I got plans

On the top floor of the Crimson bay, Sasha pressed the passcode of her door and entered into her condo,

After changing into the house slippers, she directly headed towards her silent bedroom,

She threw her tote bag on the couch and put her cell phone in charging, before walking towards the bathroom.

She opened the faucet and let the bathtub fill with hot water and began to strip down her clothes,

The slightly wet Jeans she has been wearing, had white sands sticking from the knee portion.

Sasha struggled to pull out the fitted jeans and a "Ting," sound was heard in the bathroom,

A pure white cone-shaped sea shell fell from her jeans.

She picked up the seashell with a smile and placed it next to the mirror.

While removing the sweater she has been wearing Sarah's eyes took notice of the bruises on her arms,

What is this? She checked the bruises on the mirror,

That man! He fiercely dragged her away from the sea. His grasp on her arms was so powerful that it left red bruises on the skin,

Who to blame? Sasha let out a deep breath and stepped into the bathtub.

"Huh, finally a moment of peace. There is nothing more relaxing than this,"

Sarah mumbled as she soaked herself in the hot water tub, letting her worries dissipate like soap bubbles,

While lying on the tub, Sasha's thoughts rambled on the incidents that happened today,

She wished to recollect her memories, however, instead of that she gained a near-death experience.

And that man!!! What was his name? Kris?

Though he was a bit irritating, she could not ignore the fact that she enjoyed his company for a while.

When was the last time she had a meaningless conversation with a complete stranger?

Even though she did not see his face properly, from his towering muscular physique and deep voice, anyone could figure out that he was quite attractive.

The man who wants to save all those damsels in distress,

The corners of Sasha's red lips raised into a sneer as she stepped out of the bathtub, grabbing the bathrobe and wrapping it over her body.

She picked up the seashell and walked out of the bathroom, drying her thick black hair with a towel.

Placing the seashell on the bedside table, Sasha quickly changed into a fresh pair of oversized sweats and walked to the kitchen to grab something to eat.

That's right. Due to the troublesome incidents which happened today, she forgot to eat her dinner and her stomach started to grumble in protest.

Sasha headed towards the kitchen and took out a packet of instant noodles from the kitchen cupboard.

Of course, nothing can beat a hot bowl of instant noodles at midnight.

While the noodles were getting cooked, Sasha took out the milk carton from the refrigerator.

Her doctor advised her to not get dependent on sleeping pills.

"Let's listen to the doctor once again," She muttered and heated up a glass of milk.

While slurping upon the hot bowl of instant noodles, Sasha picked up her cell phone and found a message notification.

It was a Christmas greeting from her senior editor,

"Merry Christmas," She typed a quick reply and touched the sent button.

Within a minute, she got another message from the same number,

"Do you have any plans tomorrow? Wanna grab lunch with me?"

"I haven't finished editing the draft of "How to get away with a murder?"....Sorry,"

"How about the day after tomorrow?"

Sasha bit her lips and contemplated for a moment,

Daniel Harvey always has been a responsible senior for her, but recently she could sense a change in his behaviour towards her. Rather than occasional meetings regarding book discussions, they never had any proper interactions, however, nowadays, he is trying to get closer to her.

"I got plans for the day after tomorrow," She sent a message,

"Really? You got plans!!! What is it? Going downstairs to throw away your garbage?" Even though his message didn't contain any laughing emoticons, Sasha could hear the sarcasm in his message.

"I have a birthday party to attend,"

"If you don't want to have a meal with me, you can directly say that. No need to come up with a lie,"

"Wait until I send the pictures of proof," She haughtily twitched her lips and typed, "I am going to sleep. Bye.”

That night Sasha slept peacefully,

Whether it is because of the tiring day or due to the effect of drinking milk, she fell asleep as soon as her body touched the soft bed like a log and slept soundly without any nightmares.

However, there was a huge nightmare waiting for her in real life.

The next day, when Sasha saw the message history with her editor, she shrieked out in horror.

She actually refused a meal date with Daniel quoting that she got plans for tomorrow and that too a birthday party.

Whose party? When? Sasha panicked as she checked her schedule. No, there aren't any events scheduled for tomorrow.

She searched thoroughly in her memory and got reminded about her doctor's words. She bit down her lips and pulled her thick hair,

Why did she challenge Daniel that she will go to the party and sent photographs as proof?

What was the need for that? It was a birthday party of a kid...

Sasha wished to dig a hole in the ground and hide right away,

After worrying over forty minutes over a trivial matter like this she decided to stop being fanatic,

"Well, why are you panicking? It is not that he is going to ask for proof. He is not that childish," Sasha mumbled,

"He is a senior at work, nothing else. He does not have any authority over her to judge her life choices based on a message?" Sasha tried to find excuses to calm her tensed mind.

She knew Daniel for eight months and to be honest, he is the first-ever person she had a proper conversation with, more like an argument, when she returned to Soul city in January.

Since she was jobless at that time Sasha used to regularly visit a famous book store in the city and buys stacks of books almost once in a fortnight. One day, while going through the newly arrived book section, she picked up a book named, "The songs of the sparrow," and a man who stood next to the book aisle warned her that it is no good. Even though she didn't say anything at the moment, she was really mad at the stranger who intertwined in her purchase.

No one in this world has written a book that got no haters.

As the saying goes, beauty beholds in the onlooker's eyes, the taste regarding a book changes according to every single individual.

Since the stranger made such a comment, Sasha made up her mind to buy that book and let herself figure out whether it's good or bad.

As she expected, the book turned out to be good...it was exceptionally good that as soon as she finished the book, she rushed to the book store and bought every book which was written by the same author.

Those books were like gems for her. The contents in the books resonated with her thoughts and even before she became a fan of that author.

Whenever Sasha visited the bookstore she made sure to search for that stranger who brutally thrashed her favourite book and luckily, she crashed into him.

Since she was so bad at having a conversation with strangers, she even wrote a five-page essay about why everyone must read Dan Harvey's books to give to that man.

Without any hesitations, he accepted her "essay" and assured her that he will give it try.

However, the next time they met, he apologized to her for speaking badly about the book. They had a short conversation about the way she reviewed the books and he even expressed his gratitude for sharing her views.

As time went by, they became more than acquaintances and began to discuss more various books and genres. When he found out that she was looking for a job, he offered her a job as his trainee.

"Daniel Harvey, Sub-editor, cloudsphire books LTD," His visit card read and then only Sasha realized that the author of her favourite book was none other than him,

She worked as a trainee in cloudsphire for three months. However once she figured out that a 9-6 desk job was not meant for her, she quit working in cloudsphire even though their management offered her a permanent job.

Even though she loved her job, the social interaction at the workplace and on the way, was too much for her to handle.

Thanks to her exquisite looks, she was approached by quite several men in her office as well as outside.

There were even cooked up stories of Sasha dating various men and gradually she decided to call it an end for her training in cloudsphire.

It was Daniel who suggested becoming a freelance copy editor and told her to work from home.

Even though the pay wasn't that much when compares to the pay which cloudsphire offered her for the permanent employee, she was happy.

It is not like that she has to feed a family of five and pay students loans.

After leaving cloudsphire she only met Daniel a couple of times and most of the time it was related to work. Their conversations have been always through messaging apps and he never crossed his boundaries to ask about her personal life.

But what happened yesterday?

Sasha took a deep breath,

“Daniel is not a person who will pry into someone else's life. He is a famous author and top editor in Cloudsphire, he is a busy person, he doesn't have time for thinking whether his junior is going for a kid's party or not. So stop worrying and get back to your work,"

Sasha made up her mind as she tied her thick long hair into a top knot and headed towards the kitchen to whip up something for her breakfast,

However, little did she know that Daniel was very much interested in her plans.