Juvenal

Chapter 08

"Hello, you are Mabel, aren't you?"

Mabel looked up from reading the document and pushed her glass up along her nose. The two young girls who were standing in front of her were smiling radiantly, and Mabel gave them a smile in return.

"Yes, that's right. I am Mabel." She said.

"The new girl?" the shorter of the two girls asked. Mabel nodded.

"I am Alice," the shorter one introduced herself and Mabel shook her hand. "And she is Daphne." Mabel shook hands with the tall girl as well.

She looked at them both. They looked to be a few years older than herself, and both of them were beautiful. Alice was shorter and she had long brown hair. She was a little chubby and when she smiled, her braces were visible from the top row of her teeth. Daphne was in direct contrast to her. She was taller and very skinny, with short purple pixie hair. Mabel looked at them both and saw that they were genuinely interested in knowing her better.

"So, are you here directly after completing your studies?" Daphne asked, combing her fingers through her hair. Mabel nodded.

"I completed my degree last week." She replied. Alice nodded. She pulled a chair closer towards Mabel and took a seat on that, while Daphne sat on the corner of Mabel's desk, crossing her legs.

Mabel's eyes stole a glance at the manager's office to see whether he was looking at her. She was worried that she would be scolded if he noticed Alice and Daphne having a chat with her instead of working.

"That's good." Alice said. Daphne nodded.

"To be honest, this publishing house is quite boring."

Mabel raised her eyebrows at her, as Alice said, twirling a strand of her hair in her fingers.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"There's not many authors who choose our publishers." Daphne said. Mabel turned towards her. "We are basically a small scale publishing house, but we have a good market even for the handful of authors we have." She added. "But don't worry, none of it will affect our work." She added with a smile, gently squeezing Mabel's shoulder. Mable let out a ruffle of a chuckle and nodded. She pushed her glasses up her nose and looked at Alice.

"How long have you been working here?" she asked.

Alice turned towards Daphne.

"How long has it been? Is it three or four years?" she asked.

Daphne scrunched her eyebrows and looked up, trying to remember how long she had been working in the publishers.

"It's been nearly four years." She said, looking at Mabel. "We were both friends at our university and decided to be employed in the same workplace. So, we came here for an interview and were selected directly." She added.

A huge beam went up Mabel's face, as she looked from one to the other.

"It must have been nice to have your best friend around with you for a long time then, huh?" she asked. Alice nodded with a gentle smile.

"The publishers had been expanding their work force and they needed more hands on the deck. So, they selected both of us." She explained. Mabel nodded slowly. "But since recently, we have had another issue. The rate of our employees resigning has gone higher." She added in a small voice, glancing towards the manager's office, which was placed in the corner of the floor, directly in view of Mabel's small desk.

"There's a rumor that even the manager is planning on resigning." Daphne whispered, as Alice swatted her on her knee. Mabel raised an eyebrow.

"What about the office then?" She asked. Daphne shook her head.