Today's Special is Aggravation With a Side of Bliss

“Catharine…”

Hands cupped her face, petite with a glowing flush, lifting up her chin in order for embarrassed eyes to meet a determined pair. His thumb traced her cheekbone down to her jaw, the action soft and loving. In turn, Catharine felt her heart thud against her ribs, making her bones jitter while her stomach flipped with acrobatic ease. Gentle, lush lips opened, her breath coming in quick pants. Gregory mused in liking, admiring how the lady’s blush blended in with peach skin so elegantly, while yet making her look so fragile. He felt as though she was a painting; with a finger’s touch to the canvas, it would stain and ruin the painting, ridding it of such beauty.

Caught up in her nerves, she moved her gaze away, avoiding any sort of eye contact. She had no clue such a moment like this even existed—in a moment where a straightforward maid was in the arms of an extravagant prince! Words finally trailed out of her open mouth, hesitant and excited all at one.

“Yes…? What do you wish of me? Prince… Gregory?” Silence enveloped the grand hall. She felt as though the prince’s eyes were consuming her every thought, her whole soul. With an earned chuckle, he leaned in before…

“Bah, how idiotic!” Derek tossed the literary article aside, a scowl playing his visage. One by one, they always came, another sleazy romance story written by a hopeful amateur with the petty idea that they could go anywhere with their foolish writing. And, as always, Derek had to take the pain of reading each and every one of them, his throbbing mind striving to decide on what aggravating action he should do with the work. Throw this to another lackey in the business and make them take care of it, maybe? Though, there is always the option of placing it in the ‘No’ pile. Alas, another might find it and submit it anyway, giving him the well-known lecture. He could already feel his eye twitch just by the thought.

“Oh, give people a chance, they say! Everyone deserves one! Ugh, what use will that be?” He growled, furrowing his brow and letting his head fall limply against his work desk, just like the puppet he felt he really was in this forsaken job.

The loathing feeling towards this job filled his life; this was not what he expected when he filled out the résumé for this literary magazine.

Honestly, Derek thought nothing about chances. A literary magazine was to engross people into the variety of genres and show off thriving authors who well knew the way to be express in true literacy. It was not to give the readers—the people who buy out of interest and keep the magazine afloat and running—the same gooey love stories with such cliché plots that sooner or later give a reason not to even buy the bloody magazine anyway!

“Express the new, get rid of the old! We need some horror, some fantasy, and some sci-fi, too!” Derek continued with on talking to himself, drawling on about the lack of things that are needed to go on and let this reading material actually be worth buying. Though, all was at an end when a hand smacked the dramatic employee’s head. The hand belonged to another of the same rank for whom Derek put on a semblance of a calm poise. “Oh… Hello, Kevin.”

“And hello to you, crazy.” The perpetrator, otherwise known as Kevin, murmured, an irritable growl running through his voice. “I am sorry to disturb your, erm…” There was a moment dedicated to eyeing Derek, which made him feel unwelcome and exposed, “…Sudden grieving for your sanity… But, here in my hands is another story for you to read.” With a simple movement of the wrist, a packet was placed onto Derek’s desk.

“Oh… Goody.” His mouth twitched to an eerie smile, which made Kevin’s brows rise in disturbance. “Thanks, then! I’ll take a look as soon as I can!” Derek’s tone held a sudden cheery vibe, the act all to false to be taken unnoticed. Kevin wasn’t that oblivious.

“Whatever.” With a dull sigh, Kevin made a simple turn and bid Derek adieu. After a happy, unreal smile and wave, everything was wiped away from his countenance. He glared at the simple packet holding what he suspected to be another so called heart-wrenching story.

“Why do you torture me, you worthless piece of literature?” Nostrils flared with utter hatred while hands picked the papers up as if it was highly contaminated with either some sort of disease or chemical. With all his might, he refrained himself from ripping the story to shreds from pure agony. Instead, he prepared himself for the worst and finally started to skim the work.

Skimming soon turned into careful reading, soaking in all the words for what they’re worth. For once in his pitiful life, when he reached to the final characters, his heart mourned for more. Derek was at a loss for words, thoughts, everything when he finished. And, the catch that shocked him the most, was that it had romance in it. But this was no sickening thing that seemed to come straight out of a cheesy soap opera. This had just the right amount of hints of it, while it also had small bits of drama, and even horror, absorbed into this.

Another rare occasion had made history into Derek’s life when he leaned over towards the empty pile labeled ‘Yes’ and lightly dropped the story. It was a surprise that there wasn’t an explosion of dust at this event. With his mouth suddenly suppressed into a tight line, he crouched down, only to suddenly jump up with glee, screaming “Finally!” at the top of his lungs. Of course, this earned a few uneasy and worried glances from his co-workers, but he finally had no care in the world.

Who knew a simple short story can make someone feel so complete!