The golden opportunity

As the soul city fell into evening chaos, Sasha walked into the "cafe de bourne" the meeting place which was arranged by Daniel in a quiet alley in the city centre.

Since both of them preferred a quiet and calm environment away from the buzzing city, most of their meetings were arranged at silent cafes or libraries.

But Cafe de bourne was their favourite meeting place since it was the first place which Daniel took Sasha out for a coffee after the countless meetings at the bookstall.

Sasha stepped into the cafe and her olfactory senses were hit with freshly brewed coffee,

When her eyes met with the barista, she faintly smiled in a sense of familiarity.

They have already become regular customers at the cafe and Daniel even had a favourite spot there.

However today that spot was occupied by another couple.

Has he not arrived yet?

Even before she picked up the phone to give him a call, Daniel waved his hands at Sasha as he sat alone on the empty corner.

"Did you lose your usual spot?" Sasha tried to hide her surprise as she saw Daniel actually sitting somewhere else than his favourite spot in the cafe.

"Nah...i want to try switching places,"

"Sorry for being late, I overslept," She apologized to him as she took a seat opposite and placed the tote bag on the chair resting beside her.

"No worries," Daniel flashed his iconic bright smile, "It is completely understandable that people tend to oversleep after a huge party,"

"You know me, I am not a person who enjoys social gatherings. It drained me out," She replied while brushing away the hair strands which fell onto her face with her fingertips.

"I know, that's why I told it's alright if you want to rest more," Daniel removed his glasses and passed her the cafe menu,

"What do you like to drink? Espresso? Latte?"

"Can I get some fruit juice?"

"Fruit juice?" His eyebrows perched up a little as he heard her selection of drinks.

Sasha was an ardent fan of coffee. As she preferred to work mostly in the afternoon, coffee always helped her to stay awake and not to mention the pile of work.

"I am planning to cut down my caffeine intake,"

" Ahha...I get it. New year goals?" Daniel smiled softly.

"No...I am having a hard time falling asleep," Sasha rebutted with an honest reply. Taking care of her sleep cycle held more importance for her since it began to mess up with her health.

"Oh then it is better that you control caffeinated drinks," He advised and placed the order for an orange juice for her and espresso for himself.

"What was that favour you were talking about?" Sasha asked while waiting for her juice.

"We are looking for an editor and I would like to know whether you are interested to work with us as an official staff?" Daniel informed the purpose of their urgent meeting.

"Are you kidding me?" Sasha who was taken aback by his offer immediately retorted back. "I am a copy editor Dan, how can I possibly work as an editor? I don't have enough experience,"

"Then I have to beg you to join us," Daniel said with a pitiful look on his face.

"No way," Sasha folded her arms over the chest and rejected his offer without any second thoughts. Being an official editor includes a huge responsibility of taking care of the writer as well as the literary work. While she was working as an intern, Sasha witnessed how editors had to contact and persuade the writers to follow the writing schedule.

Since writing was considered as a skill that is directly associated with the moods and well being of the writer, there was always a high chance of creative slowdown or as everyone loves to call, writer's block.

As a fellow human, you can support and sympathize with the writer when he or she gets with writer's block. But as an editor, it won't be an easy task since you are bound to your duties and responsibilities of releasing the literary work within the specified time limit.

"I am busy with wrapping up my new book and in the cloud sphere, we are understaffed at the moment.

Every one of them is busy with the New year release and we really..really...need someone," Daniel tried to persuade Sasha.

"But why me?" Sasha twitched her shoulders in disapproval. She was a complete newbie, even if they prefer a newbie, cloudsphere could have organised official recruitment.

"I have reviewed your works various times and I personally think that you will do a great job," Daniel confidently assured her,

"Plus the client you are going to work with will be an absolute newbie. I can guarantee that it will be worth it,"

Sasha contemplated for a moment. She was happy with the flow of her work life. However, she wished for a change, to open up more to the world. To be honest, she was equally excited and scared to leave her comfort zone.

"I know you never care about such things, but I can assure you a pretty good remuneration and the surprising thing is that the author is willing to share ten per cent of the royalties with the editor, don't you think this is a golden opportunity?" Daniel inquisitively asked her.

"Too many benefits means too many hardships. Daniel, tell me the truth, who is this author?" Sasha's eyes narrowed in curiosity. "Why do I smell trouble in it?"

"Have you heard about Leonard "Leo," Callahan?" He inquired rather enigmatically.

"Who is that?" Sasha retaliated as soon as she heard Daniel's words.

"You don't know Leonard Callahan? Woah," Daniel stared at Sasha with incredulous disbelief for a long minute,

"If that is the case, then you are the perfect person to work with him,"

"Seriously, who is he?" Sasha drank a mouthful of juice and waited for his reply.

"He is an actor," Daniel dramatically paused and continued,

"Not just an actor, but the youngest actor to get the golden award for the actor of the year continuously in a row."