[Raelynn]
[7.10am, about an hour ago]
The room was dark and the only source of light was from the morning Sun which shone against the deep red floral patterned curtains. There was stillness in the room despite the sounds of housewives gossiping noisily, and people who were banging against stuff as they rushed off to work. Not even the sounds of children running and screaming in delight just outside the comforts of the unit caused a stir.
This was the apartment unit that Raelynn had been living in for the last eight months. She had already long grown accustomed to the noises of people going about their daily lives and it strangely gave her a sort of comfort knowing that there were people around her and that life still goes on as usual. Thus, it would have taken a lot more to actually wake her up earlier than her usual 7 hours' sleep.
Just then, Raelynn's mobile started ringing loudly and vibrating on the bedside table. Raelynn groaned and shifted in her bed, refusing to answer the phone. This had happened on a couple of occasions that she had already guessed who the caller was. There was only one person who would call her so early in the morning. Raelynn snuggled deeper within her thick blanket.
However, the mobile continued to incessantly ring until the vibrations had finally caused the device to fall off the bedside table. At that very moment, the calls ceased. Raelynn was instantly up. Worried that the mobile was broken, she picked it up from the floor and inspected it. The cracked screen was lit up from the nine missed calls. As she suspected, it was indeed her mother. Sighing, Raelynn was about to place the mobile back onto the table when the device started ringing again.
'Why does she keep calling? I will never change my decision.' Raelynn thought as she finally answered the call.
"Hello, Mom."
"Did you only just get up? You shouldn't be waking up this late."
Raelynn grimaced and glanced at the time on the mobile. 'It is 7.15am and I'd be reporting early for work at around 8am. How much earlier should I be?'
Sighing resignedly, Raelynn replied to her mother, "Yes, I will keep that in mind. Is there something you need?"
There was a slight pause before her mother continued, "It's nothing. I was just wondering how my little girl was doing. I haven't heard from you in weeks."
'Technically, I am no longer your little girl since I stand at a height of nearly six feet', Raelynn thought sarcastically.
"Sorry. It has been a hectic couple of weeks due to the number of assignments and extra classes we have been getting from school."
"Ah, that's understandable. Have you been eating well?"
"Yes", Raelynn answered.
There was an awkward silence since the conversation just naturally came to an end. 'We have not talked this much since I moved out. I've usually texted her about these little things from time to time. Her needing to call me for something this trivial is suspicious. Then again, this was not the first time she had called to talk about 'that'.' Raelynn was just about to politely excuse herself from the call when her mother started talking again.
"RaeRae", her mother started and Raelynn instantly cringed upon hearing her mother's nickname for her. In all 17 years of her life, the only time her mother used that nickname was when she wanted Raelynn to do something unfavourable. At this, Raelynn remained silent.
Probably sensing Raelynn's discomfort, her mother corrected herself and continued, "Raelynn, I've missed you. When will you come home?"
"If you missed me, we could meet at some shopping complex or cafe. I will never set foot in that house again" Raelynn said firmly. She refused to call it a 'home' after the many years of hell she had gone through.
"Honey, please--"
"No, absolutely not."
"But your father misses you too. He wants to see you."
"I refuse to call that man my father!" Raelynn half yelled into the mobile.
"RaeRae, he said he's sorry."
'Lies. This is the same bullshit he does every time he comes to his senses. I do not owe him anything. He's not even my real father. He's just a parasite who lives off mother's income.'
"Mother, I have to go now. Goodbye."
"RaeRae, wait--" but Raelynn had already cut the call.
As if the brief exchange disgusted her, Raelynn shivered and immediately went to get a quick shower. When she was done, she checked on her mobile to see that it was seven thirty in the morning. 'I still have about twenty five more minutes before I have to leave for work. I'll just quickly check my laptop and see if any of my teachers have assigned anything new for the week.'
Confirming that there were no new assignments from school, Raelynn checked on the time and saw that she still had about ten minutes left. She then went on to check on the online forums for the latest gossip and comics for the week. As she glanced through the postings and comments, she noticed that it was just the same few individuals talking about the comics they recommended for the week. Raelynn was about to log off when something caught her eye. It was an article that was posted about eight hours' ago.
"The world of comic publication is taken by storm as a new company emerges. Contracts between authors and numerous publication companies are being rescinded. There are some authors who are willing to pay the penalty for revoking their signed contracts for the chance of having their stories published at a much faster pace. In the world of comic publication, a faster pace would mean that the authors would inevitably receive more attention from the readers due to the constant update of chapters. Moreover--"
Raelynn started checking up on various sites to confirm the posting she had just read. To her horror, things were just as she had suspected. Without wasting another second, Raelynn shut the laptop and started shoving her devices and other essential notes into her bag. Then, she rushed out of the apartment unit. She barely remembered even locking the door.
***
[The boss]
[Present time; about 8.06am]
Rushing into the café, Raelynn started calling out to the other staff members who were still in the midst of having their breakfast. "Guys! This is serious! There's this new comic company that is out to steal comics which have already been claimed or published by others!"
The man who was trailing after Raelynn had just reached the café's entrance, but he heard everything since she had yelled out so loudly.
"Lily, please breathe. Then tell us what is happening, from the beginning", Derek said calmly as he grabbed a chair for Raelynn to sit on. 'Lily' was an endearing nickname Derek had given Raelynn, for a reason that not even the man truly knew or understood. But as he observed, Raelynn had always calmed down whenever Derek called her by that nickname.
"Okay, sorry. It's just that… There's this guy called Mammon. He's the owner of Calamity, a new publishing company. The company is considerably small, but he has staff members who are really fast at completing their tasks, and they have been taking over comics that have the highest ratings or votes."
"Oh my" Cassidy gasped softly.
"Yeah. Mammon apparently is eyeing our 'I've died and reincarnated as a princess in a game' comic."
"That's not good, but how exactly does he intend to claim a comic that is already ours?" Derek asked.
"By offering the author a better deal. They are capable of scanlating 10 chapters within two days," Raelynn replied darkly. "It has already happened to so many other comic companies."
Jasper turned towards him so fast that the boss worried that he may have gotten a whiplash. "That's not good at all! What do we do, boss?"
Dead silence fell over them. The dripping water from the kitchen sink could be heard. The man could feel the nervousness and agitation in the room as all eyes were on him.
Sighing, he answered, "We will have no choice but to rush for the Princess project. We have many comic editors who should be free today. I'll start making calls. In the meantime, the few of us main staff here will unfortunately be working overtime today."
"Yes, boss!" they all replied.
When the man went up the staircase to retrieve his phone from his room, Ellie leaned in and asked in a low tone, "Do you think the boss will call Jeremy to help out?"
"No, he probably won't. Jeremy is supposed to be busy with university stuff. It's Monday, and Jeremy only- if he is free- works during the weekends," Derek shrugged.
"Yes, but-"
Cassidy cut in. "You know how the boss and Jeremy are. They may be brothers, but their relationship is somewhat estranged. Well, kind of… The boss loves his brother a lot, but the two always seem kind of… awkward with each other." She then stood back and leaned against one of the tables as if she was pondering about something.
"Oh well. Perhaps they will work things out one fine day," Derek said before walking off to finish his own duties. The others started making preparations to open the café. It was less than an hour more before the first customers would come in.
"I guess," Jasper shrugged with a rather mischievous look on his face before whispering into Nash's ear, "Do you have Jeremy's number?"
Ellie, who was seated nearby, overheard his whisper and giggled.
***
"Ah, yes. Thank you very much," the man said and ended the call.
He sighed in relief. It took nearly two hours, but he had managed to rope in six more active staff members to help edit the comic. Once the heavy lifting was done, the process of quality checking should be quite fast. After all, the comic was considerably short, and his editors were quite efficient at doing their jobs.
Leaning back in his chair, the man turned towards a photo frame that was placed on the right side of the table. Picking up the frame, a faint smile played on the man's lips. "We've really come a long way, haven't we?" He spoke softly.
"Thank you for all you've done. I hope that you're well."