“Gil! I need to make my noodles before lunch break is over!” Giana cried as she stood by the side of the very boy she spoke to, who currently was busy cooking coffee the old fashioned way and busy boiling water for that.

“Look, I’m sorry Giana,” Gil replied, “but I can’t go without my coffee, I will pass out at my desk if I do! Coffee is an author’s life!”

“No, noodles are, and I need mine!” Giana argued, shaking the box of noodles she held. “You already have the water boiling, please?”

“No, this is for my coffee.”

“Please?! GIL!” Giana cried.

“Giana, this is out of my hands.”

“You’re the boss,” Nicole called. There the curly haired, sleepless author stood in the doorway, leaned against it— though she almost seemed slumped against it off her lazy body’s limpness. “You should be able to do something.”

“Nickie,” Gil huffed. “You took Bob.”

“I kidnapped him actually.”

“Exactly! This is your fault!” Gil shut his eyes, raised his head, and took a breath. “May Bob find his way home soon.”

“He won’t I’m going to give him away—”

Gil gasped and reeled back from the pot. Giana nearly slipped to take the handle and dump the noodles into the water, but Gil shoved her hand off path and took the handle back. “You wouldn’t!” Gil exclaimed, eyes still on Nicole while Giana huffed and looked down at her noodle box with bubbling eyes from tears.

“I would!” Nicole giggled. “Or as Megan says, I did!”

“You sold him already?!”

“No, but I will— did. Will did?” Nicole frowned, face scrunched as she pushed herself back to proper standing with her own shoulder. “Yeah. I will did it.”

Gil shook his head. “What have you become?”

“Someone trying to help your health.”

“Coffee is not unhealthy!”

“I’ve seen you on a coffee rush, we all have. You are jittery and clearly on the verge of insanity. Actually, you jump off the cliff of sanity on coffee.”

“That was because it was coffee I wasn’t used to,” Gil corrected with a raised hand. He took the water off the stove and went to pour it over the coffee beans that were already prepared.

“Yeah, and it wasn’t good.”

“I admit that, but normal coffee is fine for me.”

Giana sniffled a little and walked away with her noodle box, murmuring to herself…or possibly to the box. “No lunch today,” was one of the only things anyone could understand.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Nicole snagged her sleeve. “No, you are not going to walk away like that with no food!”

“But Gil used all the boiling water!”

“Gil!” Nicole scolded.

“This is your fault for not giving Bob back,” he shouted back.

“Bob is safe in my office for now. And you could’ve waited till Giana got her noodles done!”

“Nope. Can’t. Won’t. Sorry.”

Nicole frowned. “Fine, then I’ll help her.” Nicole walked over to the allergy-free section, picked up a pot, set it on the stove, and began boiling the water. “Giana, here. Use this one. I can get a new one with my portion of the budget.”

“Thank you, Nicole,” Giana smiled, hurrying to the stove-side. “I can finally have a meal!”

“What?” Gil looked over to Nicole. “Nickie, I need budget to control Megan! She’s coffee-less and feral!” he hissed.

“Oh well. Should have helped Giana—”

Maniacal laughter echoed through the halls, getting closer and closer— Megan hopped through the doorway, holding the googly eyed coffee machine. “BOB IS BACK!”

“Wait, how did you get him from my office! I locked the door!” Nicole cried. “Did you break my door?! Megan if you broke my door what am I going to do— Gil won’t give me enough budget to fix it—”

“Oh don’t worry, I have keys to everyone’s offices.”

“WHAT?! GIL!”

Gil put his hands up. “Hey! I have the keys, Megan takes them. Nothing I can do about that, Nickie.”

“Yup.” Megan bared her teeth in a grin. “Nothing you can do, Nickie.”

Nicole groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose. “I can’t with you coffee people.”

Nicole Soto "Do it for the Fame!" A Contemporary/Semi-Dystopian novel touching on revenge and Corruption. Following Emeric through his fight with the Game Show Empire of Fame! Written Californian Author, Nicole Soto, we all are sad because it is... NOT YET RELEASED! Click ​HERE​ to read more about Nicole!

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