Rogue Hearts | PJM ✅

Chp. 9: Hurricane Lily

Dallia's POV 🌼

I had a terrible night's sleep, but I must face the day. That is the one downside of being self-employed with no other employees. You have to show up for work no matter what happens in your personal life. There is nobody else to rely on.

I have no one anymore.

The thought echoes in my mind and weighs heavy on me as I try and brush away my heartbreak and start my day. When I finally arrive at work, Ari and Lily are in the lobby, looking at me expectedly.

Lily walks over to me with the kindest eyes, and I can already tell she knows what happened. "How about a hug? We're super huggy over here," she smiles gently.

I can't help but nod my head yes. Lily wraps me in a tight hug, and the next thing I know, Ari is joining in, and I can't help but chuckle.

"Please, if you keep this up, I'm going to cry," I whimper with a tiny smile as we break apart.

"Do you have lessons scheduled this morning?" Lily asks.

"No, I usually work on paperwork and processing payments, balancing the books, etc., this early in the morning," I reply.

"Oh good, I'm treating my people to breakfast this morning because they've all been working so hard. Come along, you are my people now, too," Lily smiles.

"Oh, no, I can't intrude on your kindness," I begin, but I'm cut off by a woman I don't recognize.

"What? Of course, you can!" The woman exclaims. She has purple streaks that wind through her dark mane, and she's wearing combat boots paired with a purple and black plaid dress; I can't help but think she looks impossibly cool.

"Agreed, we're family around here. You might as well just give in immediately because we are going to suck you in any way!" another woman adds.

Her hair is stylishly pulled back in a high ponytail, and she's the complete opposite of the woman in purple. She looks like a fairy dressed in a soft pink blouse and a long white eyelet skirt that dances across her sandals where perfectly painted pink toenails peek out. "I'm Heyon, by the way."

"Oh, and I'm Nabi. Come along! I'm starving," the woman in purple says, nudging me along, and I feel like I'm being politely kidnapped.

The women lead me down the hallway I recognize and into the conference room where Ha-Kun is setting up the food.

"Hey, Dallia! It's good to see you!" he calls out, not seeming surprised to see me, and I wave hello.

I put down my bag while Lily tells me not to be shy, so I join in putting some food together on a plate. I haven't had it in me to eat much since Dae and I fell apart, and for the first time in days, I realize my body is ready for food. Sitting down with my plate, I listen to everyone begin to chatter, feeling a bit awkward since I don't work with them.

"So, Dallia," Lily's voice calls out, and everyone quiets down. "I wanted to talk to you about an idea that's been swimming around in my mind since I visited your chorus class."

My head tilts to the side as I try and imagine what she could be talking about.

"Besides working with my clientele, I'm also working on a new album, and I want to know if you would be interested in helping me with the background vocals," Lily asks.

"Uh," is all that comes out of my mouth that is now hanging on the floor.

"After listening to you sing in your class, I realized our voices mesh perfectly. I record quite a bit of my own backup vocals, but I could really use another voice to make the sound more robust."