✅ My Cousin's Keeper [NaNoWriMo 2021]

109. My Time To Relax

I couldn't get in touch with Ffrances. I left messages for her, but there wasn't any kind of response. I couldn't sign in to my computer at home. I tried sending messages to Tess instead, asking if the wifi was working at home, but she didn't answer. It was early afternoon by that point, so I didn't know if Spike would already be there. He was coming over some time this afternoon, they had said, to study with Tess. I knew that wasn't true; I was pretty sure that he was going to try playing Daddy for her, even if he'd not had the courage to get my approval. He'd asked a couple of questions that I was sure were trying to get a better feel for Tess's desires without actually asking; and I'd mentored him as best I could. Would today be the day he actually tried it? I'd been hoping so, but now that I couldn't watch them, I wondered if it might be better to hope that the boy was too nervous to try anything just yet.

After a lot of introspection, I was drawn back to my work. There was a lot more of it than I would have hoped for. I didn't like to micro-manage, but there were so many things that could have gone wrong at a conference like this, and whenever something unexpected came up, I would be the one to make sure it went smoothly. After a couple of incidents, I got the impression that some of the creatives – movie directors whose names I would probably have recognised had I paid more attention to those parts of the news – were really appreciative of my contribution; maybe even liking me as much as the first few people I'd spoken to at Claughton Innovative. There was a certain thrill with being able to make things work in a way that made so many people happy.

I was rushed off my feet for most of the day, and when I got a chance to relax in the evening I was sure that things wouldn't stay quiet for long enough to risk going home. I decided that it would be better to show my face in any case, so I hurried to one of the restaurants which had pretty much been taken over by movie people this week. A waitress bustled up and down between tables that were occupied by a whole host of famous faces. The people working today were supposed to be the older and more reliable among the staff; those who could be relied on not to ask for autographs, or to report on who was here. That was one part of the organisation that I still wasn't entirely satisfied with, but I knew there wasn't really a better option.

I got myself chicken in a basket. That would make it easier for me to dash off if there was something else that demanded my attention. I just hoped that I would get a few minutes to myself, with my laptop out on the table so that I could try to figure out what was wrong with my computers at home. But I kept my radio on the desk beside me, to remind myself that I needed to be able to dash off at a moment's notice.

Everything I tried led to the same results as before. Perhaps I could take a quick break instead, checking up on new chapters of Mommy's Little Devil. I pulled up FetishLibrary, and was immediately distracted by a new chapter of The Baby Button instead. That surprised me because I hadn't been expecting the story to progress so quickly, so perhaps today was my lucky day.

"Hi folks," I read out the author's note under my breath. "I'll be working more than usual the next few days, and I'm not sure if I'll be able to finish another chapter. Maybe I won't even be online to check messages, and I didn't want you all to worry, but I know how disappointing it can be when you see an update and it's nothing but apology for absence. So here's the next chapter early; and I hope you'll agree that it's a really good one. And I'm on my break now, so I'm just going to see if I can get some help with organising our little meetup. Wish me luck!"

I smiled. The Author's Little Sister was always so professional when it came to keeping people updated on the events in her life. There were several people in my office who weren't so courteous and hardworking; which made her behaviour even more impressive considering that this was just a hobby for her. And I was already excited to see what was going to happen next in this particular story.