LYDIA

As John walked into his office, he had already sensed the tons of work that he must attend to before the end of the day, or should he say before lunch. He unbuttoned his suit jacket and sat in his chair in comfort. "You can sit over there." He said to Neo pointing to a chair in the corner of his office.

"I have to sit with you in the office too?" Neo was confused.

"Yes." John nodded. "There has been a new development, you not only going to be my driver but my right-hand man."

"Right-hand man?" Neo asked and giggled. "Like we run a drug business?"

"It's not a joke." John put on his reading glasses. "I need someone that I can trust and run to, someone that I can tell all my intentions and plans to."

"So." Neo moved closer to him. "What you are in need of now is a friend."

"Yes." John nodded again. "A friend that won't betray me, the one that won't work for my mom, the one that won't expose my secrets to the world."

"But how do you think I am worthy and the right person for you?" He asked again.

"I am not sure yet, that is why I just want to give it a trial. Hopefully, our friendship works out."

There was a sharp knock on the door. A man in his late thirties walked in without permission. "Good morning Sir, the requested lady is outside waiting for you."

"Send her in." John removed his suit jacket and hung it on the chair.

The man walked out and after about ten seconds. A lady in her mid-twenties walked in looking elegant and smart. "Good morning Sir, I am Lydia."

"Morning, your CV and interview happened to be the most appealing to me. You seem to be very self-confident and not afraid of facing challenges."

"Yes, I am indeed confident in myself and my intelligence. I promise not to let you down Sir, if you employ me."

John looked at Neo. "My friend, what do you think?"

"She is a chatty type." His reply was brief.

"Does it come with an advantage or disadvantage?" John asked again.

"It comes with both. She would always cheer you up and motivate you when you are down, but, she can spill some beans to the wrong set of people if she doesn't control when and how to talk."

Lydia scoffed with a frown on her face. "It's surprising how you can say this much about me already. It's not even up to five minutes yet, and you have tons of things to say about me. Who is the chatty one now?"

John smiled and cleared his throat to get everyone back in order before the question he asked turned into a heated argument. He liked the fact that Neo was outspoken and Lydia was not afraid to defend herself anywhere and anytime no matter what the situation might be. "Go back to the man who brought you earlier and tell him to issue an Identification card to you."

"Does that mean I am already employed?" Lydia asked the obvious question.

"It appears you aren't smart." Neo remarked.

Lydia wanted to curse him out but she bit her lips and swallowed her words. She can't afford to act stupid.

"You'd be given an agreement document to sign, please read through it clearly before signing. You can go home as soon as you get your Identification card and prepare yourself for work tomorrow." John said as if he hadn't heard what Neo said before, probably because he agreed to it.

"Thank you so much, Sir," Lydia said with a smile and looked at Neo with contempt before she walked out.

"You are definitely going to have to deal with this girl. She talks a lot, and I don't think she is the type who thinks deeply or takes things seriously." Neo shared his opinion about her.

"Come on man! It's our first time seeing her, we shouldn't be too quick to judge her."

"I'm not judging her, I'm only saying what I feel about her." He sat on the chair he was asked to sit earlier. "For how many hours do I have to sit here daily?"

"It's up to you, you are allowed to walk around the entire company when you are tired of sitting." John stared at him for a while. He liked the fact that they were already talking and bonding. "How old are you?"

"I'm thirty-four." He was trying to fix his shoe lace.

"You are ten years older than I am, I'm not sure if I'm ready for this." John chuckled.

Noe raised his head and smiled. "Don't worry about that, if you want, I can treat you like a brother."

"You have siblings?" John asked again.

"I used to have three of them, until five years ago. I lost my entire family that same day."

"Do you want a hug or a kiss or something to make you feel better?" John was being sarcastic.

"Shut up!" Neo giggled and threw the pen close to him at him. "Even if I wanted those, I wouldn't want them to come from a man like you."

"That's what I call gender discrimination, you'd accept a free hug from a woman but not from me." John laughed loudly, he hadn't laughed like that in a while.

"People would think we are gay, two grown men hugging each other." Neo shook his head. "A very bad idea."

"Who cares about what people would say? People will always talk no matter what you do. We try so hard to please them but they aren't even pleased with themselves." John sighs. "Honestly, I feel so sorry for you. I know how it feels to lose someone dear to you. I always feel sad when I remember my dad."

Neo sensed that the atmosphere was already changing. "Don't let us go into the details today. It's too early to start feeling this way."

"If I ask you to be my big brother, will you?"

"Don't tell me you took what I said earlier serious, I was just joking. You know why I can't be your brother."

"Why?" John asked again.

"Your mother doesn't like me, my presence irritates and disgusts her." Neo's face changed as he mentioned the word 'mother'.

"Can't you make her like you?" John asked and they locked eyes.