For a struggling publication company, Feyre Publications sure looked well-off.
The reception hall of the two-storey building was well-kept and modernly built, with a couple staff members loitering about while most moved around with a quiet efficiency and familiarity that could’ve only come from years of working at the same place.
Behind the translucent glass walls that separated the reception hall from the actual workspace though, a plethora of cubicles stretched on to the other end of the room, sectioned into four by a crossed yet narrow pathway.
Within each cubicle, Niall could see multiple heads peeking out, some hunched over their computers whilst others reclined into their chairs, either to stretch, read a document or pick up the landline.
Focusing on the wide metal plaques that hung over each sectioned half, Niall identified them as the Contracts et Legal, Finance, Human Resources and Information Technology Department.
’Oh wow,’ Niall’s gaze suddenly flickered in realization.
The fact that he was able to detect the plaques for each department through the thick, transparent glass walls was definitely a welcome benefit of the Gift of Vitality.
Things were still noticeably hazy even as he peered through the glass from afar, but considering he was a fair few meters away from it and could still make out the words without so much as a squint, it was quite impressive.
’Unexpected, but most definitely welcome.’ the young actor mused to himself, a thin smile pulling on the edges of his lips as he moved towards the receptionist.
Who knew when this enhanced eyesight of his would come in handy.
That said, as he casually strolled past, a couple workers eyed him, their curiosity and interest evident.
Watching as he engaged with the receptionist for a few seconds, and was then directed to the upper floor, they simply watched as he went up the stairs till he was out of sight.
It wasn’t everyday they got to see someone so striking walk through their hall. More importantly, they couldn’t remember the last time a literary agent had walked through their halls.
Why did they assume Niall was a literary agent?
Presumably the brown envelope in his hands helped, but it was more as a result of the young man’s demeanor and equally the fact that things weren’t going so well for the company.
Coupled with that, the receptionist seemed to have checked with the editorial department through landline and the response to grant him access seemed to have come pretty swiftly.
Yet, they couldn’t have been more wrong about things.
Niall had been granted access, yes... but that was because the editor-in-chief had found it equal parts annoying yet suspicious that someone had now believed they could just waltz into their company without prior notice.
They were slowly going out of business, sure... but that didn’t mean he would entertain disrespect towards the company from any rando.
If this so-called Mr. Parker didn’t have anything worthwhile to give, he was going to drag him through the mud without mercy.
And that was why, no sooner had Niall arrived at the editorial department on the first floor, a short, chubby-looking middle-aged man with thinning hair and square-rimmed glasses was leaning on the wall next to a water dispenser.
"Mr. Parker, I presume?" he inquired, his irritation simmering beneath the calm exterior of his average looking features.
"In the flesh," Niall politely responded with a practiced smile.
He could pretty much infer what was going on here. He was being heavily scrutinized.
Given he’d expected to be rejected at the reception and simply drop the manuscript there anyway knowing fully well they wouldn’t ignore it given the state of things in their company, the fact that he’d been allowed access all the way up here meant that someone must’ve taken an interest in his brazenness.
And who better to have been interested than the editor-in-chief, Bob Harper as his name tag read.
This was a golden opportunity and Niall wasn’t planning to lose it by getting on the man’s bad side any further.
"This way," Bob moved towards the end of the busy office and Niall followed, a couple workers sneaking curious glances.
No sooner had they entered his office, Bob plopped into his chair, his legs raised, crossed and propped onto the table in a domineering manner that Niall would’ve otherwise found funny if not for the situation he was in.
"So, what makes you think you can just waltz in here and do as you please?" the man’s surprisingly reserved tone was laced with a cold edge.
Niall’s expression remained relaxed as he placed the envelope before him.
"This," he politely smiled as he took a step back.
Before Bob could bother narrowing his dark-brown irises, the impostor before him spoke;
"I could have gone to any other publication company to drop this off and I’d get prioritized before any other book in their editorial department but, I chose here instead,"
"A declining publication company that recently went private," Niall continued, his tone respectful but equally confident.
"Now why do you think I would do that?"
Now, it was Bob’s turn to be a bit more cautious.
It wasn’t outside knowledge that their company was going out of business... or that it had even gone private a couple months ago.
That had remained tight-lipped between he, the CEO and some of their trusted employees.
The fact that some rando knew, and was willing to take advantage of it was not a good sign of things to come. How he approached this could quite possibly determine the fate of their company.
"What do you want?" Bob exhaled his frustration and let out the words with a practiced calm.
"Nothing much. Just this," Niall gestured to the manuscript.
"Read it, review it and let me hear your thoughts. If you think it’s worthy of being published, contact me. I dropped my details in the envelope along with the manuscript."
No sooner had the young actor said that, he gave a polite nod and simply made his way out.
Glaring at his back till he was out of sight, then at the bulky-looking brown envelope before him, Bob proceeded to open it with a heavy scrutiny beyond any manuscript he’d ever reviewed.
Amidst their conversation, one thing had caught his attention.
The fact that the youngster before him had been so certain his manuscript would get prioritized at any other publishing company.
Was it that good, or was he just overly confident? Bob couldn’t say at the moment.
However, upon pulling out the manuscript and reading out its title;
"[The Token of Fate],"
"Guess I’m about to find out." the editor-in-chief muttered to himself, the frown never leaving his features.
Niall on the other hand, soon arrived at the parking lot, the hot afternoon Los Angeles sun doing that thing where it was pretending to be bright and cheery while secretly barbecuing your brain.
Not a moment wasted, he’d slipped into his vehicle and zoomed out of the area.
About an hour later, he’d arrived home, all thanks to the busy L.A traffic which had only gotten heavier as the day went on.
Collapsing onto his bed face first, a long, muffled sigh escaped his lips.
It wasn’t because he was tired or remotely stressed. Rather, the reason behind his sigh was because he’d felt like he’d gone and indirectly threatened Feyre Publications.
Sure, he was keeping both his and their best interests at heart with his actions, it didn’t excuse Niall from taking accountability for the way he was going about things.
It was something his previous self would’ve never done, even if he considered it a necessary evil.
But with regression came a lot of shifts in perspective for the young man.
One of such shifts, was his current inclination to do what was necessary to get what he wanted, as long as it didn’t impact the right people negatively.
Was it a product of his yet again hypocritical moral high-ground? Yes.
Did it once again leave a bad taste in his mouth? Of course.
Would he do it again? Absolutely.
In the grand scheme of things, what he’d done was actually tame and Niall intended to keep toeing that line.
Pushing the thoughts out of his mind, the young actor rolled onto his back whilst simultaneously recalling what had happened in Callow’s office.
[Silverlake High].
Bar none one of the most popular ongoing series on BingeFlix, the plot revolved centrally around the life of a group of dysfunctional high school students and the various inner daemons they were battling with.
Teen and YA-focused, the producers of the series had practically struck gold with the series.
And given its popularity, the average struggling B-list actor would be quite stoked to be cast in it, even if a supporting role’s all they’re afforded.
But for Niall whom had been typecast one too many times into similar roles, being cast in the show had definitely been one of his biggest nightmares before his regression.
Even after his regression, it still wasn’t a role he was the least bit interested in.
Besides, considering Callow had given the script to Adrian in the past, one that had elevated his fame by quite a bit when he’d eventually landed the role, Niall saw even less need to entertain the role.
Still, he couldn’t help but ponder over the butterfly effect... one he could only attribute to the fact that he’d been so accepting of his role in [The Promised Queen].
Given he had severely complained to the agent before ultimately accepting it in the past, Callow had taken it upon himself to punish him by blacklisting him for a fairly long while.
With no other place to go, Niall had eventually been the one to chase after the agent in hopes of appeasing him.
This time though,
’He can rage in caps lock for all I care,’
’It’ll all work to my advantage when things eventually begin to fall into place,’
Pulling the young man out of his reverie was the buzzing of his phone.
Quickly, he retrieved the device and opened it up to see the response he’d been waiting for;
My bad. Got called out in front of the whole class for texting. I go to LA Film School actually.
We can link next Wed @ Denny’s nearby, 4:00pm.
With a light smile, Niall texted and hit send;
Looking forward to it.
Advance Chapters are available on Patreon!
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