Chapter 04: My Most Embarrassing Moment

Red and Aurelie started walking across Building C using the wing bridges. The two were just left quiet, especially Aurelie just proved herself being one of the most boring people because she cannot open any topic for someone. She wasn't used to telling anyone about anything. Until, curiosity hits Red.

"So… Aurie, right?" he asked.

Aurelie remained looking upfront. "Yes."

"Do you still want to continue the tour?" Red continued.  "You can tell me if you don't want to do it anymore."

"What would Sir Hero say if you tell him that I decided not to continue the tour anymore?" Aurelie asked him.

"Of course it would be our little secret." She glanced at Red and he was just staring at her accompanied with a mischievous smile.

She looks away from him again, and proceeds to feel a bit nervous and awkward. Did she just see Red's troublemaking side? It was unexpected.

Aurelie suddenly stopped walking and so did Red. She started to roam her eyes around the hallway and luckily saw a restroom sign. "I need to... go to the restroom."

Red noticed where Aurelie was looking at. "Uh, sure. I will wait for you here."

Without words, Aurelie immediately walked to the restroom. Upon entering it, she quickly went in front of the sink and looked at herself in the mirror.

"Aurie, come on. Be cool, be cool!" she told herself, encouraging. She breathes in and breathes out for a few times before going inside one of the cubicles.  

She chose to enter the last cubicle and just normally began peeing.

'What a relief…' She thought. 

After peeing, Aurelie fixed herself before trying to remove the door lock. The lock slides out, but the door can't be opened.

"Huh? What's wrong with this one?" she asked herself, trying to pull-open the door to no avail.

Oh shit! This is bad! Why can't she barge open the door even though it's already unlocked?! Since it's a door that can only be opened by pulling, Aurelie's space inside the cubicle wasn't really helping her with the current situation.

Her force of pulling is only limited, which worries her that if she pulls too hard, the door or anything inside the cubicle that is fragile enough could break in no time.

She suddenly thought of taking her phone, but who the hell is she going to call? She only has her mother's phone number and no one else. Aurelie put her phone back in her pockets as she maintained her calmness and made certain attempts of opening the door in any way she could… but it was really impossible for her.

"I really need to call for help. But, what if Red couldn't hear me from the outside?" Aurelie talked to herself.

It's better to try than to do nothing. That's what she thought before clearing up her throat to prepare from calling for help.

"HELP! IS THERE SOMEONE OUT THERE TO HELP?!" 

Aurelie will never know how long she will be inside that cubicle since she also doesn't know if there's someone that could hear her. If Red has enough common sense, he will wonder why she's taking so long in the restroom.

"HELP! ANYBODY?" Aurelie yelled again.

There's still no one responding to her. She only wished for two things: Red hearing her from the outside and using his common sense, or a woman that would enter the restroom so that she could ask help from them.

She waited for about a few more minutes before calling for help again. "HELP!!!"

"Miss, is there something wrong?" A voice. There's a voice responding to her call. Aurelie wasn't sure if she's just hearing things or if it was even real.

"I-I'M STUCK!" She answered.

Murmurs can be heard getting louder as Aurelie hears a few footsteps entering the women's restroom. She wondered how many people were there who entered the restroom.

"Where are you exactly?" The same voice was heard again.

"Last cubicle!" She tapped the door to give them a hint of a sound. The footsteps approached her location and one of them tried to move the door.

"Are you able to open the door?" The same voice asked.

"No. I've unlocked it, but I cannot open the door," Aurelie replied.

"Miss, can you tell us what happened?" Another voice was heard. So, there's two of them.

"I think it's stuck from the inside. I'm not really sure since the door is an open-pull one from the inside," Aurelie replied.

"...it seemed to be really stuck." It was the first guy's voice.

"...can we just kick it open?" The last voice suggested.

"Wait, w-what? Did I hear it correctly… you're going to kick it?" Aurelie questioned nervously. 

"Just what you've heard. However, we're not sure yet because we will obviously break the door, which might cost us thousands of dollars," the first voice said.

"Is there something else you can do aside from kickin' it?" Aurelie asked them.

No one from them responds to her, but she can still feel their presence outside the cubicle.

"We need to make a decision."

"If the decision you're talking about would give us punishment in return, no thank you."

They all let out a sigh.

"By any chance, miss... were you the person that BROS' Red is waiting for outside?" It was a different voice. It wasn't the first guy nor the second guy's voice since theirs were a little cooler. However, this new voice Aurelie heard was warmer.

It doesn't matter anymore how many of these guys are outside. She needs to get out by now!

"Yes, yes! Is Red still waiting outside?" Aurelie asked.

"I'll check if he's still there and probably just call him to lend us a hand." The statement was followed by a single footstep fading. The other must be still inside.

The restroom remained silent for a while. Although Aurelie could hear a few murmurs when Red's voice suddenly interfered. Even the footsteps sounded rushed.

"Aurie?" She could hear worries from his voice. "What happened?"

"She got stuck inside the last cubicle."

Red's footsteps got closer to where she was before trying to push the door open. He's giving 10% of his manly force, but it was too difficult to barge.

"I need you to step back, Aurie." Red's statement made her feel nervous of what might happen next. Is he really going to destroy the door?

"A-Alright. It's too narrow here, I might just go back off a little further," Aurelie said as she looked behind her. Nope. There's no more space.

"Shit," she said. "Um, Red! I think you should think of a new way to open the door."

"Why?" he asked.

"There's not enough space for me to dodge the door," she added.

"Alright, then. Just help me open the door," Red suggested. "You need to try to prevent the excess force that I'll be throwing to the door for it to open and at the same time pull as I push."

Aurelie wasn't even sure if Red's strength will turn out to be. "Are you sure about this one?"

"There's no more options I could think of aside from this one," Red replied. "So, are you ready?"

Oh, great…

Aurelie unsurely placed her hands against the door just like what Red told her to do. She breathes out and prepares herself for whatever happens next.

"In the count of three, you pull and I will push," Red reminded her. "One, two…"

Aurelie breathed out nervously.

"Three!" Aurelie immediately pulled the door in unison with Red's force from pushing the door. 

However, she was surprised and accidentally got hit by her knuckles on the forehead which made her fall on her butt on the toilet seat.

As soon as Red successfully opened the door, he saw her pass out after getting knocked over. "Aurie!"

Although Aurelie's sight was blurred, she could see the figures and their movements. She could also overheard them talking… in panic mode. There were four of them that sprung to her rescue. One of them immediately carried her like a princess.

"Red, her nose is bleeding!"

Aurelie felt someone putting a cloth on her nose, gently damping and wiping off what's possibly blood.

"We need to take her to the hospital."

"Inform Sir Hero about what happened. His words will be our guide as to what will happen or what we should do next."

Everything completely blacked out for Aurelie as she fell unconscious. The next thing that happened to her is a recurring dream. She was standing at the same old spot where she was waiting for her father at the amusement park.

But, she was no longer a ten-year old girl. She's the current aged Aurelie who was seeing and hearing everything that happened, 19 years ago. And there, she saw the same young boy who was crying on the bench.

"Aurie." She could hear someone's voice. Could it be perhaps Red? Hero? Or anyone else?

She slowly opened her eyes and saw light rays from the medical flashlights. Her blurred eyesight slowly became clear and focused, then she saw Red right next to her.

"What happened?" Aurelie tried to get up. "Ow…"

Red stopped her by her shoulders, making her lie down on her back again. "You shouldn't force yourself. You may still have a concussion."

He took a clean cup before pouring drinking water in it and added a straw as well. Then, he helped her as she took a sip on it. After hydrating, Aurelie decided to remain sitting up on the bed before looking around the area.

"Where am I?" she asked Red.

He placed the cup above the accent table near the bed where Aurelie had been sitting. "You're in one of the sleeping rooms provided by the company. We have already informed Sir Hero of what happened to you. However, he was still attending the meeting and Veronica will only tell him after the meeting."

Aurelie nodded at him. She later on felt a patch on her forehead, so she tried to gently touch it. It was a big bandage, almost similar to a cooling gel pad used for someone who has a fever.

"You were hit by the door, remember?" Red asked her.

As Aurelie remembered what happened, she couldn't help but laugh at herself. Then, she noticed a black bandana-styled handkerchief on her side. She felt that it was folded neatly after taking it. Their attention is caught as Hero has arrived and quickly enters the room to check up on Aurelie.

"Jareth, what happened to her?" Hero immediately asked as he approached Aurelie on the bed.

"She got stuck inside one of the cubicles at the women's restroom. Then, a few of the junior members from RENEGADES found her calling for help and aided. However, they have to call me for additional help since they are hesitating to break the door," Red explained to him.

"Which restroom are you talking about?" Hero asked him again.

"The one near the Building C entrance," Red replied.

Hero nodded as he looked at Aurelie again. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine, sir. It's nothing serious," Aurelie said. "Besides, there were good people in your company who helped me."

She could see Hero's serious expression as if he's both worried sick and felt conscience about what happened. It's his building after all.

"Seriously, sir. I'm fine," Aurelie added to relieve him.

"That's good to know." Right after the president spoke to her,  he went to Veronica and started telling her something.

Red approached Aurelie again to kind of distract her. "If you would like to really go home now, you can just tell Sir Hero. It's just your orientation day today, right?"

"That's right." Aurelie nodded at him.

Red sighed as he approached the president and his secretary, telling them Aurelie's request to go home. Without any more ifs and buts, Hero sent Aurelie home asking his personal driver to use his private car.

Aurelie wasn't expecting this kind of special treatment. She thought they're being too much, but she's fully unaware this is only just the beginning for her.

Before she could even reach her house, the driver stopped the car in front of the nearest branch building of the MBS Fashion.

"I'm sorry, but why are we stopping?" she asked the driver.

Without saying anything, the driver got out of the car and went to open the door for her. Aurelie dumbfoundedly got off as well before the driver spoke to her.

"Mr. Hero asked me to bring you to the MBS Fashion building so that the designers will get your body sizes for making your own assistant uniform," the driver responded to her earlier question.

Aurelie glanced at the building, speechless. The president must be really serious with his hired assistants and other staff for the company for him to provide their needs.

She walked inside the building and it took her a few minutes before her body sizes were all taken by the assigned designer for her. After that, she was only given an already paid receipt of the purchase and the purchased clothes inside a shopping paper bag before she was escorted out of the building. Then, the driver proceeded to send her home.