2 Hopeful One

Huh... time is like a river always flowing forward and all of us are in it. It never goes backward but fish still try it. That's why I always think of ourselves as any animals out there. Some people might not realize it but we humans live our lives the same as animals. Some of our parents protect us so much and some of them don't. They tell us to go survive ourselves in the outside world full of dangers. Some people think wild lives and natural disasters are the only dangers but in our society, there's full of unseen dangers which definitely aren't related to nature like an encounter with a wild rich prodigal, scammers, corrupted business managers, and such.

My life could be called "ordinary" from the outside views but however, in reality, my life's like full of exciting scenes. For example, one day when I went to a nearby convenience store and met a real-life prodigal encounter scene! It was so cool like I keep hiding behind the shelf the whole time while the stupid prodigal was having a conversation with the cashier. I was so nervous that Cola on my hand almost burst! Pheww, nothing happened in the end, fortunately! I asked the cashier out of the concern and it seems they were deskmates back college...

Oh, forgot to introduce ;) My name is Leo Gray and at your service!

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Sunday,6:40 pm

Leo is at home, working on a project that he's been assigned over for 2 weeks, and tomorrow's the due date.

"HUh, why is life so boring? I wanna rest..." complained Leo, however in his deep conscience he knew that this is his destiny. There's no escape out of this and... he is not the only one so why not!

As he keeps concentrating on the laptop, something is happening outside but there is no way Leo would know since all the curtains are closed and this old man is listening to rock music for some reason with noise-canceling headphones.

33rd St, Caesar City (Outside Leo's one-story house)

Nothing looks abnormal at first glance but if looked carefully a barrier-like structure is covering the whole area around the house. People should've noticed but Sunday desert the passerby away. In short, everyone's relaxing in their own homes.

An hour passed by, the barrier is now fully visible with naked eyes, and suddenly "pssh".The barrier is gone and the house stays the same except the light's off...

The next morning, Leo woke up from the table. Showered like usual and doing necessary preparations. What, first impressions are important, ya know? Anyway, life looks so perfect that he was so damn sure that today is the lucky day! So he went to work on walking.

The neighbors look somehow different for some reason but Leo gotta focus! His job is on the line here! Just like that, he arrived at his workplace.

"Hey, Leo! Wassup man, you ready for the meeting?" his colleague Jack greeted cheerfully. Jack has always been a ball of joy since the day they met. He might get emotional easily but that's the whole reason he is Leo's best colleague. So nice to talk to.

"Not bad, not bad! This might be my time to shine!" Leo said with a smiling face. Leo has been working here for six months and this is his first important project. If he can successfully go through this, promotion isn't for too long and salary increasing is definite for sure. Leo has been focusing on the project days, and nights waiting for today.

The door opened from the meeting room and a tall burly man came out with a serious look on his face.

"Are you ready?".Just three words came out of his mouth and yet Leo's heart is already on turmoil. It's not because the guy is big or because he has this serious face going on. Leo's heart is beating so fast because of the expectations behind this. It is hard to describe the feeling he's feeling right now. Excited?Worried?Intoxicated?Nobody but only Leo knows at this point. Without beating around the bush, Leo answers.

"prêt(ready)".The big guy grinned satisfactorily and pats Leo's soldier.

"Do your best out there. Full of predators." said while looking at the direction of the meeting room. Leo nodded while gasping. He himself knows that it's not so simple to get a promotion. Colleagues around you would happily betray you while the high ups wouldn't want any newcomers so they can stay corrupted. Most employees would stay unpromoted most of the time unless they have some connections with the people above.

Leo following the burly manager stepped inside the noisy meeting room. Everyone inside turns toward him staring at him as if studying what kind of person Leo is. Without minding at the audience, Leo walked straight towards the presenter's table. He took out the laptop from his bag and put it on the table. Open it and start connecting with the digital smartboard. Soon enough, the "Project S" was visible now for everyone to be seen.No time-wasting, Leo starts to introduce himself and the project.

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