11

The door sprung open as it revealed a panting man, phone tightly gripped on his hand, hair looking very much ridiculous as if he approached a whole wind storm. I slightly chuckle at the sight of him.

"Ha-Hazel," he says out of breath.

I raise my brows and the other side of my lips follow suit. "Yes, Theo?"

He slowly enters the office, gulping down, and closes the door behind him as quietly as possible. "What were you gonna say? Did something happen?"

Chuckling, I nod my head at him very enthusiastically. "Oh, yeah! Seeing you actually made me forget about it." I raise the cup of my coffee as he sits down in front of me. "They called me."

He tilts his head, confused. But I let him figure it out on his own. Slowly, I see his eyes turn wide when it all slowly comes to him, too. I smile when I think about maybe this is also how I looked earlier.

"Them? As in /them/?"

I nod frivolously. "Yes! Them /them/!"

That's when he raises both of his arms to bury his face in it. It takes a few ticking of the clock that I thought he was crying before he finally raises his head again with this dazed smile on his face, cheeks tinted red up until his huge ears. And his smile. His smile that made my heart do summersaults, like I was jumping off a high cliff, like I was somewhere so surreal.

I was taken aback so I just sat in front of him, dazed as well.

"I'm happy for you, Hazel." He giggles.

/Oh god/

"Hazel? Hazel you're out of it."

/Oh god stop doing that. My heart— my heart's about to fall out of my chest./

Slowly and carefully, like I'm something so fragile as a glass, he crawls his hand on the table towards my own. He curls his pinky with mine just like how two children would hold each other's hands as they're too shy to fully intertwine it. It makes my heart (slightly) flutter.

As much as I'd also want to just look at him, I do not want to embarrass myself so I force myself to go back to reality. "Sorry. Sorry, I— I'm just in shock." I chuckle softly.

And just like how he crawled his pinky to mine, how softly and carefully he intertwined them, he also untangled our pinkies the same way. I will not deny, though, that I did want to chase his warmth when it suddenly felt weird without it.

"Told you I'll be your manager, right?" he winked at me mischievously. It does make me think sometimes. How he can easily put his whole hope on people without having the assurance that he won't be disappointed. Because I wasn't raised like that, I am not used to that environment, and seeing how he truly trusts me and smiling in front of me is very astounding to me.

I look down to where my hands are now currently at, playing with each other. "Right." I let out an awkward laugh. Now that it finally makes sense to me, I feel nervous. What if I don't meet their expectations of me? What if I mess up? What if I'm not really for this? It makes me doubt myself and what I can do because I do not have the confidence.

"Hazel, is something wrong? Why do you look so down, hmm?" Because I was looking down, he springs on my face from below which makes me giggle a little bit.

"It's because I'm /looking down/, poodle." The sudden 'nickname' (though I wouldn't call it one) was mentioned out of the blue. And to be honest, it shocks him, too. Hands on his chest, dramatically holding it as if he was shot by a bullet on his chest.

"Poodle?!" he springs up in front of me. His hands on his waist and then folding it in front of him. /Sassy./

"Duh, with your hair and everything, you know." I tried my best to stop myself from laughing as he looked so offended. In the end, I just took it back. "I'm kidding, okay. Sorry, sorry." And I couldn't help myself from laughing.

"Gave you such a pretty name and this is what I get back in return?" He sulks, folding his arms and pouting in front of me.

"Okay, I'm sorry. Stop sulking, it was a joke."

He fwips his head the opposite of where I am. /Is he really that mad about it?/

"You should give me a different nickname. One that matches Hazel." And I see him looking at me without turning his head towards my direction.

That makes me giggle a little bit. He's really childish when it comes to this and knowing Theo, the sulking is a part of his acting. He just really wanted a nickname prettier than what he had given me.

"But poodle is a cute nickname? And are we seriously talking about this?" I tilt my head.

He nods furiously. I can almost see smoke coming out of his nose and ears. "Yes! I mean, yes we're talking about this. And no, poddle is not a cute nickname!"

I cannot help but fully giggle. "Fine, okay. I'll think about something." And slowly, his expression changes. He was now smiling from ear to ear like he won the lottery. "Isn't it time for you to go home?" I remember as I look at my watch and see that it's already past office hours.

He stands up. "Right! Just, I'll get my bag. Wait for me right here, okay?" And, again, when he was about to leave his seat, he turned back to me and walked closer. It makes me feel small when he slowly raises his hand and I feel it touch my head. His hand stroked my hair with utmost care. It was comforting.

"I won't be able to stress enough how proud I am of you, Hazel." He whispers and walks away like he did nothing, said nothing to make my heart beat crazily and feel like anytime now I'll cry.

That's all I ever wanted to hear. And I smile to myself when my hand slowly goes up to where he placed his as I close my eyes.

—

Night comes and I spring up when the familiar number calls me once again. With fingers shaking, I answer the call. "Hello?"

"Oh! And here I thought you wouldn't be able to pick up the call considering the time." Her familiar voice welcomes me through the phone.

"I couldn't really sleep. I'm sorry if you're having to work overtime because of this, though." I bite my lip, anticipating something.

She chuckles. "No, no. I was really supposed to tell you this tomorrow, but I just couldn't wait," she pauses. "You'll be having the interview days from now. You don't have to bring anything, really. But if you would like to take notes, then you can freely bring a notebook with you. I look forward to seeing you, Ms. Gem."

"Oh, so it's really happening, huh?" I chuckle nervously and swallow the lump in my throat. "So, uhm… who am I meeting with?"

"Sir Christian. The Director. And probably some writers and his secretary. He likes to bring people along in an interview to make it feel less awkward for you. You can also take it as an advantage as other signed authors will be present alongside him the day of your interview."

"Oh—"

She gasps loudly which causes me to stop. "Before I forget, the time of your interview will be at 10 am. You can come earlier but never later."

And somehow, after minutes of talking with god knows what her name is, I was feeling quite comfortable to laugh with her. "Right, noted. Before this call ends, though, I'd like to know your name, if that's okay?"

"It's no problem. The name's Yeunice. Spelled with Y, E, U, N, I, C, E and pronounced as Eunice. My parents thought if they added Y to it, it would sound fancier." She chuckles again. "Anyway, I'm sorry to hold you off for so long. I'll end the call now. Have a great night and good luck on Friday!"

Once the call ended, I naturally find a name on my contacts to dial the number. And as I waited for him to finally answer, there was a smile on my face that I couldn't stop from subsiding as I was too happy because of the recent happenings.

"Hazel?" he answers with a groggy sleepy voice that makes my eyes go wide.

"Oh— I'm sorry. Were you sleeping? You can sl—"

He cuts me off. "No, no. I was about to wake up anyway."

"You sure? I can just hang u—"

Now it was a rustling of sheets that cut me off— he kind of coughs as well. "No, it's okay. I'm up. What was it? Did something happen?"

And it makes me coo inwardly. How careful and mindful he is. How concerned he is everytime because he always thinks something bad can happen to me. I shake my head as if he was going to see it. "No. I mean, yes— something did happen."

"Are you okay?" he says in a panicky voice. So panicky that he sounded like I was kidnapped or something. And it makes me laugh. I know, it's weird. It's like I'm losing my mind— which I am— everytime we talk, and it gradually becomes worse every time.

"I'm okay! Totally okay. It's just…" I pause for a few minutes. I was thinking of how I should say everything in an organized manner, but I am very much aware that I am in no condition to organize my thoughts so I just let myself blabber everything. "The company called. I have an interview with them scheduled on Friday!"

I almost hear him standing up from what I guess his bed out of excitement. "Really? Is this really happening? I'm finally going to be your manager!"

I giggle. "And I'll gladly hire you. Would you want to accompany me on Friday? You won't have your duty that day, right?" Funnily, just like how we all see and cringe at teenage girls smiling like a madman in movies, facing their windows with it open and the curtains flowing, I was the one in that situation.

"Friday? Yeah, no duty. Would you really want me there? Will I be allowed to be there, though?"

I nod, again. "Yeah. Go with me, then, okay?"

I hear him slightly giggle in his still deeper voice than usual. "Right, I will. If you really insist, I'll go."

The smile I had on my face earlier had turned into something bigger that I didn't even know was possible, but I don't disagree with it. "Well, it's late. I'm really sorry for waking you up this late at night. I was waiting for their call and, you know, naturally, I called you after." Word after word, it became quieter as I was too shy to admit that he's the first person who comes to mind when something good happens to me.

He hums. "It's okay, Hazel. Really. And I was rather thankful, I had to wash up. I passed out on the couch." I could only imagine what he would look like. Hair messy, clothes wrinkled. And he'll groan because he doesn't want his clothes wrinkled and doesn't want to go to bed without taking a shower.

"Go on, then. You can hang up now. Wash up and go to bed, I'll be doing the same. I'll see you?"

He giggles like I was saying something endearing. "I'll see you, Hazel."

—

The next few days, I was wishing for it to pass by quickly. I had told Daniel about it as well and he just flipped his imaginary long hair at me because he was already updated first before I was. We were giggling the whole day because he kept on reminding me about it.

When Theo was with us, they both would poke my shoulders, teasing me. They're actually more excited than I am. The three of us made plans about what we'll be doing on Friday. Daniel insisted on driving the both of us to the company because he knows well enough where it is. As for my /manager/, he promised me that he'll be there, by my side, even if he's as nervous as I am for the interview.

Then, Friday finally came.