodded. She knew Melody has been avoiding answering her questions and Lyrical did not probe further. She left the cabin, closing the door behind.

The entire day Lyrical tried to talk to Melody, but whenever Lyrical went into her cabin, she came back empty-handed. Either Melody asked her to leave or she was constantly busy making calls. Melody even skipped her lunch and after all the staff in the office had left in the evening, for the last time she went to check on Melody and found her boss sleeping on the couch.

She entered the cabin anyway. As soon as she went near her, Lyrical found Melody having the nightmare again and sweating profusely. Even though the room was cold enough, Melody looked in a bad shape. Lyrical took a deep breath and touched Melody's forehead. Once again, as soon as her hand touched Melody's forehead, she opened her eyes and sprang out of the couch. Melody looked exhausted and her skin was slighly pale, as of blood has been drained out of her.

"Oh! What time is it? W-why didn't you leave yet?" she asked Lyrical. "Sorry, but I have a few things that I need to sort, so I can't drop you home today." Melody went to the washroom to freshen up and when she came back, Lyrical was still standing there. "Why haven't you left?" Melody enquired.

Lyrical took out a pizza box and kept it on the table, "Hungry much? Shall we eat something, before we start working?"

Melody smiled, "Hungry – of course, yes. I am famished. But, that doesn't mean you are staying back." With a stern voice, Melody advised, "Let's eat before you leave."

Melody picked up a piece and just as she was about to put it in her mouth, she saw Lyrical's face and started laughing loudly. "Are you pouting at me?" she teased and laughed again. "Y-you are – cute."

"What? Nonsense. Who's pouting and why would I? Get your eyes checked," Lyrical countered. Melody did not argue further and stopped laughing.

They ate the pizza in silence. Lyrical was the one to speak first and break the silence. "Mia had gone to see a doctor for her check-up, that's why she was late and she also rejected the marriage proposal. It seems she gave them no excuse, instead bluntly confessed the truth"

"Hmm.." was the only reply Lyrical received. "It's.. I-I uh. "Lyrical stuttered and Melody gave her a curious look. "What do you want to know, Ms. Assistant?" Melody narrowed her eyes questioningly.

Lyrical debated whether she should ask the question that she had on her mind. "Is something bothering you?" Before Lyrical could even complete the sentence, Melody waved it off, "As if you don't know.. Next question, please."

Lyrical gave her a fierce glare, making it clear that she was not liking that Melody was ignoring her and moreover avoiding the question. She was worried about Melody, that's all.

"Do you not trust me at all? Why don't you want to share anything?" she asked, but the very next moment she regretted it. "Forget it. Don't answer that."

She whispered to herself, "I know you don't trust me. Not enough to tell me your secrets. I can never be Gisselle." Even though her voice was really low almost inaudible, Melody still heard her. "I already told you, that I trust you. And you don't have to be anyone else. It's-- I- I'm.. am not used to it--talking.. sharing," Melody answered her question honestly and in a direct way.

"Fine. Can I ask you something else, let me see if you can answer that or not." Lyrical's voice still sounded upset.

It's not that she didn't respect the boundaries, but Lyrical wanted to be able to help her boss and for that, she needed to know what exactly was going on. After all, that is what she was hired for. But, Lyrical knew she isn't going to get an answer from her boss, so she stopped trying.

"Shoot," Melody thought Lyrical is going to pester her with another of her inquiry, questions that she won't be able to give answers for.

"Tell me why is there no male working in your office? Why just female employees." She looked at her boss with one of her eyebrows arched.

Melody was obviously taken aback by that question. She surveyed Lyrical's face to see if she could find clue that hinted that Lyrical was just joking. But no.. she wasn't. It was a funny question she came up with, then she remembered. Lyrical was not accepting of people like her and Joey. And given the situation, she must've assumed it was done deliberately.

"So… you wanted to work under a male boss or with male colleagues? Aww.. poor you." Melody replied with a tease to dodge the question. Lyrical did not respond but kept staring at Melody fixedly.

"Ohkay.." Melody sighed. "..if you really want to know. I don't mind working with anyone, seriously don't care about gender or sexuality or anything that does not affect my business. Now, no matter what you say Joey is also a male and I work with him, isn't it? The problem is, do they.. want to work together with or work under a female boss?" Melody folded her arms around her chest, sat back with a lopsided smile to see Lyrical's reaction.

"Ridiculous Point" Lyrical whispered to herself. "Usually people don't care about the gender, they just need a leader as their boss."

Melody further added, "To be honest, Gisselle hired these people and I trusted her decision. I don't give an eff.. about gender. These women have been working with me for all these years and I've never had to worry about myself to work with them. Now, it can be that Gisselle managed them well, but I still think it's because they all are good at their work. So… as long they are at peace and work is been done..on time. I won't complain."

Lyrical raised her hand in defeat. "Remind me never to argue with you. You are on point. But.. I would still say, you should tell me what is going on. Only then I will be able to help you."

Melody gave a tight-lipped smile, but kept quiet.

Once they were done eating pizza, Melody got up from her seat "Let's go. I'll drop you home."

Lyrical protested, "Oh No.. No. I'll.." and later sighed with "Ok"

Melody was staring at her with a look that made it very clear, she won't take no for an answer.

The next few days passed by and Lyrical got used to Melody and her little antics. She either stopped caring and totally ignored or played along.

Lyrical accompanied her boss for every meet and almost every evening Melody dropped her near her home. Melody even came to pick her up, when Lyrical was about to be late..or simply acting a lazybone. They called up Gisselle from time to time and she was happy to know that Melody and Lyrical were getting along just fine.

Mia was happy she had the courage not only to reject the marriage proposal but also disclose the truth in front of her colleagues. They were her friends too, it felt so wrong on her part to hide it from them. But, she did not receive the response she had expected from her friends. Carol was disappointed and stopped talking to her, Jenny, Lyrical, and also Gisselle, were very happy and supportive of her decision.

Melody gave her a thumbs up for being so brave. However, Leia did not utter a word and simply started to ignore her, but when Mia confronted she snapped. "You should leave me alone. I did not know you were such a loser. Useless piece of shit."

Mia was already very heartbroken because Carol and Leia were also her friends and they were so upset with her. As if that was not enough, even the infamous trio who hated or maybe just disliked Lyrical also started behaving rudely with Mia and called her names.

Mrs. Elizabeth and Mrs. Ann who was almost the age of Gisselle did not like that Mia got pregnant without getting married. But still supported her for not getting married just for the sake of finding a father for the baby. They firmly believed, in order to get married, you should at least like the person and be ready to fall in love with them.

Lyrical called Carol and Mia in her cabin and requested them to talk it out. They were friends and should be supportive of each other, instead of avoiding the topic or ignoring each other. Lyrical went to Melody's cabin and they were working on something when Melody heard Mia crying and she felt awfully sorry for her.

But, when she came out of her cabin, what she saw was what she had least expected of anyone she had worked with for so long. Stuck on Mia's desk was a note on which "Whore" was written in caps and bold letters.

Melody roared in anger and spat fire. "I'll give you two fucking days. Confess. Whoever wrote this shit, must confess or if I find and drag you out. Don't be surprised if you are asked to leave immediately-- without pay. I don't and will not tolerate such an attitude. No Question Asked." she bellowed. "I hope I made myself clear."

Melody had a manlier figure and just about the way she looked standing there raging in anger right now, would terrify anyone, Lyrical thought to herself.

Carol was surely upset, but she won't do this, Lyrical believed. But neither would Leia. Then who would be so upset to call her names, Lyrical kept wondering. Lyrical' mind was stuck on this incident and she pondered long after Melody dropped her home. She couldn't help but call Gisselle to ask her opinion on this matter, to which she gave a crystal clear answer. "Laila, Jess, and Diana."

'The Trio'