Perseus (2)

The night sky was ushered by the clouds, the sun setting in a few minutes. Weak sunlight reflected on the tall skyscraper that was barely hit by the sun in the morning. However, the reflective window film only continued to obscure the floors from the gazes straying up its tall stature.

From inside, a person cleaning the reception desk only looked out to find the setting sun. His hands were occupied by a cloth and a disinfectant spray. He walked to the full-length window that spanned several floors. "The agency will open tomorrow, and Devin already promised a client to me. Heh, won't this place be too much for a start-up? That person might even think that I'm a scammer."

"What are you chirping there on your own?" Another man came up to the person cleaning the reception desk. He then bent down to place his chin on the shoulder of the other. "Little bird, are you worried? Don't worry. The person coming to you tomorrow is also in need. You don't have to worry about what he thinks. The one you should worry about is that guy with him…"

"Lucirien, was it?" The one occupied by cleaning materials only lowered his hands. "He's supposed to be a grand demon, right? Why is he being tasked to be around us now?"

"What 'tasked?' Lucirien calls the shots if he wants to. He's here because he deems it necessary." The other person sighed heavily and leaned his entire weight on his collocutor. "Reese, I need you to remember that you signed with me. Don't let that guy pull your soul away from your body. Lucirien interferes with fate and destiny; he's someone I can't mess with."

"Don't worry, Devin. I will do my best!" Reese said so, but he momentarily forgot about it when he saw a silver Audi rolling into their parking space. Since it was a private building, he figured no one should just park their car in front of the agency—his agency. "What's going on? We have visitors at this time?"

However, Devin only stopped Reese from moving. That was when Reese saw how two males got out of the car. His eyes suddenly zeroed in on someone in particular. He quickly stuffed the cleaning materials into Devin's hands. Reese hurried to the glass doors, making sure that he was presentable in his simple white polo and denim jeans. He also pulled the hairclip that held his dark-brown hair back.

Reese made use of the sides of his pants to dry his hands from both disinfectant moisture and sweat. He made a swift push on his eyeglasses. With a polite smile, he greeted the two men who walked inside the agency. "Welcome to Perseus! My name is Reese. I… I own this place. Mr. Verrier, I didn't expect to see you here at this time. Sorry, I might have to ask for a few minutes to prepare something."

He gestured to the sitting area, a brown and cream couches and box seats lined the place. However, the LED TV mounted on the wall was turned off. The whole place was also sad to the ears, with no music playing in the background. Even the vending machines at the side had no lights or stocked food and drinks. This very sight made Reese's smile falter.

"Uhm, I am only ready for visitors tomorrow when my staff comes in. I'm very sorry." Reese then brought his hand and shoulders down.

"What are you saying? This place is pretty neat!" June, who arrived with Lantis, whistled as he looked around. Unlike the very corporate look of Drawn Wings, the lobby of Perseus seemingly drew aspirations and encouraged coziness from the minimalist design. The polished colors were enough for June to take a seat and look around some more. "Everything is better tomorrow?"

A smile drew on Reese's lips, and he assented with a nod and hum. That was only when Devin arrived to serve juice and biscuits to the guest… ah, no, they weren't guests. The longer Reese watched June snack on the biscuits, the more the truth dawned upon him.

He then asked as he slowly settled on the box seat across from the one where June was eating. "Mr. Verrier? You're not really here to visit, are you?"

"Hm? But I am only here to visit." June finished a cookie and drank half the juice before smiling deeply at Reese. "The agency isn't open yet. I can't say I came to work."

"Oh, my, I should have read up on those files a lot earlier. I'm sorry, I got occupied with a lot of things." Reese fretted under the worried expression. After all, June was not a person unknown to the industry. The man even had hot issues at the moment.

"You should do it tonight. Tomorrow, I would have to discuss a few things with you." The smile on June's lips lessened as he started to eat again. "Am I the only one you're expecting to cater to this early?"

Reese shook his head. "I have two more talents coming in, but they are still in the process of resigning from their agencies. It might take them another week. Though, I have already collected a few scripts that might be right up your alley."

At this, June only chuckled. "Sorry, but Director Gaza wants to keep me in his new movie. I might have to deal with that one for now before receiving a script you have gotten. Don't worry, if the star-studded movie has a long timeline, I can jump into smaller projects first."

Instead of a sound of acknowledgment, Reese suddenly left the seat and ran off as if getting something. It was too late when he yelled out: "Please give me five minutes, Mr. Verrier!"

"I'll make it three if you keep on calling me Mr. Verrier!" June yelled back, but he didn't know if Reese caught it. He just went back to eating the complimentary snacks, his eyes seeing how Devin polished the desk and even some lamps in the lobby.

"How much of this is dawning upon you?" Lantis chuckled, not bothering to eat with the actor.

"This Perseus agency is also a dream answered by you guys." June slowly chewed the biscuit while staring at the huge LED display of the company logo. It was the constellation of Perseus… with one of the stars colored differently from the others. "…are you serious? Did they choose Perseus because of Beta Persei? Witty. Perhaps only those who knew will get the joke."

At this, Lantis lifted his brows. "Beta Persei?"

June drank all the juice and gestured at the LED display, watching the odd star change colors between gold and blue. "Beta Persei… wait, it was called Algol before. You know, the Demon Star. Pete likes astronomy, so we normally sneaked inside planetariums. Even right now, he works in a planetarium… in charge of the lights and visual display…"

He sighed as he rubbed his forehead. "I want to sleep in the hospital again. Let's go visit him after seeing what Reese has for me."

Lantis only hummed in agreement. It was because Reese had returned with a black satchel. He placed the bag on the seat and fished for an envelope from it. With a smile, he presented it to June. "It's here! I have it! Mr. June, this is the script for [Espers of Etherlia]! I can secure a role for you, too!"