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Elara ran after her boss the moment she sighted him. The manuscript in her hand flayed violently and she called after him;

“Sir Ferguson!” she raised her other hand in the air as if to wave him to stop walking. She had just finished working on her novel project and was hoping he would hear her out this time. Actually, this was not the first time she would be running after him to submit a manuscript. This has been going on for almost a year now.

The other staffs called her ‘crazy’. It was because she was persistent and wouldn’t stop trying to convince the boss to take a look at her manuscript. Even though she had written more than 20 novels for the company, the boss has never acknowledged her hard work. It wasn’t even as if she was earning much, but it was just enough to lean on for the time being.

Elara believes in her writing and if only the boss actually gives her manuscript a chance will he realize that it could set their company for life. Being in a world where technology is being developed each day, there were lot of things the company could do to make even bigger sales than before, and one of them is developing the novels into games. Although, turning manuscripts into movies are quite popular, a lot of other companies already delved into that. She was looking for a change, and the only person who could help them was Dr. Solen Pierce.

“Sir!” she called again just before her boss would enter his office and she almost tripped when she got to where he was, but knowing that how she approaches him also matters, she immediately balanced herself somehow and gave a wide smile as her chest heaved up and down.

“What is it, Ms. Vance?” Mr. Ferguson asked with an uninterested look on his face.

Elara looked at his assistant who stood by the door, waiting for him to enter.

“I’m sorry, but I just need a little of your t—”

“Is it about your manuscript again?” he hissed before she could even finish speaking. His eyes were already looking down at her hand and his mood turned sour immediately. “Didn’t I warn you never to speak about it again?”

Elara shook her head. “This is different this time. Please, just take a look at it.”

“Really?” he asked her. “Is there really anything you are ever good at? All the novels you wrote for the company failed before it even reached two years. The movie industry wouldn’t accept any manuscript written by you because an actress once complained of how it was traumatizing and another actress ended up in an asylum because, of course, they were terrified of your ghost stories.”

Elara knew that was partially her fault, but she already told him countless times that they shouldn’t go for the movie industry. “Sir, the movie industry will always reject small upcoming company like ours. Even if we give them the best, their top actors or actresses would never take the role. No one wants to act like they are wretched when they already have billions in real life. They would rather take a role of a CEO or a billionaire who treats other people like trash or gets their heart broken. It’s always something similar to that.”

The boss turned to face her and pointed a finger at her. “If you know that, why didn’t you write something like that? They don’t have issues with the others except you. Why don’t you start writing what the people actually want?”

“Because it’s boring!” Elara expressed her inner frustration before she realized she had just raised her voice, but now she didn’t care. She is tired of running around. “We still have a good shot with Dr. Solen Pierce. You know him too. He is a game developer, has his own company and is even trending on the internet. I’ve done my research on him and this manuscript is our first shot. I mean, you just have to take a look at what he creates, even if it's just once. Please, just take a look at this manuscript and set up a meeting with him.”

Mr. Ferguson went silent for few seconds, as if deciding and then he stretched his hand towards her. Elara’s eyes lit up almost immediately and she happily handed the manuscript over to him. She saw him flip over the pages and then flipped back to the first page.

“Seriously,” he laughed and his expression suddenly turned serious. “Elara,” he called in a serious tone, “Is this job a joke to you?”

“Y-you didn’t even read it,” she tried to say, but the next she knew, her manuscript was flung right in her face and it went flying around the place. She let out a gasp and quickly bent to start picking them up, but her boss stepped on the one she was about to pick and she looked up at him.

He shook his head and said, “Just look at you. Are you that desperate to make money? Then, why wouldn’t you listen to me and change your storyline? Everything you write is unmarketable trash. I think this is it. Round up everything you are working on and submit them by the end of the day. You are restricted from coming to this company as from tomorrow. In other words, you are fired.”

He turned and entered his office before shutting the door, and she picked the paper he had stepped on. Her heart clenched and her eyes itched, but then, she heard the other staffs talking and she looked around to see them looking at her and whispering to one another. She snatched what she could from the floor and hurried down to the restroom before locking herself in one of the toilets. She slammed the cover down and sat on it before bending her head in despair and clenching the papers in her hand.

Her dream job…the two years of her life…the late nights spent by chunking cheap coffee…all of it dismissed with a single heartless word. Trash.