Lost and Found ✓

i. hart

HART

"He looks so gloomy today, too."

"His mood is kinda scary, isn't it? Gives you the impression that he's so damn depressed. I wouldn't be surprised if, one day, he also decided to do what his sister did."

"Hush. Lower your voice. He might hear you."

A sigh escapes from me as I hear my officemates start to gossip about the same topic again. They just don't get tired of it, do they? Saying something about a co-worker behind their back is terrible enough, but what these people are doing is much worse than that. Not only do they talk about the guy, but they also do about his sister. About his dead sister.

Pricks. These people are.

"Hart."

At the mention of my name, I stop typing and look up from the screen of my office computer. Staring at me is the current favorite subject of this company's gossipmongers. Aziel.

He does look tired, I mentally note. What with the dark circles under his eyes.

"I just sent you an email of the report your team manager requested from our department," Aziel tells me, but I am too busy assessing his weary face to actually listen. "So-" he pauses, probably realizing that he's not getting any response from me. This time, he speaks tentatively. "Can you please check on it?"

"Oh." Blinking, I snap out of my thoughts. "Oh yeah, sure. I'll do it."

I flash him a grin in the hope that it will break the awkwardness that I didn't notice has built up. All I get in return is a nod before Aziel walks out of our department's office.

A minute has passed, and I can still feel the stares of our colleagues on me. They have been like that since Aziel and I were talking. I pretend not to notice them and focus on my work instead. At least, they never approach me to talk about the guy if it's not work-related. Maybe they know that I am going to shut them off anyway if they even try. Good thing that they are aware.

I honestly don't understand these people's recent obsession with a coworker. I mean, I do know what started it. I know the reason why they gossip about him. But I never get the appeal of talking negatively about someone else's personal life.

The truth is that Aziel wasn't always the miserable guy people see now. In fact, he and his sister, Ariel, used to be two of the most promising employees of this company. Both bright and talented, our colleagues had high regard for them. Older ones trusted them; younger ones aspired to be them. It seemed like everything was going well for the siblings. That is, until Ariel's incident.

A couple of months ago, Ariel was found dead by their parents in her room. The final findings revealed that the cause of death was a sleeping pill overdose. It was a suicide.

Not surprisingly, the incident created a huge buzz in our company. The woman, whom everyone thought was living a perfect life, killed herself for a reason that no one can fathom. Why would someone who had it all choose to end her life? That was the biggest question that went around in the workplace.

Unsolicited opinions were given. Apparently, when someone dies by suicide, people think it's an excuse for them to judge the dead and call them things like "selfish," "coward," "weak," "crazy," "sinful." They don't even know what that person had gone through, yet they think they do. They always think they know better.

Few people were genuinely devastated by Ariel's death. Needless to say, it shattered Aziel the most. When his sister died, it was like the old Aziel died with her too. It has been months, but he has never been cheerful again since that time. He's still smart, still reliable at work, but the liveliness he used to have is gone. He is just like a walking empty shell now.