The meeting room was bustling with—

Nicole burst into laughter and turned to Kaitlin. “‘Spreading plagues’? ‘What are children for’? Nicholas is going to be shocked to find out he was once one!”

“To be honest though, he didn’t get much of a childhood. So, keep that in mind,” Kaitlin pointed out with a smile before turning back to the snippet Nicole had pinned onto the share board, alongside the one she’d put herself.

“Ah, that makes sense,” Nicole hummed.

—Well, the bustling didn’t seem too much like ‘bustling’ actually, perhaps there was some better word out there. Most of the early morning authors were there, but no grand battles were happening. Yet, that was, but still!

“Oh dear,” Megan trailed off. She glanced to Nicole and slowly let go of the corner of the insomniac’s writing.

Nicole only grinned sharper.

Kaitlin’s jaw dropped.

“But your snippet wasn’t that rough, Kaitlin!” Nicole continued on about Kaitlin’s writing. “It was great comedy!”

“Thanks—” Kaitlin cut herself off, whipping her head towards Nicole. “My poor Dorian! He hit his head on a table!”

“Aw, well he was very sleepy,” Nicole shrugged.

“Sleepy?! He’d been—”

“Thinking about how tired he was—”

“NO! You did this to him! Now he’s drugged and going to have a headache!”

“Oh, he wasn’t drugged,” Nicole bat a hand, turning around to walk out of the room—she froze as Megan slipped ahead of her and slithered out of the room with hands muffling giggles. That was weird—

Gil sighed and entered the room, giving a wave before heading to the board. Giana exited from the hatch outside and followed soon after to look at the board as well.

“Oh really?! You made him sleep!” Kaitlin accused.

Nicole gasped and turned to Kaitlin. “You don’t want him to sleep? I should’ve figured, your CPA files are half of an entire cabinet!” Nicole crossed her arms. “Such a shame you’re tempting me to be crueler—you’re wishing for Dorian to be an insomniac.”

“Hey! No!” Kaitlin cried. “I did not say that! I want him to sleep! Just not because of—!”

“He was tired?,” Nicole lied, setting her hands on her hips as she teetered forward for a moment. She stood upright and shook her head.. “He was just getting a well deserved nap!”

“No!”

“Yes!”

“Okay, fine, but what about the table?”

Nicole opened her mouth but Gil turned from the board and murmured. “Oh tragically-ness, Dorian’s—”

“Getting a nice nap and you all are against it! What have you authors become?”

Gil hummed. “Monsters.”

“Exact—”

“Including you.”

“WHAT?!”

“HA!” Kaitlin pointed to Nicole, “see?”

“Hang on, hang on—I have no files half as thick as any of yours with the CPA!”

“You own the CPA and tamper with those,” Gil pointed out.

Giana nodded in agreement as she backed up from the gathering around the board, just in the case the debate became an author brawl.

“LIES!” Nicole pointed to him. “You are a liar!”

Gil stood steady, leaning back. “Tell that to the ending of Do It For The Fame—”

“YEAH!” Kaitlin roared. “You ruined it!”

“NOT THIS AGAIN!” Nicole cried, stumbling back until she crashed into a wall. “This is not fair! I did not ruin a thing! It’s all for plot and suspense!”

“IT RUINED MY TEARS!” Kaitlin whined, stomping a foot, clenching her hands, and lifting her head.. “Kylie and Megan agree!”

“Well Megan started all of this so of course she agrees!” Nicole exclaimed, tossing her hands about again and letting them hit her legs.

Gil grinned and dragged over the rolling chair at the head of the meeting table, plopping himself down and leaning back as he rested his arms behind his head. He should’ve brought popcorn—but he’d miss this.

“THIS ISN’T ABOUT THAT!” Nicole accused, glaring at Kaitlin. “This is about Dorian being refused sleep because of all of you!”

“Again, what table did he pass out on? Wood? Metal?”

“Plastic.”

“Oh.” Kaitlin bit her lip. “Still!”

“You know what? To prove how damaging your wish for him to not sleep is, I’m going to go write about that!” Nicole turned around, yelped as she near slammed her face into the wall. She corrected herself with a spin around and left the room to silence.

Gil sighed, sitting upright. That was a short show—

A thud in the hall broke the second of quiet.

“What was—” Kaitlin peeked out of the room. “Oh my—NICKIE!” Kaitlin hurried out. “She passed out!”

“Again?!” Gil called, standing up and following Kaitlin out of the room.

As Kaitlin said, there in the hall laid Nicole. Face down and out cold.

“This is the third time this month,” Gil murmured with a shake of his head.

“Third— UGH! Nickie, this is why I say to sleep!” Kaitlin grumbled before kneeling by the other and trying to at least pick her up enough to drag her to her office where the sleeping bag was.

“I tell her the same,” Gil shrugged. “She never listens.”

“Hey guys!” Megan sang as she skipped down the hall. “Wanna see what Jaxton is like in high torture situations?!” she grinned, hopping to a stop..

“Megan, Nickie passed out,” Kaitlin whispered.

Megan glanced at the unconscious author and shrugged. “At least she’s sleeping. I’m going to put this up on the board.” And she went to do just as she said.

Giana slipped out the meeting room just as she did.“Nicole, I doubt what you were arguing against Kaitlin is even remotely true—” She paused at the scene. “Oh. That’s what happened while I was zoned out.”

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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