A/N: Disclaimer: Refer back to Chapter 1.

WARNING: FLUFF, WAFF, SUGGESTIVE THEMES

Chapter 3: Silly Bear

Serph stared at the screen of his computer blankly.

It had been a day since she had left…

He sighed.

It had merely been a day and yet it felt longer than that…

'Hm…it feels like we've known each other for a long time…' he thought, dealing with the slight prick of pain in his chest.

'It's strange…now that she's not here…'

It was true.

It felt as if that something was missing…that his office was missing on important piece of furniture…and for him, a part of him seemed to have been lost.

He then looked at the empty space beside him and stared at it blankly. With half-lidded eyes, he scrutinized the spot where his oddball of a trainee used to sit.

He smiled sadly though as he considered the events, 'I shouldn't feel sad. She's a full-fledged RBE now… She'd have better experience at the showroom rather than in this claustrophobic office…'

He leaned back on his chair, still staring at the blank space, 'But…It's different without her.'

Tearing his gaze away from the space, he looked around himself and saw the same mundane walls that surrounded his tiny office.

'Office…? More like a cubicle…' he thought to himself with distaste.

He suddenly froze and there…smiled ruefully.

She had taught him that too.

Before her, he had his sights purely on his job and his workload, never once taking his surroundings into consideration.

The walls were white? Good; more space to stick new bank policies and contact numbers. His desk was messy…? He didn't have time to get rid of those old files… Just as soon as he would finish with the current ones, new ones would always take their place…

From his walls and his desk, he turned to his screen.

'Now what was this…?' he asked himself stupidly before blinking rapidly as he discovered that he had picked up quite a few more of her old odd habits.

She was a bit forgetful whenever it would come to bank terms, wasn't she…?

He scratched the back of his head and sweat-dropped. 'Mortimer would kill me if he found out…' he said internally as he momentarily forgot the aforementioned terms.

"So, where's the cutiepie?" a male's voice said from behind him.

Irritated, Serph turned his face to see Arlin.

With a blank face, he answered, "Argilla's shifted to the showroom."

The other Muladharan nodded and made a pseudo-disappointed face, "Really…? Aww…And I didn't even get to-"

Serph shook his head and cut him off, "I'm a bit busy Arlin; I'll talk to you later." Without waiting for the other man's response, the silver-haired man turned to his screen, 'Now…whose deals were those again…?'

"Don't miss her too much Serph."

Serph stiffened at that sentence. All the more vexed at the other man's audacious remark, he turned around and noticed with disappointment that he was gone.

He said nothing knowing that he already did.

'Argilla…'

xxxx

"You made a mistake…"

Argilla rolled her eyes and turned to her side, seeing the kind smile of her new trainer, Harley.

She scratched her head and opened her mouth to speak when she was cut off, "And I'm not telling where. Just finish the proposal but check it thoroughly before submitting to RCC."

She blinked and smiled, "Okie dokie!"

Having done what she had been asked, she was now at the final window of her first deal proposal. She blinked, 'They were all true… All those rumors about this…Harley. He truly is the best RBE in the team!' she thought, beaming. But then again…

Speaking of trainers…

She sighed as she let her thoughts meander…meandering over to a certain silver-haired man.

Her heart leapt at the thought of him, "I wonder…how he's doing…"

She then smiled as she remembered his strange mannerisms and his…unique masculine scent. Having sat with him for over ten days, she had noticed quite a lot about him. She could still remember herself laughing as she saw how intently he was looking into his screen…

'Most especially when he's making his Processor's Comments…' she thought with a snicker.

She remembered how he would lean especially close to his screen, his elbows atop his desk, his hands and fingers intertwined at the level of his eyes as he re-read what he had typed…

She also remembered how he also had a sensitive spot on his side…

She giggled softly, 'Who would've thought that he was ticklish?!'

"Argilla?"

She froze as she heard her name being spoken. She whipped around and met the brown eyes of her new trainer, "I've made the proposal boss!"

Harley made a face, "Don't call me boss."

She sweat-dropped, "Okay…"

He nodded and asked, "Did you find the mistake?"

She blushed and slowly nodded, "Right… It's at the Eligibility Page…at the Dealer's Name?"

He nodded, "Right. Be very careful next time, okay?"

She nodded, "Right!"

The older man nodded back and there thought wistfully, "Heard about the cruise?"

She thought for but a moment before replying, "Um…yea. Serph and I were talking about that before I left the office. But it's been postponed right?"

The auburn-haired man nodded, "Yea but it's been pushed onward… In a week or so."

She smiled inwardly; it was her chance…

It was her chance to see her mentor again!

"So…"

The voice of her current trainer brought her back to reality.

"It's time to leave this job!"

She was taken aback, "What?"

The brown-haired man grinned, "You heard me. It's time to leave this job…!"

"You serious?" she asked.

The ever annoying smirk on his face confirmed whatever she needed to confirm and she blinked rapidly, "But but but but…who'll train me?!" she exclaimed; panic clearly evident in her face.

Harley put up his palm and motioned for his protégée to simmer down, to which she did and spoke, "Don't worry. I'll complete your training before I leave."

"When is your last day!?" she asked frantically.

He male in front of her chuckled at seeing her overly worried facial expression and spoke with a smile on his face, "My last day's on the third of March."

Argilla's breath got caught up in her throat as her brain scrambled to calculate the number of the remaining days…

"But but but…that's just…twenty-eight days left!!" she screeched.

"Ssshhh!! You're being too loud!" scolded the slightly older man in front of her.

"I don't care if I'm being loud! You're resigning! Who'll train me!? I can't learn all this stuff in…in twenty-eight days!! And you know it!" Argilla replied in uncouth exuberance, the discomfort and fear written all over her face.

Harley chuckled at her behavior, "Argilla…I won't go tomorrow! It's still a whole month! And besides, you'll do just fine. You're a clever girl… And besides, Serph and Yuni would still be there to help you!"

Her stomach churned as she heard the two processor's names. Serph and Yuni…

"But Harley…!" she whined but then suddenly stopped. What the heck was she saying?! She didn't have any right to question her trainer's decisions in life!

"…" Defeated, she said nothing.

"Okay…" she finally said, "But…you had better teach me everything I need to know before you leave!" she warned.

"Hadreen…" chuckled the man, nodding, "Don't worry about that. You're only in charge about new cars anyway. So, it's a piece of cake!"

Argilla could only smile tightly, 'I doubt that…very much…'

xxxx

"Hello…?"

"Argilla it's me."

Her heart leapt at that, "Serph…?!"

"Yea. How are you?" he asked cheerfully from the other end of the line.

"Great! Thanks!" she chirped back, "What's up…?" She then frowned, "Don't tell me…" she whined.

The man chuckled, "What? Don't tell you what?"

"Don't tell me that there's a discrepancy in one of my files…" she moaned in apparent internal agony.

Serph smiled, "Unfortunately no. There isn't a mistake in the file. You're clear."

Argilla felt her heart regain its normal beat and there gave off a breath of relief, "Phew… Okay, so what's up?"

"Nothing. I just wanted to see how you're doing." Serph replied.

She smiled at that, "I'm fine. Harley's the best alright. You were right."

She heard him laugh lightly and again, she couldn't help but smile some more.

"Did you know that Harley's files never come back? Not from me or Yuni and most certainly never from RCC." Serph commented.

Argilla's eyes dilated at that, "Realllyyyy…?" she drawled; totally amazed as she now knew what it took for one's file to be…perfect; always.

She then frowned, "Yea but…Harley is…" she then bit her lip for but a moment. Should she tell Serph…?

'Don't! It's confidential…!' said one voice within her.

'Go ahead!' said another, 'He's not going to tell anybody! He's a friend you idiot!' yelled the other.

Feeling emboldened by the second voice's justification, Argilla spoke, "Serph, Harley is resigning."

"I know." Serph deadpanned.

"Eeehhh?" she asked with utter disbelief, "How'd you know!?"

"Mortimer told me today. He sent a resignation e-mail today." came the stoic reply.

Argilla bit her lip guiltily and there laughed nervously, "Heheh…you see…I helped him write that. I wrote that for him."

"You? Really?"

"Yea…" she whispered but then recoiled as she heard his low chuckle, "What's so funny?! You don't think I'm capable of simple correspondence skills?!" she thundered, her insides suddenly being ignited with the desire to kill someone.

'I may be a weirdo but I'm not an idiot!' she reasoned with herself.

"I never said you were an idiot Argilla. Nor did I say that you were a weirdo."

Again, at the reply, she froze, her skin crawling, "Oh my God! Did I just say that out loud!?" she asked, bursting in laughter.

He joined her in her quaint laugh and there spoke gently, "Uh…yea. You did. But anyway, I'm not surprised that you helped Harley in the e-mail thing. Most of us know that we're not that good in Sahasraran anyway… Much less Sahasraran correspondence and writing!" he ended in a small laugh.

Argilla said nothing; well that was a first compliment!

'I think…' she thought.

"Anyway, I just wanted to inform you that the cruise is in…two days." Serph said cheerfully, however, having the last words in the dying form of a low whisper.

"I know. So…um…I guess I'll…" she stammered.

"I'll see you there." he replied, "And um… I hope that you won't ignore Yuni and I or the others."

Argilla raised an eyebrow, "Ignore!? Why would I do that?"

"Well, you're an RBE now so you might want to hang with your colleagues." he told her carefully.

Argilla blinked, "That doesn't make any sense Serph!" she told him, a bit angry, "You and Yuni are my colleagues! You all are! Sheesh! And in case you forgot, we erm, work for the same bank and are under the same Team Leader! Sheesh! Silly Bear! Where do you come up with these harebrained ideas?" she demanded in a pseudo angry manner.

"Anyway Serph, I'll talk to you later. Harley's back." she quickly replied; not giving the man on the other side of the conversation to respond.

"Back? From where?" he asked, having found a crack in her otherwise unbreakable chain of words.

"Erm, from his 'Smoking Time'." she said, rolling her eyes.

"Right…Okay then. Take care. Bye."

"Thanks Bear!"

xxxx

'Bear…' he told himself as he found himself shaking his head in a small laugh. That had been his nickname.

Well, it wasn't his nickname by choice but rather, he had been christened it by his eccentric trainee; a trainee that he now admitted missed…a lot.

'Silly Bear.'

Yes. That was what she had named him.

She had named him that and had declared him as her Silly Bear.

He could still remember that day…

Flashback

"Thanks Bear!"

He raised an eyebrow as he peered into her pink eyes. There they were at the mall. Well, it had been the weekend and she had invited him.

Although he didn't say that he would take her advice and "loosen up", he did, however, consider her invitations and had decided to accompany her.

And the rest was history.

There they were, at the mall. Well, the closest mall that they could find, that is.

He blinked, "Bear…?" he asked in confusion.

She blushed lightly, "Erm…yea. Didn't I tell you before…? About my bears?"

"Huh…" he nodded in concurrence, "Right… You told me before that you like stuffed animals."

"Bears." she corrected him.

"Erm, right. Bears. So aa…why did you call me a bear?" he asked, "Don't tell me I look like one…!"

She giggled, "What? No! I just… I dunno. I always classify my friends as bears."

He looked at her with a disbelieving facial expression and there she scratched the back of her head, "Really! Like my friends from college! I named them different bear names! There's Googeley Bear, Grizzly Bear Bebe, Powerpuff Bear, Panda Bear…" she trailed off, continuing to list down the silly names that she had picked out for her friends.

He just couldn't help but laugh at that…

He had never met a person as strange as her before.

This trainee of his…just seemed…out of place.

He then began to wonder. Why did she decide to work in the first place? It just seemed to him that…she was emotionally unprepared for the workplace and the amount of pressure that it would bring.

This girl, his trainee just seemed so…laid back…so…

'Childish.' he thought with a shake of the head.

'She still likes playing with dolls…?' he asked himself as he recalled her telling him once that she collected porcelain dolls.

"Hey! Are you listening to me?!" cried the angry voice of his trainee.

Hearing the aforementioned crackle of her angry voice, Serph straightened himself and threw an immediate response, "Yea. I'm listening."

He saw her raise her eyebrow and there he sweat-dropped.

"Oookkkayy…" she drawled, "What did I just say?" she asked, crossing her arms with a frown on her face, her pink eyes peering into his silver ones, a clear-cut warning etched onto her facial features; warning him not to screw it up or he will face her wrath…

He gulped internally at that.

"Erm…you were telling me about the names that you gave to your friends." he answered with a false sense of confidence and calmness.

He resisted the urge to fidget in his seat as he saw that she continued to be unimpressed and there he pressed on, "Erm…the Bear names."

At that, the girl suddenly took a one-hundred-eighty-degree turn in facial expression and there beamed, flashing her strange yet quaint smile, "That's right! Bear names! So, what do you think of them!? Aren't they cute!?" she asked him excitedly, leaning towards him, making him lean back slightly.

What was her question again?

'Bear names you idiot!' scolded his inner self.

'Right…Bear names… Wait; what Bear names?'

'Drat!'

Well, that was the catch wasn't it? He wasn't really paying attention…

'Well…better say something or she'll get the wrong idea!' he internally shouted.

He blinked his eyes rapidly and there cleared his throat, "I…I think they're nice names Argilla."

"Really…?" she asked with hopeful eyes.

He sweat-dropped, 'She…is a weirdo…'

"Uh, yea. They're nice names Argilla." he repeated with a tight smile.

At that point, the girl before him widened her smile and there bared her teeth, "Thanks! So…Hm…but what about you? What should I name you…?" she asked wistfully, her eyes now leaving his and darting for the ceiling where he saw that she seemed to have started concentrating.

He could feel his insides beginning to do summersaults. Him? Since when was he included in that kind of game…?

'Since you asked her to have lunch with you! You idiot!' his inner self explained.

Again, he sweat-dropped.

At that point, losing his concentration, he had accidentally spilled the contents of his glass.

"Serppphhh!" he heard his companion whine as the water from his glass traveled across the table and over to her side.

Wasting no time, the male cleaned up the mess as fast as he could.

"That's not how you drink from a glass! Silly bear!" she exclaimed.

He said nothing as he continued to wipe the table.

"That's it! That'll be your new name!" she exclaimed happily.

He suddenly froze and looked at her with a semi-horrified expression, "Excuse me…?"

She grinned at him evilly, "That'll be your new name! Silly Bear! Isn't it cute?!" she asked, beaming.

He blinked, and composed himself, "Erm… That's hardly…" he started to say but was cut off by her feral growl and piercing eyes.

He could say nothing.

What else was there to say…? He wasn't the confrontational type…and the fact that she was a lady and him a gentleman, settled the argument.

'What argument?' he asked himself with a bland expression, 'With Argilla there's no contest. She'd win either way.'

The girl, seeing no response from her newest victim, smiled once more, "That settles it! You're Silly Bear…!"

He blushed as he heard the declaration, "Not so loud!"

Again, the girl brought her palms to her lips and there she snickered and whispered, "Whoops…! Sowwie…! Hahaha…"

He sweat-dropped.

"So, Serphy…You're Silly Bear." she repeated, "You're my Silly Bear…"

End Flashback

And that was how he had been christened.

He laughed, "Christened…? It was more like a baptism of fire…"

The silver-haired man then sighed.

It wasn't his first time being given a nickname. In fact, his mother and his closest friends from his home country had all given him their own versions of his name…

He then blushed as he remembered what he had been called.

'A damn female version of my name…' he thought as he shook his head in defeat.

"Sophy." he said blankly.

As he heard himself say that infernal name no sooner did his skin crawl and there he shivered, "That is just…not right."

But all that aside, none of those nicknames or girly names could surpass Argilla's strange label for him.

He laughed again, "That's just the way to describe her; strange."

And even if his name had been quite silly, he didn't feel the least bit insulted; not at all. In fact he found it…cute.

He felt…a bit closer to her.

He then smiled.

He still couldn't wait for that cruise to finally arrive.

xxxx

A/N: Another term:

RCC/ Retail Credit Center: Department exclusively responsible for the reviewing and approving of loan proposals; it is also responsible for document verification.

Hadreen: Arabic word that is colloquial in meaning "normal" or "affirmative/yes/alright".