When Allen saw Lola walking away from the office, he got up and went to her.
"Miss Lola, did you..." He trailed off as Lola dragged her feet down the hallway like an undead. His brows knitted as he watched her walk past him as if she didn’t see him.
"Miss Lola?" he called, but Lola didn’t stop with her languid steps. "Are you... alright?"
Steps away from him, she finally stopped. Lola, still carrying a blank look, gazed back at him. She didn’t nod or answer. She just stared and then resumed her steps, as if she weren’t spiritually there.
"..." Allen blinked in confusion, slowly shifting his attention to the hall where she came from. The chairman’s office.
"Did he... finally kill her spirit?"
*****
In the gym, Cedrick was seated on the edge of the boxing ring while drinking a bottle of water. Standing outside the ring was Silo, checking the laboratory reports for the guy. After all, Lola had asked Cedrick to undergo a general checkup just to make sure.
Neither of them had any idea why she asked for it, but they did it anyway. Meanwhile, Haji lay flat in the middle of the ring.
"By the way, will there be action scenes for your character?" asked Haji, turning his head toward Cedrick and Silo.
Cedrick wiped his forehead with a small towel. "Yes. Since he’s a manipulator and the villain, he’s also strong."
"So, she’s going to make you do your stunts, huh?"
"It’s not the first time," Silo muttered disinterestedly without looking at them. "Cedrick used to do his own stunts. It’s why he got popular."
"Really?" Haji’s brows rose. "Didn’t know that."
Cedrick let out a shy laugh, lowering his head. "They were just simple stunts."
"You know, you should be a lot more arrogant," said Haji matter-of-factly. "I mean, how could people say all those horrible things to you when even that face doesn’t look like it could swat a fly?"
"That’s the media for you, Haji." Finally, Silo looked up at the man treating the ring like his own bed. "We live in a cruel world, but it’s extra cruel for public figures. They have to be perfect. Otherwise, they’re done."
Cedrick didn’t answer, but he nodded.
"It’s a good thing I didn’t choose such a hard life. Man. Who would have thought that..." Haji trailed off as his brows rose, catching a figure walking into the gym. "Huh?"
Deep lines appeared on Haji’s forehead, his eyes following the figure moving quietly inside. Seeing his sudden distraction, Silo and Cedrick also turned their heads.
There, they saw Lola in a slightly more luxurious short dress.
Slowly, Haji sat up while the other two also followed her figure with their gaze.
Haji: "..."
Silo: "..."
Cedrick: "???"
Lola dragged her feet in, heading toward the office of the gym. But before she got halfway there, she stopped and tilted her head to the side. She quietly rubbed her chin, deep in thought.
"Did my brain just play tricks on me?" she wondered to herself. "Or is this the sign I should start picking up the pen?"
She cocked her head to the other side. "Weird," she shrugged, then turned on her heel and walked away.
"Hey!" Just as she reached the entrance, Haji’s voice stopped her. He waited for her to look back before he uttered, "What?"
Lola arched her brow at Haji inside the ring, then at Cedrick, who was seated outside of it on the edge, and Silo standing near Cedrick. Her face scrunched up.
"What the hell are you guys doing here?" She asked in disbelief. "You guys have so much to do. Leave me alone."
She clicked her tongue and shook her head, resuming her steps out of the gym. Watching her go, Haji, Cedrick, and even Silo were rendered speechless.
"Did she snap?" Haji scoffed. "What in the world is she talking about? Shouldn’t we be the ones asking what she’s doing here?"
"Is she on autopilot?" Silo gasped. "It looks like she didn’t even know where she was."
Cedrick’s face twisted in confusion. He studied Haji and then Silo, before shifting his eyes back to the open door the woman had left through.
"She sounds... familiar," he muttered, earning a look from both Silo and Haji. Looking back at them, innocence plastered on his face as he asked, "Who is she?"
Haji: "..."
Silo: "..."
Their faces twisted a little before they asked in unison, "You hadn’t seen her without that horrible disguise before?"
*****
Lola felt like drifting the second she stepped out of Atlas’ office. The whole morning and lunch, she had been stalking someone and piecing everything together. She could say she was at the top of her game. The discoveries were unpleasant. Hence, she came to Atlas.
Who would have thought that visiting him would not only make her forget about all the things that bothered her but also wipe her memories for the rest of the day?!
Seated in the driver’s seat, Lola parked in a place she wasn’t even sure of.
Slowly, she raised her hand. Her fingertips brushed the side of her neck, almost choking as the softness of his lips and the heat of his breath lingered on her skin. Then, his voice, dark and low, kept buzzing in her head like a broken record.
"Holy shit..." she breathed out, her eyes wide. "That wasn’t a dream?"
Just as she was thinking about it, Lola froze as she caught a large figure in her peripheral vision. She turned her head carefully toward the front passenger seat. There, squeezed into it, was Baby.
She blinked and blinked, while the gigantic man stared back at her blankly.
"Have you been in here with me?" she asked, and he nodded. A part of her wanted to ask, "Why? Or since when?" but another part told her that was a dumb question.
Bitterness and shame mixed across her face as she asked through gritted teeth, "Did I just drag you with me?"
And he nodded, but then casually pointed his thumb over his shoulder. "Them, too."
"Them?" Lola flinched, whipping her head back in horror, only to find the garden contractor and several workers squeezed into the back seat.
All of them wore awkward smiles. "Hello, Young Madam."
"Hah..." A forced laugh slipped out of her as her eyes drifted lower. There, seated cross-legged on the floor of the backseat, was a tiny midget guy staring back at her blankly.
Lola’s face twisted. "And you are...?"
Everyone shrugged in unison. "You were already with him before us."
Lola’s lips parted, her mind short-circuiting.
Damn that Atlas!!!