1 ONE

Mornings in Clebridge City have always been peaceful, especially in the springtime. The cloudless blue sky brightens up at the start of the day and the people below are already up and running to face it. 

Unfortunately, one woman was not waking up inside her room. She was wrapped in a thick blanket, her mouth hanging wide open in an unladylike manner. You can see her face protruding at the other end of the rolled blanket and she was snoring away with no care in the world.

The thick curtains in the room were shut closed permitting no light to get through. But you can see her dark brown hair sprawled messily over the white pillows, her navy-blue nightgown hitched up to her waist exposing her white laced panties underneath. 

Suddenly stirring in her sleep, the woman unconsciously kicked her blanket to the floor. Then muttered words with a displeased scowl on her face. 

The alarm clock beside her bed went off.

RIIIIINNNNG!

And at the blaring sound of the alarm, her reddish brown eyes flashed open. 

She blinked. Blinked again. Then she rubbed her eyes as her dishevelled appearance slowly sat up on the bed. 

She was up. But she was not entirely awake yet. She looked like she was still patching up her blurry vision with her surroundings.

Seemingly more awake than before, she turned towards the windows and scowled. The lights were off but her eyes can see through the darkness. The chirping outside her window told her that it was already morning and she groaned at the thought. 

Lara Louis hated mornings. 

Unfortunately, she's forced to live with the unpleasantness of mornings, because humans love it. And she's pretending to be one so she had to adjust.

Stretching her aching neck, Lara ignored the blaring clock for one more minute. 

A human would have jumped out of bed and started preparing for their day, to them, every minute was precious. But Lara was non of those things. She was... different. And beloved her father had always reminded her of that. No one was like her in this world, and maybe there never will be. 

Lara stared blankly into space as the memory of her father's words played inside her head like a broken record. 

She sighed. The loud honking of the cars outside reached her ears. It meant another hectic day has begun.

She looked at the mini calendar standing on top of the mini table beside her bed. It said there that it was Monday. 

Monday, huh...

Was there something important that she had to do on Monday? 

Lara's newly awakened mind started working. 

Did she forget something important today? 

With the loud ringing of the alarm still buzzing in her ear, Lara glared at the alarm clock and willed to silence the damn thing with her telekinesis. But nonstop ringing was making her head spin and she couldn't concentrate.

"Dammit." She grumbled and sighed. If only her abilities were a bit powerful she could silence the damn thing without looking at it.

The ringing continued and Lara groaned. Unfortunately, for her, Lara was not used to waking up in the morning. Waking up at night was what she was accustomed to, and now she was to wake up early because she set her alarm to...

Wait... Why did she set the alarm so early anyway? Is there perhaps a special occasion? A visitor from Velhellah?

Lara thought really hard amidst the mind-numbing noise of the alarm. She just couldn't bother with it. 

What was it really? What's so special today that she had to wake up?

Suddenly, she remembered one thing.

"No, no, no." With panic rising up inside her system like a wildfire, Lara crawled to the other side of the bed and grabbed the alarm clock with both hands.

7:46 am

"Shit!" Lara cursed.

She jumped out of the bed putting the bedsheets and her pillows into a mess on the floor as she went straight to the window and opened the curtains to look outside.

She cursed again. "Oh, Gods..." Seeing how bright it was outside, Lara realized she was about to get screwed.

She bolted to the bathroom in a flash while also giving herself a couple of hard smacks in the head and she cursed again and again.

Stupid her! She totally forgot about her first day at work. 

Why did she decide to do a Netflix marathon last night? Now, she's going to be late!

The orientation will start at 8:30 am sharp, and she couldn't miss it. She just can't! She's going to lose her first job if she doesn't pull her ass there before the time.

A few minutes later...

Lara stepped out of the bathroom looking fresh and ready to face the day when she accidentally slammed her toes on the door frame.

"Ah!" She cried out. But the pain disappeared as soon as it came so she rolled her eyes at her clumsiness and resumed her way to the kitchen to grab herself something to eat.

With a towel on her head and a bathrobe covering her wet skin, Lara bent a bit to get herself a ready-made sandwich and a glass of pineapple juice from the fridge. She kicked the door with her feet and went to the living room to watch some daily updates on the morning news.

She placed her glass on the centre table and picked up the remote to switch the tv on. She always had this habit of listening to the morning news which was a trait she inherited from her mother, or so her father said. She doesn't really remember her mother, but her father doesn't stop talking about her every day.

Licking her fingers, Lara continued to listen to the news as she made a beeline to her room. 

She went to her walk-in closet to pick up the brand-new office suit her father gifted her last week.

In there she also proceeded to dry her hair before dressing up.

When Lara came out, she was already fully dressed and the morning news was still going on so she went to watch it a little bit.

Lara looked different to her dishevelled appearance moments ago. Now she's wearing a white collared blouse that matched her pale complexion. Followed by a nude-coloured pencil skirt that accentuated her hips, then a pair of black stockings underneath her skirt making her look innocent and seductive at the same time.

With her eyes glued to the screen, Lara drank the remains of the pineapple juice she left on the center table. 

Her waist-length hair was all dried up now so she went back to her room and applied some powder to her face. After that, she dabbed some blush on her cheeks so that she wouldn't look pale to everyone like she usually does. 

Lara also didn't forget to put on colour on her lips before combing her hair and tying it up in a loose ponytail.

She smiled at her reflection. "Good." She puckered her lips in front of the mirror. Only one thing is missing. 

Lara opened the drawers to look for the final piece that will complete her look.

"There you are." Lara smiled and pulled out a pair of black-rimmed glasses.

In the movies, specs make people look intelligent and inconspicuous. It also adds an image of intelligence and professionalism. She always wanted to try wearing one for work even though her sight was ten times better than normal humans but anyway... As a big fan of movies, Lara believed that her look will not be complete without them.

Lara looked at the mirror again and smiled. "Perfect!" 

Now, she looked professional.

Lara turned the tv off and headed for the door when she felt something was missing. She snapped her fingers. "Right, my bag." She almost forgot about that. She looks around for her shoulder bag and found it lying on the couch. 

Afterwards, she went to the shoe rack and stepped into a new pair of black pumps that was 4 inches tall.

After scanning her apartment for anything she might have forgotten, Lara nodded and opened the door. She grab the car keys from the key cabinet behind the door and left. 

Lara twirled the keys in her hand as she went her way to the elevator. The key fob felt smooth and luxurious in her hand. Initially, she didn't plan to use it on her first day, but unfortunately, she was running out of time. The key fob was for a brand new silver BMW that was gifted to her by her father. It was simple looking, but on the inside was anything but simple. 

Lara brushed her worries away. Today was an emergency. She didn't want to be late and desperate times call for desperate measures. She can use the subway next time, especially when she's not in a rush.

Before reaching the elevator, Lara was suddenly greeted by her ever-so-smiling neighbour, Betty, who gave her a bit of a shock since she didn't feel her presence before she even announced herself.

"Lara, hi!"

Lara smiled. Betty Claimond was a short, 5-feet woman with a delicate face that matched her petite appearance. She looked sweet and nice with a ready-made smile on her face. But sometimes it looked suspicious and scary that Lara avoids her when she can.

"Good morning!"

"Good morning to you too, Betty." She said, a bit awkwardly since she felt her neighbour's dog growling at her. It felt uncomfortable standing there being stared at by her neighbour and her hostile companion.

"Uhm... Walking your dog, I see?"

Betty nodded, "Yeah. The vet told me to walk him every day. Health reasons..." She shrugged, like her bulldog wasn't fat enough for her, yet.

"Oh, I see." Lara grimaced. "I hope he gets better then." She bit her lip awkwardly eyeing the elevator. "Anyway, I'm late for work. Let's talk again later?"

"Sure, sure. See you around, neighbour!" 

Lara started towards the elevator. When she got inside, she immediately pressed the underground parking lot to fetch her car. 

She left the apartment building 20 minutes before she became late, good thing the traffic wasn't long and she arrived at the company building just in time for the orientation.

"Safe!" 

Lara did a little celebratory dance in the middle of the company lobby and the employees looked at her weirdly. Good thing no one reprimanded her or else she'd be more embarrassed.

Lara calmed herself down and took a deep meditating breath.

"Okay, let's do this..."

Lara looked around for the function hall and grinned when she saw a signpost saying, ORIENTATION THIS WAY, from where she was standing.

Making a silent squeal inside her head, Lara entered the auditorium while hiding her excitement as she filled up her attendance and claimed her temporary ID from the company employees handling the orientation.

Now, Lara's sitting at the far side of the room waiting for the program to finally start.

Lara bit her lip in excitement. She was so excited she could burst. She still couldn't believe she was there. 

When the room was filled with newbies, the program started and she listened attentively to the opening-slash-welcome remarks of the company Vice-President, Mr. JR Morgens.

He was a kind-looking middle-aged man with grey streaks of hair at the side of his head. He spoke softly with a comforting smile on his face until he ended his remarks with a quote he read in a book.

Afterwards, the master of the ceremony took over and the program moved forward with the introduction of the department heads. 

Each one of them was introduced in a single PowerPoint presentation and all of the company executives were shown to them including the company's CEO, who was mysteriously absent that morning. 

And because her hearing was very good, Lara heard whispers that he was originally the one who was supposed to make the welcome remarks. Unfortunately, it changed at the last minute due to urgent reasons, making the VP do it in his stead. 

All went well and the orientation came to a close. Lara was assigned to the finance department, and she became busy making coffee and doing small jobs like photocopying documents for the other employees who were busy typing in their respective cubicles.

Without noticing the time, it was already lunch and Lara was invited to eat with her newfound friends, Rachel and Chance. 

She met them during the orientation program and they instantly became friends after exchanging names with each other. Now, they're eating their first lunch in the company cafeteria.

"Let's go, ladies! I'm curious what kind of food they're serving us downstairs." Chance said, clapping his hands in excitement. 

He looked famished. Apparently, first-day at work made him hungry. 

Chance was a tall guy, almost six feet in height. He had vibrant dark eyes and a curtain of short curly hair that framed his gorgeous features. Just looking at his colourful power suit and eye-catching makeup, it was clear that Chance was gay. He admitted it himself before Lara could ask him during the orientation. 

In short, he's cool.

Rachel, on the other hand, who's walking beside Lara was the very definition of a 'blonde beauty'. 

All of the male workers couldn't help but stare at her face because she's that eyes catching. 

With steely blue eyes and honey blond hair, Rachel was obviously a looker. And besides her beauty, she was fun to hang out with. She was also very optimistic and her sense of style was worth noticing.

The trio arrived at the cafeteria and already a lot of people were standing in line waiting for their turn to order their food. Others were already starting to eat, so the three went straight to the queuing line.

"What will you get?" Chance asked Lara while looking at the menu board from the serving station deciding what to order. "Because I think I'll get myself a vegetable salad. You?" He asked.

Lara stood behind him, still undecided. She stared at the menu for some time, weighing her choices. 

"I think I'll try their beef steak. It's my personal favourite."

Chance nodded in appreciation at her food choice. "Hmm. I like steak too, maybe I'll get some."

Lara smiled. She loves all meat dishes. And by love, it's like her ultimate favourite. Especially, steak. Even when she was little, it was one thing she shared in common with her mother. They both love steak and she used to eat it together with her dad when they're having their family dinner, just the two of them.

Turning around, Chance studied Lara's physique. "Do you work out? Because you look pretty fit to me."

Lara looked at herself. "Oh, yeah. I do work out sometimes, just five times a week."

"Wow, really?" Chance's eyes widened, "You are so much better than me... honestly speaking, I work out but not as much as you do. I get lazy sometimes you know." He said flippantly, scoffing at himself. "Tell me, what's your routine?"

Lara smiled, shyly. "It's nothing special, really..." 

"Oh, c'mon." Chance gave her a 'really' look. "Just tell me what it is."

Lara eventually sighed. "Just yoga."

"Just yoga?"

"Yep. Just yoga."

Chance nodded. "Well, good for you. I have terrible balance so I can't do yoga." He pouted. "I'm jealous.." 

Chance continued to talk until they got their turn in the queue. After ordering their food, the three went on to find an empty table by the window. Chance immediately found one at the far side of the cafeteria. 

"Follow me, ladies!"

Chance cheerfully walked ahead, looking like he was guiding some kids to the museum. It was cute.