11:15 AM Monday, Meeting Room, MeetCute Publishing Company
The presentation slides on the smartboard rolled forward as the meeting progressed. The small text in the lower right corner reads: Project Kick-off Meeting Agenda: WriteSmitten: A Romance Novel Writing Contest
Today is the first in-person meeting, and it started two hours ago. Meanwhile, Sebastian endured the residual effect of a hangover from last night's one for the road that resulted in an extended drinking with his high school friends Jenna and Lucy. He got his envy-worthy weekend getaway as a guest at a wedding on an exclusive island. The resort island is about 5 hours away from Lake City. But his reminiscing of the occasion was nuked by manic Monday.
A while ago, he was fiddling with the pencil, rotating it between his fingers. He's so affected by his frustrations, hangover, and work pressure that he's about to snap the pencil in half. He felt anxious and irritated for some reason. "This is not good," he thought. He tried concentrating and reminded himself, "Focus. Focus. The Office Witch is exercising her divine right to speak."
MeetCute Publishing Project Manager Michelle Lovelace led the kick-off meeting. She detailed the project deliverables and campaigns for the next 12 months. She's good at her job but acts like a strict, mean auntie—especially to newbies and interns, hence the moniker Office Witch.
This is their first collaboration with ROMANTIKO Media and MANGOxRANKO. ROMANTIKO is an online publishing platform for romance novels. MANGOxRANKO is an independent game studio. Together with MeetCute Publishing, they are the stakeholders of Project WriteSmitten. The romance writing contest is held on the ROMANTIKO platform. The top five winners will get a publishing deal with MeetCute Publishing. MANGOxRANKO will develop a game based on the grand prize winner's novel.
Ms. Lovelace appointed Sebastian as her assistant. Meanwhile, Sebastian barely glanced around at the participants since he was busy onboarding them to the project management app. He listened to them ramble on and took notes on the important matters.
However, he discreetly checked his office friends' group chat on his phone.
[Worky Beast — Project Management App | Chat App: 5 Online, 1 Offline]
William: Lunch?
Rachelle: Sure! But @Sebastian, though… ^^
William: Is he still alive? LOL
Rachelle: Hopefully hehe
Patricia: Kick-off meeting today. They'll lunch at LGB! The Office Witch sure knows how to treat her protege. I won't be worried about @Sebastian baby getting hungry :)
Rachelle: Sooo jealous😋
Cooper: ???
Rachelle: Of the lunch! Come on! I know I won't refuse lunch there even if Ms. Lovelace sits next to me😤
Cooper: Speaking with formality for free lunch?😉
Rachelle: FYI, she wants to be addressed that way.
William: So he's not joining us for lunch?
Sebastian: TT.TT
Sebastian: Sorry guys…
Patricia: Ms. Lovelace isn't the only one who can get reservations at the exclusive LGB!
Rachelle: Reservation is hard to get! How to be you, sis? ^^
Patricia: How else?
Patricia: [photo_patricia_lgb_chef_date.png]
Rachelle: 🤯
Sebastian: Your third BF this year…😮
Patricia: What can I do? I'm in love :)
Rachelle: You change BF as often as you change stilettos. Meanwhile, our @Sebastian's love life is as dry as this Chapter 5: One Night Stand I'm proofreading.
Sebastian: Haha. So brutal!
Patricia: I buy stilettos. Men come to me.
William: You will join us at The Bar with your new BF? This Friday?
Patricia: Better, luv. Let's all hang out at The Tarragon 😘
Cooper: That's a fancy joint.
Patricia: What do you think my new bae is for?
Rachelle: 😊
William: Got that @Sebastian? You're coming with us.
Cooper: I can see greener pasture over there for your gay heart😎
Sebastian: 😭
Sebastian: If only…
Patricia: Of course, our @Sebastian will join us! Right, luv?
Rachelle: He ignored you! Tehehe
Patricia: Grrr 😘
Meanwhile, Sebastian put the phone down. He was sipping lukewarm coffee while updating the workflow in the Worky Beast app. Savoring lukewarm coffee became a habit, which resulted from his laziness in getting a new cup, especially when engrossed in his editorial job. It didn't matter if the coffee wasn't fresh brew; he just wanted the taste of caffeine, enough to keep him going.
He sighed. He's thorough when it comes to doing his tasks. He never went on leave without notice. Even on leave, he made sure that the line of communication was open. But there's one person who wasn't around. It's that guy named Solomon from MANGOxRANKO.
He stroked his left temple with his fingertips out of annoyance. He already sent Solomon an invite to their workspace, an email update regarding the project, and a few chat messages. But no response from him. He thought, "What kind of lead game developer skips a very important meeting? He wasn't even online!"
He turned his attention to the smartboard, displaying the kanban view of Project WriteSmitten. In this way, they could visualize the workflow.
As the meeting continued, Sebastian's thoughts suddenly wandered off to that night Henry arrived at the resort, to that moment they saw each other for the first time after college graduation. He massaged his temple. He tried his best to ignore the image of Henry popping up in his mind. But, for some reason, he felt like he missed something important.
Ms. Lovelace interrupted his pensive mood. She had that resting-bitch-face expression she's known for and asked, "Is everything okay, Mr. Loyess?"
Sebastian was caught off guard especially when he was suddenly placed in the spotlight. He felt ashamed. He turned to face the crowd, offering them an apologetic smile. He began stammering, "Ah.. yeah… Just some cla-clarifications…"
Ms. Lovelace raised an eyebrow, "Of the kanban board?"
"I mean… not with that but with the one I'm working on," Sebastian smiled awkwardly and cleared his throat, "It's the campaign—"
"Alright," Ms. Lovelace responded immediately, dismissing his lame excuse, "It's 11:55. I think we can have lunch at Lunch•Grind•Break. That's the lovely restaurant across the building."
Everyone felt relieved that the morning meeting was over. Their attention shifted to talking about lunch instead of Sebastian's awkward moment. The good thing about Ms. Lovelace is that she never skimps on lunch. She was the one who secured their reservations. That restaurant is always packed with diners, yet she always gets a reservation.
Before leaving the meeting room, Sebastian updated his status in the group chat with "AFK; Lunch at LGB".