People change in many different ways. maybe because they do not want to make the same mistake again, or at times they just want to start something new, trying to hide all the pain that they try so hard to forget.

Riza told me before, 'Lauren changed a lot, she's not the selfless type anymore. before she just let me have all of this stuff—food, clothes, and everything I wanted. But now she was just like me, or like you? ' she said, pointing at Jonathan, who is sitting in front of her, as we were having a night's drink together.

Jonathan was always calm, you can't barely see some effort in him when he does things, and he just takes everything that surrounds him as what he simply sees.

Riza, on the other hand, was the opposite. She gave a lot of effort, she cares about everything that surrounds her, but Riza was brave in her own way, she was strong, and you can depend on her in any situation.

and me? "Lauren is just the warmest person I know," Jonathan said as he poured me a drink, but Riza took it and drank it all.

"Lauren was the sweetest of all," Riza said as she tried to reach me and give me a hug. I can see Jonathan stand up on his seat to get closer to us, trying to take Riza's arms off around me. It makes me smile to watch them.

as they both try to stop each other from getting any closer to me.

'I wonder now if it really changed me' the pain that he left behind.


"Ms.Lauren!" I can hear my name echoed as someone calls me in the lobby. I can see everyone looking at me when he waves his hands, trying to get my attention.

'Tristan' with the big smile on his face. I try to walk fast, avoiding him as I run after the closing door of the elevator.

I smile at myself, knowing I escaped him, but he put his feet on, stopping the door as it opened again for him. "Goodmorning, Ms. Lauren," he greeted me as I tried to smile back at him.

Tristan was so persistent, I didn't know where all his energy was coming from, but he refused to do nothing, He asked everyone in the office if he could do anything to help them. At first, we were hesitant to give him a task because of his status with the company. but the way he talks and approaches everyone in the office makes us feel comfortable around him too.

It's been two weeks since he became a trainee in our department. but I can say that he totally gets everyone to like him a lot.

"Take him," Maddie said to me when I asked her if she could come to me for the audit visit this week. I look at her with doubtful feelings, but she just nods at me.

"Take Tristan; he needs to learn everything," Maddie repeats to me. As I look at Tristan smiling as he packs his things up, he looks so excited to be doing some work, but knowing what the weather temperature is today, which is 42°, makes me want to reschedule everything.

"Take a lot of water," I reminded him as I carried the bag with the documents we needed. "Let me carry that, Ms. Lauren," Tristan said to me as he got the bag from my hands as soon as we got on the elevator.

He was a gentleman, even though he was young at the age of 24. You can see how he is a grown man with his 5'8 height. Many girls at the office want to approach and be close to him, but they are just hesitant, knowing that he is the son of one of the main stockholders at the company. 'but I sometimes doubt him myself.'

I remember when Mr.Harold called me at his office to have a coffee, Tristan suddenly barged in to join us as he took my coffee. There was also a time when Mr.Harold invited Kathrine to drive her home, but Tristan got on the scene and asked Mr.Harold to drive him home instead.

Everything he did was so unpredicted. He reminds me a lot of Jonathan.

"It is true, Ms.Lauren, that you will leave the company?" I heard him say while he was driving, as I was checking the papers we need for work.

"I just heard them say in the office that your contract will end soon." He continued, as I could feel that he was trying to explain what he said. I look at him as he tries to peek at me while driving.

"You must be very close to them now; they even shared those kinds of things with you," I said, trying to look surprised at him. He smiled, thinking that I praised him for what he did.

"Don't try to mingle in other people's lives," I said, as if I were reminding him. "Okay?" I asked him again, as I could see how his jaw was tense a little. He just gave me a smile as he quickly looked at me.

"You don't have to be that harsh to me, Ms. Lauren," he said with that playful smile. "Have you heard?" he questioned me as he kept his eyes on the road. "That the more you try pushing people away from you, you just make them more interested in you," he said, more like pertaining to what I said to him.

Camille told me. That Tristan seems interested in me. 'I am not saying that he is' but she just told me that he asked a lot of things about me, even 'If I really had a boyfriend' like what Mr.Harold knows.

"Just don't, okay?" I warned him, as I didn't even take a look in his direction. We were already at our destination. As we entered the gate of the building, I tried to unbuckle the belt on my seat when I felt his hand touch my hair as he held on to the back of my seat, trying to get a look behind me when he parked the car.

I looked him up, just to see his eyes on me. "This is supposed to make your heart race a little bit, Ms. Lauren," he said between his smiles as I unbuckled my seat and quickly got away from him. 'He is doing things on purpose.' I looked at him in disbelief. "Wah! My heart really raced for a second. I just feel that I want to punch you in the face," I said in a sarcastic tone.

He acts like a kid. When he covers his face with both of his hands and says, "You should like me, Ms.Lauren, not hurt me," I just roll my eyes at him as he tries to mess up around me.

The work here is to assist in checking, as we also audit the stock at every branch store within the area. It was a tiring job and took a lot of time. When we visit every branch, it usually takes a month before we finish this work, including the papers.

"Are we really checking all of this, Ms. Lauren?" Tristan complained. As we enter the warehouse, you can see the long rack full of boxes on it. "Uhmm. No. You will check on it while I check the store," I told him, as I could see the look on his face.

I smiled, knowing that it's his first time working on the field, and he will be physically tired after this. I greet everyone in the office and store as I excuse myself to check their documents and stock based on every report on the papers.

I was so focused on the work that I almost forgot that we still didn't have lunch. It's already 2:00 in the afternoon when I look at my phone. Tristan didn't even bother me here or even call me.

"Did he leave?" was the first thing that came to mind when I remembered that he may not have been used to this kind of work.

The stock room was a close area with only six ventilator fans. You can feel how hot it is inside when I open the door to look for Tristan. I already feel the sweat on my forehead in a minute. "Oh, Ms.Lauren!"

'Oh, he is still here,' I just said to myself as I saw Tristan with some of the workers here, topless. He waved his hand at me with those smiles that didn't disappear from his face. I can see him walking closer to me.

His body looks so perfect, as it covers his sweat from his head and neck down to his chest and body. "Do I look so hot?" he teased me, getting my attention back as he stood. in front of me.

"I think you are the one who looks so hot now," I said literally as his hair soaked up with his own sweat. He just smiled at me. 'It didn't give me the same feelings, at all, I didn't feel anything,' I suddenly said to myself.

'Did I just think of him? ' I can feel how my blood is running fast to my face, as well as how warm it is. Tristan looks at his face change when he sees me as I try to cover my face with my arms.

"Did I really make your heart flutter?" he asked, looking at me. 'It's not you,' my mind wanted to say.

"Your blushing, Ms. Lauren," he teased me when his phone rang, breaking his attention to me. I try to compose myself. "We are done for today, I'll wait for you outside," I told him as he nodded at me before answering the incoming call from his phone.

"Have you lost your mind, Lauren? How can you think of him among all the people you know?" I said to myself, feeling frustrated as I looked at the car mirror while waiting for Tristan.

"Why?" I asked myself in dismay before I could hear the car door opening and closing. "Are you okay?" Tristan asked me, as I could see him changing his clothes into formal suit attire.

"Oh this, my brother is coming to the office later," he said to me as he looked at himself in the mirror. "Have you heard? We are having a new chief executive," he continued with a smile on his face before facing me. "That's my brother," he said to me, almost whispering before he started the car.

Tristan looks so excited when we drive back to the office. He told me that his brother and he are not that close, as they didn't grow up or live together when they were young.

'were actually not blood related. My mother married his father when I was 16. I think I meet him when I enter college,' Tristan told me, like he was about to say everything about his family.

"Where here" he exclaimed in excitement as he parked the car in the basement. I laughed at him. "Go, just go; I can take everything to the office," I said to him, as I could see that he was eager to leave the car now.

He smiled as he thanked me before quickly running to the elevator to see his brother. I just took our things and got out of the car. I just pressed the button on the elevator and waited for it to open.

Someone also got in, carrying some documents and folders in her arms. I can see how she struggled trying to balance everything. As I helped her press the button 'GF', she was heading into the lobby. She thanked me, giving me a smile.

She was about to get out as the elevator stopped on GF when she lost her balance and dropped some files on the ground. I quickly get off, trying to help her. "Let me help you," I say as I can hear the elevator door close and go up already.

"Thank you, I'm sorry again," she said when I gave him the files on the floor. "It's fine," I said to her as I stood on my feet before pressing the elevator button again.

"Matthew!"

'I am hearing his name again.' I was standing, waiting for the elevator, when I again heard his name. It felt like I was dreaming.

"Matthew!" It was Tristan. As his voice echoes in the lobby, my eyes automatically search for someone. It feels like a magnet when I see a man enter the main door of the lobby.

Tristan hugged him as the man remained in his cold posture, not even looking at him. "How is your flight?" I heard Tristan ask, but he just ignored him and walked, getting closer to my direction.

I can't even tell if this man is really him. I never saw him for like 5 years. But how can this man change a lot? I was stunned when he stopped in front of me when his secretary pushed the button on the elevator.

'Did he not see me? ' 'Did he just ignore me? ' Did he not remember me? ' It feels like my mind will explode with lots of questions at that moment.

"Matthew?" I said his name.

"Is that you, Matthew?" I repeat, like I was waiting for his reaction. The time feels so suffocating as he turns his eyes on me—those curly and messy hair, those dark and deep eyes, and the mole beside his lips.

I can feel mixed emotions inside me. It felt like the time suddenly stopped when my eyes locked on him. I can feel the warm liquid in my eyes as everything in front of me becomes blurry as the tears try to come out of my eyes.

"Oh! Ms.Lau--" I can hear Tristan's voice, but he was just cut off when, for the first time in almost 5 years, I heard him say my name again.

"Lauren?" Matthew said.