07

"My name is Gem Lenz and I will be orienting you about your internship in this company."

I hear murmurs starting from the crowd. Some are curious as to why someone like me is doing this, some smile and say something nice, some grimaces like this is some kind of a joke.

It makes me smirk. And, of course, I've dealt with situations like this, so I made it mandatory for me to include this: "I'll start by saying that if you have any complaints about me," I pause. "Well, I guess you don't have a choice since I'll be supervising you as well."

I hear murmurs once again, getting louder this time. They were in total chaos. Well, not really CHAOS chaos. It just seemed very peculiar, uncomfortable, to receive orders from someone younger. To be told by someone younger.

And one by one, they start to raise their hands, wanting their chains of questions to be answered.

"Seems like I have a very enthusiastic crowd today," I say sarcastically. Smirking, I point at someone. "You with a red ribbon."

She stands up, eyebrow raised, and one hand on her waist. "So, you're saying that you, a child, will be the one to supervise us and give us this orientation?" she asks, tone of her voice totally mean and degrading.

I raise my brow as well. "Yes. Is there any problem with that, Ms. Red ribbon?"

I hear some chuckling and some suppressing their laughter at the nickname I have given one of them.

She rolls her eyes and instantly sits down.

"And no. No, I'm not just a /child/. We don't really have that much of an age difference, don't make it a big deal."

"You, checkered boy." I start to take questions again.

"How will we know if you really are capable of supervising us?"

"You can ask more than half of the company's employees if you want to know."

I clap my hands once. "Okay, let's stop here. I don't want to waste time."

I furrow my brows when I see one hand not wanting to be put down. Sighing, I raise my hand, a signal that they can speak up.

"Will you be accompanying us the whole time of our internship?"

I squint my eyes, having a hard time to have a clear view of the man who raised his hand. /The light's blocking his face./ After a short while, when the light has decided to not give me a hard time, I smile.

"So it's you," I whisper under my breath, smile getting wider.

I clear my throat and pull a straight face, well I try to. "I'm sorry to disappoint you, Mr…" I raise my brow to ask his name, though I know well what it is.

"Theo. Villa." He, too, raises his eyebrow with a smug look on his face.

"Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you, Mr. Villa, but I will not be with you the whole time as I will be supervising multiple departments. But I am sure that we'll be seeing each other a lot."

He chuckles in the softest and quietest way. "That works for me." He shrugs and sits back down.

Since he was the last one I entertained, we then proceeded to the main part. The orientation. And as much as I despise talking for so long, it's a job I have to do, and I deliver. I /have/ to deliver.

"And here, as you can see, will be where we will be meeting every week for your weekly reports," I say as I am inside the conference room. All eyes were on me, some were taking notes, some were just listening, and some were just… not caring. Not that I minded, though.

"That's all. You may take your lunch at the cafeteria. Have a great day." I turn my back as soon as I lift my head from giving them a slight bow.

I hear them dispersing, getting louder by the second, getting father to me as well. I almost pinch to stop myself from looking back to look at him, and thankfully I didn't have to.

It felt like all my courage gathered just to not do that one thing. I don't know why I want to see his face when I was the one who said there won't be a next time.

And now that he's here, I'm losing my mind. Okay, Gem, focus. You've got no time for that.

I shake my head and grin because of how foolish my thoughts are. Once I regained myself, I walk chin up and in long strides to arrive faster at my mother's office.

"Geleen, please give me the documents," I ask her as soon as I arrive in front of her desk.

She seemed startled. Her eyes wide, crumbs of chips on the side of her lips, hands full of powder residue. When she finally absorbs everything, she springs up, wipes her face and hands.

"I'm sorry! I was really hungry!" she awkwardly laughs.

"It's okay. The documents?"

It felt like I was rushing, but trust me, I wasn't. I just wanted to see their profiles and to which department they will be in.

"Right!" she was really out of place, all right. She usually isn't like this. I guess there's something wrong with her being like this.

"Take your time." I give her a toothy smile and an awkward one at that.

"Here—" she trips slightly which makes me instantly hold out my arm to catch her. "Here it is!" Thankfully, she doesn't trip. She even laughs at herself, says she's so clumsy.

"Be careful, Geleen, okay?" I worriedly try to remind her. She needs to be careful of herself and care about her well-being.

She laughs, weirdly loud, and shakes it off. "I'm alright, really. I'm careful!"

I shake my head. Something is definitely wrong with her. I just wave my hand, walking away from her table and to the office across from her.

It makes me wonder if anything is wrong at her home? She isn't really open about her personal life which makes it harder. We just know who her parents are, siblings, where they live. But no one knows about her own family, if she even has or had one.

But it really isn't the time for me to be worrying about things like that. I don't have the time for now, but when I do, I'll make sure to check on her.

•

Past lunch came and I was still inside the office, drowned in the paperworks my mother had left me to do. I was also still looking at their profiles and which department they will be in.

It's interesting how the most unexpected people applied for the most unexpected departments. Well, except for one. I knew that Theo would be in the sales department. He's good with people, something which I am no good at.

"Just a few more and I'll be out." I lean back at the swivel chair, resting my neck and back for a bit as they have been aching from looking down.

I close my eyes, too. Not really wanting to fall asleep, I try to wake myself up but it's just pulling me in. Until someone knocks on the door, I hastily sit up straight.

"Yes, come in."

Slowly, the door opens, head of someone peeking in. Finally, I see Daniel with the usual smile he wears. I smile as well.

"Daniel." I grin at him and ask him to come inside. "Why are you here?"

"Oh— do you not want me here? I can go," he jokingly says, pointing at the door.

I laugh at him. "I was just asking. But you can go if you want to," I concur with his joke and shrug.

He finally closes the door permanently slowly. "Lunch?" A bag was brought out behind his back.

"You haven't had lunch yet?" I ask, curiously, but bringing back my attention to the pile of papers and doing my job once again.

He shakes his head. "Was too busy to. You?"

I shake my head mindlessly. I was also so busy that it slipped my mind. Besides, I'm used to it.

I hear him sigh, though. Just a short one. He does this when I neglect myself because of work. I can't help it that I'm used to letting my hunger pass.

I look at him, chuckling because I find his whole father figure to me very adorable.

"Alright, I'll eat. Later, though. I'll just order some food." But it didn't seem to change his expression. Still stern and concerned. "What is it?" I drop my ballpen, complete attention on him now.

He shrugs, opens the bag so noisily and almost on purpose, like wanting me to hear it. Though I was already looking at his every move.

Once the dishes were out, it made me salivate. All home cooked , I'm guessing with love, as well.

My eyes widened, mouth already watering, heart pounding. It must be because I was so hungry or it was a long time since someone coomed for me, but I wasrather excited.

"And she says she isn't hungry." He laughs at me, seeing how I am reacting.

I just roll my eyes. "I'm not!"

He shrugs and raises his brows. I still feel his mocking smile. "Yeah, sure."

It was nice. Eating lunch with someone, talking to them. It was new for me, having someone to accompany you while eating, the food felt much tastier when it was eaten by myself.

I was laughing more, thinking about how stressed I am less, not minding my parents more. It was like magic to me. And I don't know but I'm sure that Daniel is one of the reasons, and maybe I am getting older, getting tired of shit that has been happening.

After the late lunch with Dan, he left to attend to his tasks and I resumed mine. He even told me to wait for him and of course I said yes.

I was stretching, finally done doing my work for today, when someone knocked on my door. I tilt my head to the side to crack it— and the other side as well.

"Yeah? Who is it?" I say, my eyes closed, head rotating.

I hear the door open and someone clearing their throat. Ir was familiar but was very unfamiliar at the same time. I don't know how to explain it.

To my surprise when I opened my eyes, I was greeted by a tall man, wavy hair, a perfect nose line, and his walnut eyes.

I cannot seem to form words now that he's finally here again, in front of me, looking so gorgeous. Yes, I admit that he's a piece of art.

My hand's still on my head, mouth slightly open. "Theo…" I say under my breath. I was still trying to process that he's here. I thought he went home after the orientation.

"Hey, Hazel," he says, softly, almost trying to woo me and it does make my heart jump a bit.

Okay, I think I've had too much caffeine today. I'm palpitating. I sit up straight when I finally got a hold of myself.

I clear my throat, still ignoring the increasing heart beat of mine. "Mr. Villa, Good afternoon. What brings you here at this time?"

It's way past lunch, the sun's even setting so I don't know why he really is here? Does he have questions?

He shakes his head gently, smile creeping up his face. "It's Theo for you, Hazel." He walks closer to my table. And with every step he makes, my heartbeat increases. I can feel it, but maybe it's really just the coffee.

"Alright, Theo," I emphasize his name. "What brings you here?"

He just shrugs, his smile now turning into a mischievous one, something I can't explain. I was supposed to say sweet but maybe my eyes are playing tricks with me.

"Hmm… I guess I want to talk to the one who will be supervising us." It was way too flirty for my liking. Not that I'm saying that he's flirting with me.

I chuckle. "Huh… what do you want with me then?"

He shakes his head. "Wanna grab ice cream?"

I smile, looking at his eyes now. I didn't know where the courage came from but I was looking straight at him. "Sure. Coffee sounds great."

He laughs at my unexpected answer. Actually, both of us laugh because of our incomprehensible conversation.

•

"You know, I was surprised to see you there. Looking all student like, uniform on, but your hair still the same." I raise my hand to touch his hair that was falling on top of his eyes. "I'm surprised that you can still see with this hair of yours."

He chuckles, looking at my fingers touching his ever soft hair, color the same as his eyes. "I like it this way. Adds points to my handsomeness, you know."

I roll my eyes when I see him raise his brow at me, totally looking smug. "Yeah, sure." The smell of the coffee surrounding the café made me smile without noticing.

It made me remember my coffee which was practically staring at me, the steam greeting my face as I look at it.

"You…" there's a pause. "You look different up there, you know," he says, eyes not at me but on his coffee. His fingers around his cup and fiddling one another.

I laugh softly. "Yeah. I get that a lot."

And then there's silence. The only noise we could hear was the sound of other people's conversation, the background music at the café, and (probably) our own heartbeats.

"How have you been?" I decided to break the silence.

He finally looks up at me. "Fine. I've been fine." He pauses. "How about you?"

I nod for a couple of times. "Okay. Doing okay." I give him a smile, maybe a not so reassuring one but I still do.

He hums. "This is awkward. I'm sorry." He removes his hand on his cup and puts it on his nape.

I shrug him off, hand in front shaking to tell him it's okay. "It really is. But it's okay, don't worry. I don't know what's wrong with me either."

"I suddenly didn't have anything to say when I waited for you to finish your work just to talk. Now that I'm here I can't seem to say anything." He laughs awkwardly.

Now it was me who hums. "Me too. It's okay, though! It's just weird to see you not be talkative."

His eyes widen. "It's not all the time that I'm like that!"

I laugh, eyes barely seen. "Yeah, yeah. Sure."

"Really, stop laughing. I can be decent sometimes," he continues to defend himself which makes me laugh even more.

"Yes. I said yes, Theo." I wipe the tears (happy ones) that are on the side of my eyes.

When I finally calmed down from laughing, I look at him. He was shooting dagger eyes at me, arms crossed.

"What?" I ask him, still smiling.

He springs his head to his left, avoiding my gaze. I guess he's sulking.

"Alright, fine." The chair that was a little far from the table was now moved closer to get a better look of the guy sulking in front of me also because it was kind of uncomfortable. "You're not always talkative, okay? I agree with you now, look at me and stop sulking."

He suddenly looks at me, eyes now normal, but arms still crossed and now a pout was formed. It was absolutely adorable. To see a gigantic guy be all pouty in front of you.

I couldn't resist the urge to pinch his cheek once and somehow that manages to make his pout be replaced by a small smile.

"If you really agree with me, go o—"

He was cut off by a ding that came from my phone.

"Sorry. Let me just look at this." I pick up my phone that was placed front down on the table.

When I opened it, a notification from my email was what I saw. It's almost every day that I get emails and it was mandatory for me to check it. And so, I do.

I almost couldn't believe my eyes when I saw what the email was about. It made my eyes widen, heart almost trying to get out of my chest.

"Oh my god," I say, whispering to myself, hand covering my mouth from too much shock.