Original Sin (MewGulf AU)

🌻Chapter 11

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"There's a fox for you Gulf!" Yaya called. And Gulf looked up. It had been sizzling outside all day and even the air inside the office was oppressively humid.

"It says it's from Bright Vachirawit."

"Are you sure?" Gulf asked in an unintentionally loud voice, grabbing the bundle of papers from Yaya's hands. "Wow, that's amazing."

Yaya's eyes widened in surprise at Gulf's wild reaction.

"I'm sorry. It's just that I've been waiting to hear from him."

"You mean you get excited about people besides Mew Suppasit now?" she asked, deadpan, and Gulf struggled to reply more evenly.

"I try to give all my authors equal attention."

"Maybe you do, but Mister Mew is special."

Gulf's response died on his lips, so he merely gave a guarded smirk.

Bright had sent Gulf the plot summary for his next novel. Some authors would send a full manuscript all at once, but this was Bright's first job, so he was in a position much closer to that of a novice. Once Gulf saw how the story was going to progress, they would get together and discuss how to handle the actual writing.

Gulf read through the handful of pages Bright had sent, and then drew his lips into a sly smile.

This could be good.

Of course the book wouldn't follow the summary exactly, but it was so promising that it didn't matter. The characters were original and it looked like it would turn out to be a very unique story. Gulf found two or three possible problems in the story structure, but if he just drew Bright's attention to them, they wouldn't cause any trouble at such an early stage.

Gulf just needed someone else to give it a look. He leaned over to Boat at the next desk and asked, "Hey, do you have a minute?"

"Sure, what's up?"

"Could you take a look at this? It's a plot summary from a new author. I want to hear what you think about it."

"No problem," Boat said and flipped to the first page.

Gulf went back to his other work, but occasionally stole glances at Boat. At first, the other man looked completely uninterested, but then he's increasing enthusiasm became obvious. Once he'd finished reading the entire summary, Boat looked up at Gulf.

"How was it?"

"It's pretty good! I'd love to read the final product. It's a great outline."

That wasn't the kind of feedback Gulf had been hoping for, but it was typical of Boat.

"What did you think of the plot outline?"

"It looked good. I think it could work. The teens and twenties would love it. We don't have a lot of authors in that demographic, so we could really use this."

"Thanks a lot." Gulf smiled at him. "Could you pass it on to Sir Makihara?"

Gulf awaited the verdict with the nerves of a kid waiting for exam results, but the response inside the department was top rate.  Some people were out in assignments so he couldn't get their opinions, but after showing it to five other editors, four told him it was good. Gulf thought it would fly.

Unable to calm his rushing emotions, Gulf picked up his phone, looked up a number in his address book, and called Bright.

"Hello?"

"Hello, this is Gulf from Sozan Publishing. Am I speaking to Mister Bright?"

"Oh, Mister Gulf!" Bright's voice was instantly cheerful. "How was the summary?"

"It got some good reactions when I passed it around the department. Everyone would love to see this story in print."

"Are you for real?"

Gulf could just imagine how excited the handsome young man looked. The thought warmed Gulf's heart and a smile came naturally over his lips.

"We'd like for you to begin writing as soon as possible."

"Well, about that." Bright's voice was suddenly awkward.

"Is there a problem with your current editors?"

Maybe there had been some resistance from the publishers of Appearance.

"No, that's all fine. My friend gave me permission."

"Then what's the problem?"

"Well, I already wrote the first fifty or so pages. I should have waited to get your company's formatting rules, but..."

"What?" Gulf said quietly. It was progress like he had never dreamed of.

"I'm sorry. I'm sure there are things in the summary I need to change. I just got so carried away."

"No, no, it isn't that! I'd love to read what you've done so far."

"Really?"

"If it isn't too much trouble, could you e-mail them to me now?" Gulf said in a blur of speed, unable to reign in his excitement.

"If you want, but it isn't finished yet. I haven't polished it at all."

"That's all right."

"Okay then. I'll send it right now." Bright agreed then hung up.

Frequently, manuscript drafts fell far below what the summary promised, particularly when that promise was so superb. Sometimes Gulf could only marvel at how the authors he worked with managed to write what they did after such amazing summaries.

So if Bright had already written the first fifty pages, Gulf definitely wanted to take a look at it. If he could check what Bright was writing against what he had been aiming for, adjustments would be easier to make.

Soon, Gulf got on his computer to check his e-mail and found two new messages. One was from Mew and the other was Bright's project.

Gulf made sure the file opened, and then made a printout of Bright's text following the Sozan Novels format. Unfortunately,  the office machines were tied up and it looked like it was going to take a while. While he waited, he opened Mew's e-mail. Surprisingly, it was an invitation to have dinner together that night. It had been a long time since Mew had invited Gulf to do anything. Mew had even specified the time, asking Gulf to come to Roppongi at seven. In order to make it in time, Gulf would have to leave the office in the next thirty minutes.

Obviously, Gulf was thrilled to get an invitation from Mew, but since he had just asked Bright to send him his project, he had to read that first. But that wasn't Gulf's sense of duty speaking, it was his burning desire to read the story.

Besides, he still had some hard feelings toward Mew.

Though he had been wrong to call Mew the other day, that didn't change the fact that Gulf felt annoyed with their relationship, which was little more than sex. It was probably better to keep his distance from Mew a little bit and let himself cool back down. So Gulf typed out a response to Mew saying he couldn't make it.

TBC