CLOUDS | hat films

| deux |

I woke up the next morning and made possibly the sloppiest breakfast I've ever seen. I burnt the bacon I had in the pan, spilled milk all over the counter trying to pour myself a glass. I don't know if it was the excitement or just my clumsiness, but after a while of cleaning up and trying to get the burnt smell out of my apartment, I decided to eat out.

The walk down the street to the small cafe was pretty chilly. I regretted not wearing a thicker jacket as the cold air of October in New York hit me. But the cafe was only a few minutes away, so I opted to make a run for it.

I flung open the door, greeting the employee behind the counter, Ryan, who knew me as a regular.

What can I say? I'm not a very good cook.

"Usual, E?" he asked, handing a coffee to another customer. Almost everyone I knew called me E. I guess one letter is easier than two.

"Uh, yeah," I muttered, pulling out my wallet. "That's fine. Just get me an espresso instead of a latte."

"Whoa, what's up with the change? You always get a latte."

"Uh, I don't know. Just figured I'd change it up today," I said, handing him a wad of one dollar bills. "It's been pretty hectic this morning."

"You try to make breakfast again?"

"How'd you guess?" I breathed out, a laugh barely escaping.

He handed me my order of eggs, bacon, and two pancakes, plus my espresso.

There was a brief silence before Ryan spoke again. "How's the whole YouTube thing going?"

"It's good," I said through the food in my mouth. "Everything's changing quite a lot for me so I'm just kind of in the middle of everything currently."

"Everything's changing?" he questioned. "What do you mean?"

"Well, uh, I'm joining a network of channels here in a while. I didn't even know until yesterday, and as of right now you and Perry are the only people who know."

"Good for you! Put yourself out there!" he enthused.

I let an awkward laugh slip. "Thank you." I took a sip of my coffee. "I'm really excited."

He smiled at me before turning back to tend to other customers. I finished up my breakfast, waving a goodbye to Ryan before I left.

I made my way through the crowd, pushing my way back to my apartment. I closed the door behind me, letting the heat flow over me as I took off my jacket.

Immediately, I ran over to my computer, rubbing my hands together as it booted up. After a minute or so, I pulled up my browser and logged in to check my email. Not surprisingly, I had another email from the Yogs.

to: io.aelewin@gmail.com
from: business@yogscast.com
subject: <reply> it's a family matter...

Okay, so, hello! This is Mark Turpin (Turps), so sorry if I'm not the best at writing a "business-y" email. I just wanted to give you a bit of information about your newly accepted position in the network.

We'll announce the whole thing next week. Monday, to be exact. We're super excited to have a talent like you as part of the family. :)

This is just an offer, so please do not feel obligated to accept. We just want you to know that we did just expand our office space a bit, so we do have a place for you in Bristol if you want to join us. If you want the office, we can help you set up a work visa, find an apartment, etc. If you'd prefer to stay in New York, that's perfectly okay as well.

If you have any questions and/or want to talk about the office space, please contact me on Skype (enclosed below) anytime between 9AM-4PM GMT.

Looking forward to working with you!

The grin returned to my face as I added the contact on Skype. It was around 10:30 here, meaning it was 2:30 there. Perfect time to call.

I sent him a quick message, just making sure I didn't disturb him.

aelewin: Uh, hello?

turpster: Hello! Io, hopefully?

aelewin: Correct. :) I don't have you at a bad time, do I?

turpster: Nope! You caught us right on break. Go ahead and call, if you'd like.

I complied, waiting for an answer. The ringing stopped and Turps' face popped up on screen.

"Why hello there!" he greeted enthusiastically, taking a bite out of a sandwich.

"Hi," I replied meekly, holding up my hand to wave. "Lunch, eh?"

"Yeah, just finished playing some TTT with Lewis, Sips and Hat Films, so we all took a late lunch. You just finished breakfast, right?"

"Yeah," I responded, wringing my hands in my lap. "So, uh, I wanted to continue talking about the office space you have open."

"Sure, sure," he affirmed, setting his sandwich down. "The office space is just kind of a way for you to be closer to the people in the network. It's a really great group of people, and I honestly think you'd love it here. You can customize the space, put your own computer in, all that great stuff.

"It all sounds really great."

"It is, believe me." He smiled again, looking up to the side and taking off his headphones. "Come here real quick," he whispered, motioning whoever it was over to him. He pulled the cord from the headphone jack, moving his sound to the speakers as another familiar face appeared next to him.

"Hi," Smith said, grinning into the camera. I waved back, much more enthusiastically this time.

"Hey," I murmured, eyes widening slightly.

"Contemplating moving to Bristol?" he asked, kneeling down next to Turps.

"Yeah," I confirmed, trailing off. "Everything happening right now just seems so huge. Of course, I guess it is."

"We'd love to have you here. It's a really great team, and another amazing person would only make it better."

I felt heat sear up on my cheeks and smiled in response. "Thank you. That really means a lot coming from you."

"You're welcome." He let out a breathy laugh. "I'll let you and Turps get back to talking all business stuff. See you later!" And with that, he was out of the room.

I relaxed in my seat, continuing the talk with Turps. After discussing it, I'd made the decision that I was indeed going to Bristol.

Now all that was left was getting there.