The Manuscript Advances

Eyes snapped open, sitting upright from yesterday's bizarreness. The frizzy hair, neck sores, and dark sags underneath her eyes all happened in one night.

'I'm so tired. Should I not go to the company for today? Hmm, to go or not to go...'

There might have been several scenarios that she overlooked before, but yesterday was too much.

Nathalie, groaning aloud from the memories that seemed so fresh in her mind from yesterday's event, rolled on her bedsheet after she got preoccupied with the train of thoughts.

Unbeknownst to her, Theodore called and knocked numerous times, but it led him to no avail.

Thankfully, she snapped out of it, slapping her cheeks, and rushed to the pinewood two-way door.

Opening it, just slightly ajar, she took a peek and it was Theodore, who had a food trolley for her breakfast, bore a smile from her presence.

"Good morning, Theodore."

"Good morning, Ma'am. It's nine in the morning, an unusual time for you to be unprepared. Perhaps a free day I knew nothing at all?"

"No, I do have work for today. I'm just trying to keep up with the mess last night." She gazed downward, scratching her frizzy hair.

"The breakfast served, and I shall ask some of the butlers to do the cleaning tasks. These are mundane tasks the owner shall—"

"No!" she hissed, startling him a tad bit. "This is far important. I'll head down there in a minute."

"As you wish—"

He flinched away when a sudden brush of wind came from her as she almost slammed the door. This time, Nathalie went back to her study and scanned through her manuscript.

'I have checked this again and again, time to show this to Tyler.' She flipped her hair and went on to get ready for the day.

Nathalie was about to leave the front door when Theodore hurriedly called her with an item hidden within the wrapped paper bag. "Ma'am, you left this beside your meal."

'Goodness! My manuscript!'

"Thank you so much." While she welcomed and embraced it like a giant baby.

"Jonathan's already there. I shall take my leave."

"Have a good day, Ma'am."

"Indeed…" Her struts came to a stop when she turned around, looking straight into his green eyes. "Have a Happy New Year, Theodore."

"I'm sorry?"

Nathalie pointed out towards the direction, there were around several luggages, of different sizes and designs which none of them were worth carrying single-handedly. A glimmer found within the head butler's eyes from what he witnessed.

"So it seems this caused you a ton of stress, evidently so in your face." A couple of defined creases left the marks of his forehead from a subtle frown, inspecting his eyes upon her. "Are we at it again about these tendencies of our Ma'am not to ask any help from the employees in this household?"

"Ahh—" Nathalie scratched her head, laughing dryly as she tried to remember how stressful it was last night and wanted to get away from it. "To be fair, I was so stressed that packing things up had something that came to mind. Don't worry, I got it all covered."

"If you say so."

"It's New Year's Eve; go make use of this time to return home and celebrate with your family. Tell the rest of the management and staff. For an additional five days, it's a paid vacay, so make the most of it." She held up her hand, revealing her palm.

She knew how important it was to them, especially Theodore, so she took this opportunity to relax.

Of course, he lost his composure.

"But—What about your—"

"I'll be celebrating this new year with my family. So take a breather; you all deserve it. If needed be, I shall double the next month's salary. Consider that as my gift to all of you."

"We're very grateful with your goodwill, Ma'am."

"Now, I shall take my time eating while the rest shall help me pack up the bags to Jonathan."

"Right away."

She smiled one last time when Theodore gestured a deep bow and bid farewell.

To her, food was everything, and she took her time savoring every ounce of it.

But before she could even snap out of it, plates were empty; not that she would dwell on it as there was no time to waste.

'I'm all good.'

Several steps across found Jonathan, standing beside McLaren 540c.

It was time for her to sashay with her black leather dress, of flared sleeves and skirt, cinched with a white gold belt. Her sways matched every clack from her black crystalline pumps.

"To the Phoenix Publishing, Miss Quinn?" Jonathan then checked his wristwatch when she came up close.

Donning her shades, she flipped her ponytail to the side. "That's right. Let's go."

"Without delay." He lowered down his head, adjusting his beret, when Nathalie noticed the subtle smug smirk on his face.

But she brushed it off.

Soon as they got inside, Jonathan drove with ease towards the establishment Nathalie needed to go.

Even on New Year's Eve, her eyes darted on her colleagues, though different cliques, that come and go within the hallway she strutted. Others carried a load of work, scurrying for the rest of their lives.

However chaotic the place maybe, she smiled in reminiscence from her earlier career.

She stood in front of the same door that changed her life forever. A single gulp and twist of the lever handle were all she needed to face Tyler Colton once more. It's creaking sound caught Tyler's attention, who stopped his scribbles on his document.

"You're here. Don't tell me you finished a whole manuscript overnight?"

From his blatant chuckles of satire, she rolled her eyes. 'Little did you know…'

"That can't be it." He shook his head, tugging the white open lapels of his suit, and got his collar a tad loose, stretching his neck side to side. "You're so diligent. You could've sent me through email. Anyway, show me your drafts."

However, Nathalie's struts now bore ferocity more than it was before. She then dropped the manuscript for him to read as soon as she was an inch closer.

Tyler unfurled and read its content with a sharp gaze, from left to right; after several pages, he placed the manuscript and drew his clasped hands close to his chin.

"What's the meaning of this, Nathalie Jean Quinn?"