Office Diaries

Yanee had finished preparing in thirty minutes. She studied her reflection on the mirror with great satisfaction. She wore a sleeveless beige trench dress with a lapel collar that ended just above the knee. The clothes Ami picked for her were chic yet elegant at the same time – a perfect combination for a business meeting. She reckoned she'd give Ami a message of thanks for packing up clothes for her.

She put on a light make up and took her phone to send her sister a message. It seemed Ami was not busy at the moment as she immediately received a reply.

[Ami: Get me bridal kimonos – all types from Kyoto. I don't care how much. I'll transfer money to you later.]

Oh…

Ami must be preparing for the wedding expo this year. As one of the famous events planner, her sister's company was very active with exhibits and events to showcase their services. Even if Ami was famous enough for people to come to her even without advertising, her sister still opted to join.

"Hardworking as usual," she murmured fondly as she typed in her reply.

 [Yanee: Sure. Don't work too hard. You'll get sick.]

Ami was a workaholic. But for Yanee's big sister, being one was a sign that her career was on the right track. Instead of complaints, Ami only worked harder. But sometimes, Yanee worried about her because she didn't take breaks even when she's sick.

With a sigh, Yanee got out of the bathroom to cross the sleeping area and went out into the office. As soon as she stepped out, her gaze traveled to the empty desk in the office and slightly frowned. Her boss was nowhere in sight.

"Maybe he's outside?" she wondered as she exited Tohru's office to hers and Chummy's work area. Almost immediately, she spotted her friend with her head resting on the table looking depleted. "What happened?"

She hadn't seen Chummy for only around thirty minutes but the energy earlier and now was totally different.

"Why do you look like a zombie?"

Chummy turned her gaze on Yanee and she sat up, blinking. "Ah, your fresh and lovely look gave me some mana boost. Thank you so much, pretty miss."

"Ha?" Yanee looked at Chummy as if she'd gone insane. "What happened?" she asked again as she pulled the chair in front of Chummy's desk and sat there.

"Trouble at the editing department." Chummy's face crumpled in annoyance as she said that. "I don't know what's going on but our authors are vanishing one after another."

"Eh? Who is it this time?" Yanee asked in concern.

Authors were moody – that's a given. It took a good editor to cater to them, coax them, and assist them when they met with difficulties in their writing. This was also why Yanee disliked the literary department. She didn't think she had the qualifications and enough patience to take care of an author.

"BAJJ," Chummy answered with a blank expression.

"What? Isn't she the author of Wild Young Miss and The Rise of the White Lotus?" The mentioned were popular romance series in their company. "What happened? Did she run to the mountains and joined a tribe as well like Alinea's author?"  

"Worse," Chummy deadpanned. "Her editor received a message saying she'd been kidnapped by aliens."

This time, Yanee couldn't help but let out a generous round of laughter. "Gee! These authors are so funny!"

"Tell me about it," Chummy grumbled before resting her head on the table again.

"Is this why the boss is not at his office right now?" Yanee asked and Chummy nodded.

"He's doing damage control with the printing company. He's trying to see if he could push back the publication of the missing authors' books to give them time to rest and then finish the books properly." This time, Chummy smiled proudly as if she was a mama talking about her son. "Isn't he great? Other bosses would have forcefully searched for the authors and insist that they finish their work on schedule."

Yanee looked thoughtful for a moment as she nodded. Chummy was right. If it were the old slice bread editor in chief from before, he'd have the authors dragged bound and gagged on their desk to beat the schedule.

"Y-yea – no!" Yanee was about to verbally agree but she remembered something. "What are you talking about? Is that really boss?"

"Of course. Who else could be it? He's the only one who can do that," Chummy countered, her face clearly wondered why Yanee suddenly said no after initially agreeing with what she said about Tohru James. "Why did you say no?"

Yanee raised a brow at her forgetful friend. "Did you forget I got the ultimatum? Take the project or get sacked? What's so great about that domineering attitude?"

Come to think of it, Tohru James was indeed too unfair to her. Yanee was a good employee. She was suddenly transferred from the magazine to the literary department. To suddenly ask her to take on a project that she was not only unfamiliar with but also uninterested in and threatened to get sacked if she failed was pure bullying.

"I take back what I said. He's a bad potato – totally bad potato,"Yanee murmured resentfully, making Chummy panic.

Well, Yanee had no idea that Chummy couldn't let her think badly of their boss.

"Hey, it's not really threatening, you know," Chummy told her adamantly.

"Oh yeah? What do you call that then?" she challenged.

 "I call that motivation by challenging," Chummy stated randomly. She was at a loss at the beginning as she seemed to find the right words to say, but after she began, she became more and more reasonable in Yanee's ears.

"You see, I think boss saw the potential in you and believes you can handle this big project. If not, why not hand it over to someone else – there are many others who can be good candidates, right? But no. Boss chose you because his heart knew it has to be you."

"Excuse me?" What heart?

"I mean his instincts!" Chummy chuckled nervously, but Yanee continued to listen. "The fact is, with your personality, if he did not challenge you enough, you wouldn't have taken it, right?"

Come to think of it…

"Right,"Yanee agreed. If there was a way she could abstain from romance-related projects, she'd have done it.

"See? But here you are working hard for the project. You totally disregarded your personal feelings and are doing your best to do your job. Boss was just telling me at lunch that you're doing good so far and he's looking forward to the completion of the project."

At the mention of "personal feelings", Yanee couldn't help but flinch.

"Yeah, disregarding personal feelings," she muttered, but Chummy heard her clearly.

"But that's not good!" Chummy countered hurriedly confusing Yanee.

"Which is it? Good or bad?" Yanee frowned at her. "Make up your mind."

"Bad! You have to have some personal feelings involved," Chummy told her.

"Why? Isn't it better to be purely professional? I mean if I consider my personal feelings then I wouldn't have taken this job at all. I'd have quit from the beginning." There were still moments when Yanee questioned herself why she took this job.

Chummy wagged her finger at her as if to tell her she was wrong. "You are not just doing an interview here Yanee. You are absorbing experiences."

"Absorbing experiences?" It was the first time Yanee ever heard of that.

Her friend nodded vigorously. "You interview people; you try to imagine their situation. You not only analyze the cause and effect of their actions in their lives and in their relationsh.i.p.s – you learn from them. When you extract the essence of each story, you learn and absorb them. You should understand them with your own personal feelings involved. Else, how can you write down a good book about emotions when you keep yourself distant from them?"

Yanee leaned back on her chair and sighed. She suddenly felt heavy. But she didn't say anything because Chummy was right. How could someone write something that "touched the heart" if she didn't work on it using her heart?  

A book's a reflection of its author.

"Then we may have a problem," Yanee stated with a bitter smile.

"What problem?" Chummy asked, and Yanee hesitated before answering.

"All… All I have are bitterness and disillusionment. How can someone like me write that project that's supposed to inspire many and believe in love when I don't believe in it?"

With her answer, Chummy smiled at her fondly before she stood up and went around her desk so she could hug Yanee from behind.

"It's simple." Chummy spoke with confidence. "Just like those people you interview, you have a story to tell. Theirs might have already finished when they found love and settled down. But you, pretty miss, your story is still far from over. Do not close the book when you haven't seen every page yet. If there are pretentious declarations of love that break the princesses' hearts from villains in stories, there are real princes and kings who would do anything and everything to put back all the broken pieces together and claim their hearts."