IV. Where is she?

Steve was very curious about Lyra's appearance. It didn't take long, Lyra came out of the dressing room and walked over to Steve, whose eyes weren't blinking anymore. An ordinary girl who turns out to be very beautiful when she is slightly dressed. "You're so beautiful Lyra," Steve complimented.

"Thank you, sir," said Lyra, blushing.

Steve's eyes were still looking at Lyra up and down as if looking for something less than Lyra's appearance. "Looks like you need a pair of heels." Steve also waved at the waiter and asked him to bring some pairs of heels that matched the color of Lyra's clothes. "B-but sir, I've never worn shoes like that. Better not, what if they break when I try them on?" refused Lyra gently.

"It's okay Lyra, I'll pay for the shoes if they break when you wear them. One day you'll get used to them, the important thing now is to try them on." Then the maid came with several pairs of high heels. "Looks like those model shoes are very expensive," Lyra thought.

Steve picked up a pair of heels and asked Lyra to sit in a small chair. "Sit down...." Lyra nodded and sat down, Steve gently took off Lyra's shoes and a pair of shoes stuck perfectly to Lyra's feet. Lyra hadn't expected to try on such expensive shoes and she wasn't sure if she was standing on balance in heels. "This looks good," Lyra said, looking at the heels.

Steve smiled faintly and held out his hand to help Lyra up. Then he stood up and tried to walk a few steps. Lyra suddenly lost her balance, Steve quickly caught Lyra who almost fell. "Are you okay?" Steve asked anxiously.

"No thanks, sir," Lyra said with a smile and then tried to balance her position again. Then Lyra tried to walk again in those shoes and she succeeded. Steve was very happy to see his woman looking beautiful. While Lyra was busy with her new shoes, Steve picked up some clothes and a few more pairs of shoes. "Pack all this please," Steve said to the waiter.

"Yes sir, come with me to take care of the payment." He nodded and walked after the waiter to take care of the payment. After a few minutes had passed, Steve walked over to Lyra who was sitting. Lyra who realized also turned around and was surprised to see Steve. "This is all for you, consider this a gift from me as a token of introduction and my co-workers," said Steve smiling.

"Isn't this too much, sir? All of this is very expensive," said Lyra, still hesitant to take it all.

"It's all right Lyra. Let's go around for a bit." After a few hours at the Mall, they went home. On the way, the two of them didn't speak at all and a feeling of uneasiness mixed with awkwardness had been bothering Lyra. "Where is your home?" Steve asked trying to break the silence.

Lyra was silent for a few seconds. She was embarrassed to say that he had no place to stay. But it's the truth and lying to someone like Steve might make a bad impression later. "I-I don't have a house, sir, I live in an orphanage," Lyra answered quietly.

"I see, how did you manage to live in an orphanage and how long have you lived there?" Steve asked suddenly curious. Lyra fell silent, tears welled up in her eyes and Steve immediately pulled the car over to the side of the road. "Sorry, I didn't mean to upset you, Lyra," he said, wiping her tears. From this Steve guessed that Lyra must have had a bad childhood.

"Ah, how stupid of me to ask such a thing," thought Steve annoyed.

"It's all right sir, the story is very long and difficult to tell. I also don't want you to be saddened by my story."

"Yeah, Lyra, I know how you feel right now, don't cry anymore. Something bad isn't the end of the world for people who want to keep following the light," Steve said. They were back on their way, Lyra stopped and continued to stare out the car window. Finally, they arrived at the orphanage Lyra had mentioned earlier. "Lyra, I'm sorry," Steve said still feeling guilty.

"It's okay sir. Thanks for today. Next time I'll repay your kindness and be careful on the road," Lyra said with a smile as if nothing had happened.

Steve answered with a smile and let Lyra out of his car. Steve was driving back to his house. Along the way, Steve still imagined Lyra's sweet smile. It was to the point that he involuntarily smiled as well. "What a beautiful smile, I will erase every sadness of yours Lyra, and replace it with happiness one day."

***

Lyra still remembers yesterday's events while looking at the clothes and shoes Steve had bought yesterday that she still hadn't put on the chair. Lyra subconsciously smiled and Lisa, Lyra's adopted sister at the orphanage, happened to enter her room and saw Lyra smiling to herself in the mirror. "Big sister, why are you smiling like that?" Lisa asked.

Lyra was shocked and immediately turned to Lisa. "It's okay Lisa, I just thinking about unfinished work," said Lyra with an awkward smile.

"Is that true?" asked Lisa again who still couldn't believe Lyra's answer.

"Yeah right Lisa," answered Lyra, nodding her head.

Lisa approached her and sat beside Lyra. "Okay, I believe. Big sister wants to go to work huh?"

"Yes, Lisa. I'm going to work for a while and I can't seem to get home earlier than the day before," Lyra replied, stroking Lisa's long soft hair.

"Yeah, that's fine. Thank you so much, for working so hard for Lisa, big sister."

"You're welcome, Lisa. I go to work first."

"Be careful on the way."

Lyra hugged Lisa and hurriedly grabbed her bag and went to the office. Today Lyra left early because there was work to be done. Today she decided to take public transportation and last night she broke into his piggy bank to use the money for transportation costs. Because yesterday his legs felt very sore. When Lyra arrived at the office, Lexa called for Lyra. "Lyra come here," Lexa called, Lyra approached Lexa.

"Yes, what is up?" Lyra answered innocently.

"Try to the warehouse and get the blue folder with the white string on it and Mr. Steve is there. He told me to tell you to go over there," Lexa explained to Lyra. Without thinking, Lyra nodded and went straight to the warehouse, coincidentally yesterday she went in there to pick up some documents.

Seeing Lyra slightly away, Lexa quietly followed her from behind. Somehow this time Lyra felt a little strange with one of the employees earlier. The area around the warehouse was very quiet and the lights had not been turned on.

When Lyra entered the warehouse, she didn't see Steve in it. "So easy to fool," Lexa said from behind her.

Lyra turned around, and behind her were Lexa and some of the employees. All the employees approached her and one of their hands was carrying a rope. They quickly tied Lyra's hands and feet. While Lexa herself laughed out loud seeing Lyra being treated like that. "Have a nice day in the warehouse," said Lexa. They all went out and locked the warehouse door.

Lexa and the other employees didn't care about what would happen after this, because they had been planning this since yesterday. Steve would have thought Lyra wasn't coming in today, when in fact Lyra was locked up in the warehouse. Worse yet, the warehouse was located far from Steve's and the employee's workspaces.

Lyra herself was still wondering where she had gone wrong, that they had the heart to do this to her. Whereas yesterday she did nothing, except work. "How do I get out of here? What should I do?"

Thirty minutes had passed, and Lyra was still trying to untie the ropes that bound her hands and feet. But the strap could not be opened and only made a slight red blister on the wrist area. In the workspace, Steve was waiting for Lyra to come and he thought she was still angry about yesterday's question.

"No way if she didn't come today, today is his second day working here. Something must have happened to her down the road," thought Steve.

Steve decided to leave his workspace and walk to the employee room, just to make sure they saw Lyra or not in the company. It could be that Lyra has arrived but is busy with other work.

"Attention everyone, did anyone here this morning see Lyra?" Steve asked all his employees.

"No sir, we didn't see it," said one of the employees.

"Okay." Steve returned to his workspace and pulled out his cell phone to call Lyra. But the call status is ringing and not picking up. A very worried Steve decides to go to the orphanage where Lyra lives. At high speed, he immediately pressed the gas in his car and went to the orphanage. Arriving there, Steve rang the doorbell of the orphanage.

Then, a middle-aged woman opened the door. "Can I help you, young man?" she asked.

"Is Lyra here?" asked Steve.

"No, she's been at work since 7 this morning." Steve was silent, his face paled and the woman was confused by Steve's silence. "What is wrong?" she asked.

"So I came here to look for Lyra. Because Lyra doesn't seem to be working today."

"No way, she's a hard worker. She must be at work right now." Seeing the expression on the woman's face that looked very confident and didn't want to worry her, Steve decided to return to the company. "Okay, maybe Lyra is in the company now."

"Alright young man." Steve then smiled and walked away from the middle-aged woman. "Where is she?" Steve thought.