A/N: Disclaimer: Refer back to Chapter 1.
WARNING: WAFF, FLUFF, SUGGESTIVE THEMES
Chapter 5: Hanging
The awarding ceremony had begun. He sat on his seat, uncaring for the events that were to unfold. He watched the proceedings with half-lidded eyes.
He wasn't really interested in who won the "best salesman" award.
He wrinkled his nose in boredom but then straightened as a flash of pink entered his mind. He blinked; right. Where was she? Was she watching this as well…?
He craned up his neck and there had his head look from left to right, hoping to just get a glimpse of her. However, luck had not been on his side as he saw neither hair nor hide of her. He raised an eyebrow; everyone was there. Where was she and what was she doing?
He took another sweep of the area and there sweat-dropped. Okay; so, most of them were there. Some weren't; and he figured that she was one of those.
He snorted a bit as he also figured that Harley was nowhere to be seen.
'RBEs…' he thought hopelessly.
He then frowned; his ex-trainee was probably still topside, enjoying the wind and the view.
He sighed, 'Well, Mortimer better not find them there…'
xxxx
Argilla fiddled with her fingers restlessly. They were supposed to be downstairs, watching the ceremony. But instead, she found herself still with Harley and with their other teammates who all found the breeze and the view rendition that was enough to hold their interest…
'Hmph! They just want to waste their time smoking!' she thought impatiently.
"Argilla, if you want, you can go ahead."
She stiffened at the sound of the voice and there knew that it had been Harley who had spoken.
"Eh!? All by myself?!" she half-yelled.
Harley muttered something inaudible under his breath; she never learns he supposed. She was still as loud as ever.
Oh well.
He had better come with her…
'She might get lost…or those jerks from the other teams might try to pick her up.' he thought defensively.
"Come on." he told her, gesturing for her to go forward.
Argilla beamed at him and there waved at their teammates, "See ya Osman! Shin!"
Seeing that Harley had reached her side, she resumed her walk only to stop once more. She whipped to her side as she had heard the muffled voice of the announcer from below, "Harley! That's you! They're calling you!! Go! Go!"
The older man gave her a bored look, "Ugh…"
Argilla rolled her eyes, "Sheesh! What the heck is the matter with you?! You won something! Aren't you the least bit excited!?"
"Hn…" the man replied, crossing his arms, "What's the point? They'll just give me some plain paper with crappy text, calling it a 'certificate of excellence' or something like that." he finished; lack of motivation evident in his tone of voice.
Argilla was vexed at her trainer's apparent disinterest, but nonetheless, her zeal waned not and there she grabbed hold of his arm and dragged him downstairs, "Don't be like that! You didn't win something just because they felt like giving you some toilet paper! And it's not crappy! It's a symbol of your achievement! So quit being annoying and grab your crappy certificate!" she half-yelled, half-lectured as she pushed him towards the crowd, near the announcer.
As Harley received his certificate, Argilla couldn't help but admire him from where she stood, 'Best RBE of Ajna and the Northern Tribes…Wow; that must've been hard to pull off.' she thought with a sweat-drop.
xxxx
Serph looked from left to right. The banquet had begun. The ceremony was over and he had been glad that it was.
At the thought of the ceremony, a slight prick of pain poked his chest.
So he didn't get an award…
No skin off his back. Right?
'Hm…I suppose I shouldn't dwell on it.'
Sure, he shouldn't. There wasn't a doubt that there would be other processors who were better than him; better, faster, more accurate…more efficient than he was.
He closed his eyes for a moment.
'I just…have to work harder.' he told himself with determination.
'Whatever you need to tell yourself.' a wicked-sounding voice piped in. Serph shook his head; maybe he needed a vacation…
'Waddarah didn't need that much effort to win.' the voice added venomously, adding salt to the injury.
Serph frowned; his other self was right.
Harley worked hard. He was dedicated to his job. He knew the bank's policies like the back of his hand and achieved his targets consecutively.
However…
'He didn't work as hard as I do.' Serph thought with slight malice.
That was true. RBEs don't have as many working hours as processors…And Serph couldn't really argue that Harley only has his cases to worry about while he proposed and processed documents for the whole RBE team. Because that wasn't true.
Harley was the RBE team's Assistant Team Leader, and at times, he was the acting Team Leader, and as such, fought the Credit Department not just for his cases and deals, but for each and every RBE in Ajna and the Northern Tribes.
And that…was a lot of work.
'Then if Harley has more work than you, how come he isn't as stressed as you are…?' probed the voice further, pushing the already-insecure young man even further towards the cliff.
"…" Serph could neither think nor say anything to rebuff the insult.
'Wanna know why?' his inner self asked snidely. 'It's because he knows the right way to work. He's smart. And smart guys get everything…!'
Serph shook his head in an attempt to push such thoughts from his head. He was there for a different reason. He was there to fill stomach damn it! And no voice was going to ruin his mood!
Well…
That was a half-truth.
He wanted to see his pink-haired friend.
'Maybe she's free now.' he thought optimistically as he craned up his neck in an attempt to find her.
He walked onwards as he failed to locate her as he found himself among the crowd. He scanned the people and there couldn't help but smile as he saw his buddy, Yuni, already at the head of the buffet's queue, already having two plates in hand.
'Some things never change.' he thought.
Turning his gaze away and walking towards the rails of the ship, he smiled as he saw her. He had begun to walk towards her but then stopped as he saw that she sat with her teammates…
Her all-male table of teammates.
He frowned; he'd never get to speak to her now…
He considered turning around but a large hand on his shoulder made him remain where he was, "Where are you going? The food's not that way!" exclaimed a very cheerful and flushed Yuni.
Serph laughed at that, "Erm…right."
Yuni chuckled and there dragged the silver-haired young man towards his table, which…sadly happened to be the table right behind Argilla's and Harley's.
Serph sat on the chair, there facing Yuni and opened his mouth to speak when Yuni cut him off, "This plate's for you. Go on! The food's great!"
Serph shut his mouth back; well, that answered his question. But then again, that subsequently raised another query in his head.
"But Yuni, isn't this yours? I mean, I can always get my own…" he trailed off.
Yuni chuckled once more, "Nah. This is my third plate! Don't worry about it. I can spare that measly morsel…!"
Serph made a face.
'Go figure.'
xxxx
"Serph likes Argilla. Doesn't he?"
Harley laughed at what their other teammate, Quentin, asked. So, he noticed too. He shrugged his shoulders, "Yea. I guess so."
"What?" a female voice asked.
Both men turned to the only female at their table and there grinned at her and said simultaneously, "Nothing."
Argilla pouted.
There they were again with their whole language problem.
She sighed; although Harley wasn't Muladharan, he understood and spoke the language. That put her one step farther from being comfortable with the team…and her job.
At that point, she thought of the one person who had made her comfortable from the very beginning.
Her first friend from the bank.
'Serph…I wonder where he went!'
Whipping around, she smiled as she saw her silver-haired mentor. She half-considered walking over to him but decided against it…
'He seems to be busy…' she thought with a hint of disappointment.
There he was, chatting away with Yuni.
Resisting the urge to frown, she turned back and met the grin of her current trainer, "Looking at something interesting?" he asked with a wink.
She blushed at the implication of his query but then, donned on the angry façade that her childlike face was known for, "No…!" she snapped back.
Quentin, who sat beside her, was a bit older than her with light blue hair and a pair of glasses. He was fit and built but at the same time, looked quite older. 'Older than Harley…' she thought.
The blue-haired man laughed, "Are you sure Argilla?"
She crossed her arms, "I'm sure!"
Another chuckle joined in. Argilla turned her death glare on the green-haired man, sitting across from her and beside Harley, Osman. Osman was a tall man with sleepy eyes. He also had a low and husky voice that, in Argilla's opinion, added to his general appeal.
What appeal?
'The tall, slightly dark…maybe olive-skinned dark and handsome guy appeal!' she thought to herself, momentarily forgetting that the subject of their table's amusement was her.
Unfortunately, that euphoric and calm moment lasted for but a mere moment and a second later, Argilla found herself frowning and focusing her bone-chilling stare at the green-haired man, "Not you too Osman!"
xxxx
The cruise had come to an end.
Serph frowned; that wasn't even a cruise!
'It's just a merry-go-round-the-bay kinda thing.' he thought; unimpressed.
Shaking his head, he decided to focus on the present instead. Again, his pink-haired friend plagued his mind. Again, he frowned. They had been so close yet so far from one another. Time and time again, he had failed to communicate with her.
They always seemed to miss each other; never really meeting at the same place and time.
He let out a breath of frustration and grabbed his cell phone. Where did she disappear to now?
He quickly dialed her number.
"Hello…?"
"Argilla! Hi! It's me!" he spoke cheerfully, forgetting his frustration all of a sudden, as he walked away from the pier.
"Hey Serph!"
"Erm, where are you?"
"Me?" she asked through the line, somewhat breathless.
This made the silver-haired man raise an eyebrow. Breathless? Why was she breathless?
"Where are you?" he asked again; calmly, although his nerves cared to disagree with him…
"I'm at the Burj!" she replied, laughing a bit, her breathlessness still evident.
Serph's silver eyes widened into saucers, "T-the Burj…?" he repeated, shocked. Everyone knew that the Burj was at least a twenty-minute drive from the pier. How the heck did she get there!? The ship docked just ten minutes before!
'She…she didn't even say goodbye…' he thought, a bit hurt.
"Erm, yea. We're at the Burj…You see…" she trailed off; her voice breaking off within every other syllable.
Serph pressed the phone to his ear and heard the distinct sound of her heels clashing against the Burj's marble floors.
She was running.
'But why…?' he asked, curious.
"We?" he asked, cutting her off.
"Yea!" she responded, "Harley and I are here! We just dashed from the pier! Sorry about that! But…huff…puff…" she panted as she continued to run, "But we really had to split! Anyway, Serph! I'll talk to you later!"
And without further words, the line went dead.
Serph put away his cell phone and there set out to find his fellow processors…
'See…?' the voice asked venomously, returning with a vengeance.
'See what!?' asked Serph.
'Smart guys get everything; especially the girls.'
At that, the voice disappeared, leaving Serph stunned.
xxxx
"Phew…" she sighed with a euphoric hint as she exited the lavatory.
Still having that blissful grin upon her lips, with her eyes half-lidded with the feeling of weird but intoxicating serenity, Argilla walked into the waiting area where her trainer sat, waiting for her.
Harley met his trainee's drunken expression with a sharp grin and there bared his teeth, "So, how was it? Good eh?"
Argilla sighed, "Oh yea…! You can say that again!" she breathed out.
The older man chuckled, "Sorry to cut it short from the pier…" he started to say.
"Nonsense!" Argilla said sharply, waving her hand dismissively, "You had…er, needs that were more important…!" she said, coughing, a grin appearing upon her luscious lips.
At that point, Harley couldn't help but blush and there coughed in return and muttered in reply, "Just…just don't mention that to anyone." he reminded her as he begun to walk away.
Argilla grinned after him right before running to catch up to him.
She giggled, "Nah. Your secret is safe with me. But Harley, why didn't you…?" she hinted.
At the sound of her question, Harley's cheeks were once more flushed and there he muttered with a tone of finality, "Because I don't think restrooms on that ship were sanitary!" he hissed.
Argilla froze as she saw the seriousness in his facial expression; but still, she couldn't help but laugh.
"What the heck is so funny?" he snapped.
"Nothing!" she quickly replied, "It's just that I had the same idea. I didn't go there either. Nu-uh!" she finished with a slight shake of the head.
Gladdened that she agreed with him, the auburn-haired man nodded and proceeded to walk with her in tow.
"But still…" Argilla said as she lightly giggled, "I don't want you to…hahaha…" she trailed off, laughing.
Harley knew what she was getting at but pretended to know otherwise. He figured that paying attention to her would only egg her on. And so, he pretended as if he didn't hear her…
"It's just hilarious…hahah." she said, now holding her stomach, as she continued her merry-making, "The way you were squirming…in your seat…hahahahah as you held it in…hahahha." she trailed off as she laughed.
Harley blushed furiously, "Hey! Stop that! It's a natural thing to do you know?!"
"Hahahah…" she laughed as she remembered as Harley endlessly fidgeted in his seat in his car, moving from left to right with uneasiness oozing from his overall persona, his legs closed together as he fought the desire to release all…
"But that was funny boss…" she said again.
Harley rolled his eyes as he continued to blush; so he had a bladder problem! So what…?!
'Bah!'
"Women…"
xxxx
Serph looked out the window from the bus that he rode in. The gathering was over and now they were to return to the bank's main branch where they all had left their cars.
His other fellow processors had been with him…but for some reason, as they talked and laughed, he couldn't seem to bring himself to join them.
He sighed; sure he enjoyed being with the team and meeting his RBEs…but that wasn't enough for him.
No it wasn't.
That cruise…
He and Argilla had talked about it ever since they had heard the announcement about it.
That was a month prior.
She was still in training under him at that time. They both had been so excited about it…But time and time again, their planning didn't work out as the cruise had been postponed not once but twice.
And by the time that it had pushed through…she was no longer in his care.
But even then, as they heard that the cruise was to take place finally and with her being in Harley's tutelage, they really didn't stop planning on spending time together during that time…
As his mind began to meander about that time, a small smile began to creep upon Serph's lips.
Flashback
"So…We'll be going on that cruise. Won't that be fun!?" asked the girl in front of him excitedly.
He smiled, "Yea. Definitely. You'll get to meet the other RBEs outside Mortimer's team."
At that, she frowned, "But…"
"But what?" he asked, concerned as he saw the swift change in her demeanor.
"I've heard from other people that those guys are…snobbish."
Serph laughed at that; was she getting insecure?
"Don't worry too much about them. Our team, well, both processor and RBE team for Ajna and the Northern Tribes are still the best in the whole country you know?"
At that, Argilla smiled, "Really?"
"Yea." he nodded, "We have the least number of discrepancies, RTO and penalties for unresolved discrepancies. And the best RBEs are found in our team."
He watched as the girl nodded and walked over to the nearby chair where she sat gracefully, "So, by the time that cruise thing is here…well, I'll probably be moving out to the showroom."
Serph really didn't' know why but as she said that, a slight prick of pain poked his chest.
"Yes. You'll be moving to the showroom."
"I'll miss you." deadpanned the girl, catching the silver-haired man off guard.
At that point, Serph's eyes widened for a moment before reverting back to their normal sizes, and there smiled at her, "I'll miss you too."
Argilla then smiled, "Then…It's just proper that I give you something to remember me by!"
Serph raised an eyebrow, "No…no. You don't have to do that. It's not necessary. Besides, it's not like I won't ever get to see or speak to you again."
Argilla frowned, "I know we'll still talk…But it won't be the same. It won't be like the way we are now. When I leave from this place, I won't be your trainee anymore. I'll be RBE and you'll be processor."
Serph's smile crumbled slightly and slowly as he considered her words.
"Well, I suppose so. But we'll still be friends." he told her.
Argilla shook her head, "I've made up my mind! I'll get you something and give it to you during the cruise! It'll be a keepsake and a reminder of the times we spent together." she told him wholeheartedly, sincerity written all over her eyes.
Serph laughed, "You really don't have to do that. I don't want anything from your side."
Argilla growled as she feigned anger, "I'll give you something because I want to give you something! Because I want to! Hmph! So there!" she huffed defiantly, crossing her arms and whipping to her side.
At seeing her behavior, another warm smile found its way on Serph's lips. He really would miss his oddball of a trainee.
"Well…" he trailed off, "There is something I want."
The girl's ears perked up at the sound of her trainer's proposal and there she whipped around to face him, "And that is?"
Still holding that warm smile and with his silver eyes gently yet firmly boring into her pink orbs, he spoke softly yet resolutely, "I just want a hug."
Argilla's lips tugged upwards, "You got it."
End flashback
Serph sighed.
A hug.
Yes; that was what he was supposed to get from her…
But it would seem that fate wouldn't have it and there tossed them far apart from one another.
'Hm…Planning never does me any good.' he thought hopelessly to himself.
'I wonder. Is she home now…? Or did she and Harley go out for the evening?' again, as he heard himself ask that question, did his gut tie itself in a knot.
Maybe…he was better off not knowing.
He then shook his head, 'Why would I be bothered?! It's…it's none of my business who she likes and dates and…'
'Well, who ever said anything about her liking someone or dating someone?' asked the ever pesky voice that was his inner self.
At that, Serph let out a breath of frustration.
There was just no way that he could ever win against his inner self.
'Why is it that…that voice is more logical than I am?' he asked himself.
He sighed again as his thoughts once more focused on his pink-haired friend.
'She's just a friend. She's a friend…' he repeated in his mind over and over as if a mantra.
'Oh yea?' asked the voice, 'Then why are you holding the damn phone in your ear, after dialing her number…?'
Serph froze at that.
'Argilla…'
xxxx
A/N: Terms:
RTO/ Return to Initiator: Phase in proposal when RCC requires additional application documents failed to be provided by the RBE; the loan proposal has been "returned" to the "initiator" and is neither declined or approved, but is pending for review.
Burj: A mall.