Enemies by Fate, Lovers by Choice

Mira took a deep breath after her phone alarm went off. She massaged her neck and stretched her head, as she had been reading documents. The alarm was set at a specific time when Luna was on break. Mira had actually planned to call tomorrow, but there was a time difference between them, and Luna might be resting at that time.

 

Mira got up and drank a glass of water. Then, she called Luna.

 

The phone rang a few times before it was picked up.

 

"Mira?"

 

"Are you busy?"

 

"No."

 

"... " 

Mira pondered what to say, as she didn't actually have much to say, and it was still hard for her to start a conversation. However, she still called in the end.

 

Luna patiently waited for Mira to talk, as she already knew some of Mira's character. It was actually ironic as she think about it, as she and Mira could talk more now even if it's just over the phone than when Mira was still in the country.

 

"Mom said you're too busy but still come to the house more often. She's worried that you might be having a hard time." Mira said after her long silence 

 

"Just a little busy, but not a big deal. Your house is just nearby anyway. But yeah, at work, it's hard. You know it's not the same as before, where we could still take our time to analyze our paperwork. Now everything needs to be done, or your work would pile up," Luna answered, as she complained.

 

"Yes, but it won't take long for you to be able to keep up with others. Just don't stress yourself too much."

 

"Haaa... thankfully my coworkers are friendly, but our supervisor will always put pressure on us." Luna massaged her forehead every time she thought of her supervisor.

 

Mira laughed a little, as she had never seen Luna stress out. "Don't mind him. Just imagine him like an extra."

 

"Did you just laugh at me?"

 

"No."

 

"You did."

 

"No. Anyway, your stress would be lessened if you didn't mind your supervisor."

 

Luna kept silent for a moment before she let Mira slide from laughing at her. "Yeah, what about you? How are you there?"

 

"The same. Language barrier, but thankfully everyone is kind to me. But I still want to keep up with them."

 

"You don't have an annoying supervisor?"

 

"Luckily I don't."

 

Luna looked at her watch. "You're still working at this hour?"

 

"Yeah, but I'll go to sleep later after this call." Mira answered, followed by her yawning. She went inside her room and threw herself on the bed while still talking to Luna.

 

"Did you call me because Aunt said so?" Luna asked as she played with her hair, leaning backward in her chair.

 

"Mom said I should talk to you if you need any advice. It's my idea to call you at this time."

 

"Why?"

 

"So I won't have to disturb you later. Besides, I might get busy these days until the weekends, and I won't have much time to call."

 

Luna listened to Mira's drowsy voice. Then, she said, "It's fine if you call me later. It won't bother me. It would actually be much better, as you can relate to me, and I can talk about a lot of stuff."

 

"Did you just want someone to listen to your rant?"

 

"Yeah."

 

"I see. Then I'll call you in my free time... You can also call me if you want." Mira closed her eyes, leaving the phone to her ears.

 

"Is it fine?"

 

"En..."

 

"Really?"

 

"Yeah..."

 

"Alright."

 

Luna waited for Mira again, but after a minute, Mira still didn't talk, but the phone call was still active. She guessed that Mira might have fallen asleep, but instead of hanging up the phone, she chose to listen to Mira's calm breathing until her break time was over. She reluctantly hung up the phone before getting busy again.

 

...

 

Liva, Luna's coworker whose table was just on Luna's left side, noticed that Luna didn't go to the canteen.

 

"Luna, have you eaten?"

 

"Yes," Luna answered briefly.

 

"But... I didn't see you in the canteen."

 

Luna didn't answer, but Liva was already used to Luna's cold attitude, who would only answer when you asked, but wouldn't take the initiative to start a conversation. However, Luna was still popular at the company compared to other interns because Luna was really capable.

 

Liva felt a little jealous of Luna, but seeing Luna always alone at the company, she felt that there was no need to be jealous about.

 

"Tonight, our supervisor will hold a night party as a welcome party for the newbies."

 

"Tonight?" Luna asked in doubt, as she was not informed.

 

"Yeah, it was just a decision made earlier. If you check our group, you will see it."

 

Luna looked at the group chat, and there was indeed an invitation to everyone to come. She didn't like night parties, but it would be rude not to come.

 

"Okay, thank you for the reminder."

 

"Welcome."

 

Liva went back to her desk while Luna frowned. She knew this kind of night party was normal, but she also knew how hostile her supervisor was to her, so she sent a message to Prima and Tina just to be safe, even if nothing really happened. It was better to be alert. Prima and Tina responded quickly and promised her to be on call.

 

Luna breathed a sigh of relief. She focused herself again on her work and set aside the night party.

 

Time passed quickly, and it was already 8 in the afternoon. Luna was thinking of going to Maria's house for a moment, but she was stopped by Liva.

 

"Luna, the night party," Liva reminded, as she could tell that Luna forgot.

 

"Ah... I forgot. Thank you."

 

"Hahaha, you're too focused that it's normal if you forgot. You know, having a good performance at work is good, but don't forget to have fun too. You're so pretty, popular, and still young. Learn to enjoy," Liva said her opinion. She was jealous of Luna, but seeing Luna so young yet too serious in life, she remembered herself when she was younger. She thought if she did better, she would get a promotion, but nothing happened, and she only missed her opportunities to have fun when she was younger. She could only do that now in her 40s that's why she regretted why she didn't do it in her younger years.