Whisper of the Silencee

9

Messing with the furry strawberry keychain at the zip of her black Gucci sling bag, she swung on the roller chair outside her CEO's room. Hot pinky glossy lips twinkling under the lights. Icy sensations sensed at her jaw as her big, round earrings tapped on it, responding to the inertia. Sticking her elbow on the Polo luggage beside, she kept staring at her watch and then to the numberless clock hung on the wall. It was getting late, though everyone else in the office was just getting started with their works. Barely half an hour since the opening hours and almost all the phones were busy dialing or being dialed. The echoes of their hurried footsteps, sounds of papers running down the machines, aromas of coffee beans being ground filled up the space.

Let's shift the focus to the other side.

Pictures of her covered almost half of the turquoise-painted walls. Though there were others, but hers was the most glamorous and attractive. There was one poster of her holding the mic, singing whole-heartedly, shining brightly under the spotlight. Below it, Starry World, Stella's 5th World Tour was written. Just like Kyle, she was a singer. A singer with a very bright future.

In short, she was the main pillar to keep this place running.

The presence of the vocal practice rooms, dance practice rooms, each well-equipped necessities clearly defined that this place was nothing, but an entertainment company.

"Uhh..Come on.." She nagged, pounding her teal stiletto heels softly on the ground.

"Stella!" A bald man in his mid-30's, swirling the black Americano in his personal mug, greeted her. "If I'm not mistaken, I thought you are going for a vacation?"

"M'rning, Carl," she waved her hand lazily. "Life is totally unexpected mannn..I got a call from my manager saying that Mr. Wesley wanted to make an important announcement."

He arched his almost colourless eyebrows. "Really? I never heard anything like that."

"Maybe it's not really that important." She shook her head as he offered her his coffee.

"Well.. enjoy!" He lifted his cup to a certain level and knocked it in the air, indicating the end of their conversation.

Stella wrinkled her nose and looked at him annoyingly. Just then, she heard the doorknob being moved from staying stagnant.

It was Alex, her manager.

"Stella, enter." He widened the gap for her to step in.

"Sure."

She instantly felt the sudden change in the surroundings. It was nothing like the outside. Outside was more like a human's world but in here, was a materialistic world. She could almost smell money in his room.

If only her nose was able to smell like a dog's.

He was sitting in his usual spot, legs stretched out fully, crossed on one another. "Stella," His voice sounded monotonous but powerful. "Meet your new manager, Kenny."

She bugged her eyes. "W-what? New manager?!" She shot a puzzled look at Alex standing by the door, eyes looking everywhere but her.

"What about Alex?" Her index finger pointed at him. "He has been doing REALLY good. What's with the sudden change?!"

He glanced up from his paper works and shot her a sharp look. "It was him who wanted to ask for a leave."

"Alex?" She walked over to him so fast that it almost seemed like she ran. "What's wrong?" The eyes hiding behind her hazel-brown contact lens were dancing in concern.

He sighed. "Sorry. Stella. I need a short break."

"I never heard you mentioned anything like this..." Standing on her toes, her hand clasped on his bulky arm. "..What's wrong?" She repeated, but this time with a soft whisper.

He laid his five fingers on her head to push her back down on her feet, "Seriously.." he laughed, "Nothing really... I just needed to rest. You're too famous. And, I'm too tired."

She stumbled back a few steps dramatically, with her palm placed on her chest, ".. You're abandoning me?"

"Oh Stella come on!" Alex pulled her closer. "Kenny is a really nice guy. Way much friendlier than I did when we first met."

" But..still..."

"Nice to meet you, Stella." Kenny pushed his round spectacles up the bridge of his nose and greeted humbly. "I heard from Alex that you needed to go Kyle's place today. Do you want me to send you?"

His deep and hustle voice shocked her. "..Nice.. to meet you.. Well.. erm...do you know where?"

"Don't worry about it," Kenny said, whirling the car keys in his finger, "Let's go."

Stella nodded with a forced smile and followed him awkwardly behind after giving Alex a goodbye hug. Though he tried his very best to provide Stella with the best service of him, there was something mysterious about him. And Stella sensed it. The big plaster on his face was the main thing that rose her curiosity of him. Of course, that wasn't the only thing. Scars could be seen crawling out on his forearms through his long sleeves as he swayed them. Numerous bruises, stitches everywhere.

He must have felt her stare because he immediately pulled down the edges of his sleeves. Stella blinked away from him and continued to walk towards the parking spot. Whatever it was, today was supposed to be stressless and questionless.

"Maybe his background was really hard," Stella murmured softly to herself, trying not to have any bad impressions on him since they would have to stay together for quite some time.

Like a professional, he opened the car door and put his hand up at the top, to avoid Stella from banging her head. He waited for Stella patiently to settle down at the seat before shutting the door. Judging on his performance, she tsked at herself. Don't be a jerk, Stella. He's also a human, trying to find a way to live his life.

As soon as the car started moving, she sunk her hand into her bag and took out a small rectangular box wrapped up nicely. It looked like a gift. Smiling oneself, she flipped it open carefully.

--A watch.

The same and exact design with the one she was wearing. The only difference was that hers was the female version while the one in the box was the male version. This is what people called as, couple watch. Moving her wrist to be side by side with the box, she slid out her iPhone 6 from her pocket and snapped a picture.

"For someone special," she typed blushingly as she posted it on her i********: (@stellakforever).

Instagram was the only place that she could express her hidden feelings because Kyle wasn't an i********: freak. Stella faced down her phone on her lap and closed her eyes for a few minutes. Well, actually just a few seconds would do because it didn't need to take that much of her time for millions of comments to hit her picture. When she swiped it open, thousands of notifications appeared on her home screen. At that moment, she was like the happiest girl on Earth even though her fans didn't know who was her special someone. She just needed them to know that she has someone that she treasured in her heart.

Her neck ached from scrolling the comments. When she looked up, the familiar roads increased the beats of her heart. It's near.

Suddenly, the rhythmic vibrations of her phone, followed by a customized ringtone jerked her up. She gasped too loudly when the gift tottered on her lap, trying to escape on the car mat through the gaps between her thighs. Kenny turned to the back immediately to check on her. But she gave him a thumbs-up and gestured him to continue focusing on his driving. Her phone was still ringing. Shivering in excitement, she pulled over the green button while extending her hand down to reach for the object.

"Stella, you here yet?"

"Be there in a short while, Kyle," she said, releasing heavy breaths silently through her mouth.

"Okay then, see ya!" He ended the call.

Kyle's voice over the phone was enough to make her go insane. She was madly in love with him, ever since the first time they met. The fact that her self-composed song, Time Stops managed to hit and stay as one of the tops for 50 consecutive weeks in the Dreamcatcher SongCharts was merely because she composed it with the image of Kyle in her mind. Now that they finally got a chance to go on a vacation together, it was like a dream came true.

"Hey, Kenny," she said, "Please speed up a little cause Kyle is already waiting for me."

"Alright." He replied and the car dashed 2x faster.

His house was the same as the last time she saw. The elegant-looking glass windows, wide florally garden, huge personal swimming pool laid at the side. Those tiny buds have grown into beautiful, blooming ones, surrounding the walk away, making it seemed like a heavenly place to go. He was standing at the doorstep. Head down on phone, body against the rocky wall. His didn't notice the shadow of her car outside his gate. Kenny attempted to make a soft honk to register their presence but Stella stopped him by tapping on his shoulder.

"Don't," she said under her breath, stepping outside. "I'll go in myself."

"Stella! Wait!" He stopped her. "Can I.. go in with you?"

She turned back and gave him a puzzled look. "Hmm?.. Well... "

"...I just.. wanted to show my respect.. You know.. I'm quite new in this field and would like to show my best to all the celebrities that I come across.."

She let out a breath. "Okay. As you wish."

Walking to the door, her heart slowly beginning to lose its constant beats. The side profile of Kyle has always been another captivating yet seductive part of him. He was hot.

Each step she took, nostalgia hit her as memories began to kick in. The first time she visited his house was when her company requested her to sing a duet with Kyle. Though at that time Kyle wanted to go somewhere more relevant to produce a song, Stella insisted that his place was the best when it comes to generating ideas. And so, that's when another piece of memory of them created. She glanced at the swimming pool, the tool that made her to lose her heart completely to the owner of this house.

"Oh!! Damn it! My...My.. my scripts!" She sobbed. "That's my favourite piece!!"

Kyle rushed over from his living room when he heard her cries. "Stella, what's wrong?!!"

"Kyle!!.." She gestured to the ruined pieces of music sheets in the pool. ".. I'm... I'm gonna be so dead.." Her legs reflexed and she dropped herself on the ground, burying her face in her palms.

And suddenly within a few seconds, she heard loud splashes of water. She even felt them splashing on her, snapping her away from her cries. In the beginning, she didn't believe her eyes. She got to blink a few times.

Kyle was down there.

Swimming his hardest to save her papers.

As soon as he got out from the pool, "You can't swim, can you?" he asked, with the water dripping off his hair seductively. "Here, sorry.. but this is the best I could do..."

Stella was speechless. Her hands were shivering when she took them from him.

He laughed. "Heyy! Hahaha! Why are you speechless?" Taking off his shirt and displaying his six packs, he squeezed out the water. "Thanks to you Stella, I'm now like this, " he said jokingly.

Holding her sheets preciously, "..Thanks.. Kyle..." She muttered.

"No problem, composer queen."

"Stella!!" The mention of her name through his mouth pulled her back into the reality.

She looked away from the pool and immediately fastened her steps to reach him. He outstretched his arms, offering her a friendly hug.

"Oh, Kyleee~" She immersed totally in his cuddle.

"How are you, Stella? It's been a while, isn't it?" Kyle asked, moving her flying fringe to the back of her ears.

"Yeah. 6 months."

He pulled her arm and said, "Enter first, I'll serve you with some tea." He paused a while when he saw the different face of her manager. "..Your new manager?"

"Yes. Kenny his name. "

"Alright, Kenny. Do enter along."

"My pleasure, Kyle." Kenny bowed.

Just then, another car appeared outside his door. He recognized the number plate.

TGH 11.

Brandon's car.

He let go of her arm abruptly, almost tripping Stella over the steps.

"Yo bro!" Brandon greeted him from afar.

"Brandon! Where have you been all night long?" He exclaimed. "Where's Clover?" He extended his head to look any other figures coming up from behind.

"She didn't want to come back so fast. So I brought her to my place."

"W-what?"

"Chill!! Oh my god! I'm a good man, okay?"

"Clover!!" Kyle screamed.

A ladylike shadow appeared a few seconds later. Walking heavy heartedly towards the main entrance, Clover didn't have the courage to look at Kyle in his eyes. She still remembered how she embarrassed him on the stage. And also, Brandon. Trying her best to avoid eye contacts with Kyle, she scanned the house, looking for Brandon. He must be still angry at her, for ruining the event.

Was she supposed to be called lucky?

Because there were any no traces of him.

"Clover.." Kyle repeated once more when she was within his reach. Without any second thoughts, he pulled her into him in one move, a little bit too aggressively.

That motion shocked Stella. Her crush was embracing a different female in front of her!

"I'm.. sorry.." Clover apologized, "Kyle.."

Patting gently on her head, "No.. don't be.." he consoled her like how a brother consoling his sister for making a mistake.

"Meet my loyal friend, Stella!" Kyle introduced Stella as soon as he freed her from his arms.

Smiling sweetly, "Hye, Stella. I'm Clover, Kyle's personal assistant." Clover said, while extending her hand for a shake.

Hiding the boiling green envy in her, "Ah.. personal assistant?" she gritted her teeth silently. "Nice to meet you, Clover."

"Alright. Come on, let's get in. The sun is biting me." Kyle said, shoving his guests into his house.

And suddenly, cold shivers ran down Clover's spines the moment she stepped on the doorstep. Her face turned pale, looking around to find the source of her insecurity.

"Careful!" Kenny caught her from stepping in the air, "Clover."

She jerked, "Oh. Thank you so much...Erm...w-w-" Her voice trailed off as she turned to look at him fully. She wanted to ask for his name. But his face was not new to her. Despite the glasses and the plaster, she could feel a weird familiar, cold sensation tingling in her.

Clover was very sure that they have met before.

But where?