Valeria Brinstrone was just told to leave her home by her mother-in-law, Erin, after the latter threw some photos (of Ari kissing Valeria in her car) at Valeria's face. Erin has always looked for ways to get rid of Valeria and this is the best way for her to get her son, Mark, to divorce Valeria.
Even from the beginning, Erin doesn't really approve of Valeria as she is an orphan with no family, no fortune and was just a budding game developer in her son's company. However, Erin did not object to Mark marrying her, thinking Mark really loved his bride.
Over the years, when Valeria failed to produce even one child, Erin begin to hate her. She didn't like how Valeria has remained cheerful and kind. She didn't like that all the servants respected Valeria. She didn't like that Valeria has this exuberance for life so Erin did everything she could to snuff out that exuberance and joy. Her son's barren wife has no right to be living joyfully when she can't even bear an heir for Mark.
Erin knew her son is also tired of his wife but there was no perfectly good reason for him to divorce her. Valeria had complied with every one of Mark's and Erin's demands, from quitting her job to be a full-time housewife to running all sorts of errands like a servant in the Brinstrone household.
If Mark was to divorce her, she will be entitled to a large portion of his fortune and alimony which Erin doesn't want Valeria to get. So, she hired a private investigator to follow Valeria around, hoping that the woman might stray and have an affair.
When the private investigator called her in a panic to tell her that Valeria had stabbed a man in the parking lot of the mall, Erin was pleased. She told the private investigator to take more photographic evidence to hand over to the police. Murder is a good enough reason for Mark to divorce his wife.
So, she was shocked to discover that Valeria had attempted to save the man. The private investigator even told her that the man had grabbed Valeria and kissed her, that Valeria had cringed away after that. It doesn't matter to Erin as long as there is evidence of Valeria kissing another man, it was good enough for her. So the man Valeria stabbed didn't die but at least there are still evidence of her kissing another man.
When Mark gets home later, Erin will tell him that she has gotten rid of his useless wife for him and he can start divorce procedures with the excuse of adultery so that Valeria doesn't even get a single cent in alimony.
Meanwhile, over at the Zen Soul Headquarters, Valeria is heading inside with Ari to see A to ask her about getting a room to stay there temporarily, at least during Valeria's stint as a substitute reaper.
A was sitting comfortably on one of the beanbags in the office when they entered. She turned to scowl at them, as if they annoyed her by just being there.
"Did you meddle with the soul's family after the reaping?" A asked Valeria.
"I didn't exactly meddle, I was just passing a message, surely there's nothing wrong with…"Valeria tried to explain by A raised a hand to stop her.
"No, the rule is clear. We are reapers, we do not involve ourselves in human matters, we are not messengers to pass on messages from the souls we reap, do not ever do this again," A told her.
"Well, I am not exactly a reaper and I am human after all so…" Valeria tried to give an excuse.
"You are still a substitute reaper, you are not a messenger for the souls, do not, I repeat, DO NOT ever do this again," A repeated firmly.
Valeria nodded. On the positive side, it makes her job easier. Just wham bam, I take your soul ma'am and I am gone.
"Yes, that is how we've done it for centuries, there are no reasons why you have to do it differently," A said.
"So, anyway, can I stay here temporarily since I am already substituting as a reaper?" Valeria quickly ask before A dismisses her.
"Fine, Ari will show you the rooms, it is good for Ari too, he can stay here to recuperate," A said. A flash of concern crossed her expression for a fleeting moment and was gone but not before Valeria caught it.
So, reapers are not uncaring cold demons after all, the supervisor do care for Ari too, Valeria thought.
A glared at her, obviously having read her thoughts. Valeria quickly averted her thoughts to think about rainbows and unicorns and handsome buff elves.
"Pfffffttttt" Ari chuckled next to her.
"Go on, why are you still here? I believe you have another soul to reap," A told her.
Yes, right. She has another soul to reap today. Busy day today. Slave for the Brinstrone, reap a soul, deliver a message, deliver a soul, get slapped at the Brinstrone, get kicked out and here she is, in a new place and getting ready to reap yet another soul.
All in a day of the life of a rich housewife. Who says housewives lead boring lives?
They should be in her shoes over these two days. There are incidents like an accidental stabbing, black goo, a kiss with a stranger, reaping strangers' souls, being a punching bag, witnessing your husband having sex with a woman half her age and the latest, being kicked out of your only home in the past 15 years. Try it. It is loads of FUN and excitement.
She and Ari left the office. Ari led her up the sweeping staircase to the first floor where there is a row of doors. He picked the one at the end and opened it.
It was a gorgeous room with floor to ceiling glass windows on the other end looking down to the building complex's extensive gardens and ponds. The floor is covered in tatami mat and there is a thick futon, presumably the bed, on the mat. There is a low table with seating mats and beanbags at a corner and plants place strategically in the room. The ensuite and closet was on another side, cleverly hidden by wooden sliding doors. The whole room gave off a spacious, airy relaxing vibe.
"Wow. It's like going on vacation," Valeria muttered as she walked in and looked around.
She took off her shoes at the entrance where there is a shoe rack to keep her shoes. Ari took off his shoes and placed it on the rack before going in. He sat down on the seating mats and leaned on the bean bag.
"We have a good interior designer," he said.
"You reapers really love your bean bags and sitting on the floor," Valeria remarked. She is not so flexible so she isn't sure about whether she could get up after sitting down on the floor.
"You'll get used to it and if you join some of our yoga classes, which is free for reapers, you will find that your flexibility will improve," Ari told her.
Right. Yoga classes. She forgot that the reapers teach yoga to humans too, ironically.
"Well, enough of gaping at your room, check your next soul on the list, I believe it's at 5pm," Ari reminded her.
"Let me unpack first," she told him. She lugged her luggage bag to the closet and started unpacking. Since there was no much in there, it took her about 30 minutes to finish unpacking.
After she is done, she went over to sit on one of the bean bags and accessed her soul reaping list in her mind.
[ Lex Lindi, female, 28 years old, suicide from overdose of sleeping pills, room 56, The Palace Hotel, 5pm]
"In a hotel room??? How do you expect me to get in there?" she asked Ari.
He merely shrugged.
"You will find a way," he said mysteriously.