***

Upon opening his eyes, the first thing Luther saw was an unfamiliar shed ceiling coated in a dark brown color. He could distinctly hear the pitter-patter of rain droplets close by with no signs of stopping anytime soon. As he propped himself up, only then he was able to notice a presence in his peripheral vision.

Luther could see a woman's shapely back, her spine as straight as a needle as it exuded a unique charm. She was sitting nonchalantly on a nearby wooden bench, shielded by the same refuge as him, her thoughts seemed to be wandering elsewhere.

As she broke free from her rumination, she saw Luther behind him who had just regained his strength to move.

"Are you trying to kill yourself, Luther?", she asked sternly but with more concern in her voice.

'Elen..', without responding to the woman's voice, Luther appraised the familiar woman in front of him. Elen West, his direct superior with the position of Senior Associate Consultant in the same organization as him.

She was wearing a black, long-sleeve cardigan, beneath it was a white spaghetti strap that barely covered her delectable collar bones. Luther could not help but inadvertently glance at her protruding cleavage as any healthy man would. Her long, slender legs were clad in black tight-fitting jeans, underlining her perfect curves.

'How was she able to maintain such figure while juggling all those work assigned to her', Luther wondered.

In all honesty, he did not really have a good impression of her. Elen was a slave driver and absurdly rigorous when it comes to accomplishing her objectives. When their team did not meet the desired target, she would rain hell upon them by issuing unsolicited overtimes. Her desire to climb the corporate ladder had been too excessive, bordering obsession, and was known by all.

'Who knows why she would grind work as if there's no tomorrow', similar of such remarks would often enter Luther's ears when he was at the office.

Still, Elen is much better than all the swine sitting behind those luxurious desks whose only good at superficially exerting effort. They would take tea and cigarette breaks as often as how traffic lights change colors. And when their performance evaluation fell into the negative, the blame would then be shifted to those beneath them, refusing accountability.

Elen's redeeming factor was despite her being unreasonable at times, she would fulfill her commitment such as paying their dues on time. She did not hog all the credit for herself but instead offered appreciation to her team as she deemed fit. More often than not, she would personally buy meals for her staff when necessary. It's just that her scolding is a bit too unrestrained as she would mercilessly rake them over the coals when they fail to accomplish something.

As he awoke from his contemplation, "Hey, Luther, are you listening?", he could hear Elen's voice once again as she leaned towards him, with both hands on her hips. As Luther looked deep into her eyes, he could subtly see the weariness which her piercing gaze could not conceal.

Before he could offer a response, the earlier events of his father's death resurfaced in his mind. Luther felt suffocated as he fought back tears welling in his eyes. Elen, sensing Luther's unstable condition, did not inquire further as she held out her hands and placed them on Luther's tear-stained face.

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"Where's your place, I'll take your home." Without waiting for Luther's consent, she forcibly grabbed his shoulders with adequate force to lift him up and locked it with hers. They then began walking towards a white sedan parked nearby, under the bedarkened and weeping sky.

If observed closely at a distance, one could see a firm stature of a woman dragging a defenseless man with drooping shoulders.

***

Upon arriving at the entrance of Luther's residence, Luther offered his most heartfelt gratitude to Elen as he bid her farewell. Turning his back from her, albeit with reluctance, he inserted his door's key into the lock. A feeble creaking noise could be heard and as the door swung wide open, and the stifling feeling of solitude swirled within him. But before he could take a step inside into the darkness, a forceful yet warm hand grabbed his shoulder from behind.

"Hey, is this how you treat a woman after going through such lengths of sending you home?", As Luther turned back to face her, he could see her full body soaking wet. Her short chocolate brown hair was now drenched as each droplet trickled down towards her luscious chest. As the wet fabric of her clothes clung intimately on her skin, she exuded a sensual appeal that would certainly invoke the inner desires of any grown-up man.

"Do you need something else?", Luther asked in a voice devoid of life. "Of course I need something, I need a warm bath..!". She then pushed Luther with both hands as they greeted the dreary room, each having their own respective thoughts which remained veiled by their identities as colleagues.

While Luther was lifelessly laying on a couch with his eyes closed, Elen strutted across the room as if she personally owned the place. She scavenged the entire residence for items that would help her experience a decent bath. Soon enough, her efforts were rewarded as she found a pair of slippers, a towel, and a man's trousers and shirt. 'What an overbearing woman, I wonder how any man would be able to cope with such self-centered personality'.

Several moments later, while Luther was steadily calming his distraught emotions, he heard the sound of running water. 'She really took a bath here. Well, not that it matters, I would instead feel bad if she caught a cold'.

'At the very least, I should do something for her', with this thought, Luther stood from the couch and began walking towards the kitchen. He switched the stove on as tongues of flame sprouted from the burner. With familiarity, he turned the control knob to adjust the heat.

About twenty-odd minutes battling against several raw ingredients, switching from one weapon to another, a soothing aroma permeated throughout the house. The smell brought back fond memories of the past as Luther felt melancholic. This time, he was all alone, he thought.

Just as Luther was dutifully scooping portions of chicken noodle soup inside a bowl, he could hear a 'flip-flop, flip-flop' noise coming from the bathroom. Not long after, he could see Elen's figure garbed in his casual clothes. Despite the clothes hanging loosely on her body, it instead gave off a wonderful allure as if trying to provoke a man's adventurous side.

He could also mildly smell a floral scent from her as it playfully tickled his nostrils.

"It smells good!", unaware of Luther's thoughts, Elen commented as if it's the most natural thing to do. "Eat it while it's warm", Luther placed a half-filled bowl of soup as he walked towards the other end of the table, and began eating his share. Not standing on ceremony, Elen likewise sat on the opposite side facing him directly.

Moments went by uneventfully as they both focused on consuming their food. Elen never inquired about his present situation nor asked anything related to his family. It is as if she had already known of his troubles and avoided needlessly poking on the matter.

Eventually, Elen bid goodbye, "I'll return this to you when we meet at the office, so be sure to remind me when we meet next time, okay..?" she said while pinching the shirt around her chest with both hands and slightly stretching it outwards.

"Got it", Luther said in response as he opened the door for her.

With one less person in his abode, Luther surprisingly felt emptier than he had initially expected. He switched off the lights out of habit and only kept one open near the dining hall, he then walked towards the kitchen sink and started washing the dishes and utensils religiously.

A few moments later, a man's pained and suppressed weeping echoed throughout the room as the lack of better illumination only added to the already depressing ambiance.