Lisa arrived at the Petersson Communication office building at exactly 1 pm. The weather was very hot, sweat began to pour down her forehead and neck. Her black lilac hair, which was tied up carelessly, looked messy and limp. Lisa’s body felt hot when she walked from the main entrance of the Petersson Communication building to the lobby. She should have just showered before leaving earlier!

Entering the lobby area, she ran into one of her colleagues in the finance department. The man greeted Lisa and commented, “Lisa? How come you are so late?”

The man smiled at her. She smiled back at her friend Damar who had replaced her position as financial manager. Lisa was eager to hurry to the president’s room, but Damar’s presence made her pause and make small talk.

“Oh, hello Damar! Yes, I came here after visiting the tax office just now, the line is really long!” Lisa replied, pulling her hair behind her ear.

“Whoa look at you now, the secretary of the president director, huh? How about that? Is that good? How come it looks really good huh?”

“What the hell is good? My work is getting tougher Dam! By the way, what about you? It’s hard to be a manager hihihi.” Lisa teased.

“Yeah, I’m not used to managing people, right? So it’s a bit embarrassing if I want to reprimand…” Damar replied.

“Ah, you’ve only been a finance manager for a month!”

Lisa glanced at the clock on the lobby wall, “I’m going first! The President Director must have been waiting upstairs!”

The man waved his hand and rushed into the room on the ground floor to go about his business. Lisa then walked back to the elevator. Today, her somewhat haphazard appearance caught the attention of all the employees who passed her since they were accustomed to Lisa’s neat appearance.

Sweat that soaked almost all of Lisa’s body seeped up to her white blazer. Unfortunately again, the perfume she wore this morning was not very effective in overcoming her body odor. Hopefully, no one would smell her bad scent this afternoon!

“Wow, it’s bad if I get into the elevator and everyone glances at me because I haven’t showered!” Lisa said to herself.

The elevator door slowly opened, Lisa was very lucky that the elevator was empty. Hopefully, no one else got into that elevator! Lisa pressed button 6, then the door automatically closed.

Arriving on the 6th floor, Lisa peeked at the president’s room. She saw Oscar talking on the phone. She opened the doorknob slowly and slowly entered the room. Oscar felt her presence. The man glanced at Lisa from his desk and squinted one eye.

Lisa put her tote bag on her desk as usual, and started to turn on the computer. She landed her body on the chair and let out a deep breath. She removed one of the buttons on her top collar, took out a piece of paper and fanned her sweaty neck.

Oscar hung up the phone and turned her head towards where Lisa was sitting. He thought there was something odd about the woman.

“Lisa, don’t you think you’re a mess today?”

“Sir, this morning I asked permission to go to the tax office to pay the house tax fine. I haven’t had time to clean my body this morning.”

“You may have permission to use my bathroom if necessary.” The man grinned mischievously, “Or do you want to take a shower with me?”

Lisa chuckled annoyed, she ignored her boss. Her mind only focused on the computer screen and keyboard.

“By the way, dear, if you need more money please don’t hesitate to let me know.”

“Yes sir, understand.” Lisa answered briefly.

“What about my marriage proposal? Do you agree?”

“Sir, I don’t have time to talk about marriage. You see, I’m not busy and my work today is also mounting!”

“Ah so busy you don’t use your favorite red lipstick and short skirt like usual?” Oscar teased.

“I went to the tax office earlier, there’s no way I would wear a short skirt!”

“Anyway Lisa, will you come with me to dinner at a French restaurant tonight after work? We haven’t been together for a long time and spent time together since we last made love at the Sky Lounge.”

“Sorry sir, but I have to go home tonight. My mother needs my help to clean a house that hasn’t been cleaned in a century!” Lisa replied sarcastically.

“Okay, next time then. Don’t forget, if you need help, you can contact me at the number I gave at that time.”

Lisa nodded nonchalantly from her seat.

“I went down to the 3rd floor first, there was an internal meeting with the HRD.” The man got up from his chair leaving Lisa alone in his office.

‘Very nice! If necessary, don’t come back until office hours are over, there is a lot of work that hasn’t been completed.’ Lisa thought.

***

In the ground floor’s canteen, Lisa met Andien again. As usual, the two women started talking again after being apart for so long.

“Ndien, do you have a recommendation for a cheap new place to live or not?” Lisa asked, her arms folded at the end of the canteen’s table.

“You want to move!?” Andien’s pupils widened, surprised to hear Lisa’s words. She then continued, “Why do you suddenly want to move Lis?”

“Yes, it’s my mother’s request, Ndien! We as a family can’t afford to pay house tax with this much – this much salary.” Lisa complained at length, “This all wouldn’t have happened if I was still the manager in the finance department!”

“Hmmm, I don’t really know about property, Lis. Try asking Dimas!”

“I wanted to ask Dimas at first! But his working hours are the opposite of ours Ndien, it’s hard to meet him! The only way is to meet at the Sky Lounge, it’s just that I’m ‘that’.” Lisa explained, stirring the fried rice on her table.

“Who understands about property, hmmm, what about Damar, Lis?”

“Ugh, I don’t know. I ran to him this afternoon!”

“Then why don’t you ask Damar?”

“Yeah, no! My people just got to the office at one o’clock earlier!”

“I’ll tell Damar if you want to talk to him later.”

“Yes, help me please? My mother already told me to find a new house anyway.”

“Eh, by the way, you can ask for help from ahem, the one that shares the same room as you!”

Hearing her best friend’s sentence, Lisa spat out the sweet iced tea she sipped, shocked. Andien’s talk had some truth, but Lisa didn’t want to ask Oscar for help too often. Just as she had been given the money to pay the tax fine, there was no way she could ask for any money back, let alone a large amount! ‘It’s shameless!’ She thought.

“Are there no other options, Ndien?” Lisa asked sarcastically.

“Come on, Lis! Isn’t he trying to ask you to marry him? I’m sure he’ll want to help you if it’s just to find a new house!”

“Just now in the room, he offered me if he needed help, said I just needed to call him.”

“So what? He has given you the green light! Then go for it! What are you waiting for? Just ask that person to help you find a new house!” Andien supported Lisa with enthusiasm.

“Yes, but I still want to be able to find it myself.”

“Duh, Lis, you are given the convenience but still choosing the difficult one! Just trust what I say!”

Not far from where they were sitting, Dani Sihotang was sitting behind the food’s stand, spying on Lisa’s unsuspecting conversation with Andien. The giant man immediately got up from his seat, sneaking out of the canteen from the back door.

“Mr.. Oscar must know this!” The giant said to himself.