"NEW book? Does that mean you'll give it to us for free, right?"
I rolled my eyes at Chaty after she said that statement, this is my fifth physical published book and probably the fifth book that they'll receive for free.
"No, pay for it." I teased as her mouth gaped open.
"That's unfair on Astrellia's side," Kyle said. "She worked hard on that book while the both of us get it for free only, how is she going to earn on in, anyway?"
"Still! We're her friends!" Chaty protested.
"That doesn't even give any sense," Kyle shook his head.
I closed my laptop then both gave them a look, "Stop fighting, I'm telling you both this already that it's up to you if you want to pay for it or not."
Our orders arrived so they both stopped throwing words for a while, we're here at a coffee shop and just relaxing while finishing our works.
Chaty's a fashion designer, while Kyle's the CEO of their own company. While I? I'm just a writer who writes what she thoughts. Two of my stories were dedicated to both of them.
"When will you get yourself a boyfriend, Astrellia? Your younger sister is getting married, and your older brother is soon having a daughter." Kyle opened up my status as being the single person in my family.
"I can live on my own," I retorted then drank my iced coffee latte. "Besides, both my siblings were just there in case I need them."
"You need someone who can love you," Chaty said. "Someone who will support you aside from us!"
"Mind your status, I'm still young for heaven's sake!"
Is it really important to have that one guy beside you? I believe in God's will, He knows when is the right time to love and the right guy will come at the right time.
Since Kyle has his work and he requested to continue what we're doing inside his office, Chaty and I said yes. His secretary doesn't even mind entering not unless her boss has a meeting to attend to.
The building was a kilometer away, Kyle was the one driving and there's no traffic so that's why we arrived in exactly ten minutes.
I smiled at some workers since they were greeting me, Chaty was teasing Kyle because it looks like I was the boss since I was the one being greeted instead of him.
They knew me as being a writer, maybe they were my readers that's why they knew me. Although this isn't the first that Chaty and I went here, but may be because it was their lunch break.
"Was this renovated? The last time we went here, the color was sky blue." Chaty commented when we entered Kyle's office.
"I changed the color to gray, then moved some furniture to make it look wide."
"Well, it's way modernized unlike the previous one." I shrugged.
Chaty and I sat on the sofa as Kyle sat on his swivel chair, probably he'll finish his works. This girl right here beside me isn't busy but she's working on some gown designs.
The three of us mostly go-outs twice a week, if one is busy, once a week. From Mondays up to Wednesdays, I'm out for work since I'm also an editor in one of the top publishing companies in the country.
Sunday is my day off, while from Thursdays up to Saturdays we're my writing days. Mostly during these days, I'm just at home or out in a coffee shop.
"You know what, Astrellia?" Chaty suddenly spoke.
"What?"
"Whenever I read comments on your social media posts, there's this one fan who is always the top. I mean, a big fan."
My brows furrowed as she said those, from my laptop, I turned my gaze to her. "Pardon me?"
"He's always active, I even stalked his fan account on Twitter and most of his tweets were all artworks specially made by him."
I got way more interested from what she said, "I thought it was just me, but seriously, Chaty's right." Kyle seconded.
"It's a 'he'?" I confirmed as they both nodded.
"Let's see if he'll reply fast, comment one dialogue on your ongoing story that will make your readers think about it." Chary requested.
Before doing it, I first thought of the dialogues. Seriously, I don't want to be a spoiler on my work so I have to be careful I using my words.
A.G @g.astrellia • 10s
"Stop it. Hurting me was okay, but showing me that you hate me will never be okay."
"There, posted!" I said then turned my phone off.
"See? He's always early! Gosh! He's such a big fan, huh?"
May I know what's my role here? These two are talking without even glancing at me. "Mind sharing what are you both talking about?" I said.
"Open your heckin' phone and read the tweet replies," she commanded.
As usual, the theories of my readers were all you can read. I was wondering how they thought of such plots connections to my tweets.
"Does the username @domrielle familiar to you?" Kyle asked as I shook my head no while I am stalking that account.
It's a he, according to his bio. There were no faces of him on his media, even after using the #starday. That hashtag was based on the meaning of my name.
"OMG! I have the best plan ever!" Chaty shrieked.
Kyle and I looked at each other and then both glanced at our friend after, "What?" We asked in chorus.
"But first, when is your next book signing event?" She eyed me.
"Probably next month or the next one after that," I shrugged.
Chaty placed her hand on her chin, probably thinking about what the hell her plan is. This girl is driving the hell out of me, no wonder she's a fashion designer, she thinks fast.
After minutes of thinking, she told us what her plan is. Do I have a choice? Of course, I said yes in favor of them to free their curiosity.
The next few days were normal for me, I'm not that busy because I need to clear my schedules because the publishing company where I am working told me that books were near to their release date.
There were almost near to a thousand books from the pre-order list, which was only for the first batch. But who am I kidding? I'm excited about the book signing.
I have my rest week so I got a chance to meet up with my friends, Kyle told us to meet each other at the mall as Chaty and I agreed.
"Seriously? In front of a book store?" I unbelievably retorted after seeing Kyle in front of the said place.
"What? Isn't this your safe place?" He joked. That wasn't even funny on my part, but let him be.
Anyway, Chaty isn't here yet. Why am I surprised? She's always late ever since we are all in middle school.
It took us almost exactly 15 minutes of waiting until Chaty arrives, she answered it was traffic even though it is not. The truth is, she did wake up a little late.
We roamed around inside the bookstore, they called me after seeing my book placed on the shelves as I hushed them because people might hear.
"How come the price turned a bit low?" Chaty questioned.
"That was my first book, it was released 2 years ago. The price of that book will change by 10%." I explained as she nodded, understands what I am trying to say.
"You'll sign any of your books for the next month, right?" Kyle asked as I nodded.
There's no issue for me to sign one book, I have no limits anyway. Just in, it's their chance to have their books signed if they haven't attended the previous ones.
Speaking of books, I bought another one. I have tons at home but I finished them already so they were just displays, the author was Nicholas Sparks.
"Oh, by the way, I already prepared the forms for the name tags."
"That's good," Kyle nodded.
"Pass it over to me later as I post it," I said.
The mall was calm, I mean, there were no so many people. Let's say that it isn't crowded like the way it used to be especially during weekends.
We roamed around the department store, I just bought few clothes since I thought of getting new ones. Honestly, I don't buy clothes here because I prefer to buy in shops like H&M.
Pricey, I know.
"Look, does this fit?" Chaty said as she was fitting out some tops.
"Off-shoulder tops are way better, Chaty," Kyle commented then crossed his arms.
I gave them both a smirk, "Tell me, is there something between you two? Don't make me feel like I'm a third wheel here."
Chaty looked at me as if she was disgusted as Kyle rolled his eyes away, "Gosh! Can you think about what are you saying, Astrellia? You're unbelievable!"
"What?" I innocently asked. "Come on! What's the essence of being your friend if you're not going to tell me the truth? Don't even act innocent in front of me because I know both of your past."
They were middle school lovers, but they both didn't admit their feelings to each other because they both thought that each one of them likes someone else.
If you all only know how stressed am I during those days, I would have got the chance to leave them both and move schools.
"Hush now, Astrellia." Kyle started as I laughed and turned my back at them.
"I'll leave you two, gonna go look some things to buy."
Might give them both some alone time, they should've told me that they were having their date today so that I gave them this day.
I entered a merch shop and was surprised to see my own. Geez! Do they sell most of all merch? I chuckled when I saw a customized glass lamp of my pseudonym.
"Yes, ma'am?" A saleslady approached, she was shocked after I turned to face her.
I smiled at her, "May I know how much this glass lamp costs?" I asked.
She was a bit stunned but tried her best to maintain her composure so she quickly called the manager to ask about it, maybe she doesn't know the price.
"Oh? Ms. Astrellia," the manager greeted as I gave her a nod in return. "We can give a 20% discount for that item since it's inspired to you."
"Really?" She nodded. "That's nice! I love it! I'm buying this, please."
She was approachable, we both talked as if we're both long-time friends as the sales lady prepared the glass lamp in a small box. How thought they are to do such thing.
"I didn't expect to see you here but thank you for coming and buying, Ms. Astrellia."
"Oh no, it was nothing," I answered with a bright smile. "I got bored so I managed to look at some shops, got curious about this one so I entered."
"Can I take a picture with you?"
I nodded, "Sure!"
It was only a few shots, she told me that she's a big fan but a mature one. Well, I can see that because she managed to act normally when she saw me.
To be honest, I like that type of fan. I mean, I'm not saying that I don't like the other ones, but most fans usually shrieked out of excitement which I understand as well.
I was about to go out of the shop when someone bumped into me, my mouth gaped open when his coffee got my shirt stained.
"Oh gosh!"
"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to!" He quickly apologizes and even grabbed a tissue from his pocket to wipe the stain out, but it was dry already.
"No! It's fine!" I stopped him, a bit in panic. "Calm down, I know you didn't mean it."
His eyes went big after raising his gaze on me, "M-Ms. Astrellia! I-I'm sorry, what can I do to treat you back?"
I smiled a little, "Don't think about that please. Why don't you wait as I go change my shirt, okay?"
I went to the bathroom to go change, never knew I will be using the clothes I bought just a while ago. But it's fine, I'm still going to wash them right after I got home.
Once I finished fixing myself, I went out. He was biting his lower lip while looking in one direction, probably thinking hard why he did such an embarrassing act earlier.
He kept on saying sorry when he saw me as I chuckled in return, I thought of simple things he could do in return since I don't want to make the mess real big.
I shrugged and asked him, "Let's go grab an iced coffee, shall we?"
