12

The long awaited day finally came. I was the one who was very much anticipating what would be happening this day so I woke up very early with a huge smile on my face. It rarely happens that I wake up in an incredibly good mood. And of course, I take advantage of it.

I was almost hopping while walking towards the corridor of the house as if I were the only one living there. It was almost time for me to come down and meet Daniel, that's why I was in the corridor. I know that it's too early in the morning but I've actually been ready an hour earlier. The excitement and anticipation is too much for me to contain, same as the smile that has been plastered on my face since the moment I woke up.

Before exiting the house, I smiled and bowed to them—and it actually shocked them as this was the first time they saw me smile for a very long time, not a fake one or a pushed one.

"Good morning, Daniel! Breakfast?" I swiftly tucked my hair behind my left ear as it was annoyingly stuck on my face. It almost made me want to scratch my cheeks.

Just like how I previously saw him last time—leaning back on the car with his shades nonchalantly sitting on the bridge of his nose—that's exactly what he looks like now. "Let's grab one on the way?" he asks, slowly standing up and ready to open the door.

I nod once with a smile on my face. "Yeah, sure." I carefully enter the car with his assistance and he closes the door gently. He runs around the car to the driver's seat which made me laugh. /Adorable./

Once settled, he turns on the engine and looks at me. I tilt my head in curiosity. "Is there something on my face?" I ask, brows slightly furrowed.

He shakes his head and starts to drive. "No, no. It's just that I've never seen you smile this long before. It's… nice."

I chuckle softly. "Yeah? Well, you should look all you want because this is a once in a lifetime opportunity."

The sound of my phone notifying me stopped us from continuing our conversation. /Theo?/ Come to think of it, he was supposed to go with us, right?

/From: Theo/

/:Hey, I'll be late for a few minutes. Text me the address and I'll make sure to make it on time, yeah?/

I smile at the screen of my phone. Daniel seemed to notice how I look (which is very embarrassing) and started to tease me about it.

"I know what that smile is. You're talking to Theo, aren't you?" he smirks mischievously and asks me with a hint of malice in his voice.

I just scoff at him as an answer and even roll my eyes. "Yeah, I'm talking to Theo. What about it, ancient guy?"

He gapes at me, totally taken aback by my retortion. He even holds his chest dramatically as if I've hurt his feelings in an unexplainable way. "/Ancient/ guy. Really? You have some guts, young lady who is so dense."

"I am not dense, what are you talking about!"

"Uh-huh. Keep believing that. And I just said that you're talking to him, what are you so defensive about?" He chuckles.

"Nothing! It's— You seem like you want me to know that you know when I'm talking to Theo because I have a habit that you know about that I don't. Well, I don't, okay?" I huffed out air as it felt like I was talking slash almost-rapping trying to defend myself from him.

He nods, keeping the smirk on his face. God, how I want to badly erase that off. "Right, sure. You don't have the habit of smiling from ear to ear when you're talking to him. Sure." He shrugs.

I roll my eyes. "Exactly! I don't!" I comb my hair backwards as this conversation makes me feel like I'm losing my shit. Seriously, I really don't have a specific habit when talking to him.

"Riight," he elongated. "Sure. Even if you've had a bad day and get a message from him, you don't smile like a madman. You really don't." He shrugs once again.

In the end, I just gave up by raising both of my arms in the air. "Okay, fine. Whatever you want to believe, Daniel."

We both chuckle when we realize how stupid the conversation we are having is. The disappointment that I am feeling about not having Theo beside me slips my mind as well. Especially when we were only a few meters from the room. Though it didn't show, my insides were trembling, my heart rapidly beating, and my hands were sweating. It almost felt as if my heart was wanting to come out of my chest.

"Daniel, can I really do this?" We both stop walking when I turn my whole body to look at him.

He chuckles softly, hand raising to place it on my head. "Yes you can, Gem. And I'll be there with you. Theo's gonna be here, as well." He gives me a reassuring smile while gently caressing my hair.

And I find comfort in his warmth and carefulness. The father image that I never had. Finally, I gathered myself and breathed in a large amount of air to soothe my insides that were practically burning. "Yeah, I can do this."

"Daniel! Long time no see, my friend!" When we entered the room, a loud voice welcomed us along with a lot of people. Well, not really a lot. Maybe for me it is.

I just stand there, looking at both of them hugging each other as if they haven't seen each other for centuries. It was cute seeing their interaction with no hint of embarrassment considering there are other people with us in the room right now.

"So, what do you think?" Daniel asks when they finally got off each other. Their faces were too bright that I almost had to cover my eyes.

Christian casually shrugs. "She's great. A gem, really." He chuckles. /Are they perhaps talking about me?/

Daniel chuckles, as well. "That's not a coincidence. A gem really is a gem. Right, Gem?" He turns his head towards me with a huge smile.

Slowly, with somehow the tiniest bit of strength in me, I walk towards the two. And it occurs to me that maybe this is the first time I've ever been so timid around somebody. I'm usually the type of person who does not care what I come off as, we have differences in position, or just with age. But this time, it's because my skills are being critiqued and it's about my writing that makes me so anxious about all of this.

I bow slightly to Christian. This is the first time I'm meeting him so it's quite awkward for me. "Good Morning." I lift my head to see both of them smile at me. Daniel's hand, as a force of habit, comes to pat my head. And as his friend sees it, he looks at both of us with such a cute expression.

"Good Morning, Gem! No need to be so formal. Feel free to move comfortably," he says in the warmest way with a smile on his face. "Seems like you and Daniel are quite close, no? He talks to me about you all the time!"

My cheeks slowly turn red and heat rises up to my neck as I fwip my head to look at Daniel with surprised eyes. I just lower my head to somehow hide how red I've turned. But it was useless as both men already saw it.

"Come on, Chris. I thought we both agreed to keep that as a secret?" I raise my head once again only to see Daniel look exactly how I do. And his friend just laughs at him like he's having the time of his life.

"Well, I guess it's not a secret now." He shrugs it off while wrapping an arm around Daniel.

At first, I'll admit, it was nerve wrecking and I didn't know how to act. But thankfully, because of how welcoming and easy going Christian is, I've been able to adapt quickly and act rather comfortably around them. We've been talking about random things for what seems like an hour now but we still haven't gotten to the meeting yet, so I just let it be. Besides, I'm quite enjoying learning more about Daniel and about Christian's company.

"Oh, so you started this company after your previous job kicked you out?" I say, lifting my hand to touch my chin.

Christian nods. "Yeah! And I was kicked out for the randomest reason so yeah, whatever. It's not like I also wanted to be there. And they couldn't even function properly on days when I wasn't there! It's their loss, not mine!" He rolls his eyes, folding both his arms in front of him.

Surprised by his actions, I look at Daniel beside me. He leans closer to me and whispers, "He's really like that. Just get used to how childish he is."

I chuckle softly. "So, you worked at a publishing company back then, too?"

He nods eagerly. "Yep. Was with Daniel"

I shot one of my brows up as I was curious about Daniel's history. "Oh? So did he also get kicked out?"

"No, no." He laughs softly, probably remembering something from the past. "He actually resigned the day after I was kicked out. That's how we started this publishing company of our own."

For quite some time, it didn't process to me— what Christian had just said. He seemed to notice it so he gasps, exaggeratedly, while looking at the both of us. "He didn't tell you?"

Without warning, Daniel's hand came flying towards his nape, giving him a slap. "It was supposed to be a secret, you moron!" Dagger eyes were shooting at his friend.

Christian awkwardly laughs, hand on his nape trying to ease the pain. "Well, I guess it's not anymore? Hehe.'

As the two bicker, they left me there, totally dumbfounded by all the information that has been fed to me. So it means that Daniel is a co-founder of this company? Then why is he working at ours when he can make more than enough money here? All this time? /What is happening?/

—

Finally, the time for the interview has come. Christian says it was all part of the interview, the things we've done earlier. It was a way to let an interviewee adjust and feel comfortable. Nothing drastic changed when we proceeded with the interview. Just that the other authors/staff who were scattered earlier were now gathered with us, but they looked like friendly faces.

"Everyone who's in this room has actually read the draft you've sent me. And prior to this meeting, we also had one that came into a conclusion that led you to have an interview. This is just mostly the chance for you to ask questions and for us to lay out the contract that you'll be signing."

Okay, to be really, really, honest, it still hasn't occurred to me—everything that has been happening. And it's just a continuous cycle of me doubting if this is all true and suddenly coming back to reality that all of this is /indeed/ true. So, I just stand there, pretending that I understand everything.

I couldn't and wouldn't want to waste the time that has been given to me so I ask questions. "So, this meeting's main purpose is to just make me understand the terms of the contract, 'no?"

Christian nods without hesitation, patiently waiting for me to add something.

"Basically, I'll write a book, you'll help me promote it, and publish it to sell it? Or are there any more ways the book will be published?"

Christian shifts on his seat, trying to find a more comfortable position for him to sit to. "Well, kinda, yes. It somehow works like that, but we won't publish the book physically right off the bat."

He gets cut off by one of the authors, a girl with long hair, sophisticated looking face. "Trust me, you have potential. That's why you're even here in the first place. But we can't risk publishing a book, a physical copy and for it to only go to waste. So, before you get known, to sell out thousands of copies, you need some sort of advertisement first."

Surprisingly, it seems like that this kind of interaction is normal for them, for them to cut off each other, because Christian doesn't even react to it in any way. "We'll publish your book first online, and once it has gained its popularity, we can then publish it physically. And I believe that you'll publish your own copy in less than a year."

With the heat slowly creeping up to my neck and daring to be visible on my cheeks, I lower my head down because I am not one to be used to compliments and it makes me feel awkward hearing one. I nod in agreement.

We continued to discuss the other aspects of the contract, explained everything to me thoroughly and were patient to answer all of my questions which I was thankful for. The other authors seemed pretty nice, even made some friends after the interview.

For instance, Karyl, the girl with long hair from earlier. She's a couple of years older than me but she's truly a sweetheart. She's giggly, touchy, and very much likes to smell sweet, likes sweet things. She also talks a lot but not in an annoying way, it's quite adorable, actually. And I just let her ogle and cling to me all she wants.

Drake, on the other hand, was quiet, reserved. And he kept on telling her friend, Karyl, to stop bothering me. Apparently, they're friends. Became friends as they signed the contract at the same time, both are of the same age, as well.

There were a total of 5 authors in the room with us, not excluding the two of them. The others were June, Gab, and Summer. And I would love to tell more about them but that would take a while, and I've grown more close to the other two, to be honest. They were the first ones to come up to me and talk to me, and I somehow felt myself loosen up around them. Just like how I was with Theo.

/Theo/ Right, Theo! It totally slipped off my mind. My mind was too preoccupied with the interview and the new authors that it just occurred to me now that Theo wasn't with me the whole time, so I looked at Daniel. I look at him to ask if Theo did ever arrive but only to be answered by a shake of head which disappointed me.

Bidding our goodbyes, I still couldn't get the heaviness off my chest when the person I wanted to be with the whole time wasn't there. I tried to think and convince myself that maybe something of his own came up, or maybe he's busy. Just anything, any possible reason, just not that he probably did it on purpose.

Because of the disappointment mixed with I-don't-know emotion, I cling on to Daniel, unexpectedly, while walking towards the exit. And it takes him a few minutes to process that I'm /clinging/ on to him. Wrapped my arms around his, somehow finding comfort that he's here.

"Gem?" He stopped walking and so did I. His sincerely concerned tone was what made me look up to him only to see that not only his voice was concerned but his face, too. It's like he's wanting to find an answer and expects me to give him one.

"You think Theo's okay? Nothing bad probably happened to him, right?" I sigh, loudly. "Sorry, it's just blabbering. I guess I expected that he'll show up."

And maybe this whole situation makes Daniel sigh, too. "He's… I don't know, Gem. I don't really wanna give you a 'maybe' answer right now or give you any definite one, because I don't want you to expect more. Let's just assume that something came up, and you'll see him at the office tomorrow."

I had no choice but to just nod. Because whether I like it or not, he's got a point. Filling my mind with more maybes will just make me want to expect more but ends up disappointed when my expectations aren't met. So, I just let the hours pass, wishing for it to go faster so I can finally see Theo again. But it seemed like time did not want to cooperate with me, so I tried to text the other.

Even though half the day I was with Daniel, it still felt incomplete. It still felt like the time did go slow to make me suffer more. /I just really want to talk to Theo, come on./ And it's not like I didn't contact him in any way. It was him who didn't reply. Even after my lunch date with Daniel, after I got home, after I wrote 4 long-ass chapters just to take my mind off things, after I got to sleep. Still… no replies nor any calls from Theo.