SOLACE

chapter 2

Aloe

I'm the type of person who hated lying.

Or, at least I am the type who wasn't good at lying.

After ending the call with Lia and Bethia, I locked my phone and turned it face down onto my bedside table. Sighing, I went and grabbed the bottle of wine beside my lampshade that was already half empty and went and poured it onto my glass.

I went and sipped the wine and felt the heat run through my body. I can't remember the last time I drank, I thought to myself. If not because of that time I went straight to that famous It girl's party as soon as I got off the plane from Europe, and got severely sick the next day for drinking more than I could handle, I probably would still be partying and getting drunk every single week like I always do. But, I was traumatized, to say the least.

Well, it's not as traumatic as having someone follow you around and then putting your hotel address on the internet, of course.

"Relaxing" on the bed, I turned towards the door as I heard footsteps coming in. It's my manager.

"Manager Kim?" I said, as he stopped in his tracks and gave me a disappointed look, slightly shaking his head.

"What? Do you have anything better for me to do here?" I sassed him out, grabbing the wine bottle again to go and drink some more.

"Video games? You love video games! And get coffee instead. We have plenty of coffee." He said, and I shook my head in response.

"But games and coffee wouldn't make me feel numb, though." I said, raising my eyebrows at him, and fell silent for a few seconds, then he sighed.

Manager Kim then walked over by the bed and grabbed the wine bottle away while I looked at him in disbelief, mouth agape.

"I'll get in trouble if the company finds out I let you drink. Go and just get some sleep. The company said they'll reach out to me tomorrow. Maybe they got something new about the whole situation. So you have to look presentable, at the very least. Okay?" He said with a bit of scolding and a hint of worry.

Manager Kim had always been the strict, reserved type of manager, but I'm just too stubborn to listen to him most of the time.

I nodded in response to him, and hid myself in my blanket and beside the pile of stuffed toys manager told me to keep inside my dresser at all times just because a lot of our company meet ups were, not all the time, but for the most part were held in my house.

Are stuffed toys really just not so professional? I'm honestly offended, but I guess I'm glad I could have them right now. I can't have my family, who I miss with my whole heart but also knew that they would scold me and make me stay in the Philippines and never leave if I reach out or come home, and of course my friends.

I just hope the company already had a suspect, but knowing my company, though it's a great company to be a part of and work in, they can be a bit shady at times. There were times when they would use situations like this for marketing and what-not, so what would stop them from doing the same for my situation?

Lia

My boyfriend dropped me off of the grocery store so I could grab some snacks. As I walked over the cup noodle isle, it made me think of Aloe. She always loved her some noodles but had to lessen her intake of them due to the company's strict diet.

I went and grabbed some for her, I wanted to see her, and I have a free schedule, so why not come by today.

-

After getting some snacks, I sat on the driver's seat of my manager's car. I went and checked my phone so I could let Aloe's manager know that I'll be coming by when suddenly a new notification popped out.

It's an unknown number...

I took a deep breath. As I opened it, there's a photo of a screenshot of my private blog back in high school that I've forgotten about.

What scares me isn't the fact that whoever this is have logged into that blog, but the fact that I had no recollection on what kind of things I wrote in it.

Panicking and breathing heavily, my manager peeked at me through the rearview mirror with concern in her eyes.

"What's wrong?" My manager asked, making me jump as I looked at her. I didn't wanna tell her during the car ride, so I decided to lie, and I replied, "Nothing..."

Obviously lying, my manager could tell. She just let's it go and continued driving all the way to Aloe's place.

When we got there and I set foot onto the ground out of the car door, my manager quickly approached me, preventing me from getting away and avoiding any questions from her, making me sigh.

"Okay... so, I just received something concerning sent on my number—" I explained, but she cuts me out, holding her hand onto my shoulder.

"Send me the number and the photo, but please don't bring this up to Aloe and her manager, or to anyone for that matter. I'll let the company know first, okay?" She explained as I nodded in response while she walked over to the door before me.

This is gonna be a long day.