She is an old friend!

Going through the manuscript, Giselle was able to understand Jayce's struggle. From an editor's perspective, she had her feedback ready to go. Giselle knew that sometimes the author can feel unsatisfied with their writing. Though it may be their best already, the satisfaction factor doesn't settle easily. In few cases, there would be the need to throw away all their efforts and write fresh. But in Jayce's case, he had written it well that Giselle's verdict was to leave it as such and move on.

Jayce returned to join his editor after taking a quick shower. He changed his clothes and now appeared in his usual character. Giselle was glad to see him bounce back to normal. She was ready to give her review when her phone rang to interfere. Giselle looked at the screen and noticed it was Lillian again. She hesitated to answer the call and looked at Jayce. The guy had no clue whether Giselle is asking for his permission or not. Nonetheless, he walked away to give her privacy.

Lillian's voice greeted first. Giselle glanced at Jayce again and saw him busy in his kitchen. He was making himself some toast. Giselle couldn't let him know that it was Lillian on the call with her. They barely spoke to each other when Giselle rushed her words to end the call again.

"Now is not a good time. I'll call you later!" Giselle muttered to put her phone on silent.

Shocked to realize that she lost her chance to speak yet again, Lillian started to feel irritated. She tried one more time, and there was no answer. Before, Giselle at least answered her call, but now it seems Lillian has lost her attention.

Giselle's phone no longer screamed, and all of Lillian's efforts went unanswered.

**

Seeing Giselle done with her call, Jayce joined her in the living room.

"You have no idea, Giselle," he approached casually by starting to clean up the mess surrounding the couch.

"For the past few days, I had been stuck with this part. I don't feel satisfied with it no matter how many times I rewrite it. I don't want to mess it up. Oh- by the way, the one I included in the manuscript is the fourth version. What do you think?" he asked.

Before Giselle could speak up, a soft sound started echoing inside the house. Its muffled ringing made it hard to find, and Jayce scavenged through the jumble hurriedly. It was his phone that rang this time.

It's now Jayce's turn, and he assumed it might be Shane, calling to make sure if he was able to decide with the help of his editor. Probably, that is why he chose to answer the call next to Giselle. To his surprise, it was not Shane's voice he heard on the other line but a women's. Startled, he removed the phone to look at the screen and then addressed the call.

"Lillian Grey? Fancy you're calling!" he greeted.

Giselle flinched at once, gasping at Jayce frantically from hearing the familiar name strike again from another direction. By the time she could process the reality, their conversation had moved on to the next stage.

"Who told you about my book release?" Jayce asked irritably.

Giselle bit her tongue in distress. She realized that Lillian must have mentioned the news she had only shared with her earlier. Worried if her author would chew her out, Giselle remained expressionless, trying to act casual all while eavesdropping on the call.

"I highly doubt that Shane would spill details about it when I specifically told him not to say a word to anyone-" Jayce replied to glance at Giselle. Seeing her unbothered state, he returned his attention to Lillian.

"But, he is also your friend, so-

Giselle? Yeah, she is here," Jayce replied, glancing down at Giselle again.

"She's asking for you," he said and handed his phone to her.

Puzzled, Jayce remained by Giselle's side to spy on their conversation. Giselle was fuming inside from Lillian's presumptuous move. She received the phone, still remaining unruffled by the whole situation.

As soon as Lillian realized that Giselle's the one holding the phone, she spoke.

"Hey, why aren't you answering my calls?"

Giselle looked at Jayce. They both stared at each other awkwardly for several seconds before Jayce left again to give some space to the ladies.

"I- I think the toast is burnt. I'll go make another one- do- would you like to have some toast, Giselle?" Jayce whispered his words without shouting.

"No, thank you!"

"G- Good. I'll be there then!"

Jayce finally stepped out of the scene, and Giselle finally exhaled. She was stiffly sitting the whole time, maintaining a poker face. It was tougher than she thought. Moreover, the person who threw Giselle into this situation is none other than the one waiting on the other line right now.

"Lillian?" Giselle silently screeched her name without being loud. She knew Jayce had left the spot. However, he is still within her sight, and Giselle can't afford to be careless.

"What?"

"What are you doing?" Giselle exploded under tight lips.

"I'm trying to talk to you, but you keep-"

"Stop! You know I'm busy, but you keep-"

"I know."

"You know, you're being rude now!" Giselle accused.

"I understand. I just wanted to ask you-"

"Right now?"

Lillian realized what she had to discuss with Giselle only concerned her. It wasn't an urgent matter that needed immediate attention.

That too so early in this morning!

Regardless, it still mattered to Lillian, and now that her annoying calls were in the spotlight, she went all in and dared to address the subject then and there.

"Shane invited you to his New Year's Eve party, right?" Lillian said.

Giselle suddenly became speechless.

"I was calling you to ask if you're coming."

Giselle sighed, "This is not a good time. I will call you back. And don't disturb me anymore. I have my job to do."

Giselle's strict words silenced Lillian, and she obeyed.

**

Jayce carefully waited until Giselle finished and then reunited.

"What's going on?

Why is Lillian asking for you?

Wait- why is she calling me and then asking for you?

Did you tell her about my new book?"

Jayce's questions kept piling up as he directed all of his doubts at Giselle. Not only is she being suspected ruthlessly right now, but having people draining her patience continuously today has worn out Giselle. She had enough of it.

"She is a friend of mine," Giselle finally snapped back.

For a moment, the heated atmosphere settled with that answer, leaving Jayce speechless. He kept stammering his words to find a way out but failed to his shock.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to tell Lillian, but it slipped out of my mouth," Giselle apologized sincerely.

"N- Not that it matters. I- I didn't know you were her friend. I- I was just shocked to hear about my book-"

As Jayce kept poorly stuttering his way out again, he seemed to recall little flashbacks of Lillian Grey and Giselle from Keyline's Thanksgiving party. They seemed to know each other but never publicly disclosed their relationship. And this piqued Jayce's interest.

"How close are you two?" he inquired.

Giselle appeared startled at the question.

"We're just- we're good friends."

"Only good? Judging from what happened a few minutes ago, I can't seem to trust your words.

"You don't need to, Mr. Jayce. She is- an old friend. I happen to learn that she is also part of Keyline, and since we've met after a long time, we- we talk to each other a lot."

In contrast to her bursting rage from before, Giselle sounded down as she spoke about her relationship with Lillian Grey. Jayce almost regrets being curious, which is only why his editor looks as if she got rejected.

"Oh- That's cool. Then, if there's nothing else to interrupt, can we please start our meeting?"

"Yes, of course," Giselle replied, pulling herself away zoning out. She resolved to call Lillian later and now returned to focus on her job.

"Hmm."

Jayce still had traces of his doubts, but he couldn't care less to stay curious. The two finally settled down to work. Giselle was ready with her honest feedback and gave her reasons why Jayce shouldn't temper his script anymore. After going back and forth with each other's perspective and Jayce being stubborn with his unsettled gut feeling, the two eventually reached an agreement.