Newbie (3)

"Are you fine now?"

Nida's officemate asked her with concern.

"I am fine now, thank you." Nida awkwardly smiles at her.

Yesterday was a life and death situation for Nida, but for her office-mates, it was only a day that Nida collapsed because of low blood pressure and skipping her meal.

That was the story Randell made up for everyone to believe, including herself.

Nida's ex-boyfriend, Randell, and the President acted so naturally, as if the two of them had never met Nida. While Nida was still shivering in fear internally. She managed to look calm despite her anxiety that she might be caught with her memories still intact.

"Are you sure you don't need a day off?" Their HR assistant asked Nida, pushing her chair to face them.

"Thank you, but I am fine. I don't want to skip a day, especially since I am still new." Nida responds, then resumes her work.

In reality, Nida badly wants to have some time off, but she is scared that the wolf will be suspicious of her absence.

She looked at the pile of papers she needed to sort through.

"I'll just make myself busy!" she said, while she clenched both of her fists.

Fortunately, the remaining days of her first week as a logistic assistant passed peacefully.

.....

HUWAAAAAAAAAAH…

Nida made a long weird noise as she lay down on the pile of random things in her bedroom.

It is Sunday, and she seems to be enjoying her morning sip of beer.

At her job, Sunday is their only day off, so she is supposed to enjoy her time alone, but someone is watching her spend her rest day.

Nida immediately notices someone is watching her because she is familiar with the scent of a wolf.

That scent that makes her shiver in fear is something she can not forget.

"Doesn't having a wolf in my ceiling seem excessive?" she pondered inwardly.

Nida thought to herself while still acting careless, even though she knew the existence of a wolf watch.

She wants to convince herself that she is just being paranoid, but the familiar scent is something she cannot ignore.

She isn't the type to drink beer in the morning, but she needs the power of alcohol to calm her nerves.

"Are they making sure that I don't remember what happened?"

She rolled around on her messy floor and took another sip of beer.

"Ugh! I don't want to go out!"

She frowned as she thought of going out, but staying in her room with a werewolf watching her like a pervert was worse.

Without thinking much about her appearance, she brushed up her hair and wore her favorite hoodie and sweat pants. Then she walked out of her apartment.

With the summer heat, her oily face secretes more oil than normal.

"Shesh! This weather is terrible! Why the hell did I even think of going out!" She loudly complains, even though the reason is pretty obvious: the werewolf.

She walked fast to reach the nearest toy store in her neighborhood.

"MY PARADISE!" she exclaimed as she slid the door open.

"Good morning, Nida; it's been a long time." The old lady owner doesn't feel strange about Nida's actions and greeted her since she is a frequent customer.

"Good morning, Tiya Lorna." (1) She briefly greeted the owner and immediately walked inside the store isle since she doesn't like chatting.

Nida walked past the toys for kids until she reached the isle for ball-jointed dolls.

"My precious, only you can calm me." She lightly caressed the dolls and, one by one, stared at them.

"I can buy you soon. I have a job now, but..." she sighed while thinking about her werewolf boss and ex-boyfriend.

Buying what she wants is the only motivation she has to work.

"It will be alright, right?" she talked to the dolls on the shelves.

She thought that maybe if this doll came to life, she wouldn't be scared and would be ecstatic about it either.

"Dolls are better than humans."

She spent her time adoring the displayed dolls in the toy store, and she slightly forgot about the werewolf monitoring her.

Thud!

She turned her head towards the other shelves after she heard a falling object hit the ground.

"Are you okay?" she asked, then walked closer to where she heard the sound.

Ah!

"Oh, sorry for disturbing you." She gasped and instantly covered her eyes with her hands after she saw a man on top of another man.

"Please don't mind me, bye." She was about to turn around when the man on top pulled her sweatpants.

"It's not what you think." The man was wearing a mask and a hood, which is why she didn't recognize him immediately.

"Randell?" she exclaimed.

"What is he doing here?" Nida looked at the man under Randell and realized it was the werewolf monitoring her.

Nida slapped Randell's hand that was holding her sweat pants, and she walked backwards.

"I am sorry for bothering you, but y-you cannot make love in a public place." Due to her nervousness, her words become nonsense.

Before Randell could make his statement, Nida ran away and left the toy store while running with her eyes shut.

Thud!

Nida fell on her butt after she bumped into someone. That someone also stumbled and fell.

"Oh, no! I am sorry! I'm sorry!" Nida stood up and pulled up the man she had bumped into, but the tall guy wearing full black casual clothes brushed off his hands with a grimace on his face, like he was truly disgusted.

Nida stepped back and apologized again.

"I am sorry. I wasn't looking at the way, I am sorry."

She watched the guy dust off himself with his handkerchief and spray sanitizer on his hand.

Nida thought to herself, "a germaphobe?"

"Next time, look where you are going!" The guy said, angrily.

He was about to walk away when he took a second glance at Nida.

"Umm. What's wrong?" Nida asked because she felt awkward around the guy who was looking at Nida intensely.

"Ms. Mildea?"

"Hmm? Do I know you?" She confusedly asked as she tried to remember who the guy might be.

"Where did I see this clean freak with black hair, black eyes, and black clothes?" Now that Nida had a closer look at him, she felt like she had seen him somewhere. "That pretty face is not something to forget, but damn, I thought I had the palest skin here. This guy's complexion is super damn white. He seems to be a vampire from a fairy tale." Nida kept wondering as she glued her eyes to the guy.

"Um, excuse me?" The guy waves his hand in front of her face. The guy had already introduced himself, but Nida was drowning in her own thoughts and had missed the guy's introduction.

"Uh! Sorry! I was spacing out. Who are you again?" She awkwardly scratched her head due to embarrassment.

"You seem to be very different when at work." The all-back-wearing guy let out a sigh and seemed a bit disappointed.

Nida looked at her current attire and laughed at what the guy said.

"Haha, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I only make an effort to look professional at work, but since I'm off, I don't need to be a hassle at making myself pretty, right?"

Nida's look is kind of out of place in the middle of the street she runs into.

She is only wearing her oversized hoodie and sweatpants with her slippers. She doesn't even wash herself before going out. That is why her face and hair might be messy and oily.

"Do I look like a beggar? Anyway, who are you again? Which department are you from?" She asked the guy's identity again, and this time she was in full ears.

The guy looked at her from head to toe before answering again. "Manager of Sales department, Daniel Olitoquit."

Nida's eyes widen as she realizes who she is talking to. She thought that Daniel was someone on the same level as her, because Daniel looked younger than she did.

"Oh my! I am sorry I didn't recognize you at all." She apologized by grabbing Daniel's hand, but she was immediately slapped.

Daniel Olitiquit is one of the respected leaders of their company. He is extremely competitive and an efficient employee who makes his department the highest performing department among other departments. The downside is that he is a germaphobe and has a fixation on black.

"Oh, no! I am sorry. I forgot you're a clean freak."

Nida doesn't love to go out of her house, but she doesn't have a problem talking to other people.

She was a depressed and isolated child when she was younger, but that was a long time ago.

"Very tactless. You really don't seem to be the woman I saw at the office." Daniel frowns as Nida speaks to him.

The Ms. Mildea he knows at work is delicate and reserved. She is also neat and appealing because of her neat coffee-colored hair and professional attire, which did not have a single crease. Her flawless pale skin seems to be without any need for heavy makeup, so she is beautiful naturally.

Daniel knows about Nida, despite being in different departments, because everyone is talking about the new beauty goddess of the company.

However, the beauty goddess was nowhere to be found, and all Daniel could see in front of him was an unattended poop.

"Oh, no! I am really sorry." Nida apologizes again.

"How many times do you have to apologize? Anyway, I'll be going now." He was about to turn around, but the walking poop held his arms again.

Daniel's face turned into a grimace, and he was about to brush off Nida's hands, but he paused after he felt that her hands were trembling.

"Please help me." She whispered.

Daniel wanted to vomit from disgust because he could see the shiny, oily face of Nida, but still he tried to focused more on what the trembling officemate was about to say.

"Actually, someone is stalking me. I left home because he was on my ceiling, but now he is following me."

"That is why you were running just a while ago?"

Nida nodded as she slightly looked at her side. She could now see Randell getting near, and the werewolf who was monitoring her was now jumping off the roof.

Daniel let out a long sigh and grabbed Nida's shoulder.

Nida flinched at the sudden action of the clean freak, but she continued to hold Daniel's arms as they walked away from Randell.

"I am sorry. Are you okay? You're a clean freak, right?" Nida whispered. She is wary that the wolf might hear their conversation.

"Tsk. I want to vomit. You better pay me b- what the fuck are you doing?" Daniel stopped walking and looked at Nida, who was sniffing his underarm.

"Haha, sorry. I was just checking if you were human." Nida stopped smelling him and looked up at him smiling, then she commented internally,  "Damn, he smells like baby"

There's one thing Nida developed after she was attacked by a werewolf; she can now tell someone if they are human or not by just smell.

After the nightmare she experienced in her teens, she discovered that not only humans are the only intelligent beings on earth. Hence, there are more intelligent beings than humans.

"You disgust me." Daniel blushed by just looking at Nida's smiling oily face.

Feeling strange, Daniel frowns as they walk toward his car.

Nida stared at the black car and asked, "Where are we going?"

"If you want to hang out with me, at least take a bath."

"But I can't come home."

"I know."

"Then where?"

"At my place."

Both of them end up having different strange feelings towards each other.

Note:

(1)Tiya - is used to call an unrelated older woman friend, especially of a child.