"So how's Kimberly condition, Sir?” Nicholas called for the man in front of him.

“Is she your girlfriend?" Before Nicholas answered, the doctor spoke again. “Your girlfriend has indicated nyctophobia, Sir."

Nicholas frowned. He seemed strange to hear what the doctor had just told. “Can you explain what you mean just now?”

The doctor nodded. “So, your girlfriend has a psychological disturbance where a woman has an extra fear of the dark. People who have this disorder can experience panic or anxiety disorders when in a place that has no lighting, even in their bedroom. Fear of the dark is often experienced by children aged 2-8 years. However, it is possible that adults or adolescents also have it. So far, we do not know the cause of the emergence of dark phobia with certainty. However, several studies have shown that people who have a phobia of darkness may have experienced a traumatic event in a darkened place so that he feels a great fear when he returns to a darkened place.”

"Can it cure this?" Nicholas asked again.

While writing the recipe, the doctor talks to him. "I suggest your lover do therapy. Because excessive fear of the dark can make people with phobias feel depressed and uncomfortable. Dark phobias can even cause a person to experience insomnia and seriously interfere with mental health."

Nicholas gasped at the doctor's explanation this time. He didn't expect that the woman, who had been looking so cheerful and brave in front of him, had such a high level of fear.

"This is a recipe that you must exchange for your girlfriend, I hope Miss Kimberly can come to her senses and recover from her illness.” Nicholas nodded and then grabbed the paper containing the doctor's prescription.

Meanwhile, on the bed, Kimberly blinked. Trying to muster up her strength just to open her eyes. When her eyes were opened, she looked confused. There was something unusual about what she was seeing immediately.

"Where am I?"

"This isn't my room, is it?"

That was the first question that popped into Kimberly's mind. Because when she opened her eyes, it fixed her gaze on a room dominated by a distinctive white color. Seen near to where he lay, there were several medical types of equipment, such as oxygen panels, infusion poles, and a portable dining table vacuum. This is part of a hospital area.

Not to mention the curiosity in her head, a man he knew very well came in and approached her. “Are you awake? How are you feeling?" The question was the first to be heard. There was an accompanying worry in his deep voice.

Kimberly nodded. “I guess I'm getting better. Sorry if I've bothered you. I'd better move home now.” Kimberly then straightened herself. She tried to get up from her sleeping position.

Seeing the young woman in front of him who forced herself to get up, Nicholas leaned forward. He seemed to try to block the intentions of the young woman in front of him. "Wait! I don't think you're going anywhere. You haven't fully recovered yet." hold, Nicholas.

"But I have to go home, sir. I can't stay here long," Kimberly pleaded.

Nicholas was silent for a moment, considering Kimberly's request to come home. He had no right to forbid her to leave. But somehow, he feels so worry and afraid that at home, what happened to Kimberly before will happen again. But again, Nicholas realized he was nobody to care about too much. After all, what he was doing was only limited to anxiety between a boss and his assistant.

Nicholas could confirm that. "You can't move home yet. Just rest first. For tomorrow, you don't need to work, either. I'll give you a day off until your condition improves."

Kimberly gasped at what Nicholas said. “But, sir---” “Stay here for a while, or do you want me kick you from office?”

Good grief! Is that an option? The point sounds the same. If she agreed, she had to stay in the hospital for a while and if he refused, he would have lost his job. Kimberly couldn't help but obey what Nicholas' ordered. One of them also had to faint until his boss took her to the hospital.

"Now just get on with your rest. I have to go home. If you need anything, you can call the nurse or just call me right away.” Kimberly nodded in response. No need to wait long, the hazel-eyed man left, leaving the assistant alone in his room.

***

Early in the morning, Nicholas parked his car in the hospital parking lot. Walking a little hastily, he then arrived in the room where Kimberly was resting. He saw the woman was still fast asleep on the bed. Sneaking a little, Nicholas arrived in and placed the bag containing some fruit and food on the table. After making sure his assistant was okay, Nicholas walked out again, then prepared to go to the office.

Entering his room, the presence of Jacob, who was there, shocked Nicholas. It surprised him that his best friend didn't even know him, he was coming to Los Angeles and stopped by his room.

"Were you surprised by my return?” said Jacob. The man walked closer. Then hugged Nicholas's body. Thereafter, the two of them were seen sitting together on the guest's sofa.

"Since when did you arrive in Los Angeles? Why didn't you tell me first?” Jacob laughed at the annoyed tone of his friend's words. He wanted to surprise Nicholas.

"My arrival wasn't planned. I turned to Los Angeles because Mom asked me to attend her birthday party at this weekend. You know how my Mother is.”

Nicholas gave me an understanding. “Well, I realize Mrs. Luna Grey very closely. Every time she celebrates anything, she always wants all the members to gather.”

Jacob laughed in agreement. “Yeah, that's why I'm here now. Then how was the company? Was there any problem while I was away?”

Nicholas shook his head. “So far, everything is going nicely. Especially after you sent Edward here. At least we can get almost all the big tenders. We are preparing the construction of the largest indoor games complex in America."

Jacob laughed with satisfaction. “I've never been wrong in choosing. Even though you know that one of your best friends is often crazy, at least he's always total in his work."

Not to mention, after the conversation between Nicholas and Jacob, there was a knock on the door once, followed by the entry of a man they had been discussing for a long time. "I'm guessing you guys must be talking about me," the man said. Without being greeted, the man seemed to walk over to the sofa and sat down next to Jacob.

Jacob laughed at Edward's comments.

"You've always been confident.”

"Sorry, I'm a beginner and still learning. Instead of confidence, Nicholas and I learn from you, young master Jacob?”

This time, Jacob couldn't hold back his laughter at Edward's comments. Of the three of them, they knew Edward to be the smartest in joking and communicating. That's why many women out there fall in love with all his seduction. Even, his prowess is also influential in convincing investors to cooperate.

"By the way, where's Kimberly? I haven't seen her in a while?”

"Whether Kimberly is in her room, that's none of your business, Ed,” Nicholas responded flatly.

Jacob, who did not understand, then, frowned. “Kimberly? Who is Kimberly?” he asked, confused. “Nicholas's new assistant, an employee in the planning division. Too bad, before I moved here, Nicholas had already pulled her into an assistant. Otherwise, she might be my assistant,” Edward responded with a meaningful smile.

Nicholas looked straight at Edward. “Stop teasing her, Ed. I told you not to bother my assistant."

"Oh come on, Nicholas, I warned you. If you don't show up forward, I'll be the one approaching Kimberly.”

"Wait a minute!” cut off Jacob. “Don't tell me you two are fighting over a girl? Nick, are you serious this time?”

Nicholas snorted in annoyance at Jacob's question. But before the man could refute Jacob's words, from behind the door, a beautiful woman entered who was holding a toddler boy. "Am I interrupting your conversation?" the woman asked as she walked in.

"Alma, I miss you so much."

Nicholas stand from his seat and spread his arms, intending to hug the woman who was now walking toward him.

"You think I don't miss you? I'm bored in London just looking at Kiano's face!" Alma chuckles, feeling annoyed. Nicholas laughed at Alma's words. Then the man reached out and carried a toddler who was none other than Cristian, Jacob, and Alma's son.

Nicholas' attitude suddenly warmed up when he met Alma Grey. The only woman who was treated specially by him. He always said Alma was different from most women out there. Moreover, Nicholas knows very well how Alma sacrificed when he first had a relationship with Jacob. That was the main reason Nicholas loved Alma like his sister.

"So, how long will you be staying in Los Angeles?" Edward asked.

"Perhaps two weeks, considering that a company in London can't stay around too long, I also can't bear to let Caroline take care of everything herself."

Alma who was still standing near the sofa immediately took out an invitation card from his bag. The woman then handed the invitation to her husband. "This is my mom's birthday invitation. I hope you both come to the party. Don't forget to bring your respective partners," said Jacob.

Nicholas looked at Jacob with a look that was hard to decipher. Realizing this, Jacob spoke again. "If you're close to your assistant, you can bring her along, Nick. It wouldn't hurt to introduce her to the rest of us."

Edward laughed at Jacob's words. It was clear the man was challenging Nicholas to bring a woman to his mother's birthday party. The man thought this must be very interesting. Will Nicholas later accept the challenge? Or still insist on going alone.

"What is certain is that if you come alone, please let me know, Nick. That means I will be the one who will come forward to invite Kimberly to come together at Aunt Luna's birthday."

Before Nicholas could answer, Jacob took over the conversation. "I don't care about your rivalry, definitely I look forward to you two. Then, my wife and I say goodbye to go home first. See you next time.”

Edward also followed in the footsteps of Jacob and Alma, who walked out of the room. While Nicholas sat for a moment, then took a huffy breath. Sometimes Jacob would challenge him to bring his secretary with him to his mother's birthday party.

Speaking of Kimberly, Nicholas only realized that it was already noon. That means it's already lunchtime. The man quickly rushed to the parking lot and steered his vehicle towards the hospital. He just wanted to make sure she had eaten her lunch or not. I don't know why he cares so much about his secretary's current state. This is only a matter of concern between boss and assistant.

"I'm pretty sure it means nothing more than that. This is pure humanity. Isn't that right, Nicholas?"

Along the way, Nicholas kept on convincing himself until, without realizing his car had arrived at the hospital yard. It didn't take long for Nicholas to arrive in the room where Kimberly was being treated. However, when he got there, Nicholas did not find Kimberly. The room looked clean, as if no one was occupying it.

Confused, the man pointed his feet towards the hospital reception room. "Excuse me, may I know where the VIP room patient Kimberly Ryder is?" Nicholas asked the nurse.

The nurse smiled and then answered. “The VIP room patient Kimberly left a few hours ago, sir."

"Already out? Have you got the doctor's approval on duty?" asked Nicholas in disbelief.

The nurse nodded. "The patient had been examined. The doctor stated that his condition had improved, so the case went home.”

"Okay, thanks for the information."

After hearing the nurse's explanation, Nicholas returned to his office. As soon as Nicholas arrived at the building, just before he came in the elevator, the man bumped into Keyra and Alex. They both seemed to have just returned from the cafeteria.

"Key, can you come to my room for a moment?" Nicholas asked.

Keyra and Alex were stunned at the same moment. During her lifetime working at Pandora, Keyra she had come in the CEO's office several times to ask for approval signatures. However, when asked by the owner of the room, this was the first time.

"All right, sir." Keyra and Alex took a different lift from Nicholas. After arriving at the fifteenth floor, she headed for the CEO's office.

"Please have a seat," Nicholas begged when she was already in the room. Timidly, she sat herself down in the chair opposite Nicholas.

"You realize where Kimberly's house is?" Keyra looked up, looking at Richard in disbelief.

"Why? Is there something wrong with my question?" Nicholas asked again. Keyra shook her head many times. She was just confused why her boss, who was cold, asked for the address of her best friend's house.

Did they have something, she thought at the time. "Excuse me, mister. I didn't mean it that way. If it's the Kimberly house, I know. I can tell you."

Nicholas nodded briefly then asked again. "What about a cell phone number? Do you have one?"

This time, Keyra smiled even more. It didn't go unnoticed by Nicholas. It made the man a little embarrassed. "Don't think like that, I have work to tell her. While the cellphone number registered with the company appears to be inactive. Who knows Kimberly has another number," said the man, making Keyra smile amused.

“It's ok, sir. Even if there's something wrong, it's not a problem for me either. Kimberly has two cellphone numbers. One is for work and the other is for personal use," explained the girl. “For your information, Kimberly is a good girl. Even in the previous division, many male employees liked her. If mister doesn't hurry. I can't guarantee that your secretary will continue to be available,” said Keyra.

I don't know where that courage came from, so Keyra heated her famously could boss. In his heart, she was smiling with satisfaction, at seeing the expression on Nicholas. The look on his face was a sign of vigilance.

"I don't care whether he likes it or not. It's none of my business. Right now, I just need her home address and personal cell phone number."

Nicholas could have asked Randy, the driver, for Kimber's home address. It's just that the driver doesn't have the woman's cell phone number. Instead of working twice, he'd better ask Keyra, who is Kimberly's best friend.

Keyra looked at Nicholas, as if doubting what his boss had said. To make Nicholas look awkward again. Keyra wanted to laugh with satisfaction in front of her boss. But for professionalism, the woman just nodded. "Okay, I'll write Kimberly's exact address and cell phone number." After writing what Nicholas aksed for on a piece of paper, Keyra told goodbye to leave the room.

"For God's sake, Nicholas! Am I crazy to ask the address and mobile number of a girl?"

***

The wind blew through the gap in the wooden windows. The light of the sun that was bright has today turned gloomy, showing that the day is turning into night. From time to time, the fear, and anxiety that had arisen from previous events still felt terrible.

Wind, can't you take all these haunting feelings with you? While staring at the ceiling of the room, Kimberly recalled the memory of what had happened a dozen years ago. At that time, she and her mother had to be trapped in a room when a big fire was engulfing their house.

"Mom, it's dark. Kimmy's scared. Are we both going to die?" Kimberly wept in terror.

Kimberly's mom cupped her daughter's face with both hands. “Look at Mama, honey,” Kimberly's mom begged. “We'll both be safe. Now Kimmy is praying that the firefighters come to our aid soon.”

Kimberly nodded after hearing her mother's words. Not long after, they heard a scream from outside the window from the rescue workers. There was a feeling of relief accompanying both of them. However, before being rescued, the wall of the room that was sturdy collapsed and fell on the mom and child. After that, everything turned dark.

As Kimberly recalled, when she opened her eyes, she was already in the hospital after being in a coma for several days. Not only that, Kimberly also had to accept the fact that her mom had passed away. Serious burns from protecting Kimberly from falling walls, the main cause of her mother's death. Kimberly wiped her tears that fell without her asking. When she recalled the incident, her chest felt uncomfortable. It's been ten years, but it still feels the same. Hurtful.

Still clutching her tight chest, the sound of her cell phone ringing distracted her. Look at the name that appears behind the screen, Keyra's name is printed there.

"Hello..."

"Kimmy!" Shouted the woman on the other side.

Kimberly moved the phone off from her ear. “Key! I'm not deaf. So please don't scream like crazy!”

Keira laughed on the other side. “Sorry, I just wanted to ask how you're doing? Are you feeling good?”

Kimberly took a deep breath. “It's much better, tomorrow I work again as usual.”

"Thank God, I'm sorry that Alex and I haven't had the chance to visit you yet. By the way, I have big information."

Kimberly's face looked enthusiastic. “What important information?" She asked curiously.

"You want to know?" asked Keyra playing with Kimberly's feelings.

"Key! I'm serious."

Keyra was heard laughing again, but not long after she spoke again. "Mr. Nicholas asked me to give you your cell phone number."

"Then?"

"I gave him what he requested for. He seemed to be worried about why you didn't turn to work. By the way, did Mr. Nicholas not realize that you were sick?” she asked.

Ah, you just don't know that it was Mr.Nicholas who took me to the hospital.

Keyra and Alex previously had time to ask about Kimberly, who didn't come to the office. The woman only gave an excuse for not coming to work because she wasn't feeling well. Neither of his two friends knew that Kimberly was brought by Nicholas to the hospital because he had fainted in the archive building.

"Kimmy, hello. You're still awake, right?" Keyra asked when she found Kimberly, who was silent for a long time.

"Yes, I hear you. Then what else do you want to tell me? Is that all?"

"Yeah, I just needed to know how you were and then just give me that information. Well, rest today, so you can be fresh tomorrow when you turn to work.”

"Don't worry. See you tomorrow at the office," said Kimberly, ending the phone call from Keyra.

Just needed to put the cellphone on the nightstand. Suddenly the flat object rang again. It forced an anonymous number to be picked up. Kimberly touched the green icon on the screen as a sign of receiving a call.

"Hello?"

Silence, there is no answer at all on the other side. Kimberly was confused about whether the call was disconnected. Kimberly waited long enough. Until she felt no one answered, the woman ended the call.

However, just as he was about to press the red mark, a deep male voice sounded out there.

"Can you move out? I'm in front of your house now."