"P'Mew, I'm off to work."
Gulf announced as he grabbed his bag on the couch and picked up the documents he worked on last night. Mew dried his hand and left the sink to brace his arms around Gulf's waist. He buried his face in the younger one's neck and sniffed the sweet perfume lingering on his skin.
"Are you sure you'll be fine alone?" He asked with a worried voice.
Gulf drew a smile and said, "I told you I'll be fine. You came home late last night, and I'm sure you didn't get enough rest."
That, Mew was reminded he indeed went home very late last night since he has a meeting together with the company's board of directors on behalf of his sister. He should've spent the night at the hotel since the meeting was held in the countryside. Yet, the young man didn't stay knowing that the person he loves was alone at their condominium.
It's pretty cringe.
Well, Mew doesn't want to be reminded how lonely he was while abroad for years. He couldn't think about anything except making Gulf the last person he'll see as he bid the night goodbye, and the first person he'll meet as he open his eyes to welcome the radiant sunshine in the morning.
Mew stopped dazing off when a soft luscious skin touched his brims. It was sweet and tender, that he'd never want to let go. Mew stared into Gulf's dark orbs, then down to his thin heart-shaped rosy lips.
"You stay here and get a lot of rest, that's an order, hmm?"
"I'll pick you up later, then."
"Hmm." Again, Gulf bade his boyfriend goodbye before leaving the unit.
Mew heaved out a sigh as he watched the door shut. He was used to giving his boyfriend a lift to his workplace, so thinking about doing nothing at this hour--or maybe the whole day--will surely make him bored.
Thinking about his plans for today, Mew sat on the couch and silently fixed his gaze on his blurry reflection on the TV. Then suddenly, his attention drifted when his phone rang from the table. He stood up and answered the call and he just determined it was his sister from the other line.
"Hey, how was the meeting last night? I heard it finished up late." She immediately asked.
"Will you stop thinking about the company and take a rest?" Mew stressed. That's the reason why he was the one who attended the meeting instead of his sister. She was too focused at work to the point that she forgot to take enough rest and suddenly fainted due to over-fatigue.
And because of that, their old man didn't allow her to step outside the house and asked his elder son to fill her duties in the meantime since Mile refused to handle it.
"What else can I do? I know you're also busy handling your firm and now, you're filling up my duties in the meantime." She blurted. Mew could see her pouting lips at the other end of the line.
"Didn't the doctor say that you have to take leave for at least a month?" Mew was the second child and yet he was scolding his elder sister like his father used to be when they were toddlers.
"Besides, don't you worry about my firm. I already asked Ritz to take care of it." Mew heard his sister sigh. He hates to scold his older sister but then he doesn't have a choice when it's for her own good.
"Ugh, you really sound like Dad." She winced. Mew could even see her rolling her eyes three-sixty degrees, and that made the young man grinned. He knew what she's been through, but ever since their father changed for the better, their family also began to turn the way they used to be.
"Well, you deserve some scolding, old lady." He laughed teasingly. Mei doesn't want to be called 'old', yet her mighty brother just broke the rule.
"D-Did you just called me--"
"Hey sis, someone's at the door. You'd better get enough rest, gotta go, bye!" Mew cut her off by saying some excuses.
"Hey, wait--Mew!--You lit--" He didn't bother listening to her childish banters and took off the call. Mew sat back on the couch and laid back his head on the backrest, smiling from ear to ear.
His sigh echoed on the walls, he murmured, "Gotta check on her later."
Mew then, went back to the bedroom and decided to take a slumber to regain his energy. Just like what his boyfriend advised him.
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A sigh of relief escaped from Gulf the moment he entered the office and saw P'Olive, a fine lady in her mid-forties who's been working with them for nearly half her age already. Her ebony orbs were focused on the monitor and she seemed to have no idea of Gulf's arrival.
"Good morning, P' Olive." She suddenly stopped maneuvering the keyboard and looked pretty surprised upon having a short glimpse at the newcomer.
"Oh dear, what happened to you, are you sick?" The lady asked Gulf as soon as he arrived at his table filled with layered folders and documents. She even cut her attention off the monitor to hover up and check on Gulf's temperature.
"You seemed fine, but what's with your exhausted face?" She continued and finally went back to her desk.
Gulf puffed his cheeks and then answered, "The traffic jam made this to my face." The lady chuckled shortly at his devastated expression.
"Aww, you'll start getting used to it someday." Gulf just tipped out a quick grin and brought his monitor to life. "Oh P', I already finished the papers you handed the other day." He grabbed his bag and took out the papers he worked on last night, then gave them to her.
"Wait, did you even sleep?" Minnie--one of his colleagues--reacted. She even took five days to accomplish that same set of documents last year. The young man chuckled and bashfully rubbed his hand behind his head.
"Ahehe, I just happened to have trouble sleeping last night so I decided to work on it."
"Oh dear, you should be the one resting in this office, instead of me. Why did you refuse your father's offer then?" The lady asked.
One year after Gulf finished his master's degree, he asked his father to assign him to a lower department instead of appointing him as the Vice Chairman since his brother Gun took the higher place. He was supposed to be the head of the department, but then again, he refused the offer and chose to work under Olive as a Team 1 Product Manager together with Minnie--her secretary.
"P', I'd better sit here and follow your orders than the order you around. It's not my cup of tea." Gulf replied.
"But you know, someday you'll be seated in that seat also--or maybe even higher than that." Minnie blurted which made the younger one chuckle, then let out a silent sigh. Right! now that his older brother is going to build his own family, he could foresee more responsibilities lying on his shoulders.
Gulf just fixed himself on the monitor and began doing another unfinished work.
"Where's Minnie?" The office head asked.
"I think she went to check on something at the Finance department P'."
"Aah, did she? I forgot to ask her to bring these vouchers back there."The young man excitedly stood up and volunteered to return the papers to the other department. "Let me hand these to the office, then."
"Thank you, dear." The young man took the papers handed by the lady and prepared to leave the room. Gulf strode past the other employees in the department. Some of them are busy and got their eyes fixed on their monitor and others were doing some paper works. The entire office was filled with the expeditious tapping of the keyboard and the smooth muffled sound of the papers as they flip every page in the folders.
Gulf left the department and went to the Finance department by elevator up to the next floor. The elevator tinged! as it opened, he went out and proceeded. For ten seconds, Gulf stood in front of the blurry glass entrance with the signage, "Finance Department" on it. Politely, Gulf knocked on the door before he set foot inside.
"Awh Gulf, what brought you here?" Gulf smiled at the man sitting at the first table from the entrance, it was Pond--another senior colleague of his.
"Ah! I came to hand these papers here. P'Minnie forgot to bring them here."
"Oh, thank you. You can just put them there." Gulf put the papers on the man's desk before excusing himself to leave the department and go back to the office. He held the door's handle and was about to push the entrance open when he heard his colleagues talk. A topic he wished he never heard.