C39: Megan

A group of murmuring voices almost echoed the kitchen and everyone's eyes fell on me as I entered the room buzzing with gossips, and my presence caused a complete silence. Everyone froze in shock as if they saw a ghost.

"Oh, you're here. Hi, Meg," Arlene greeted, an awkward smile creeping on her face.

"Ah, yeah. I'm here. Good morning, I guess. If you don't mind me asking, what's with you people?"

"Oh, it's about the boss and –" Arlene covered Jun's mouth to stop him from speaking, which made me more intrigued than I was. Was their topic that … serious? For them to be affected like this?

Arlene let go of Jun's mouth and gathered herself, returning to her composure, standing confident and tall. What's with the formality?

"Sorry if you found us like that, it's completely inappropriate. But, we'll be honest here. You've been working here before Ms. Evangeline came, right?" she asked. I blinked, clueless about where she's going.

"Yes," I answered. "Say it directly. What's going on?"

"Therefore that means, you met the serious personality of Lance. The serious, intimidating, and poker-faced robot side of him. Look at him now, he's completely different ever since Ms. Evangeline came. You're not here the whole day so you may not have noticed, Lance is completely a different person when Ms. Evangeline is around. He's always in a good mood when she's around. They enjoy each other's company," she paused for a while and looked to nowhere as if reflecting.

"That serious Lance that we all know learned to smile, loosen up, laugh … you know, to have feelings. How to be human. Our boss is truly something because she's like a light that can shines in a dark place. In this case, she's like a light in Lance's dull life, you know that? That's how we see them. I also noticed that they have 'sparks.' I ship them." She added, her eyes twinkling as she talks, her voice filled with positive emotions as if she's too happy to the point where she's going to pour out everything inside her just to express it.

"Look at you, being too happy for other people. You seem to have forgotten your feelings for Lance. Only if you can see your face right now. When you paused, you looked like you're letting everything go since you're happy for them," Jun described, his arms crossing across his chest.

"Oh, shut up," Arlene rolled her eyes, her mouth curving into a warm smile. "If they'll get married one day, I wish I can be her bridesmaid. Anyways, one more reason why we ship them is that we noticed that they go home together, you know? Also, do you think they're dating in secret? They both have the same day off, after all."

I never thought that Arlene would talk this much. Now that I'll be with them for an entire day starting today, I can get to know them better. Arlene, Jun, Avery, Gianna, and Cedric. They seem to be interesting people, but at the same time creepy, because they're gossiping behind people's backs.

"If you can switch places with Miss Evangeline, would you like to be her?" Cedric asked, looking at Arlene intently.

"She's way too perfect, okay? Who wouldn't like to be her? She's rich, lovely, friendly, interesting, highly influential, fashionable, confident, and beautiful." Arlene answered without doubts.

"Therefore, you're jealous," Gianna concluded with an eyebrow raised.

"That's one way to put it, but not in a bad way. You can say that I truly admire her for being a wonderful person. I wonder how many guys courted her back then when she was still in the States. She's truly a gem."

"She only had two," I answered, and everyone else had their eyes widened in surprise after hearing an unexpected answer. Of course, the information is personal, and yet, I know it. "I don't know much about the first one, but then she was friends with her second in school. They were in a squad, a relationship, until after dating for almost a decade … seven years if I'm not mistaken, the guy cheated and she broke up with him. The breakup was in perfect timing since her dad wanted to switch places for her to handle this business. She didn't find it hard to move out. So, she left her job, arranged her documents as his dad did, and there you go, she's here."

Arlene's mouth fell open and she covered her mouth with her hands, and as soon as I finish, she bombarded me with questions. "How did you know about those? How come in detail? Are those even acceptable to share or they're confidential? Will she get mad at us when she finds out about all these?"

"Who's the one who'll get mad?" we all turned back upon hearing the voice, revealing Lance, wearing a hardened facial expression, his eyes slightly red, as if he didn't get any sleep. Or … did he cry? It's swollen, and it's noticeable. His aura is down, and Evangeline's not in her typical cheerful mood.

Did something happen between the two?

"Well? Won't anyone bother to answer my question?" Lance's voice may be dull and tired, and yet, the sense of authority can still be sensed. It is, however, not the tone of the scolding CEO to his employees, but simply a cold individual who's reminding the people around him to be productive.

"Let them be," Evangeline whispered behind him. "All people have secrets, so let's respect that." She reminded, forcing a smile.

"What's with the two of you? Something feels off." The slightest feeling of worry rose deep inside me, and I can't help but think what I'm supposed to think. The suspicious feeling exists, but I want to trust Eve that she's not doing anything foolish – she is, after all, my best friend.

"Guys, you can go back to work. We have a party reservation today, so we'll be needing some extra effort. We have a lot to cook, okay? So let's work hard today." This is irritating. I can't stand the idea that Eve wants to show that everything's okay and yet, the evidence is all written on their faces.

Innocence, today, would not be bliss.

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When everyone was preparing the dishes for the party, Eve asked Cedric and Arlene to assist the guests instead of her, perhaps because she's not in her best mood at the moment. Lance didn't speak a thing after what happened this morning, and Evangeline's energy is completely low. She's known to be a lively person who loves talking to people and yet, she's the opposite of who she is.

"Eve, can we talk after work?" I asked as I approach her, and she looked at me, her facial expression blank.

"I know why you're curious. It's about how Lance and I have been acting, right? We should talk now. If you don't want others to hear, then let's go to the washroom, since very few people can hear."

"It's that confidential?"

"You can say that, yes," she replied, and she led me to the washroom. We stood in front of the sink and faced the mirror as we talked. She can hardly look at me in the eyes, even if she can simply look at my reflection from the mirror.

"I finally understood why Lance kept on insisting to drop me home. You and other employees must've noticed that. I couldn't tell you sooner because I didn't know it myself, but just like when I was a kid, someone's eyeing on me and wanted me gone. Just last night, someone broke into my house and I called Lance for help. The moment he arrived, the ones who broke in are no longer there, but since I was traumatized, he offered his place. Just don't tell anyone that. I stayed in his guest room. He said that he saw spies before that night, so all he wanted to do was to protect me all this time. We're good friends, and that's why he's concerned. The reason why we're both down was because of the things yesterday that we talked about 'til this morning. It was stressful for both of us." She explained, and now I finally got the picture. It's not because there's something special between them, but only because he feels like Eve is his responsibility.

My suspicious heart for Lance softened, for knowing how concerned he is to look after Evangeline is truly …

"… He knows that the reason why my parents let me stayed in the States ever since I was a kid was because of the threats. My dad told him that, and it happened again right after I met up with my uncle. I don't know what his motive is, but Lance made an investigation and he's certain that it's my uncle who's behind that. He's suggesting me to go back to the States, but it's not just easy. I haven't told dad that." She added.

How can family harm their family? If the mayor is involved in things like this, then it certainly can't be the first time that he ordered to assassinate other people. Would it be possible that the vice mayor is aware of the mayor's businesses? Arthur should know about all these things.

"Do you still have questions?" Evangeline's question got me back to my senses, pulling me back to what we were talking about her and Lance, and not the mayor and the vice mayor.

"I have. If Lance is only concerned with you, then why did he look like he cried this morning? We both know that his eyes were swollen."

"We had some deep talks about his personal matters, mostly about the people he grew up with. The guy became emotional, but I can't discuss anything deeper more than that. I'm sorry." I understand that Eve's respecting Lance's privacy, but hearing her being like this somehow left me the feeling that I'm not knowing everything as if she trusts me lesser unlike before.

"What if you'll know that there's a possibility that he's a criminal?" Evangeline's eyes widened for a second and her expression fell as she faced me, throwing me a sharp look.

"How can you say that?" the way she asked sounded like she knows something and yet, she's asking me that question?

"There's a high possibility since I overheard him and his real mother talking about something close to that. The people who raised him are criminals."

Evangeline paused and broke eye contact as she processed the things that she heard, and replied with utmost confidence. "I don't know everything, but whatever the case, he isn't his past. If he murdered people, the only thing that I can say is, that's not the Lance that I know." And with that,

Evangeline walked out of the washroom, leaving me alone.

Why did she sound angry and defensive? Is she hiding something? Does she know?

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I put my bag down on the floor, pulled out my phone from my bag, and lied on my bed. Just like the old routine, the first thing I'll do when I get home is to check if there are messages from Arthur.

The messaging app says that Arthur's been online an hour ago, and I hope that he's online at the moment.

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Me: Hey, I just got home from work. How's your day? It should be morning there, right? On the contrary, I'm on my way to sleep.

Arthur is typing …

Arthur: Hey Meg. That's good, you're home safe. I've been having fun here, so does Vincent and mom. Our family members here toured us often, so we do a lot of outdoor activities. There was

this time where my cousin invited me to play golf with them. It's funny because I haven't played for long and yet, I haven't lost the skill. How about you? How's your day?

Me: There's nothing much about me, but remember when you said that I should inform you about your older brother Victor? The one who's mostly known as Lance.

Arthur: Oh? There are updates?

Me: Eve and he arrived together this morning like they always do – I didn't know that since I wasn't working in the morning before. They were both in a down mood, and long story short, Eve told me that her house was being spied, and the reason why she's always with Lance is because he's been protecting her the whole time. When Lance made some investigation, he found out that the person behind those spies was the mayor. The mayor is Evangeline's uncle, and yet, he wanted her gone.

Arthur: I can sense that your story doesn't end there.

Me: My question is … don't take this as an offense to your father but … is your father, the vice mayor, aware of what the mayor's businesses behind being a politician?