"Well, anyways. I just recalled, your author was supposed to submit an interview Q&A for the 'Soul Talk'," Samuel changed the topic, noticing her getting a bit upset.
"He was? Didn't tell me anything about it today."
"Probably to make sure you don't nag him for that. He hates to be rushed."
"Then he better be ready to get irked always, cause I love to rush people." With a calm sip of her drink, she responded with a smirk. "I'll get those received and delivered tomorrow."
"Yeah, I got a call from them, they would soon be submitting everything for publishing." Samuel nodded his head in a contented manner. He knows he can rely on her to get the work done in the most efficient way. Worrying about deadlines was something he never needed to do, as long as Jasmine is at it.
"Yeah, I was going to go to visit him tomorrow anyways. He said he has a draft plan for his next work." Jasmine twirled the remaining content in her glass a little, raising a tiny wave inside it. "I wonder why he would need me to go and meet him in person for that. I could always check things and discuss them over the mail or something. Is this why you told me to not worry about any other office work or clients?"
"You... haven't got to know about his work style yet?" Samuel asked, a slight hint of bewilderment in his voice.
"All I got to know about today was his lifestyle, for sure." Jasmine sighed, remembering all the manual labor she had to perform on some stranger's home first thing in the morning. "I know writers are a mess, but he is outstanding at that department, top of the world."
"I wonder if you are praising him or insulting him." Samuel chuckled, hearing Jasmine's words.
"Trust me, I'm in a dilemma as well. I never wanted to see my idol's this rotten side, please." Jasmine took one last sip of her drink, finishing the content in it all. "Anyways, I will be taking care of that interview copy tomorrow. No sweat."
That's what she thought she would be doing, calmly go there, hear what he has to say, or see what he has to offer, then wrap up the foremost duty for tomorrow. But little did she know, she was up for a rather home management work instead of creative management.
"How this got even more of a mess than yesterday, c'mon!" She groaned in pain, looking at the pile of papers, and empty packets of snacks littering around everywhere, while the owner of this apartment was nowhere to be seen. She pinched her forehead, almost crying thanks to the sharp headache she got from the view before her. The clean freak in her was so not having it.
Just then, the polar opposite man in question popped his head out behind a door that was supposed to be his bathroom. "Oh, you are here. I didn't hear the knock."
"So you are sober today? I thought I'd find you rolling around amidst this garbage." Jasmine pointed at the living room submerged in trash to the point the flooring couldn't be seen anymore, with a forced unpleasant smile on her face.
"Ah, this. Well, it got a bit messy. I was too into writing tomorrow." Carter shrugged his shoulders, looking at the direction Jasmine was pointing at.
"A bit? You sure you know the meaning of 'a bit'?" Jasmine almost wailed out in despair. "How are you even living in here? Doesn't your head hurt? Doesn't your body itch or what?"
"It's not like this every day. I do clean... I try to." Carter sighed, before coming out of the shower, almost naked, with only a towel hanging onto his waist. He picked up a few packets, and threw them into a basket at the corner of the room which was supposed to be the trash can in the house, despite being the only thing right now which was completely clean and empty.
"Yeah, I can see you trying." Jasmine let out a frustrated sigh, before putting her purse aside, over the shoe case. "Don't touch them after you got a shower just now. Let me do it. And get dressed."
He shrugged his shoulders, and didn't protest her intention of helping out. With a slouched posture, he walked into the furthest room, keeping the door slightly ajar. And without any other option, Jasmine quickly picked up all the waste in that trash can.
"Hum? This is?" She found a few white papers on the top of the 'kotatsu', mostly empty, and a few of them having some scribbles made by a pen. "Are those manuscript papers?"
"Yes, they are." Without her realizing, he already came out of the room, and was standing right behind her, peeking into whatever she was doing.
"And what are those for?" She questioned back, holding those papers in her hands.
"What do you do with a manuscript paper, Miss Editor? I think you should be knowing that very well. It's part of your job." Carter arched his one eyebrow at her, looking at her with a judgmental look on him. "Of course, to write my draft."
"Do you have a computer in your home? Or a laptop?"
"'Course I do."
"Then do you have any clue what year right now is? What era do we live in right now?"
Carter shifted back a little, hearing her questions. "What kind of questions you are asking? Perhaps you don't have a calendar back in your home or your phone?"
"Maybe it's you who don't." Jasmine glared back at the man, who had quite a downgrading edge on his tone. "Otherwise, in this world of cloud saving, and electronics, why would anyone use a damn manuscript paper to write?"
"It's better than those electric ways." He slouched his shoulders once more, before responding to her.
"Like hell it is. It's a pain, and time-consuming. You can't edit shit in here, and hell, you end up having so many errors and pen-throughs in this whole paper." She angrily picked up all those manuscript papers scattered over the Kotatsu, gathering them all up in a pile. "Imagine how much paper you would waste to write up one single final draft. It's so harmful for the environment for fucks sake!"
"What are you, an environmentalist? Tsk." Carter clicked his tongue, seeing her nag in a really loud voice. "Right now, I'm getting a headache not from the messy house, but from your so loud shouts."
"Blame yourself for it, kind sir!" She picked up the last piece of wrapper lying on the floor, and tossed it into the trash can. "You don't need to be an environmentalist to be concerned about cleanliness and consciousness. Just being a responsible citizen like any other normal person would do the trick. Isn't that magical?" She sounded like an elder who used an elevated and exaggerated tone in their voice while trying to reveal the most natural thing like a magical revelation to kids, to which Carter clicked his tongue even more.