Get Back to You 32 Calm before storm - Lillian's book release ritual

But not for Lillian Grey.

The D-day has arrived and her book will be released this evening. The copies were made, the announcement is ready and the copies to deliver is waiting for the time to arrive.

At Lillian's residence:

Lillian was up early morning. The release day is always packed with nervousness, fear and all kinds of anxiety. For every book release, Lillian did some kind of rituals to clear her anxiety. She woke up early and completed all of her morning duties; brushed, bathed and wore a tracksuit. For the next one hour, Lillian's 'sudden exercise routine on the book release day' was up. After that, she took another shower and wore another casual. Throughout this, she would have drunk up to six cups of tea. Lillian had the music player with huge speakers. She turned them on and started doing 'fortnite dancing'. It wasn't any exact type but the styles changed. Lillian kept dancing like 'a crazy girl dancing in the club without any partner'. It was not because Lillian's a bad dancer; in fact, Lillian loves freestyle and enjoys the western dancing to her heart. It is Lillian's policy to have 'bad dance cover' when you're in fear or frightened mood. During this little extreme morning routine, Lillian had a guest. When she heard the doorbell, she ran quickly without stopping and received the guest.

"Ms. Grey, I seriously can't get used to this. Could you please stop doing all this crazy stuff? your book is going to do well. Why do you have to do all these? Plus why am I getting dragged into this?" It was Jenna, the only one who can tolerate and go through with these is Lillian's beloved editor Jenna.

"Did you get them?" Lillian couldn't care less. She went straight up to the point. Lillian called Jenna and requested her to stay until the press release. This was the ritual that Lillian had. In between this stay, anything can happen so it wasn't meant for the weak-heartened person. As said, Jenna gets dragged into this stayover every single time. Although it doesn't happen often, the impact of even a single stayover is huge and will be unbreakable in your memories forever.

Since Jenna is familiar with this type of activity, the first thing she did after entering the home was to turn down the music. She didn't completely shut down but lowered the volume.

"Ms. Grey is that a costume that you're wearing? what is it a red top and a green pant? Are you cosplaying the traffic lights, then where's the yellow?" Jenna teased her severely. It was serious enough to make Lillian go and get changed into a decent casual dress. Once she came back to the living room, Jenna handed her the breakfast.

"Here you go Ms. Grey. Three grilled cheese sandwiches. And I got some sliders for me."

Lillian after receiving the breakfast still kept looking at Jenna and the bag she had.

"Ms. Grey what you're searching isn't available for you today?" Jenna replied coldly.

Lillian fell into despair. She had requested Jenna to buy whiskey and Gin bottles. However, Jenna didn't buy them this time. Disappointed Lillian went on full mode dancing with the loudest volume in the speaker. Jenna's ears became void and she started to hear the 'beam noise'. Jenna walked straight to the music player and unplugged the cable.

"Ms. Grey, please let me live with good ears to listen." Jenna fell down as she begged. It was outrageous.

"Calm down Ms. Grey nothing's gonna happen. I already heard from the social media that your fansites have been hyping up for the upcoming book release. They're prepared to go full Saiyan mode once the book is released. Please, I can't..... p possibly handle this much of craziness." Jenna talked while catching her breath.

"S... Sorry, Jenna. You know me right? I don't know how to overcome this much of pressure. It happens every single time. I needed something more boisterous than this to make me feel small. Sorry, it was an impulse." Lillian caught her breath. Both of them lied down on the huge couch to get some air.

Lillian who was on the verge of breaking up finally slept without eating her sandwich. Looking at her sleeping in this odd position on the couch, Jenna grabbed some blanked from Lillian's room and covered her up. This will calm her down. Meanwhile, she went to the kitchen to make some food. There she saw six empty cups unwashed.'Ms. Grey must have had them.' Jenna washed those cups and placed them on the cup holders. Aside from the food, Jenna had bought some veggies and fruits. She made a quinoa salad with vegetables and fruit salad separately.

Jenna remembered her first time when Lillian called her suddenly on the book release day. When she came home, Lillian was already drunk and was heavily smoking. The habit of drinking tea was encouraged by Jenna. Lillian smoked less and drank tea whenever she feels happy, sad, or depressed. Those days were worse than now; because Jenna never had the guts to shut down the music or raise her voice against Lillian. But now, it was possible. Their relationship was stronger; more than being an author and editor. Lillian was Jenna's guide and teacher, and Jenna was the girl who cared deeply for Lillian with all respect. As they worked together for a long time, both of them started to feel like 'being family'. Hence, it became easy for Jenna to take control and be strict.

The afternoon arrived soon enough but Lillian woke up from her sleep late. She tried to look at the time but found no clock or mobile around. This was the trick Jenna learned during the last time stayover visit; hiding the god damn time so that it doesn't make Ms. Grey go crazy.

Seeing her awake, Jenna brought in cups of salad and tea. Lillian ate in silence. Watching Lillian's action which being quiet, Jenna decided to reveal the time because she thought that Ms. Grey had calmed down after a good short sleep.

"Ms. Grey, it is 3:30 PM," Jenna said out loud.

Hearing the time, Lillian's eyes widened big enough to make them fall out of the eye socket. Lillian then screamed out her lungs.

"Not again, MS. GREY" Jenna felt tired already. Thinking of how she's gonna handle the rest of the main event, only God knows.

Chapter end