Worries

The sun had not yet risen, but the atmosphere in the typing room at the editorial office was already as dim as twilight. Someone's arrival in the early morning immediately gathered everyone in the typing room.

"The nearly printed draft has a misplaced news."

Gabriel looked at the employees one by one. "Okay, so to start straightening things out, who put this on the back page?"

Neya responded to a a Gabriel's question by raising her hand. "It's a written request that the article should be as subtle as possible," she explained.

"There's no way that's what the request says!"

"It's exactly what it says!" Lucia got up and handed him a piece of paper. "Look! The sender doesn't want people to have their first thoughts when they read his articles."

"But shouldn't it be a few pages ahead?"

"You all, it's still early. Can't you guys calm down a bit?"

Gabriel frowned at a colleague's comment.

"Tyler, count how much money the sender gave you and return it to their address at sunrise, along with the news that it will still be on page four. Don't accept anything from them and come back here before lunch," Gabriel said.

The sound of a typewriter operating overtook the silence. Gabriel stood reading sheets of paper containing input from several parties regarding newspapers and recent writings. He had to convey it to the chief editor that very afternoon. However, Brissia's second disappearance had put him in frustration.

Just as he was about to think of a way to explain Brissia's absence to the editor-in-chief, he suddenly heard someone fall from behind the typing room door. He opened it, surprised to see Brissia trying to get up from the wooden floor with a hurt look.

"My Goodness! How could you just show up here?!" whispered Gabriel in surprise mixed with annoyance, helping Brissia to her feet.

"Harris… I have to see him…"

Gabriel chuckled displeasedly at that. As soon as Brissia managed to stand straight in front of him, Gabriel gave her an indifferent look. "Be back before seven," he said, pointing to the large clock on the wall above the mailbox.

Brissia beamed. "Thank you, boss!"

The girl in a white lace shirt and dark brown skirt ran with all her might following the directions Mrs. Olivia gave her before she went to Archtier. A note showed that Harris couldn't possibly be in the Notus District, but he couldn't be outside Archtier either.

Passing the Flower Bridge, the girl arrived in the Tollo District. As soon as she arrived at a dark red door of a two-storey building, Brissia caught her breath, reached into her pocket and took out a piece of paper with someone's name and the location of their house written on it. She turned for a moment, saw the existence of a tool factory that was directly across the street. After making sure she was in the right place, she rang the electric doorbell beside the door.

As the door opened, the figure of a casually dressed man frowned at Brissia before him.

"Mister Siger, I'm looking for a man who's around twenty years old. His name is... Harris Reister," said Brissia, catching her breath because she was nervous and tired from running too fast.

The man gave Brissia a confused look, but then his gaze changed as if he remembered something. "He said he didn't want to meet anyone if someone was looking for him."

Brissia growled in annoyance. Then she gave Siger a serious look and said firmly, "I'm his girlfriend."

Siger blinked at Brissia's words, whereas the girl narrowed her eyes as she was feeling bad for using that excuse to lure Harris out.

After a while, Siger finally led Brissia to the second floor. He knocked on a door and spoke to the person behind it,

"Hey, your girlfriend is coming."

Siger motioned for her to wait for the door to open then walked down the stairs. She waited with an uneasy expression.

"Girlfriend who? I don't have a girl..."

Harris widened to see Brissia standing in front of him, as surprised as he was.

"AAAH!!"

Siger looked up at the stairs in surprise, saw Brissia who was sitting on the top step while covering her face with her palms. "Miss, are you okay?" he asked her.

Harris stood behind the bedroom door with a heavy breath, still unable to believe the figure he saw. He stared at his exposed upper body briefly before closing his eyes tightly. The dumbfounded Brissia looking at him sparked a feeling of wanting to disappear. However, her presence made him sick of hiding in there any longer.

The sky turned light blue. Brissia sat on the sofa holding her teacup tremblingly, making her left hand rush to hold the other side of the cup and managed to stabilize it. She glanced at Harris, who was standing with his back to her in front of the window, looking down all along as if he was looking for something far below.

"Harr—"

"Briss—"

Both of them fell silent for an instant. It was hard for Brissia to lift her face as she was trying so hard to forget what was shown as the door Siger knocked wide open. But then a bigger hand touched a strand of her hair.

"Raise your head. Your hair almost turned into a tea bag," said Harris, who was crouching in front of her, smiling gently at her.

Brissia looked into his brown eyes that were looking at her warmly. His eyes glistened like a glimmer of sunlight in the morning with a gentle breeze.

When Harris was about to tuck a strand of Brissia's hair behind the girl's ear, Brissia suddenly hugged him, causing her teacup to almost fall to the floor.

"Wow, wow, be careful! It's stil hot!" said Harris in surprise, taking the Brissia teacup and placing it with his right hand on the coffee table.

"I thought you'd get into another mess since you were suspended! But thank goodness… it wasn't," Brissia said bitterly, clutching the white t-shirt Harris was wearing.

Harris was silent for a moment. "Huh? You're not worried about me, but worried that I'll cause trouble?"

Brissa nodded. Harris narrowed his eyes, took a deep breath before letting it out slowly. Then, his hand patted Brissia's back.

"Alright. Sorry I didn't cause trouble today."

Brissia buried her face in Harris's shoulder, while Harris still patted Brissia's back with a straight face.

At a quarter to seven, Brissia and Harris had arrived at the banks of the River Flower. Harris took the initiative to take her to the editorial office, remembering that the girl had gone all the way to his temporary residence early in the morning.

"Thanks for taking me and... sorry for your job," Brissia muttered in the last sentence, making Harris raise half an eyebrow. Then he chuckled a little.

"Ouch, Brissie… don't make it sound bad," said Harris, still giggling.

Brissia frowned. "It's bad, isn't it?"

Harris grinned, drew closer to Brissia, and whispered, "I'm only temporarily off. So, wanna come with me to taste good food somewhere?"

The editorial office door opened, making both of them turn around. Gabriel stood in the doorway, giving Harris and Brissia a flat look.

"You forgot the editorial office door has a window?" Gabriel asked, driving Harris away from Brissia, while Brissia rushed into the editorial office before Gabriel gave her a furious scolding. But as a result, Gabriel and Harris faced each other in a such hostile atmosphere.

"Where have you been?" Gabriel asked coldly.

"Don't bother worrying about me, Old Man. After all, I'm no longer the kid you met seven years ago," Harris said indifferently.

"I'm asking so that if something happens to you again and gets me in trouble, I know who deserves my punch," Gabriel said flatly, raising his clenched right hand up to his neck.

"Hah!" Harris snorted as he turned around, walking the other way. But after only a few steps, he stopped, turning to Gabriel. "I'm planning on taking her out to dinner tonight."

"Why should I know that?"

"Let's just say I owe you an apology and much favor, Old Man."

After that, Harris walked leisurely in the direction of the Flower Bridge. Gabriel stared for a moment at Harris's back, which was getting smaller and smaller being swallowed up by the crowd of pedestrians. He took a deep breath before entering the editorial office.

If he had made enough money, he might have rented out two units for Brissia and Harris. The two youths pulled him into the front seat to memory lane. Even though the warmth and excitement of his colleagues made him feel like part of a harmonious family, the presence of Harris and Brissia was like music and paintings that were so distinctive in his memories.

Gabriel spotted Tyler returning to the editorial office just as the clock showed seven o'clock in the morning.

"How was it?" Gabriel asked facing Tyler as the other employees rushed to their respective sections.

"He agreed, even though I almost got hit by his shoe. Tomorrow might be your turn," said Tyler, making Gabriel wince.

Gabriel patted Tyler on the shoulder and said, "Well done, Tyler. Don't worry about anything and join the others in the typing room."

Tyler nodded with a sigh of relief then walked toward the typing room. Everyone there started working, providing their best service to everyone who needed their services at the editorial office. Until they didn't notice that the blue sky had turned reddish-orange, a sign that Brissia had to get ready to fulfill Harris's invitation for dinner.

"Brissia! You need a dress?"

Neya's words brought a slight grin to Brissia's lips. She nodded and followed her to another room.