"Hello everyone, my name is Milena Dennis,"
Mila bowed to everyone in the room as she attempted to pull down her skirt below her knees. It was a classic red skirt that stopped above her knees and a white shirt with a gold breast tag that had Montclair Staff clearly written on it.
As planned, she had resumed work fully; her period or the cold didn't stop her. Actually, about her period, it never really came.
Though Mila was worried about it, she was more excited to resume work with one less problem. She waved the blood spotting off as her hormones acting out because of the stress she'd been exposed to over the past couple of weeks. It didn't matter because today was her first day at work.
"Milena...." a young woman hummed, tapping her pen on a slate. "Anything shorter?"
Mila nodded, her head bobbing up and down like a red-headed lizard. "Yes! Mila. You can call me Mila," she replied with a friendly smile.
"I can call you Mila?" The young woman chuckled, shaking her head slowly. "Darling, I can call you just whatever I want, and you'll answer to that."
Mila blinked, rubbing the back of her hand gently. She didn't know if she had done anything to provoke the woman that sat at the head of the table. So far, she'd only said her name and nothing else.
The woman uncrossed her legs and stood up, walking in Mila's direction.
Mila took a step back, reaching for her skirt again. She tried not to stare at the girl that was walking in her direction, but something in her mind told her it was about to get messy.
"Milena Dennis," the young woman used her pen to point at Mila's chest, then sighed. Without saying anything else, she exited the room.
Once the door closed, Mila exhaled softly. She touched her chest, rubbing it gently. She didn't know if it was because she was panicking or something she ate, but she felt an uneasiness in her chest.
"Mila, welcome to the team," a young man walked up to her and touched her shoulder. "You met our leader... Peach Montclair."
Mila narrowed her eyes. Montclair was the name of the winery. Does that mean...?
"Yes," the young man nodded, "She's known to have mood swings... I don't know if she likes you or not. We just have to wait and see."
Mila rubbed her chest again and nodded. She just prayed her boss didn't already hate her.
"I'm Carlos, and I'll be the one training you, starting today," the young man continued. "Pick a pen from the table and write down everything I'm about to say."
Mila quickly grabbed a pen from the table and a book beside it, then she ran after the young man named Carlos. She felt the sensation in her chest again but tried to wave it off.
"Well, first things, you just met Miss Peach Montclair, and as far as here is concerned, she is your god. She can save you or drown you," Carlos pointed out and halted in his steps, staring at Mila and the empty book.
Mila followed the young man's eyes and nodded, "Oh... Save or drown... Miss Peach," she jotted down diligently.
"Good," Carlos nodded, then continued his tour. "As you already know, this is the marketing team. We are the reason the sales skyrocket or plummet. We are actually the backbone if you look at it from where I stand."
Mila raised her face, then jotted it down, her fingers moving very fast with the pen.
"If you do your work well, there are so many benefits to working with The Montclair. And if you stay for years, you might learn their secrets..." Carlos trailed off, then whispered to Mila.
"I heard everyone who knows their secret tends to lose their lives in mysterious ways." His voice sounded low and scary.
Mila gulped. The way Carlos said it made her scared. Also, she didn't want to learn any secret about the Montclairs either.
"Just do your work and stay out of sight. Especially his sight," Carlos muttered, narrowing his eyes.
Curious, Mila asked, "Who is 'his'?"
"You don't learn fast, do you? I can't say 'his name'," the young man air quoted. "Else 'he' might really appear. And what did I say?" Carlos scolded like he was teaching a fifth grader.
Mila inhaled deeply, "Stay out of 'his' sight."
"Good, now keep up," he urged as he hastened his steps, making his way toward other departments in the company.
Mila hadn't had time to look around the place, but one thing she knew was if she should lose sight of Carlos, she'd definitely appear on a missing person list.
"Wait up," Mila ran after the young man. "What did you say?" she asked when she noticed his lips move, but she didn't hear him clearly.
"What did you—"
Mila swallowed her words when Carlos used his hand to cover her mouth.
"Shut up, new girl. The Director and 'his' friends are passing," Carlos commanded.
It was then Mila darted her eyes around and noticed that everyone had stopped in their tracks and now bowed their heads. She wanted to know why when her eyes fell on them. Three men and a young girl about her age.
"Look down!" Carlos pushed Mila's head forcefully, causing her pen to fall.
Please don't roll... please don't roll, Mila chanted in her mind. She didn't want any attention on her first day, but her cry was far from being heard. Her pen rolled.
Out of reflex, Mila crawled toward it, hoping to pick it up before anyone would notice.
"What- Stop- new girl!" Carlos tried to stop her, but it was already too late. Mila was crawling her way to her pen.
Mila had already reached for her pen when a pair of brown polished shoes stopped close to her pen. Slowly, Mila raised her face, and she met the clear blue eyes that stared right back at her.
The young man, who had his hand dipped inside his pocket, bent down and picked up the pen.
Mila was too stunned by his presence to notice people around gasping, shock written all over their faces.
"Is this yours?" he asked her coolly.
Unable to find her voice, Mila nodded, her lips slightly parted.
Zyran stared at the pen, then at the girl. For some reason, she reminded him of the girl from that night. And she had the same blonde hair and this position...was similar.
"Sorry, Director," Carlos stepped forward. "She just started work today. I'll make sure she's punished and learns her lesson." The young man bowed deeply, then dragged Mila up from the ground and pushed her head down to bow.
Mila moved like a raggedy doll. She didn't know why Carlos was reacting this way, nor did she know why she suddenly couldn't speak in front of this man.
"Return to work," Zyran waved his hand, and everyone turned around back to their work posts. He turned to look at the girl, but the young man beside her had dragged her away and dashed out.
Lucas tapped his finger on his lips as he watched Mila trot behind Carlos. "She looks familiar. Where...?" He bit his lips, trying to remember, then snapped his fingers.
"Swan girl! That's her... the blonde swan girl from the night Heritage du Cœur was launched."
Rosita clapped her hands together. "My doll, she works here?"
Zyran didn't say anything. He just twirled the pen he picked up and then dipped it into his pocket. Then he resumed walking.
"She's one funny-looking girl," Lucas muttered, following Zyran.
Rosita was about to walk away when she noticed Roman wasn't moving.
"Roman, are you okay?" she asked.
Roman nodded. "Yes... but I've met the girl before... yes. I'm sure she was the girl," he nodded.
"Oh," Rosita rolled her eyes. "Don't tell me you three will be playing with this one soon. Suddenly the blonde swan is familiar to everyone. I hope she isn't trouble because she also looks like the girl that I saw wearing Zyran's shirt.... I might be wrong," she shrugged and walked away.
Roman raised his brows. He turned to look in the direction the girl had left, then narrowed his eyes. Taking out his phone, he sent a message to someone.