VI

Can love be measured by the hours in a day?

I have no answers now but this much I can say

I know I’ll need him till the stars all burn away

- Where Do I Begin “Love Story”, Gary Valenciano

***

MONDAY. Tears in Heaven, the novel Infinity is currently writing, has just been uploaded to the website.

And before the new chapter warms up, Pipay and Robin are already messing around at their tables talking about it.

"Did the writer of this story get neglected when she was still a child? Why does she like to make her readers cry?" Robin said those words quite loudly. She is sure that is a comment from one of her readers.

"While I'm reading this, I'm thinking happy thoughts because I'm sure I'm going to cry. But it didn't work. This story is excellent but heartbreaking.”

"I want to tweak the writer for this story." She heard Pipay say.

“Infinity! Come on! Go hide! Your readers are ready to eat you alive!" Robin threatens her.

"If your reader is okay with it, I am glad to tweak you myself." Pipay suddenly came to her cubicle and tightly pulled down some strands of her hair.

“Ouch!” She said while laughing a little. It hurts a little but she’s fine.

"Infinity, that's not the only thing I'm going to do to you! You are such a sadist!” Pipay was still controlling herself, but she wanted to strangle her more.

"Let it go, Pipay. She doesn't want anyone to be happy, so she always writes sad stories!" Robin sat up on his chair with a bang.

Pipay tormented her even more before finally leaving and returning to her cubicle. She couldn't stop laughing. She knew her friends so well. She is used to this kind of situation. They can be brutal sometimes, but they are good friends.

Pipay and Robin are also her little ray of sunshine. She is really ready to quit her job and just be a helper in the monastery. The moment she met them, she got a little fuel to continue what she loved to do. To make stories. They don't know the exact details of her past, but they do everything to make her happy and somehow make her life easier.

The moment she uploads a chapter to her stories, she does not read any comments about it.

It is not because she is afraid of bashers, or she may get upset if she reads nasty comments about her work. She is also not afraid of constructive criticism. After all, they are a great help for her to improve her writing.

She is not reading comments from her readers because she will interpret them as words of encouragement for her. Not for her character but for her, as Infinity.

It may sound pathetic, but those are the words she wished someone had said to her personally.

Writing is her outlet to ease, at some point, the pain in her heart. And when she reads such comments she hopes and expects that something good might come to her. And expectations lead to disappointments. She doesn’t want to be hurt anymore. The world had already beaten her to pieces.

Oftentimes, Robin and Pipay are the ones reading comments for her. These are the comments that have constructive criticism of her stories. She didn't tell them to do it, they just also love to read comments on her stories because both of her friends are entertained when they read her reader's rampage and meltdowns. Feeling joy in the misery of others.

The second reason is that not reading comments gives her the freedom to write anything she decides to happen to her story without the fear of losing her readers.

Of course, there are pros and cons.

The pros are that she writes freely to her heart's content.

The con is that readers usually backlash against her for her "poor" or "inhuman" form of writing. Result? Compared to other The Journal writers, her story, at some point, is trending because of too much backlash.

May it be on social media sites or through the website bulletin board. Often times, it was trending because of how magnificent it was written. But most of the time it is because of how tragic her stories are.

But what can she do?

Pain is part of reality. Part of her reality.

She's contemplating and preparing herself to write another chapter of her story when Louise suddenly arrives, and unexpectedly, with Sir Patrick.

Sir Patrick is the in-training Chair of One Republic Corporation. A corporation that owns The Journal. Among all the companies under the umbrella of One Republic, Sir Patrick chose to focus on The Journal. His reason? He loves literature. His father just lets him do what he wants because he knows this is for a short period. Or so he thought.

And because he is a capitalist, he sees things sometimes from a different perspective. Like now, The Journal will expand into publishing! He talked to different investors about this. A lot of investors were curious and said yes to him. That's why it was made happen.

"Guys! Can I get your attention for a moment?” Louise said to them.

They immediately stopped what they were doing. It looks like the two have something important to say.

"As you all know, The Journal, an online writing site, will now expand into paperback! And as a part of our marketing, the new board decided to make a new tradition on our anniversary. It is a program that will give recognition as well as incentives as price for those who will be chosen from different writing categories. Of course, we will have judges and criteria for these,” Sir Patrick said.

"It will be called The Journal's Award! And every year we have a theme. This year's theme will be…” Louise was interrupted by Sir Patrick. That goes to show how excited he is about this awards night.

“Hollywood!” Patrick said happily, while Louise seemed to be at a loss.

"Please wait for your invitations and no one's exempted! This is a big event guys! All our investors and sister companies will also be there. Let's just say it will also serve as The Journal's official welcoming party with One Republic Corporation.” Patrick happily announces the details of the event, but Louise gets back to her office. Maybe because she can’t stand too long next to Sir Patrick.

Louise is a serious kind of woman. So she guessed that she didn't like parties like that. But she doesn't have a choice.

Some of the writers and staff were also happy, but some were not. Mostly writers who still don’t meet the quota for the month. As for her, she doesn't care. She will not attend.

She looked at her planner, and according to that she needed to write one of the heartbreaking scenes in her story. The atmosphere in the office is a little joyful. She needed to find a perfect place for this chapter.