Whisper of the Silencee

5

*Sounds of alarm ringing*

Paap. Clover slapped onto the clock, shutting off the noise. She stared through the plain turquoise curtains and darkness was still outside, dimming the streets. But today was the very first day of it, becoming a personal assistant of a rising superstar, she couldn't afford to not get ready early in the morning. She sat up straight, eyes studying the room precisely. Unlike the previous room (the one that belonged to Kyle), this room was more simple, not too many accessories. Even though there were no any spider webs lingering at the corners or any spots, it looked like no one had stayed in there for decades. The smell of old wooden furniture filled up the room and basically other than the walls and the bedroom set, there was nothing else. Well, she couldn't be staying with Kyle in his room though he allowed her to stay with him in his house. That's common sense.

So this really isn't a dream.

Without wasting any time, she folded her blanket into small layers and got on her feet- ready to put on her best act to work. As she was grooming herself in the bathroom, she could hear the same, familiar arguments in the living room. The contents were similar to the ones she eavesdropped yesterday. Brandon trying his best to stop Kyle from involving himself with Clover, and Kyle, on the other hand, trying his best to make Brandon believe him that everything will be alright.

Spitting out her Colgate, "Everything happens for a reason, Clover Hon," she said. "Don't give up.

"You're gonna regret this, Kyle." The noise came clear the moment she opened the door, dressed up formally.

Kyle ended the argument instantly. " Wow Clover. It fits you just nicely." He said while having his hair done by the professionals. "You gotta need more of these clothes."

"Yeah.. I guess so..." She flashed an awkward smile and walked over to help Brandon, who was carrying bags and boxes onto the car. "Let me help."

He paused his motion for a while, stared right into her black eyes, "If you really want to help," He uttered coldly. "Then leave."

"Brandon.." She said tremblingly, fighting back the urge of her tears to claim their attendance. "W-why? I only meant to help.."

"The only way for you to help is to disappear away from his sight." He leaned in close to her face and continued, "Trust me."

"B-..But.." She pulled back her face.

"Clover! Help out here a little! " Kyle extended his head from his seat to catch her attention.

"Coming!" She responded hurriedly, taking her steps towards the entrance.

"Don't destroy him, Clover." Brandon grabbed her arm before she entered back into the house. "He has sacrificed too much, to be who he is today."

Clover! Quick!

Pulling her hand away from him as gently as possible, she dashed inside. Of course, the words that he said echoed at the back of her mind. But, why was Brandon so sure that she was going to cause him troubles? Her pace wobbled after dashing in the first few milliseconds, forcing her to stop by the door, unable to move forward to where Kyle was.

Clover looked down at her overall attire, as the so-called 'P. A', a.k.a, personal assistant, "Do..do I really have to leave..?"

"Clover!" Kyle tapped on her shoulder, shaking her back into the reality. "What are you staring at? Come on! Help me out with my make-up!"

"M-make ups?!" She said in her high-pitch voice. "I...I don't.. I don't know how.."

"As my personal assistant, you gotta learn to know everything." He dragged her over to his table, set up with a complete set of branded cosmetics.

Wow. She slacked her jaw the moment she saw those limited editions products displayed linearly in front of her eyes. Lancôme. Estée Lauder. MAC. It felt like a bright spotlight that appeared out of nowhere was shone on them, making them the main characters of the day. Her fingers shivered in excitement with a mixture of increasing pressure as she reached out to hold. She knew those brands, maybe not deep enough like how a professional make-up artist would. But to use them? -Not even once in her past twenty years.

"Get started with the foundation." A lady in half white- half black beside her commanded.

Her voice was dark and serious. "F-..foundation?" Feeling the tension, Clover scanned through the table to look for the 'foundation'. Too many creams. Too similar in shapes and colours, she had to pick up one by one to read the corresponding labels printed on them.

"Ah!! This is it!" She let out a huge sigh of relieve when she finally found a bottle that was supposed to be the foundation, according to her very own definition.

"That's the TONER!" The lady spat angrily.

"S-..sorry.. I-I thought they are the same." She put the item down hurriedly and aimlessly, causing the remaining products standing still on the table to fall apart, turning the whole place into a mess." Sorry..! Sorry! I'll get it done in a minute!"

"Y..--You--!"

"Mandy," Kyle said. "Patient." He got down his chair and helped to pick up all those the fallen cosmetics. "She's still new to this."

"Right, Clover?" He bumped her shrunken shoulder lightly. "Take it easy."

She didn't return his look. Instead, she just nodded slightly with her eyes fixed on the 'colourful' floor, as a sign that she acknowledged the fact that he was being kind to her.

It wouldn't have been that worse if Brandon didn't show up the very next second. But he did- so..yeah.

"Kyle! You're not done yet?!" His attention immediately shifted to the messy floor. "..What..the heck?!" He glanced over at Mandy and she narrowed her eyes towards Clover.

"You do it, Mandy!" He said frustratedly as he stomped off furiously. "It's REALLY LATE!"

Kyle gave her an apologetic look. "Wait for me in the car." He whispered as he went to Mandy to finish his make-up.

After putting everything back to their original positions, Clover left the place without saying a word. She thought of locking herself up in her room to emo, to be alone for a few moments. But, come to think of it, today was only the first day, or barely even half a day! This must be why people always say that beginning is always the hardest. You can't have a sunshine without a little rain. Shaking away the negativity in her, she marched straight to the porch, waited for Kyle, just like what he wanted. However, her steps slowed down as she saw Brandon in the car, whistling at his own rhythm, acting as though he didn't see her approaching. She didn't want to be alone with him, especially when she just caused a chaos. Hence, rather than getting in, she walked along the side fence, letting the flowers to slide freely on her palm.

And that actually didn't take long, since he was being handled by a real professional. "Clover," He said, holding onto the doorknob, squeezing his feet into his Adidas sneakers. "I thought I told you to wait in the car?"

His hair was sprayed, though there were a few thin strands refused to listen. His eyebrows, lips were touched up finely and a thin layer of eyeliner was drawn at the edge of his double eyelids. It would really be a lie if Clover were to say that he's not charming. The perfect definition of the 'Nation's Husband'.

"W..Well..." She scratched her head.

"Come on, let's go!"

"Where are we going?"

He smiled. "It's a fan signing event."

"Fan signing event?" The scene at the airport, where Kyle was being surrounded by hundreds of people flashed across her mind suddenly. She sighed as she stepped into the turned-on car. "It's gonna be .. a longg day."

As soon as Kyle settled on his seat, with the seatbelt on him, he pulled out his phone, checking his notifications.

"Wow!! My uncle hit the spotlight again," Kyle mumbled, reading the featured news. "Lawyer Jack ended the case in less than 3 hours!"

"Less than 3 hours?!" Brandon widened his eyes, pressing the brake, staying behind the white line, waiting for the red light to turn green. "Is it even possible?!"

"Yeah. He's just so great, isn't he?"

Clover extended her head, "Who's your uncle?"

"National's treasure," Kyle said, with a slight hint of proudness in his tone.

She was speechless for a moment, "... You mean... Jack Lee?!" she exclaimed.

"Yah, the lawyer. Clover, you know him?" He flipped his phone to her direction, showing her a clear picture of his uncle.

Scratching her head, "Not really.. I just..somehow crossed his name in the airport," she rested her neck on the headrest, ending the conversation.

"I see...My uncle is a really nice person."

Throughout the journey, not many conversations were made. It was surprisingly more quiet than usual. A small part of it was because Kyle busied himself by reading his scripts, and going through his schedules for the day. But the bigger reason lies between the remaining two. Brandon was still annoyed at Kyle for having the troublemaker with them in the car. And Clover was struggling to not feel nervous because of the upcoming event. What to do in a fan signing event? Where should she wait? How does it really look like? What exactly is a fan signing event? She didn't know. Her palms were getting soggy as time ticked off. Rubbing them onto her pants were useless.- only to leave stains. She just hoped that later, she wouldn't bring any disgrace to them.