Raven

Chapter 3

Raven's POV

"Sinclaír Company really lived up to its fame."

While waiting for my order to be made, I was just staring at the tall tower at the opposite of this shop.

After finishing Lilibeth's errands earlier, I decided to buy milktea to reward myself and I couldn't help but to admire this fancy-looking building.

Sinclaír Tower was owned by the Sinclaír Group, a world-renowned household name that shook the world for it's capability.

Some of the famous people they cultivated were the superstar Chelsea Yorke, the word-class ballerina Tiffany Leighton, and the supermodel Jacob Chen. As a home-schooled citizen, I had more time to surf the internet, hence knowing these people.

I wonder what these people gave up just to reach this immense fame?

I sat outside the store after I received my order to rest for a while, drinking my milktea. However, the rest I expected didn't came.

While everyone was busy with there own thing, here I am, still stuck at staring straight at the logo of the Sinclaír building. The more I look at it, the more I was drawn to it.

I don't know what happened but my body suddenly move on its own while my eyes were glued to the company's logo. The next thing I knew, I was already at the entrance of the Sinclaír Tower.

Whew, glad didn't got into an accident when I was in a hypnotized state.

I had this complex feeling of familiarity, filling my head up with wonder and curiosity. And being the nosy person I am, I've decided to pay this place a visit.

You know… to quench this so-called curiosity?

Anyways, when I entered the building, I was greeted by a fragrant and relaxing smell.

The lobby was filled with different kinds of flowers that I think were rare and expensive. Surprisingly, my allergy to flowers didn't act up. If it did, I would be already sneezing the moment I opened the glass door.

I went to where most flowers were displayed and examined them. They were all pretty and very pleasing to the eye.

I was having fun smelling the flowers when the receptionist interrupted me with a greeting. "Good morning, miss. How may I help you?"

I turned to look at her and I was dumbstruck. The lady looked so elegant and prim that she almost looked like royalty. She was also surprised to see me, making her smile widely which only made me dazzled because of her pearly-white teeth.

Before I could even react, she guided me towards the lounge area and handed me a brochure. "Please make yourself comfortable, let me just go get my boss to talk to you." She said this as she placed a cup of tea on the table.

I was speechless. That's weird. Why does she have to call her boss?

Everything happened so fast that before I could even say anything the lady was already gone. All I could do was sigh and drank the tea in silence.

"Hmm, this tea is delicious." I licked my lower lip, tasting the minty flavor of the tea. I just drank milktea earlier but that didn't masked the exquisite taste of what I just drank right now. I'm addicted to tea, but this, it's the first time I drank something like this.

I looked around the lounge area. It was still filled with flowers but there was also some other stuff mixed. The lounge was comfy, creating a feeling as if you're just inside your own home. The most eye-catching one was the one side of the wall. It was filled with polaroid stickers, probably from people who visited this place.

The overall interior of the building screams pastel so I kinda find it pleasing and calming to the eyes.

Going back to the brochure, my eyes almost fell when I saw the content. "Wait… so the owner of this building is the owner of all of these institutions?!" I squealed in amazement. I looked around to see if people noticed my weird reaction, luckily there weren't many guest in the lobby that time.

The longer I read, the wider my eyes became. All of the company names listed in this brochure were some of the most famous names in different industries.

Arcane Linker, one of the top IT Security Company. Even the famous Matryoshka Kingdom, the place where every child hailed it as a toy wonderland.

And to think all of that information was obtained due to my curiosity.

"Wow, they even owned Genesis High and Exodus High." I sighed, "I think I should get out of here before I get into trouble. I don't even have an appointment to begin with."

I was about to stand up and leave but the receptionist lady came back with someone.

I froze in place. Not that scared kind of froze but awestruck kind of froze.

If the receptionist lady was stunning, then the lady she was with was a deity!

She was clearly a foreigner with her red hair and emerald-green eyes. And when her lips stretched into a cheeky grin, I became anxious. I suddenly remembered the level of my socializing skills.

"Don't worry. I'm not going to eat you." She said in fluent Filipino as she raised her hand for a handshake. "My name's Zheilred Harlequin Sinclaír, but you can call me Harley or anything you want."

"You look like an angel." I unconsciously blurted out. The moment I realized what I just said, the receptionist was already snickering.

Harley's grin became wider, "Oh, trust me. I'm the opposite."

I became flustered as I accepted the handshake. "I-I'm Raven. Raven Black."

"I know."

"Huh?" Wait, what? Does she know me? When did I befriended a foreigner? Socializing? I suck at it!

Harley giggled as she patted my shoulder. "Anyways, I've been expecting you. Please follow me to my office."

I know it's bad to follow strangers but dang it, my feet won't listen to me. I followed Harley to the elevator in a daze. There's a lot of questions floating in my head right now. My senses only returned when the elevator arrived on the floor of Harley's office, which was the top floor.

Just like the lounge area, her office was also filled with flowers. Like a butterfly, I was attracted to its luscious red color and was kinda tempted to smell it.

"Don't move any closer."

I froze like a statue. I could already smell its lemony scent and it gave off a nostalgic feeling, but why did she stopped me?

"Those are called spider lilies. They contain poison, and that one in front of you is highly poisonous. Be careful not to touch the bulb." She said, emphasizing the word highly. "Now please, have a sit."

I immediately sat down on the couch in front of Harley's work table, still looking at those flowers. I clutched my backpack tightly as I wander my gaze.

"So, how are you? How's Lilibeth doing? She working?" She asked me while pouring some tea.

"You know her?"

"Of course." Harley smiled while handing me a cup. "She's a friend of mine."

"Uh, so you're in the same university?"

She paused. "Now, what made you think that we came from the same university?"

"Well, you look mature to me." So I assumed you were just of same age. I nervously drank the tea and tried to change the topic, however, I was hooked by the taste. "Wow, this tastes really good. I'm a fan of drinking tea. What's the name of this?" I looked up at Harley, only to see her amused face.

"Miss Harlequin? Is there something wrong?" I asked meekly.

She snapped back to reality. "Oh, I'm fine. I just remembered something very funny. Anyways, how was the taste? It's called Ceylon tea. It's a habit of mine to add milk to my tea. Lilibeth knows about it, after all, she's a family friend. Maybe that's why you love drinking milktea too."

"A family friend?" Didn't know Lily had a very rich friend? Remembering those expensive tea sets that she always cherished back at home, I think she's worthy to be friends with a person as rich as Miss Harley. "Now, thinking about it, I was indeed influenced by her on some aspects," I mumbled.

"Now, back to business. You coming here was not a coincidence." Harley stood up from her swivel chair and sat opposite me. "Little girl Fate has brought you here."

I was skeptical, and I bet it was written all over my face. Harlequin must have seen it because she suddenly laughed.

"Sorry, it's just an expression I often used whenever I'm referring to a lucky situation or coincidences. But if you believe me, Fate really is little, and so is Lady Luck, since they're the same person." Harley laughed, she even paused as if she took a trip down memory lane. "You look just like your mom."

"Pardon?"

Harlequin smiled at me. "Nothing."

My eye twitched. I swear I heard she mentioned my mom.

We talked about many stuff, constantly mentioning Lily (I hope she didn't bite off her tongue), and what we did for the past years. She only asked about us, and I find it weird.

We also talked about online games, which surprised me 'cause she's a gamer too. No wonder they owned the most booming IT company in the industry. I was just telling her about my favorite game when the door opened and a girl walked in. "Miss, you have a meeting with Mr. Caius. Should I cancel it?" She asked while glancing at me.

"No need. We're also done here." She told the girl before asking me. "You can have a tour inside the building, I'll leave you my card. Should I let Fae accompany you?" She said while pointing at the girl.

"Oh, no it's fine. I'm also about to go home. Lilibeth might get worried if I went back late."

Harlequin smiled at me. "Alright then. Tell her I said hi."

"I will. Thank you."