[Raelynn]
[Tuesday, 5pm, at the cafe--]
"Sara, have you read the latest chapter of 'The Cursed Lady'?" Mindy, one of the cafe's regular customers asked her red-head friend who was busy angling the serving of french toast with ice cream to capture a photo.
"No, I haven't. I'm still trying to catch up with the Princess comic," Sara replied without looking at her friend. She needed to take a good photo of the dessert before the ice cream melted.
"Are you talking about the 'I've died and reincarnated as a princess in a game' comic?" Mindy asked.
"Yeah, that one. Okay, I've got it! Now, I'll post about this on my social media," Sara said in a chirpy tone and Mindy giggled. There was never a day where Sara failed to post a photo update online. The girl loved everything about desserts and enjoyed sharing everything about her life online. Sara dreamed of becoming a successful social media influencer before she left university.
"Okay, done~ So, did something happen in the latest chapter of 'The Cursed Lady'? I think I'm on chapter four of that comic," Sara said.
"Oh... You have quite a bit to read up then. The latest release is chapter fifteen. I won't give you any spoilers but did you know that a baby rabbit is called a kitten?"
"What? No, I didn't. Are you serious or just pulling my leg?" Sara stared suspiciously at her friend.
"I'm serious! It was mentioned in the comic and I honestly thought that there was a misphrase or something. When I checked online, it was really a 'kitten'. You can search online as well," Mindy said as Sara was already tapping into the search engine of her mobile.
"Oh whoa. It is true! I had no idea! Oh! Did you know that a baby hare is called a 'leveret'?" Sara said and passed her mobile to Mindy to read up on the search result she had gotten.
"Whoaaaaa… Who knew that we could learn stuff from comics?"
"I know right? Oh! I should totally post this online as well~" Sara said and the girls giggled.
As the girls' table was close to the cafe's counter and cashier area, Raelynn had overheard the whole conversation. She smiled as she kept freshly grounded coffee beans into one of the glass containers by the coffee machine.
Although the number of customers coming to the cafe was fewer than it was previously, all of the coffee beans they had grounded in the morning had finished. Thus, expecting a small crowd by dinner time, there was a need to grind at least another jar full of coffee beans.
'Well, authors and artists tend to do extensive research into a subject matter before putting it all into their stories-- be it for a novel or comic,' Raelynn thought as she watched the girls continue to chatter away.
In many ways, it was thanks to the excitement created by influencers like Sara that a couple of their comics and novels have received attention from more readers. Moreover, by Sara's frequent visits to the cafe and then posting picture updates of where and what she was doing, it was an indirect advertisement for the cafe as well.
Sara may not be the only influencer who visited the cafe but she was coming on a nearly daily basis. Since her university is nearby, it made it very easy for her to drop by after classes. As a result, a number of her fans often visited the cafe to either read the comics or try out the desserts that Sara had talked about. Every so often, some fans had attempted to either stalk or harass Sara but had been promptly dealt with.
'Ah, thank goodness we have Carl and the rest of the cafe's caretakers. Hmmm… Is that even the right word? I should really ask the boss on how we should address them; when it comes to their job title,' Raelynn thought as she glanced at the bald headed man who sat at the corner of the cafe.
With a large body frame and scar over his right brow, the ex-marine looked fierce and often scared potential troublemakers. Even without counting the couple of incidents that were risky, Carl and the other caretakers have been ensuring the peace in the cafe. It would have been quite annoying dealing with the swarms of fans that would attempt to pounce on the influencers that visited the cafe.
'That is likely why Sara and the other influencers often praised the tranquillity in the cafe. It is probably nice to get away from all the noise and also be able to enjoy the ambience in a relaxed environment,' Raelynn smiled at Carl.
'I don't know what we would have done if Carl had not approached us two years ago to work as a caretaker here. Since it is a cafe, it never came to mind that we needed individuals to actually manage the crowd. I mean, people who do that are called 'bouncers' and are needed at bars when things tend to get out of hand on a daily basis. Even our boss had not really given that a thought since the visits from influencers were rare and close to nothing has ever happened.'
"Lily, why are you looking at our caretaker?" a low-pitched voice that almost sounded like a growl asked.
"Ah," Raelynn flushed as a much larger hand grasped her right hand that was still on the newly filled glass jar of grounded coffee. Turning around, Raelynn looked at a very pissed off alpha.
"Well?" Derek asked.
"I… err… I was just thinking that without Carl and the other caretakers, we would have been in many difficult situations… Like… last week…"
"I see," Derek replied but no longer in an angry tone. Just looking at Raelynn, he knew that she was telling the truth. Even so, he was not about to let her off that easily. The girl was blushing in embarrassment and he could not let such a chance slip.
A slight twitch played on his lips and his left hand stroked Raelynn's back, "So, are you saying that your Derr is incapable of protecting people?"
"W-what? No! Of course not!"
"Mm… Why am I not convinced?" he chuckled and leaned closer, "What should I do if you start falling for a tough looking man like Carl?"
"Wha--? You know that I…" Raelynn instantly stopped mid sentence.
"That you what?"
"You know… Ah! I can't say it!"
"Oh... It would seem that my Lily does not love me. Oh, I'm so heartbroken," Derek said loudly and in a dramatic manner to bring attention to them.
Raelynn felt her face get hotter.
'Omg... He is teasing me. If I don't do it, he is only going to get worse,' she thought to herself. The alpha did it so often that she knew exactly what he wanted. It was always like this whenever he pouted and pretended to throw a tantrum.
Raelynn then tiptoed and whispered into his ear, "I love you, you rascal."
"Mm~ I love you too~" Derek said out loud and kissed her forehead. Raelynn could hear the customers behind them giggling and she just wanted to hide, but Derek was holding on to her waist and not letting her go.
Derek chuckled.
"Okay, before you run off, I need you to help take the vanilla milkshake I'd prepared earlier from the fridge. It's for the boss. That guy probably has not eaten since breakfast this morning and I'm worried about his low blood pressure."
"Okay."
"Please tell him that I'll have dinner ready in about 30 minutes' time if he has indeed skipped lunch."
"Mm."
"Now, run, my little bunny. You are free~" Derek spoke softly as he released her from his embrace.
***
[Vale's bedroom--]
Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.
"With this remnant of life, I promise… No… That doesn't sound right… Mmm… With the remaining years I have, I promise… No, it has to be more serious than that… Hmm… With the remaining years I have left, I vow to-- Yes! That's it!" Vale mumbled to himself before typing out
Knock. Knock. Knock.
"Oh, yes? Come in. The door is unlocked," Vale called out.
"Boss, I've brought a glass of vanilla milkshake that Derek made," Raelynn said as she approached Vale's office.
"Ooo~ Yes, thank you!" Vale said as he quickly started to drink from the glass. It was a cold and refreshing drink that he enjoyed taking from time-to-time.
Raelynn giggled and looked around. The office was a mess. Candy wrappers were all over the place. Stacks of files and handwritten notes were left strewn on the desk and floor. Raelynn sighed. It was obvious that her boss had not done anything other than work.
'This workaholic,' Raelynn thought to herself and just stared at her boss.
As if feeling the boring gaze from her, Vale asked, "Err… Yes?" In reality, he could already guess the thoughts that ran through her mind.
Raelynn just sighed and shook her head, "No, it's nothing. Boss, have you eaten lunch?"
"Oh? What's the time now?" Vale asked as he looked at the bottom of his laptop to check the time, "Oh."
"Derek suspected as much and said to tell you that dinner will be ready in about 30 minutes' time."
"Okay, thank you."
Raelynn then glanced at the handwritten notes on the desk, "Which project is this? I don't remember a character dying or there being such a dire scenario."
"Oh. It's one of the latest chapters of the Princess comic. Well, in its original form actually. This is about ten chapters ahead of the English version we had just released this morning."
"Oh? I see. Ah! I want to know! But I also don't want to know!"
Vale chuckled, "Well, just ask me if you've decided on getting the spoiler for this chapter."
"Sure thing~ Oh! That reminds me… I think you mentioned that you would be going to the AO Company tomorrow, right? May I know the timing so that I can help organize things in your absence?"
"The meeting will be at 8am and I suspect that it could be for a few hours."
"Okay, got it. Hmm… If you don't mind me asking, how did you manage to set a meeting with the CEO of AO Company when they are currently being bombarded with calls, and emails?"
"Ah. That's because Mr Coleman had attached a name card to the contract with all his personal contacts. No reporter nor random outsider have the means to directly contact him. Thus, I was able to reach out to Mr Coleman and arrange for a meeting."
"Nice~ Okay, see you soon for dinner," Raelynn said as she exited the room.
Vale smiled and stretched. Only then did he realize the mess he had made in the office.
'Ah. I should really clean this up… Hmmm… Right after I'm done with this chapter.'