《A Trillion Trillion Years》Chapter 2: Its Sometimes Good To Forget
Advertisement
I couldn’t stop thinking about it. ‘I want you to love me as much as I love you’. Who says that. I can’t live life anymore. I think I might have to kill myself.
I Looked down and sighed.
“Its not going to be that hard” My new manager said. “It might seem intimidating to be talking to actresses but they’re people like you and me.”
I shook my head. “It isn’t about that. Its…personal.”
He gave a small laugh “Wife troubles?”
“Yea, you can say that....”
“Well don’t let it get to you. You need to be in a good mood to work with Leslie, shes a little…emotional. So its good to try to do everything with a smile. And don’t try to get her angry. Remember, if you do well with her a long-term position is next.” He smiled at me as he continued walking down the confusing labyrinth of hallways.
Today was my first day as a temp. The assistant for this actress was on maternity leave and they had to quickly fill in the role while she was gone. It wasn’t the best paying job. In fact, it paid horribly. But, Leslie was under the same management company as Abby. Really it was the only reason why I had planned, studied, smoothed up my resume, and acted like I loved Leslie.
As a quick summery from what I gathered:
Name - Leslie.
An actress with many support roles in popular dramas. She seemed to be getting many support roles but never any main roles. I did watch the TV shows she was in and she never really hit me, like Abby would hit me if I saw her on a TV show. There was something lacking. Her acting was fine, her looks were beyond beautiful, and every interview I watched screamed ‘great social skills’. If I were to say why…it would be due to her lack of presence. She didn’t have the IT factor.
My manager opened her dressing room “Well, let me introduce you to her.” Leslie was sitting on her chair half-asleep/half-looking at her phone. “Hey Leslie!” he said with a smile.
She turned slowly. “Hey.” Her brown hair sat under her ears. Even when she didn’t have any makeup on it looked like someone had worked hours to get every single feature just right. I took a breath.
“This is going to be your new assistant while Amie is on maternity, his name is Jake, if you need anything be sure to ask.”
I waved at her with a smile. “Hi.”
“Hey.” She said back. Her entire body screamed tired.
“Now that I’ve introduced myself I’m going to get going.” He looked one more time at Leslie. “Remember if you need anything don’t be afraid to tell Jake, he may only be temporary, but he’ll be helping you for some time.”
“Yea, I’ll be sure to tell him everything I need.”
He walked out of the room and left us both alone. Leslie looked at me. I tried to look anywhere else but at her.
Advertisement
“I don’t have some things for you to do right now. But..” She went on to talk about everything she wanted me to do. I listened, if only because it gave me an excuse to look at her. She really was a beauty. I loved Abby. There is nothing that will change that. However, when Leslie looked at me it made my knees weak and she was really looking at me.
But you see Abby…Abby had so much more then looks. There was something to her. A light? Yes. She had a light that surrounded her entire being.
Listening to her tell me about her morning routine, I could tell why-
“Well what do you think?”
“I agree.”
There was a silence. “Excuse me, are you even listening to me? It looks like you weren't paying attention to me even when I was taking up time to explain what my assistant does. What? Did Alex tell you everything you needed to know?”
“I…I’m sorry I was just-.”
“Oh. You’re sorry.” she turned her chair away from me and looked at me through the mirror in front of her. “I’m a nice person…but I am your boss, and if I say that you are out, you are out. At the very least you can treat me with some respect! Don’t think that you are fine just because you got this job! You are on thin ice!” She looked down at her phone. Silent.
I could tell why she wasn’t very popular in the industry. Ah. Abby would never talk to me like this. She would tell me how hard I’ve been working and how tough it must be to get along with new people in your job.
I looked at Leslie one more time. “Do you need anything right now? Maybe some coffee?”
She just looked at her phone. I repeated the question one more time. She still didn’t respond. “Well I’m going to get you some coffee, as an apology. I’m sorry.”
Just before I left I could hear her say, “Make it an iced Americano.”
Well now I had to get coffee, but that wasn’t why I went out. Yes the atmosphere was horrible. But that wasn’t why I went out either. The reason I left was because it was 9 am and 9 am was when Abby would do her walkout by the companies huge glass reception room to a car that would take her to that days schedule. Normally I would be outside somewhere trying to get a glimpse of her. But not today. Today I watched her back as she walked into the car.
It was strange.
Like going to a room everyday and then having everything inverted, it felt familiar, but at the same time completely new. I also wanted to take pictures of her. I held back. I don’t know how other people would take to me snapping a picture of her while she was going to her car. Maybe I’ll get fired. Maybe-
It looked like she was about to turn around, so I flipped myself around and started walking. I still couldn’t look her in the eye after I said that. She thinks I’m a weirdo already. What if she saw me now and thought that I was also stalking her?! I couldn’t think about it.
Advertisement
I walked back to Leslies room and stood on the same corner before I left. Leslie looked at me. I looked back at her.
“Do you need something?” I asked nicely
“The coffee?” she asked.
“Ah. I forgot.”
She snorted. “You know the last person who worked with me was bad, but really, she was nowhere near as bad as you are. I hope you know why you took this job. You're MY assistant. Which is actually a very simple job, do you know why people get assistants?”
“Because they need help with things?” I asked.
“Not me Jake. I don’t need your help with things. I can act by myself. I can buy my own coffee. I can drive myself. I can buy my own food. In fact, you are useless.” She looked at me. I thought about Abby and knew that even if she started slapping me it would still be worth it for her. “The ONLY thing you are here for is to make sure that I can focus on the acting, modelling, and general things I need to maintain my lifestyle. If you-”
You know her face had a certain beauty to it when she was angry. Compared to Abby her personality was horrible. But, really, there were so many men willing to compromise between personality and face that I’m sure she had her pick between men.
I am not saying that Abby is unattractive. Everything in life is a balance. You get people like this because they are too beautiful, because, I think, they are too happy. So they get a little over themselves. Abby would never do something like this because she always acted with the understanding of how precious the people around her were. Like she valued every person purely out of love.
I know. It sounds crazy, but its true. Seeing Leslie get mad over some missed coffee and going on a rant really made me love Abby more. I wonder what shes doing today?
“This.” She waved her hand over her face. “Doesn’t just come with luck. I have to work for it. And every single time that you do not bring me coffee, or do as I say!….” She sounded a little out of breath. “You waste my time, and you waste my ability to concentrate. Do you get it?”
“Yes.”
“Good. I want to work hard Jake. I don’t want you to keep this low-effort, none-attentive style you are showing. WE need to work hard to get ahead!”
“Yes. I’m sorry.”
“Good, now…uh…lets wait until 11. The makeup artists have to come and doll me up so that we can drive to the set and film my part of the show.”
“Will do, do you want some coffee?”
“Yes, please.”
“Okay. I’ll be sure to get you some now.”
I walked out one more time. And I got lost this time. You know today was my first day. There was no way I would even know where the local coffee shop was! I ended up walking around in random directions. I never knew how much like a maze the inside of a management company could be. Maybe it was to stop intruders from getting in? I think I read an article one time that said that was a common medieval strategy.
At some point I was so lost I just picked the first person in front of me and nervously asked them where the coffee shop was. It was a lady with long blonde hair. She dressed with a face mask, a hat, and a huge hoodie. Like many of Producers that littered the management companions hallways she avoided my eye contact.
“Excuse me, do you know where the coffee shop is?”
She stopped for a second. Her eyes moved left and right before settling slightly below my chin. “Are you talking to me?” she said in a light voice.
“Ah, yes, sorry. I’m new here. I just started under Leslie.”
“Ah you’re the temp!” Her voice lowered a little bit. “I’m sorry they stuck you with her. Some people in the business can be really nasty. I hope you don’t think everyone is like that.”
“No…shes…well I don’t think everyone's like that. And its my first day. She hasn’t been that bad.”
She gave a small giggle. “Don’t worry. Every one here knows what shes like. The previous assistant quit crying.”
“She quit crying?”
“Yea….” Her eyes looked sad. “I tried to cheer her up, but that Leslie is a real piece of work. She just didn’t let up.”
“Well its fine.” Its fine they lied to me. I lied to them. “I think I can handle her.”
“Well if you can’t…” she hesitated a little before she continued talking. “Well if you can’t, hang in there. I know it can be tough but it will be alright. I hate to see women like her ruin other people.” She took out her hand “I’m Emily by the way. ”
“Thank you.” Ah. This would be exactly how Abby would react if I told her about Leslie. I shook her hand. “I appreciate it.”
“No worries. And the coffee shop…” she took a second. “I don’t think there's a coffee shop in here. You might have to go to one a couple miles away.”
“Ah.” I still didn't get the company car…
I tried to walk around till 11 before I returned to the room. Leslie was getting her makeup put on by the makeup artists. She looked at me. I looked at her.
“Ah. The coffee.”
“Its okay.” She said without moving her mouth. The makeup artists would probably have to start again if she moved it. “Its your first day after all.”
Advertisement
A (Not So) Simple Fetch Quest
Oh great hero! The evil Demon Lord has once again arisen to terrorise our lands, and we have summoned you to save our people! No, we don't want you to fight the demon lord! Of course not; we're the good guys! What sort of good guys kidnap people from other worlds and force them to take part in wars that have nothing to do with them? That would just be plain evil! We'd be no better than the demons! Katie, after her summoning by an excessively loud mage suddenly takes an unexpected twist, is sent off on a simple fetch quest, with a promise that she'll be back home in five minutes at most. She doesn't even need to leave the building. Alas, when a goddess' blessing causes her wish for an actual adventure to be taken rather more literally than she expected, she finds herself lost in a dark cave, far away from the sword she was supposed to acquire and far too close to a population of giant bugs. Still, at least she wished her life wasn't in any danger. Among other things. Be careful what you wish for. You might just get it. This is a dark litRPG adventure, both in terms of Katie accidentally wishing all the lights out, and also in that she loses as often as she wins, often with horrific and disturbing consequences. Luckily, Katie isn’t the sort of person to let a mere grizzly death or two get her down, and is prepared to try, try and try again to get her hands on the holy sword and finally complete her ‘simple’ fetch quest. Or perhaps—with a few resistance skills under her nightie—she might even come to enjoy losing. Not that she’d ever consider forgoing revenge, even if she did. I’ve ticked all the content warning checkboxes for this one. There’s no explicit sexual content, but there are enough references to justify the warning. Profanity happens rarely, but Katie isn’t averse to swearing when she gets particularly angry. As for gore/trauma, it doesn’t get much worse than the first few chapters, but there will be occasional chapters that have extra content warnings.
8 177Dawn of a Thousand Suns, Book I : Arch De Angels
🔥🔥🔥 In the age of legends, no one was considered a mage without comprehending at least two baron's magic. Belial the king of fire, Azar the remembrance of winter, Kaesh the damnation of the world and Orpheus the prism of the soul. Four of them were the source of the ancient magic in the universe... About two thousand years ago, at the culmination of the Great Ocean War, two more appeared, called Black and White Regads. After the ascension, known as La Shiva and Al Candra. What was four became six and that completely altered the geometry of classical magic, as it is contemplated in the Treaty of the Gates... Lucius is twelve years old village boy, who tragically lost his family. Haunted by the dreadful memories of the past, the only thing that pushes him forward is his baby sister. They get separated in an orphanage where she is sold to a rich family. Lucius then, with his newly acquired friend Michael, decides to escape foster home and rescue his sister. Though events unfold drastically, suddenly the whole city is in a state of catastrophe, everything is engulfed in a fiery hellfire and dire creatures roam around terrorizing the townsfolk. In a world, where the old equilibrium is lost, unknown forces arise, now the only goal for youngsters is to self-preserve. As the journey for survival begins, along the way, they will have to master new skills, confront the enemies they never imagined before, even in their most bizarre dreams. And the most challenging part will remain to avoid losing themselves in the process. As there is a thin line between fighting the monsters and becoming the one yourself in the process...
8 120Humanity's End
Given a year to prepare by the mysterious ‘system’ for contact with the wider galaxy, humanity must work to ensure the Earth’s defense is ready to meet any challenge. Sadly, most of the world seems dedicated to tearing itself apart as the year-end deadline gets closer. The west is in barely contained Chaos, while the east descends into internal conflict and war. The Pillar Forts, one of the few successful projects of the United Nations headed by the United States, stand ready to defend humanity against any invasion that may come through the strange Connection Pillars that appeared on each continent. Massive steel and stone walls that surround the Connection Pillars. They are filled with deadly men and women trained in all manner of warfare, each trained in the newly acquired System with skills and magical abilities that they put to deadly purpose. Beside these brave warriors, tanks, helicopters, artillery and more stand ready to defend humanity at each of these powerful installations. But, can they overcome the disparity in levels and experience between themselves and the forces that threaten them and the rest of humanity? Main Characters Jessica Brown- A young African American girl. Her 18th birthday in Detroit was the same day the systems message appeared. She discovered she was Level 7, much higher than most of the rest of the world. Why she is blessed, or cursed, with the power she doesn’t know. But what she does know is that she rather likes the feeling that comes with manipulating magic. The week after her birthday, government workers started testing every person in the US in a massive census effort of skills and abilities. Jessica Brown found herself conscripted into the US Magical Corp, a new branch of the US Military, and shipped off to a Pillar Fort. Somewhere hot and muggy in her ancestors’ home of Africa. As she grows stronger, she finds she has some connection to the pillars. While everyone else sees beauty or danger when they look at the pillars, after connection is made all Jessica can see is a Tree. A tree the size of the entire universe. Isaka Smith - is a third generation American and farmer who just wants to be left alone. But she is dragged into the situation by events beyond her control. When people in her small town had to deal with rioters and looters after the system announcement, she rallied them to defend themselves, earning her a trait that the government found extraordinarily useful. After a visit to a local reservation, she finds herself conscripted to lead one of the many small support towns erected around the great pillar forts. Not near her old home, but in far-flung Africa. John McIntire, the “Fighting Bull” -The commander of the African Fort, but because of circumstances beyond his ability to contend with shortly after taking command after being re-activated from retirement, he finds communication with his chain of command increasingly difficult. The US government, hell, even the United Nations, seems to have fallen into complete and utter chaos. The African Union is embroiled in a bitter civil war just outside his door, and supposedly, most of the world governments are in similar situations. Meanwhile, John must do his best to be ready to facilitate diplomacy, or to match the hostile argument of whatever force might come through the pillar of light when the year timer finishes counting down. Can our heros defend Earth from outside threats, while it tares itself apart? Or will they need to rebuild from the ground up? DEDICATION: This story is dedicated to my father who passed away recently. Jim Holloway, you’ll be missed you old silverback gorilla. Love you dad. Always have, always will.
8 301God Must Be Lazy He Allowed a Cultivation Anomaly
Once there was a wisp of soul, and the universe was not happy with its arrival. ---------------------------- One day, cultivators from Lower Plane arrived on earth and sacrificed the souls of more than 7 billion people to power a Formation creating a temporary spatial portal for their escape. The remaining inhabitants decided to foil their plans and a man volunteered to detonate himself at the center of the Formation causing him to be reborn with fragmented memories. This is a Sci-Fi novel set in Xianxia world. English is not my primary language. It is tremendously appreciated if you share it and even more for people bothering to leave a comment should they find it bad.
8 186Former Undead Transmigrated to become Villainess's Butler
Bored of his monotonous life, one undead discovered transmigration magic, and hopped across various worlds until he stumbled on the human realm and lived up to the twenty first century. His dissatisfaction with the role of villainess in the Otome games forced him to take a drastic step and transmigrate into another world of kingdoms and empires, and perhaps the unnatural harem of the heroine. Nurturing the pitiful villainess into a formidable villainess in his goal, and he decides to achieve it without magic. But everything proves to be challenging when he discovers insane magicians in the world, and ravaging monsters that might force him to remove his self-imposed handicap. Note: This is not a redemption story, so don't expect the villainess to redeem herself. All characters (main) are morally twisted.
8 120UnderWorld Mafia System
What would a girl do with a Mafia System? Would she become a Powerful boss? Will she die in the process? Would she become an empress of the UnderWorld? Stay tuned and found out.
8 205