The two ladies got up as early as 4am to prepare for Navier's departure. Jenna packed up the best clothes, and everything else for her friend's departure, she called it a 'first impression' wonders.
Navier didn't mind, nor was she able to protest, as it might be the last time they would see each other again. So Jenna had the permission to do whatever it is she wanted to do with her.
It was exactly by 8am that they received a knock on the door, and once it was pulled opened, they were greeted with the presence of the huge men, dressed in black suits waiting for her.
Jenna helped helped her drop her luggage into the trunk although the men had insisted to assist, the stubborn lady refused, claiming that would be the last memory she would hold dare of her friend.
"So..." Navier started, eyes already swelled with unshed tears. "This is goodbye-"
"No its not." Jenna corrected, like a mother scolding her daughter. "We will meet again." She continued.
"There is no where you'd go that I won't be there if..." She encouraged. "If you need me to."
"Don't forget, you promised me that you'd be happy from here on out. If you break that promise I swear to find you, and I will whop your butt. Alright?" She joked, whereas Navier's lips quivered with so many swelling emotions, bubbling up inside her.
"I will kick you if you cry." Jenna threatens, her eyes already turning red, while restraining herself from crying as well. "Now, off you go." She orders.
"Okay." Navier meekly replied, taking slow involuntary steps towards the car. "Goodbye, Jenna." A sad smile appeared on her lips, as she bid her farewell.
"Call me when you've settled down." She insisted, as soon as the car door slamed close. Navier could only nod to her words, and soon the car's engine got pumped to life.
They slowly wheeled away, as though giving Navier the last chance to brand her home and friend into her memory. Jenna kept following behind them while waving at her like a little kid.
"I love you!" She yelled behind them whilst still running. Those were the last strings pulled at her heart, causing Navier to shatter in her resolve not to breakdown. As their friendship replayed in her memory.
Navier sobbed quietly into her palms, feeling utterly alone. If it were possible, she would've told the guards to take her back. But no, they wouldn't oblige, even if she begged them to.
Her constant sobs made the men uncomfortable, because they didn't have the faintest idea on what to do, other than to listen to her sniffling sounds and sobs.
"Please take this, miss." The guard on the passenger's seat offered her a handkerchief to whip her face with.
The heart broken lady meekly looked up at him, before taking the little piece of clothe offered to her. "Thank you." Her voice came out, barely a whisper.
"Is she your sister?" The man suddenly asked, not because he was actually worried. One of them had to do something to ease the lady, for their own peace of sanity.
"She's my bestfriend." Navier meekly answered, her eyes bottling up with tears again, the man panicked.
"Don't worry, you'll see each other again." He assured.
"I'm sure boss will make an exception for you." Giving her false hope that his fellow guard threw him a look that said. 'Don't let him hear you say that.'
"Really?" Navier asked, utterly doubtful of his words herself. She has already encountered a few of his diverse 'personalities' and consideration, or pity, even is not one of them.
'He was the one who encouraged me to lie. How possibly will he show compassion?'
"Of course. Boss is a really great man, when it comes to the feelings of those around him." The man continued throwing out white lies at the lady's face, who was almost about to be brainwashed by his words.
"Stop saying things that you aren't even aware of, Bond." Finally, his partner dryly warned which caused Navier to look at his direction.
"But its the truth." The other man broke into a cold sweat that his fellow guard was about to expose his deceit.
"What do you know?" The other dryly mocked yet again. "You only just got hired."
The young guard laughed awkwardly after being brutally told-off by his superior, before turning to the lady who seemed to have caught up with his lies. "Sorry." He sincerely apologized.
"I'm new at this." He confessed. "I just didn't want you to feel and look sullen, when you'll be meeting up with our boss."
'I can't afford to get fired, when I just got lucky.' The thought was too dreadful to even imagine.
"Thanks." She muttered, feeling sorry that they had to put up with her childish behaviour. She almost put them in a difficult position.
Looking out the window to see a small glimpse of her reflection- she looked terrible, as though in mourning. Quickly whipping her face of the tier stains, she sighed in exhaustion as they all continued their journey in silence.
There were very few houses theg crossed now. The place felt desolate and lonely. 'What is this place?' Navier thought, her eyes scanned for any house nearby but there was none in sight.
'Is this a private property? Just where are we?' Of course she wouldn't question the two men about their whereabouts, since their only task is to bring her to their boss.
The car came to a halt infront of a huge gate, which had the name, Millianaire on top of it, boldly portrayed. Navier saw other men dressed in suits like the ones that accompanied her, they were stationed at the gate.
When the driver wined down his window to reveal his identity, the other guards finally opened the gate, allowing them inside. The land was far too big- far too large, that it took them five minutes to reach the elegantly structured mansion.
"We've arrived, miss." The guard who went by the name Bond informed her, due to her absent minded behaviour recently.
"Oh, t-thank you." She bowed, and watched as the man got out of the car to assist her get down. They wouldn't want a replay of last time's incident.
Navier grabbed the hand he offered her, before alighting from the car. Shortly afterwards the car door was slammed shut behind her. The guard took her luggage out from the trunk, while carrying it for the lady as he directed her inside.
The first person they encountered was an old woman in a maid's uniform, waiting for them, a smile on her aged face.
"It is truly an honor to meet you, miss Romanoff." She greeted, and collected her bag from the guard who immediately took his leave.
"Thank you for having me, lady Marcos...?" Navier scanned the name tag on her uniform.
"Just call me Mary. Right this way, please." The woman smiled, leading her inside. There were no words to describe the environment Navier unravelled with her eyes.
Everything looked clean, and expensive. The space was insanely huge. The house could pass out as another Belait, only it was more elegant and poise than any house she's ever dreamed of- better than the Belait itself.
'Why are architects, interior designers and decorators such wicked geniuses?' Her mouth gaped completely amazed, as though it was taking in as much as her eyes were.
'I feel so small and unworthy to be here.' Navier's mind wandered off, her eyes sweeping the whole place as if in surveillance.
"Mr. Millanaire will meet you down, shortly. Please have a seat while you wait." After her advice, Navier watched as the woman carried her box away. The young lady was about to protest, when a deep voice rang out in the quiet room.
"Finally, you've arrived." He stated as though bored out of his wits.
"You said your men wouldn't entertain any delays." She repeats his words, slightly annoyed that she wasn't given enough time to spend with her friend.
Her eyes followed him as he descended the flight of stairs. The aged woman greeted him and he instructed her to take Navier's bag to a specific room upstairs.
"I see you made the right decision, at least." He silently mocked her with just that statement.
"Jenna was convinced that I got a shot at Stone-tech." Navier explained, "Thanks to her understanding, I was able to make a decision, last night."
"So you're trying to tell me, that if you had decided not to agree to my words, even if my men stopped at your door step, you wouldn't have paid them any mind?" His towering gaze scanned her little frame before him.
"Even if you hadn't paid them any mind, they would've still taken you by force." Navier froze at his confession which sounded more like a threat.
"That would be kidnapping, Mr. Millanaire." She responded as though trying to recover his sanity with her words.
"Its not considered kidnapping when a man desires for his wife's immediate presence, is it?" He quipped.
'He's still mocking me.' Navier furrowed her brows in annoyance. 'I'm sure of it.'
"But we're not yet married." Navier points out to the tall brute before her.
"Are you not the one that signed that contract yesterday? Or was it your other half?" He mocks her further. "If that wasn't a marriage contract, then you tell me what it is."
"Did your mind not capture everything I uttered back then as well?" He smirked down at her, clearly enjoying himself as he belittled her.
"I would appreciate it if you ceased mocking me, Mr. Millanaire." Navier blatantly revealed her distaste in his behaviour towards her.
"If that is what you want." He shrugged, putting on his coat, as though preparing to leave.
Navier couldn't help but ask, "Are you going somewhere?"
"Do you want me to stay?" He questioned back, finding joy in frustrating her.
"But, I just got here." Navier pointed in disbelief at him.
"I'll be back by dinner, and we'll properly discuss the conditions in the contract. Mary will show you around." And just like that the man took his leave.
Navier ran after him, "W-wait!" The lady called out to him, which he stared back at her for.
"What is it?" He lazily glanced down at his watch.
"Am I just supposed to stay here?" Navier inquires.
"What are you 'supposed' to do?" He ironically launched back at her.
"What should I do if I'm to wait until you get back?" The lady hoped he would at least give her some clarity on what to expect, but...
"You're a smart woman, I'm sure you can figure it out." He deadpanned finally getting into his car and drove off, leaving Navier to stand there, mortified in disbelief.
'I knew coming here was a bad idea.' She cursed her decision. Had she delayed her stay back home, she wouldn't have been insulted like this. But what did she expect from him anyway? This is infact what she signed up for.
'Why does he have that face when he's a total jerk?' Navier kept cursing at him in her mind until she felt someone's presence behind her.
"Please come inside, miss. A young lady like yourself mustn't be lingering under the hot sun for far too long." The old lady adviced, and those seem to be the only comforting words Navier received after she got there.
"Thank you." The lady showed her gratitude, as soon as she followed her back inside.
Mary showed Navier around, and it seemed that the young lady had underestimated the building itself, because it was far from huge. Someone's generation could comfortably fit into the place without worrying about accommodation for the future.
Mary told her a handful of the house rules. For instance, the brute's room was off-limits. Navier was not at all surprised by such an information, seeing that he found pleasure at shutting people out. After showing her around, they both ended up in her room, where the woman had already fixed her belongings for her.
Navier kept thanking her for her kindness, even though the woman claimed it was her job, it only made Navier feel ten times guilty as she was too old for such laborious tasks.
Finally the woman left her to adjust to the new environment, reality seemed to have dawned on her when she figured out she was all alone now. Tears brimmed Navier's vision and soon enough, her sobs filled the quiet room as she was engulfed in loneliness.