The Twelve days of Christmas

BAYLIN Her phone alarm rang and rang. It rang again after ten minutes. Not able to sleep with the incessant noise, she got up and turned the alarm off, then she went back to sleep. Half an hour later, the rays of the sun pried trough the curtains and hit her face. It was now time to wake up. Her mouth felt like there was sand in it and her throat was parched. Her head pounded like the lead drum in a rock concert, the after effect of too much alcohol. Why did I have to drink so much last night knowing fully well she had an appointment today, she asked herself. Today was a busy day and the last thing she needed was to start her day with a hangover. What was the time even? She picked up her phone from the bedstand and looked at the time. Shoot! It was 9:40. She was going to be an hour and twenty minutes late for the meeting. Baylin was sure she had set her alarm to wake her up at 7: 30am? Why didn't the alarm ring? Gosh she was so screwed. She dashed into the shower and brushed her teeth so fast that she almost injured her gums, took a hurried bath and ran back into her room. Now what to wear. What to wear. She searched her wardrobe and found there wasn't a single thing she could wear. She was about to do laundry when her best friend Jamie invited her for a girl's day out. Baylin groaned out loud. She took a deep breath to calm down. Be positive, she told herself and rummaged through her closet. Luckily for her she found a bodycon skirt and a light blouse and put them on with a jacket. Then she left her wavy long light golden hair fall free. She sprayed an aggressive amount of body spray to hide the musty smell from the clothes not being aired out for long. She pulled on her shoes, carried her purse and dashed out of her studio apartment in a haste. She managed to flag down a taxi very fast and got to the publishing house within twenty minutes. She glanced at her wristwatch. Ten thirty. She took a deep breath and strutted in. Heads turned in the building to see who the attractive woman who just walked in was. "Good morning Baylin." The receptionist greeted. "Good morning Emma." She replied with her usual sunshine smile. After a dozen good mornings, smiles and waves, she got to the editor's office at the very top of the seventeen story building and was greeted my his secretary. "Good morning Cassie." Baylin beamed regardless of the slight scowl on the older woman's face. "Good morning Baylin. You are quite late for your appointment and the boss is not too pleased." Cassie, the editor's thirty year old secretary said curly. "I know. And I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be so late. I just have a lot of work on my hands." Baylin sang cheerfully. Cassie wasn't moved. "Please, last I remember, you don't even have a real job." "Writing is a full time job, Cassie." Cassie folded her arms across her chest sassily. "Oh yeah. How comes I saw you photos of you partying on your i********:?" Baylin bit her lip nervously. She had posted photos of the party on i********:? Shoot! If the boss saw those photos he was going to know. She went partying last night instead of working. Cassie looked like she had won, only Baylin didn't like to lose. "Come on Cassie. That was a little break to get my brain freshened up. We all know that all work and no play makes Jack a depressed guy. And you wouldn't want your star writer to be depressed, do you?" Baylin asked, batting her eyes as adorable as she could. Cassie gritted her teeth in annoyance. Why did she have to deal with this drama queen so very early in the morning? "You know," Cassie began. "Thats not even how the saying goes." "Well that's how I know it. Now could you just let the boss know I'm here?" Baylin asked. "Not going to work." Cassie replied instantly. "He has a meeting in ten minutes." "Great! Ten minutes is all I need." "He doesn't have time to entertain you. Come back tomorrow." "I can't. You know what? I'll just call the boss myself and let him know I'm here." Baylin told her. "You wanna bet me fifty dollars that he doesn't pick your call?" Cassie asked with a sinister grin on her face. "I don't gamble Cassie. But if I did, you'd owe me fifty dollars." Baylin said and showed her that the editor in cheif had picked up her call. "Good morning Mr G... I know, I know. I'm sorry I'm late...Oh I'm here right now but Cassie doesn't want to let me in." Soon, Cassie's telephone rang. With the look on Cassie's face, Baylin knew she had won. She gave the secretary a slight wave and sashayed into the office. "Morning Mr G." Baylin chirped as she walked into the editor's fully furnished office. The editor was a hot guy in his early thirties, with slicked back black hair and horn rimmed glasses. Today he was wearing a Polo on dress pants and he looked gorgeous. He was busy looking at his computer and gestured for her to come in. "Good morning Baylin." He said to her when she finally took a seat. "This isn't the time we set for the meeting today? Hangover?" He asked calmly. Baylin gasped "How do you know?" "I saw your i********: post last night." He told her. "Cassie must have shown you, didn't she." Baylin scoffed. Must that lady be so damn nosy? Mr G chuckled. "Quite the contrary actually. I showed her the post." Baylin looked up at him in shock. Then she giggled nervously. "Don't worry. What you do with your private life is your concern, as long as the quality of your work is not affected." Baylin sighed with relief. "Thank you Sir. " He nodded. "Yeah. I called you today to congratulate you. Your book is on the number one spot. It's a best seller. 'How to cure a Dark Lord' had more than a million copies sold." Covered my mouth with my palm. I knew my writing was good but I didn't know that it would get a million copies sold in such a short time. This was really huge. "So, I've decided to send you a little early Christmas gift. It's in your bank account. And also, there is a new project I want you to work on." I nodded. "We need you to write a full novel, with the theme being the holidays. It needs to be done by the Christmas morning." He said, his eyes were on me, his arms rested on the table. "Christmas morning? That's two weeks away. I can't write a full novel in that short amount of time." Baylin complained. Her last book which was a hundred chapters took her three months and four days to write. And he wanted a full novel in two weeks? Not possible. "You'll have to find a way. We have to give our readers what they want Baylin. Are you in or out?" Baylin looked up at her boss and rolled her eyes. He wasn't giving her much of a choice. "Whatever. Let me think about it. I'll let you know if I'm doing it by tomorrow." Gerald smiled and nodded. He couldn't rush her. She could be as stubborn as a mule if she wanted to be. Instead he stood up from his seat and came to where she sat, leaning on his desk while facing her. Within the three years Baylin worked with Mr Gerald, she knew he had quite a way of keeping business away from pleasure. He dealt with business first. "Now with that out of the way, what do you say to dinner tonight?" Something about the way he asked and his bright blue expectant eyes made Baylin melt in her chair. Too bad she couldn't make it, she thought. Baylin shook her head at the invitation to dinner. "I'm sorry Gerald. I've got something tonight." "What is it?" His brows drew together in disappointment. "A family dinner." Baylin spat like it was poison. "Ouch." Gerald smiled. "You're going?" "I haven't got much of a choice." Baylin exhaled. When it came to matters that concerned the family, she never had a choice. Gerald nodded. "I understand. We can always reschedule." Baylin smiled. Gerald leaned in and planted a soft kiss on her lips, then her cheek, then her nose. Then he took her hand in his. "Hey, I have a meeting right now and then tomorrow I'll be flying to Chicago. I'll be back next week. Let's have dinner then." She was glad she was able to bring this shy man slowly out of his shell. Baylin's eyes brightened at his offer. "Sure. Let's do that." When Baylin left the publishing house, she was ready to attack the next thing on her schedule today. Meeting with her bestfriend for wedding planning.