#right before i need to present at a huge conference

[earthandsunandmoon]

getting sick now AHHHHHHHH

[lets-try-some-writing]

(For your Mr. Pax AU:)

Imagine the kids meeting Elita. It'd be so fragging wholesome XD

It'd more then likely be after the school day, too. Lmao.

It would and I have opted to answer the call for this ask.

━━━━━━ ⊙ ❖ ⊙ ━━━━━━━━━━━━

"So kids, how was school?" Elita grinned as the children settled on their platform, spreading out homework and other assignments for the cycle. She regarded their work with interest. It seemed simple enough in her optics, but then again, the human children were very small.

"Oh! You're Elita! Optimus's wife!" Miko shot up, a huge smile on her small squishy face. The urge to reach out and poke one of her cheeks was strong, but Elita refrained. It wouldn't do to go poking the children when it was far safer just to wait until later and do it in holoform.

"I'm his Conjunx, yes." Jack pointedly did not look in her direction. Elita could almost see the way his venting would have sputtered if he were Cybertronian. She may not have been well versed in all things human as of the present moment, but even she could see he looked a moment away from exploding.

"Woah, I didn't know Optimus was married." Rafael added his own commentary, closing his laptop to look up at Elita with wide eyes. She had to fight back an awed noise at how adorable he looked. He was tiny, his glasses only making him look more like a sparkling in her optics. She wanted to poke his cheeks as well, but that would have to wait.

"He's been my Conjunx for a very long time kiddo. Since before he became Prime in fact." Miko and Rafael made awed noises, and even Jack looked up at her in surprise, his embarrassment over the parent-teacher conference forgotten.

"Really? Optimus doesn't seem like the kind of guy to well... do that?" Jack was hesitant in his words, but Elita laughed in short order. She clutched her abdomen as she considered Jack's point of view, all but cackling. Her Conjunx could be quite stern when he wanted to be, especially when stressed. She'd already heard about how Optimus shut down any attempts at being introduced to humor. It was no surprise Jack was startled.

"He wasn't always such a stoic figure. Back when we were young, we got into all sorts of trouble." Resting a servo on her hip as he laughter died down, Elita watched as the children practically lit up at the reveal. Jack was quiet with his interest, but Rafael and Miko were not.

"Optimus in trouble? Oooh this is some blackmail material I need!" Miko did a little dance in place, the plushies on her belt shifting as she did an excited twirl. Elita again had to fight the urge to pick up and cuddle the squishy organic close. It probably wouldn't end well, but she hadn't been able to hold such a small creature since Bee was freshly forged.

"I don't think you can blackmail Prime with stuff that millions of years old." Jack, being so much like Optimus, tried to rain on everyone's parade with logic. Thankfully, his little black raincloud bounced right off Miko and Rafael who were still staring at Elita like she hung the moon.

"Married couples always have wild blackmail!" Miko flailed, throwing her arms up in the air as she grinned. Jack sighed and Rafael secretly adjusted his glasses to try and hide a smile. Elita could feel it right then and there as adoration settled in her spark.

Yes, she was keeping these squishies. She could convince Optimus later.

"I have quite a few stories for you. But only if you promise to not harass Optimus with them. He's got enough going on." Holding up a digit to her derma, Elita smiled as the children each agreed, some more enthusiastically than others.

"We won't bother him. Promise." Rafael's eyes only seemed to be made bigger by his glasses. Elita's spark leapt in its chamber, the cuteness of the scene overriding her usual serious attitude as mischievousness she had long left behind began to resurge.

"Settle down then children. Let me tell you all about Orion's first visit to the docks." Elita could see Optimus out of the corner of her optic looming in the nearby hall. He looked to be mostly uncaring as he waited there, listening in. But she could see the hint of a smile on his features. He wasn't opposed to her decision, giving her all the more reason to tell her tale.

It had been so very long since they'd had anyone who cared enough to hear their story.

[dreaming-medium]

Bad Day - Bang Chan Drabble

Summary: Reader has a terrible day; one of those days where everything goes wrong. Luckily, her boyfriend is there to wipe the stress away with some well deserved hugs.

Word Count: 2.2k

——————————————————

Punch after punch after punch after punch lands on your soul today. Every single time you turned around, another horrible situation would present itself.

You’ve been sick for two and half weeks now. The sore throat would come and go, but you weren’t able to sleep without propping two pillows under your head. This morning when you woke up, your voice was completely gone.

The empty space next to you in bed certainly doesn’t help either. Chan has been gone for a work trip for two weeks now. He wasn’t due home for another two more.

Work has been its own animal to take care of. It was your first job after graduating, so you were at the bottom of the totem pole. Each higher up suddenly felt the need to burden you with any difficult projects they didn’t feel like taking care of themselves.

“I don’t think this is something I was trained on,” you tried to say to one of the more older workers. The huge stack of papers was so heavy in your hands. “These calculations would take me—“

“Just do it, Y/N,” he said before closing the door to the conference room you were standing alone in.

You had just watched that coworker’s boss tell him to do it. But nope, he dumped it on you.

On top of that, you were also tasked with training the new guy even though you’ve only been here for nine months.

And this guy made it his personal mission to make your job even harder. The way he would go from not knowing anything to being a complete know-it-all within two sentences made your blood boil.

But it’s fine. It’s totally fine, you can handle this.

Then, someone ate your lunch out of the fridge even though your name was clearly written on it. Your lunch break was so short that there was no way you could run out to get something else.

It was raining so hard as you jogged to your car through the parking lot. Every spot in the parking garage was taken this morning so you had to use the satellite lot ten minutes away.

Your clothes were drenched by the time you got into your car and slammed the door shut.

Fumbling with the keys, you shoved them into the ignition and started your car. The heat immediately kicked on and you sat there for an extra couple of minutes, warming your frozen fingers in front of the vents.

A book from one of your favorite authors came out today. You were going to pass the store on your way home, why not stop and buy a copy? It certainly would help with the day you were having.

The drive to the store was silent. You didn’t even turn the radio on. If you’re being honest, you didn’t think you could handle sound.

People were everywhere in the bookstore.

You walked in and looked around for the new book. There were signs and posters everywhere that announced the book. Where was it?

“If you’re looking for the new Kingdom book we sold out this morning.” A worker says to you softly.

A small part of you dies.

You politely nod to the worker and leave.

It’s ridiculous how you feel the tears building behind your eyes.

It’s fine. It’s fine. You’re overreacting. It’s totally fine. You’ll just buy a copy on your Kindle. You didn’t even need a physical copy, right?

Your fingers fumble with your keys and you drop onto the ground. They splash right into a puddle.

It’s fine, it’s fine.

Swallowing painfully, you wince at your sore throat and gather your things to get back in the car.

You’ll go home and watch TV.

“It’s Friday,” you whisper to yourself in the car to try and calm down. “It’s treat day, why not stop for a coffee?”

Every Friday you would buy yourself a coffee. ‘Treat Day’ is what you dubbed it as. It slowly became a tradition with you and your friends.

Chan used to always reload your coffee rewards app with his own money without telling you.

A sad smile tugs at your face while you drive to the coffee shop. God, what you wouldn’t give to see him right now.

The tension in your shoulders is so bad you think your shoulders are level with your ears.

After getting your coffee, you drive all the way home to your apartment complex.

Right before you turn into the lot, a car decides to come out of nowhere and cuts you off. You cut the wheel and slam on the brakes to avoid them.

Your coffee launches out of the cup holder and spills all over your lap.

“Fuck!” You curse and try to focus on the road. “Fuck fuck!”

At least it was iced coffee and you’re not burned. Right? Silver lining?

You’re at your limit. Your sanity is teetering.

Parking in your designated spot, you trudge into the large building.

The weight of the day still sits so heavy on your shoulders. Now your lap was soaked with coffee.

A package sits underneath the complex’s mailboxes. It’s ruined and crushed. The ‘FRAGILE’ sticker is gnarled up.

“No,” you sigh and look closer at it.

Yep, it’s yours. The new dishwear set you ordered came in.

When you lift the package you hear all the pieces shift around. It’s just a box of broken ceramic at this point.

Tighter and tighter your throat gets.

Slowly, you trudge up to your floor. Because, of course, the elevator is broken. Of course it is. Why would the elevator work today?

Just as you get your keys out to open your door, your shitty neighbor comes outside.

“Oh god, Y/N, you look horrible.” He says loudly.

You turn and look at him with tears already brimming in your eyes.

No sign of compassion crosses his face, instead, he laughs. He laughs right in your fucking face.

“No wonder I haven’t seen Chan around. He finally came to his senses, eh?”

Your jaw drops open.

“God, pull yourself together.”

Your neighbor picks up his newspaper from the doormat and goes back into his unit without another word.

For a long moment, you just stand there. Your clothes and hair still soaking wet and clinging to your skin, work bag and purse slung over your shoulder, box of broken plates and bowls in your arms.

Inside your body, you felt yourself finally snap. You felt your anger and frustration hit it’s limit.

Your look of surprise quickly morphs into one of seething rage. Lips pulling in a sneer, you rip open your door and stomp inside, slamming it shut behind you.

Dropping everything you own at the door, including the box of glass, you let out a muffled scream.

The box bursts open and glass shards go everywhere. They skitter across the floor and cover the wood in a dangerous mine field.

A moment of silence passes.

You lose it.

You drop to your knees and cradle your face while angry, hot tears stream down your cheeks.

Wails leave your lips as the weight of the day finally takes it’s toll.

On any normal day, you would be able to handle these things individually, but all at once? You just couldn’t deal with it anymore.

“Y/N?!” A voice calls out from the other end of the hallway.

Your head snaps up and you see your boyfriend standing there with a look of horror on his face.

“Chan,” you croak out.

His eyes frantically look around at the scene in front of him. Your disgruntled state surrounded by broken glass.

He’s here? He’s back?

“Y/N, are you okay? What happened? Are you hurt?”

He tries to walk closer but then he realizes he’s also surrounded by broken glass.

“Chan.” Is all your able to say again before the sobs come out even harder. Your entire body wracks with them, chest sputtering as you try to breathe between cries.

His face twists up in anguish.

“S-Stay there! Don’t move, I’m gunna get a dust pan, okay? I’ll be right back, babygirl. Don’t move.”

He continues to say things over and over to you while running to get what he needs.

“I’m here, baby. You’re okay, right? You’re home and safe, Y/N.”

You bury your face in your hands again and continue to cry. His words reach you, but they do nothing to quell the emotions.

Before you could fall further into this headspace, two warm, strong arms wrap around you and pull you into an even warmer body.

“I’m right here, honey, I’m here. You’re okay.” Chan whispers into your hair. He pulls you onto his lap and holds you close.

His comforting scent envelops you everywhere.

Chan rocks back and forth while holding you.

“You’re okay,” he says over and over into your hair. “You’re home now, I’m here, Channie’s here.”

Your face buried into his shoulder, hands gripping his shirt tightly

“What happened, baby?” He asks gently.

You cry harder.

“I’m so sick,” you cry into his shirt. “People keep taking advantage of me at work, I had to park ten minutes away in the rain. Someone ate my lunch. I dropped my keys in a puddle, the new book sold out, I spilled my coffee everywhere. Then fucking 304 across the hall tells me how horrible I look.”

You motion outwards at the glass all over the floor still. “And how do you like our new dishes?”

Even in the middle of a mental breakdown, you still crack a joke.

Saying it all makes you cry even harder. At this point, Chan’s shirt is soaked with your tears.

He continues to hold you as tight as he could. Not once does he tell you to stop crying, instead he carefully scoots and leans against the wall, cradling your body on his lap.

Chan rocks back and forth, pressing kisses into the crown of your hair as you cry your heart out.

His one hand rubs slow circles on your back while the other pets the back of your hair.

Low hums come from his throat. Chan lays his cheek on top of your head and keeps you close to his chest.

“It’s okay, babygirl,” he coos. “You’re home now. You’re with me now.”

“Thank god you’re home,” you hiccup and clutch his shirt closer to you.

“My spidey-senses were tingling,” he jokes in a hushed tone.

You manage to chuckle through your tears.

“My babygirl needed me.”

You’ve always been so happy go lucky, the glass was always half full with you. You always looked on the bright side of everything. If anything bad happened, it always just rolled off your back.

It was one of the main reasons he fell for you.

Chan has never seen you as bad as you were on your knees in the entryway, it shook him to his core.

Another long kiss is pressed to your head.

Slowly, your sobs calm down. Your throat still hoarse and sore from before has only gotten marginally worse.

Sniffling, you sit up away from Chan.

“‘M sorry I got your shirt all gross.”

Chan laughs in spite of everything. Both of his strong hands cup your cheeks for you to look him in the eye.

His chin dips down to your level so he can stare right at you. Those gorgeous brown eyes sparkle at you.

“I’m not upset about my shirt, Y/N,” he says gently. “I’m only worried about my sunshine. It’s not every day you cry, baby.”

“Everything just happened at once.” Chan’s thumbs wipe away the tears on your cheeks. “I tried to keep it together but our neighbor verbally berating me was the straw that broke the camel’s back.”

Chan tuts and brushes your hair behind your ear.

“Let’s throw eggs at his door,” he jokes.

He pulls a laugh from you.

“There’s my favorite smile.” He coos. It makes your smile even brighter. You sniffle again, and look down sheepishly.

Chan lifts your chin up with his thumb and forefinger. “Hey baby,” he grabs your attention. “How about this: you go shower off the day, I’m going to clean all this up and order our favorite takeout for dinner. I even stopped on my way home and got two pints of ice cream before.”

“Mint chocolate chip?” You ask softly.

“Of course I got your nasty toothpaste ice cream.” He pinches your cheek teasingly.

You giggle and lean away from his hand.

“Come on, babygirl.”

Before he does anything else, Chan leans forward and presses a long, warm kiss to your forehead.

Both of your eyes close at the comforting feeling it brings. After he kisses your forehead, Chan leans down and kisses both of your cheeks.

His warm lips then press to your nose and then finally to your lips.

It’s a long, sensual, loving kiss. Both of your mouths slipping over one another in a dance.

You sigh happily into the kiss. Chan’s mouth smiles against your own. It’s contagious, you can’t help but mirror the grin with our own.

In the end, you both look like smiling fools wrapped up in one another’s presence.

Chan scoops you up carefully and stands up from the floor, making sure to avoid any stray shards of glass.

“I’m going to take good care of you, my honey.” He coos and presses another kiss to your forehead. “Your bad day ends here.”

[umgeorge]

george russell is interviewed during the press conference on media day, las vegas - november 20, 2024 (transcript under the cut)

Interviewer: "George, let's come to you now. Brazil last time out seemed like a missed opportunity for you and Mercedes. What lessons were learned?" George: "Yeah, it definitely felt like a missed opportunity. I think, having reviewed the race, you recognize how quickly things can change, and we made the pit stop, which with the perfect benefit of hindsight, that was incorrect. But had that virtual safety car stayed for ten seconds longer or fifteen seconds longer it would have been absolutely the right thing to do. So it just shows how quickly an external decision can change your race and how you need to be very quick to adapt to that, and we kind of were a little bit too focused on that pit stop and not actually seeing that a car that was beached on the road was being pushed off and the VSC was ending." Interviewer: "And how much encouragement do you take from the pace of the car in Brazil; the front row start? I mean, you've had a stack of points finishes since the summer break, but how close are you to having a race winning car again? George: "I mean, Brazil was definitely a bit of a one-off, I think. When it rains, it presents opportunities, and for ourself it was an opportunity. For everyone at Alpine it was a huge opportunity, which they capitalized. And I think we need to look back to the sprint qualifying and the sprint race for a bit of a fairer picture of where we are, and that was behind the front four teams. Interviewer: "George, final one: When you look at this season as a whole, look at the races you've won, but look at also the frustrations as well, how will you review the season?" George: "I think now we've done almost a full season, we totally understand why the car is so up and down. It has just such a narrow window, and when we can set the car up in a way that we exploit that window, we have a race winning car. But when you go to different circuits and you have to change where you position the set-up, we totally fall outside of our working window. So it's obviously frustrating when you know the car has that potential, but I think for everyone you have these fluctuations in performance. We've done a good job to capitalise on races that we did, had the pole positions when the car was capable of pole positions, and ultimately we just need to make a more consistent car over the course of 24 races." Interviewer: "Alright. Thanks to all three of you. Let's now open this to the floor, to the broadcasters first. David."

Journalist: "David Croft, Sky Sports F1. George, to you and with your GPDA hat on, please. In between the last race and this, the FIA have dispensed with the services of Niels Wittich, the Race Director. Is this something that the GPDA were aware of before it happened? Are you concerned that there are three races to go and we now have a new Race Director, especially coming in to a street race like Las Vegas, which we saw last year can have a whole load of unforeseen problems?" George: "Yeah, we definitely weren't aware. It was a bit of a surprise, I think, for everybody, and it's a hell of a lot of pressure now onto the new Race Director; just three races left. So I think for us… Often, as drivers, we probably feel like we're the last to find out this sort of information, and when it involves us kind of directly it would be nice to sort of be kept in the loop and just have an understanding of what decisions are being made. So yeah, time will tell. I'm sure the new guy will handle the position just fine, but definitely not an easy race for a new race director." Interviewer: "Okay. Thanks George. Yep, next one." Journalist: "Nelson Valkenburg, Viaplay. Also for George, but I'd love for you both to chime in, as well. Last week, a pointed statement from the GPDA towards the FIA and especially towards the President. The tone seemed stronger than I expected. Does that reflect the mood in the field of drivers, as well?" George: "I mean, talking as a fellow driver, as opposed to sort of my role with the GPDA, I think everybody felt, with certain things that have happened over the course of this year, that we wanted to sort of stand united. At the end of the day, we just want to be transparent with the FIA and have this dialogue that is happening, and I think the departure of Niels is also a prime example of not being a part of these conversations.

And, ultimately, we want to work with the FIA to make the best for the sport that we all love, so I think it's kind of us now putting the pressure back on them to work with us and work with everyone, including F1 as well, just to maximize this opportunity which Formula 1 is in at the moment, which is an amazing time to be a part of." [time jump] Journalist: "Diego Mejia, Fox Sports. Question to George: I think that the GPDA created an Instagram account to publish this letter. Is there going to be a different way of… Was there a need to make things more public now from the GPDA side when creating this more public forum?" George: "Yeah, well I think times are changing and the fans are a huge part of this sport, and I think if we're talking about openness and transparency and including everybody in this for the greater good, then having it on a social media platform makes perfect sense." Interviewer: "David?" Journalist: "David Croft, Sky Sports. Sorry, George, GPDA public forum, this one. Did you and the GPDA think that the Race Director needed replacing?" George: "I mean, I can only talk on behalf of myself here, as opposed to any of the other drivers, but… Yeah, I think there's no secret that some were not happy with what was going on, in terms of the decisions that were being made. But, at the end of the day, I think if you worked together with us, that we could have helped improve the matter, and I think sometimes just hiring and firing is not the solution. You kind of need to work together to improve the problem. So let's see what this new sort of era is going to bring, but every time there is a change, you have to take one step back before you make the two steps forwards."

[stop-ugly]

✨HEADCANONS✨

Harry loves his adoptive fathers very much, but he also knows everything about his real parents. There are pictures of Lily and James in every room.

Harry spent his childhood with rock music.

As soon as the next new model of a children's broom appears in stores, Sirius tries to buy it for Harry right away. Remus does not approve of such actions and believes that Sirius spoils his godson.

Quite early, Harry begins to show the character inherited from...... Lily. Sirius pretends to groan that there are two bores in this house now.

Sirius still spends every full moon with Remus, and Harry stays with his aunt Andromeda.

At first, Remus continued to look for work, but he was refused everywhere because of lycanthropy. In the end, Sirius got tired of it, and he forced his husband to stay at home, because, thanks to the inheritance of the Potters and Blacks, they do not need money.

Every Halloween, Remus, Sirius and Harry go to the Potter's grave.

Once wolfstar tried to come to Dursleys. They wanted Harry to meet his cousin. Petunia and Vernon turned out to be homophobic as well as wizard-hating. And Dudley was a spoiled bully. Harry didn't want to go back to that house.

In this universe, Harry does not try to hide his scar, because Sirius diligently teaches his husband and son that you should never be ashamed of yourself.

One day, Harry tells Remus and Sirius that he would like to have a brother or sister. And before Remus can start a Conversation™, Sirius interrupts him: "Harry, you may not have noticed, but we're gay."

Harry is a Gryffindor.

Remus had instilled in Harry a love of reading.

Harry feels comfortable in both the magical and muggle worlds.

In fact, Harry's character remains the same, but, thanks to supportive parents, he does not have that low self-esteem, hero syndrome and a huge sense of duty to the magical world. And he is no longer so easy to manipulate.

He also wants to become an animagus, but Remus insists that Sirius can only begin training Harry when he is at least 14 years old.

Harry is still great at Quidditch, but now he doesn't end up in the hospital wing after every match.

Harry has detentions much more often than in the canon, thanks to the love of pranks and adventures inherited from Sirius.

And yeah, in this universe, he's much more in touch with the Weasley twins. Although his best friends are still Hermione and Ron.

Harry is VERY cheeky.

Severus hates Harry even more than in the canon because of the character traits of Remus and Sirius. It's mutual.

Do you know what Hogwarts lacks? THE PARENT-TEACHER CONFERENCES.

I can see Severus scolding Harry in front of all the other parents, and Sirius is instantly furious and expresses doubt about the potion master, who can't make himself a shampoo.

Sirius thinks there's no point in coming up with new jokes when the old is still gold. AND HE'S SERIOUS.

One day after a parent-teacher conference Lucius is very rude about Sirius and Remus ' relationship. Narcissa leads her husband away, giving Wolfstar an apologetic look. Sirius is not offended, but he comes to the next conference in a rainbow-colored robe.

Remus was wearing a bisexual badge.

Dumbledore liked it.

Lucius sat red-faced throughout the conference, and as soon as it was over, he apparated away. Narcissa just laughed and suggested that her brother should have dinner together sometime.

When Hermione's passion for protecting the rights of magical creatures wakes up, Harry suddenly becomes interested too and inundates her with questions about possible solutions to the problems of werewolves.

Hermione puts two and two together, and the next time she sees Remus, she notifies him of her guess, and also expresses her full support. Remus was embarrassed but pleased.

When Harry came out to his adoptive parents as a bisexual, Sirius exclaimed happily, raising his hands in the air: "WE'RE GOING TO THE PRIDE!!"

Sirius presents himself as Casanova and the king of flirting, but when Harry needs love advice, he ALWAYS goes to Remus.

When Harry has a crush on Draco, Sirius wonders who exactly he inherited his love for the nasty Slytherins: Lily or James?

There's no way Harry's been cleaning up school shit all these years on his own. No, Harry has fathers, and they won't leave him. Never ever.

[ohhappyday123]

Office Dynamics - Part 7: New Beginnings and New Challenges

The days at Dunder Mifflin had settled into a comfortable routine, but there was always something brewing beneath the surface. As you walked into the office one bright morning, you felt a renewed sense of excitement and curiosity about what the day might bring.

Pam greeted you with a warm smile as you approached your desk. "Morning, Y/N. Ready for another day of fun?"

You laughed, placing your bag on the floor. "Always. What’s on the agenda today?"

Before Pam could answer, Michael burst out of his office, waving a piece of paper excitedly. “Everyone, gather around! I have an announcement!”

The office slowly congregated near Michael’s desk, curiosity piqued. Jim leaned against your desk, giving you a playful nudge. “Wonder what it is this time. Another party?”

Michael cleared his throat, beaming with pride. “I have just received word that we have a new client who wants to meet with us today. This could be a huge deal for us, people!”

Dwight’s eyes lit up, clearly ready to take on the challenge. “Who’s the client, Michael?”

Michael scanned the paper. “It’s a local tech startup called ByteSize. They’re looking for a paper supplier, and we’re in the running. But we need to make a great impression.”

Pam raised an eyebrow. “Do we have a plan?”

Michael nodded vigorously. “Of course we do! Y/N, Jim, and Dwight, you’ll be in the meeting with me. We need to show them we’re the best in the business.”

You exchanged a surprised glance with Jim, who looked equally taken aback. “Uh, okay, Michael. We’ll do our best.”

Interview with Y/N: “I’m excited about this new client meeting. It’s a great opportunity for us, and I’m glad Michael trusts me to be a part of it. I just hope we can pull it off without any mishaps.”

As the office buzzed with preparation, you, Jim, and Dwight gathered in the conference room to strategize. Michael was already there, pacing nervously.

“Okay, team,” Michael said, clapping his hands. “We need to be on our A-game. Dwight, you’ll handle the product details. Y/N, you focus on client relations. Jim, you back us up with your charm.”

Dwight nodded, his eyes steely with determination. “Got it, Michael. I won’t let you down.”

Jim smirked, giving you a sidelong glance. “I’ll do my best to be charming, as always.”

You rolled your eyes playfully. “Let’s just make sure we’re prepared. I’ll handle the introductions and initial questions. Dwight, be ready to dive into specifics when needed. Jim, you can add in with any insights or anecdotes that show our value.”

Michael nodded, looking relieved. “Perfect. This is why you’re my favorite, Y/N.”

Dwight bristled slightly but kept his focus. “Let’s make this happen.”

Interview with Dwight: “I’m ready to prove myself today. This new client could be a game-changer, and I intend to show them just how efficient and dedicated we are. And maybe remind Michael that I’m still his top salesman.”

The meeting with ByteSize was set for 11 AM, and as the time approached, the four of you gathered in the conference room, nerves and excitement mingling in the air. The ByteSize representatives arrived, a young, dynamic group eager to find the right supplier.

You took charge, welcoming them warmly and starting the presentation. “Welcome to Dunder Mifflin. We’re excited about the opportunity to work with ByteSize and support your growth with our reliable paper products.”

The ByteSize team seemed impressed by your confidence and professionalism. As the meeting progressed, Dwight expertly handled their technical questions, while Jim interjected with timely humor and anecdotes that highlighted Dunder Mifflin’s exceptional customer service.

Michael, to everyone’s surprise, managed to keep his enthusiasm in check, contributing effectively without overwhelming the conversation. By the end of the meeting, the ByteSize representatives were smiling and nodding, clearly impressed.

“We’ll definitely consider Dunder Mifflin for our paper needs,” their leader said, shaking hands with each of you.

As they left, Michael let out a triumphant cheer. “We did it! Great job, team!”

Interview with Jim: “I have to admit, that went way better than expected. Y/N was fantastic, Dwight was on point, and Michael actually held it together. I think we have a real shot with ByteSize.”

Back at your desk, Pam leaned over, grinning. “You were amazing in there. Looks like we might have a new client.”

You smiled, feeling a sense of accomplishment. “Thanks, Pam. It was a team effort, though.”

Just then, Stanley walked by, giving you a rare thumbs-up. “Nice work, Y/N.”

Phyllis followed, placing a small candy on your desk. “You did great, sweetie.”

You felt a warm glow, grateful for the support of your coworkers. As you settled back into your tasks, Jim walked over, a playful smirk on his face.

“Looks like Cupid struck again,” he teased, referring to the successful meeting.

You laughed, feeling a connection between you that was growing stronger every day. “Maybe so. But I think it was a team effort.”

Interview with Y/N: “Today was a good day. We worked well together and hopefully landed a new client. It’s moments like these that make all the craziness worth it.”

The rest of the day passed in a blur of productivity and camaraderie. Michael was in high spirits, Dwight was already preparing follow-up materials for ByteSize, and Pam and you found time for a quick chat.

“So, what’s next for you and Jim?” Pam asked, a knowing smile on her face.

You shrugged, feeling a blush creep up your cheeks. “We’re taking it one day at a time. But it feels right.”

Pam nodded, her smile widening. “I’m happy for you. You deserve this.”

Interview with Pam: “Y/N and Jim are really cute together. It’s nice to see something good coming out of all this office chaos. They balance each other out.”

As the day drew to a close, you and Jim found yourselves alone in the break room, cleaning up after an impromptu celebratory snack session Michael had insisted on.

Jim glanced over at you, his eyes softening. “So, dinner tonight?”

You smiled, feeling a flutter of excitement. “Sounds perfect.”

Interview with Jim: “Y/N makes every day a little brighter. I’m looking forward to seeing where this goes. Today was a great step forward, both professionally and personally.”

As you walked out of the office together, you couldn’t help but feel hopeful about the future. With supportive friends, a challenging but rewarding job, and a blossoming relationship with Jim, life was looking pretty good.

Whatever tomorrow brought, you knew you’d face it with a smile, surrounded by the unique and wonderful people of Dunder Mifflin.

[adancedivasmom]

Pairing: Dave York x F!Reader (no physical description, however it is implied she hasn’t lost her baby weight)

Rating: Explicit 18+ (By proceeding to read beyond this warning, you are agreeing that you are 18 years or older)

Content: Lactation kink, smut, frottage, mention of abandonment, body insecurity, pet names and name calling (slut is used once), Dave York is his own warning

Word Count: 2K

Summary: After a hectic morning and barely making it to work on time, you realize you forgot your breast pump at home. You haven’t nursed or pumped in 16 hours and worry you won’t make it through your important afternoon meeting. Luckily for you, a certain handsome DIA agent knows just what to do and offers his assistance.

(This takes place before the events in The Equalizer 2 and Dave is divorced in my au.)

A/N: A huge thank you to @toomanystoriessolittletime for posting this idea on Discord and for not minding that I took and ran with it (this is all their fault really). Thank you to @ozarkthedog and @firstofficerwiggles for reading this over for me, offering their kind words, and telling me to go for it and post this. Also, special thanks to my fellow Dave York Nasties for their encouragement. I love you guys!

This is the first fic I've ever written, and I'm nervous. Please be kind. 💝

REBLOGS WOULD BE LOVED AND APPRECIATED

No, no, no, no, no…

This can’t be happening.

For the fifth time, you look underneath your jacket in your office.

It’s not there.

Your breast pump bag is not there.

You think back to your crazy morning. Somehow you managed to turn the volume down on your phone alarm. You never heard it and slept in.

Your son, bless his heart, had just started sleeping through the night a couple of days ago.

After throwing on your blouse and favorite flowy skirt, hastily brushing your hair and teeth, you flew to your son’s room.

He was still sleeping as you rushed into his nursery to get him dressed for the day. He greeted you with the biggest smile, kicking his legs and reaching for you.

It was times like this that made the challenge of raising him on your own worth it. His father had skipped out on you a month ago after informing you he no longer felt attracted to you.

No, none of that, you told yourself. You did not have time for self-pity right now.

Once you finished changing your little bean’s diaper and dressing him, you tried to feed him, but he fussed and refused to latch on. 

Most likely, he could sense how stressed you were.

Not a problem, you told yourself. Your mom had extra bottles and an ample supply of your breast milk in her freezer. Everything would be okay.

After dropping your baby off at your mom’s house, you drove to work and made it there at 9 am.

You threw your jacket and purse on the extra chair in your office and barely had time to unlock your computer when the HR supervisor knocked on your door. 

“Brian called off. I’m going to need you to give the morning and afternoon presentations,” she briskly informed you and quickly walked away.

Great, just great, you grumbled to yourself. You had one hour to prepare for the staff meeting to review the new health care benefits package the DIA was changing to at the start of the new year.

You bolted for the conference room and managed to be ready in one hour when your coworkers started filing in.

The meeting went well, and you answered everyone’s questions and addressed their concerns efficiently and cheerfully.

Which was shocking because, at this point, your breasts were hurting, really hurting. It had been almost 16 hours since you last fed your son before you put him down for the night.

Thank goodness it was your lunch hour, and you could close your office door and get some much-needed relief pumping.

This brings you to the present, frantically looking all over your office for your breast pump that’s nowhere to be found.

Maybe you left it in your car?

You grabbed your keys and took off. Not watching where you were going, you bumped right into him.

Dave York.

Of all the people to run into, it had to be him. You’ve been secretly obsessing over him since your first day of work at the DIA.

He was gorgeous. You couldn’t help but notice his large hands, the way his dress shirts seemed to strain to cover his large shoulders. Goodness, he was deliciously broad. One day in the lunchroom, Dave had his sleeves rolled up and caught you staring at the veins in his forearms. He looked at you with piercing brown eyes and knowingly smirked at you, the bastard.

You offered a hasty, “I’m sorry, Mr. York!” and sprinted for the parking lot.

Unfortunately, today was not your day. Your breast pump bag was not in your car either.

You were practically in tears by the time you made it back to your office.

You struggled for a solution to your predicament. Maybe you could soak some paper towels in warm water to ease the pain. Women hand-expressed in the past before breast pumps were invented. Surely that would work, right?

It had to. There was no way you could give the afternoon presentation in your condition. You don’t remember your breasts ever being this sore and full before. You were amazed you hadn’t started leaking through your nursing bra and blouse.

Having that happen during your next session was out of the question. You would be humiliated.

A gentle knock on your door brought you out of your thoughts. 

It was Dave again.

“Are you alright?,” he asked with genuine concern.

“It’s nothing,” you replied. “I’m just having an awful day.”

Dave responded, “Is there anything I can do to help?”

“No, not unless you have a breast pump in your office,” you answered with a little more attitude than you meant to.

“Hmmmm,” he hummed as he slowly walked towards you.

“You may be surprised to learn I know little about what you are going through right now. Your son’s about three months old now, isn’t he? He probably just started sleeping through the night. I remember when my ex-wife, Carol, was nursing. She was relieved when the girls started sleeping through the night, but not so much when her milk production didn’t slow down right away.”

Your eyes widened. “Wait, how do you know this? How do you even know how old my son is? I’ve never even talked to you except to say hello in passing.”

“I notice everything about you,” he admitted as he touched your cheek.

“Let me offer you my… assistance,” Dave said as he held your gaze.

“There was something I always wanted to do with Carol,” he continued, “but she never wanted to try.”

“I think you’re different, though. I think you know what I can do to help ease your pain,” he whispered in your ear. “And you want it, don’t you?”

Goosebumps erupted on your skin as arousal spread through your body. You clenched around nothing and fought to keep yourself from moaning.

Was this really happening?

“Shut your door and lock it,” Dave ordered darkly.

You never moved so fast in your life.

By the time you turned around, he had already moved your purse and jacket to your desk and was sitting on the extra chair in your office.

“Now be a good girl for me and let me take care of you,” Dave said as he held his hand out to you.

You walked to him and took his hand as your heart pounded in your chest.

“What do I...” you began.

“Sit on my lap,” he commanded softly.

Feeling self-conscious, you quickly argued, “But I’m too..”

“Don’t,” he interrupted. “Don’t you dare say what I think you’re going to say. You are beautiful. Don’t let anyone tell you differently. Now, sit.”

You straddled him, your legs on the outside of his, facing him.

Eyes blown with lust, Dave stared at you like a man starved.

You couldn’t believe you were doing this. You worked in HR for goodness sake. It would be the end of your career if someone walked in on the two of you.

But you couldn’t bring yourself to care, not when Dave looked at you like you were the only thing that mattered. You would do anything to please him at this point.

“That’s my good girl,” he breathed. “Now unbutton your blouse.”

Powerless to resist, you undid your buttons and exposed yourself.

“Fuck,” he growled out. “I knew your tits would be spectacular.”

He slowly unclasped the right side of your nursing bra and glanced down.

You knew what he saw. Your breast was engorged and started to leak almost immediately.

Dave gently massaged you and gave your nipple an experimental lick, causing your milk to start squirting from your breast.

He quickly opened his mouth to catch the flow. You could hear your milk landing and pooling in his mouth.

Dave groaned and latched on. You could feel the familiar pull and sighed with long-awaited relief.

Dave continued to massage your breast while he gulped down your milk enthusiastically.

It took a tremendous effort to keep quiet. The reality of what was happening right now made you dizzy with desire. 

Once Dave felt he had taken enough from the right side, he stopped and turned his attention back to you.

“That ex-boyfriend of yours is an idiot if you don’t mind me saying,” he told you candidly.

“You are a goddess. If you were mine, I’d make sure you were told that daily.”

Before you could think of something clever to reply, Dave had already uncovered your left breast and latched on.

At this point, you were incredibly turned on. You could feel your arousal leaking through your panties, and you desperately wanted to rub your thighs together for relief.

Sensing your struggle, Dave grabbed your hips and pushed you down until your core rubbed against the now rather large bulge in his trousers.

Mortified, you heard yourself moan out loud.

Dave put his hand over your mouth and hushed you.

"I know, I know. That feels good, doesn't it," he taunted. "But you need to keep quiet otherwise your co-workers will discover what a filthy little slut you are."

“Now take what you need, gorgeous girl,” he instructed as he returned to your breast.

With his help, you started to rub your core over his clothed erection. Need coursed through your body, and you lost yourself to your pleasure.

With every second, you become acutely aware of how much of your slick was dripping from your cunt, soaking through your panties and making a total mess of his lap.

Dave did not care in the least and only encouraged you.

“That’s my good girl. Just like that,” he moaned and quickly resumed gulping your milk like a man dying of thirst.

Faster and faster, you moved against him, whimpering while you felt your crest quickly build.

Dave released your nipple with a pop.

He held your chin and forced you to look into his eyes.

“Come for me,” he demanded, his voice dark as sin. “Be a good girl and come for me...now.”

That was all it took to push you over the edge. You came with a silent scream. Not taking any chances, Dave kissed you to make sure he would swallow any of your noises that might escape.

You could taste yourself on his tongue, and it was the most erotic thing you had ever experienced.

When you slowly came down from your high, you opened your eyes to see Dave gazing at you fondly.

“You look so beautiful right now,” Dave said reverently. “You did such a good job for me.”

You shyly replied, “Thank you, Mr. York,” and tried to look away.

Dave was having none of that.

“Don’t look away,” he said, forcing you to meet his eyes again. “We’re both consenting adults. You needed help, and I was happy to offer my assistance.”

Before you could respond, Dave reminded you of the time and your upcoming afternoon meeting.

You slowly and reluctantly removed yourself from Dave’s lap and tried to look presentable again. You smoothed out your skirt, closed up your nursing bra, and started to button up your blouse.

Anxiety crept into your mind. Did anyone hear what the both of you were doing?

Dave quickly took over buttoning your blouse.

“Don’t worry, pretty girl. No one heard a thing,” he promised sincerely.

You met his eyes and knew he would never lie to you.

“Next time, you’ll have to come to my office," he offered. "I have a couch in there. You’ll be much more comfortable sitting on my cock while I drink from your gorgeous tits.”

You must have had a shocked expression on your face because you heard Dave chuckle softly.

"Does that sound good to you?" he teased.

You shook your head yes immediately.

You didn't know what you had gotten yourself into with Dave York, but you were excited to see where this was going.

You left him in your office to sort himself out. Thinking about his promise of a "next time," you walked to the conference room smiling softly.

[missys-mansion-of-mistakes]

August 4th, 2024. Sunday.

🌺 Things I managed to get done today:

- 5 scholarship essays drafted, 5 submitted. 49 done total! - Mock presentation done with co-presenters, tuned up the powerpoint a bit. Gave the friend who's a bit behind a deadline - 2 pages of the IRB application filled out - 1 flyer created for recruitment purposes of my undergraduate research study - 1 email sent to my research mentor checking in about what we need - Ordered groceries (car doesn't work still 😢) - Laundry done!

🐝 Busy, busy day. I kinda wish I had an easier Sunday, but also... I'm glad I'm done with a huge lump of my work. I've been dreading the IRB application for a month or more, and I'm almost at my goal of 50 scholarship apps done before Aug 6th. And wow, it'll be amazing to have the conference powerpoint done by tomorrow evening. Yay!

🪫 Wish I could fast-forward through this next week. I just want it to be Friday, so I can fly to Philadelphia. I want to explore. I want to get out there. I want to EXPERIENCE new things! I'm SO excited!

What are you excited for right now?

[Photos: unidentified flower outside of my apartment, spotted while I was doing laundry.]

[landofzero-archive]

Ibara Saegusa - Private Room Chapter 6

Writer: Nishioka Maiko

Season: Autumn

(Location: Starmony Dorms Courtyard (Evening))

Aira: We did it! It’s been safely completed~♪

You’re amazing, Saegusa-senpai! It looks even cuter and nicer than before it was broken, it even looks brand new! Takamine-senpai would be so happy with this.

Ibara: My my, it’s fortunate that we somehow managed to do it with materials we could find in the dorm.

Aira: All things considered, Saegusa-senpai is so handy. You made this in no time, too. Do you like DIY?

Ibara: It’s not like I like DIY in particular. I spent a long period of time in a place with no entertainment or shops, so I just ended up being able to do it out of necessity.

Aira: Oh. Is that so, that sounds kind of awful…

Ibara: Come on, all we need to do is give it to Takamine-shi back in the dorm room. Let’s go back.

(Location: Starmony Dorm Room (Ibara, Mitsuru, Midori, Tsumugi's Room))

Midori: I’m back……

Mitsuru: I’m back~!

Aira: Ah, Takamine-senpai, Tenma-senpai. Welcome back—

Also…… Takamine-senpai, I’m sorry!

Midori: Eh. W-what? Getting apologised to when I just got back is too scary……!

Aira: The truth is, I borrowed Takamine-senpai’s stepping stool and broke it……

Midori: Stepping stool? The one with the mascot character on it? Why again?

Ibara: It seems that he used it since it was right next to him when he was trying to reach for the tea leaves.

Aira: That’s right. After that, Saegusa-senpai and I rebuilt it while preserving the parts that were left of the mascot character…… This is it.

Midori: Uwaaaaa……♪ It’s great! Even though it was so worn-out before, it looks spick and span! You’ve even painted cute colours over the parts that were peeling off! 

Mitsuru: You’re both incredible~! It looks brand new!

Aira: But the fact that I borrowed without asking and broke it still stands, so I’m sorry……!

Midori: No, I really don’t mind that you broke it.

Rather, to think that it can be this pretty when it was so worn-out before. Shiratori-kun, Saegusa-senpai, thank you very much……♪

Mitsuru: Then, you two made this today?

Ibara: Yes. We were fixing it up till around dusk.

Mitsuru: That sounds hard~. You’ve had a hard day, haven't you, Ai-chan?

Aira: Mm…… That may seem like it was the case, but the truth is it really wasn’t.

Mitsuru: Eh?

Aira: Because this whole day today I was able to see a lot of  Saegusa-senpai’s surprising sides! It was a beautiful sight for an idol otaku!

(Location: CosPro Conference Area)

(The next day)

Ibara: ………

…… Right. I’ve sent off replies for all the agenda that came in during my day off.

So, what next?

Ah, come to think of it, the prints sent around to be checked got back to me. I need to send a reply to the other party too.

Mm? My personal tablet is ringing. I guess that means it’s telling me about the stock prices changing again.

(…… I’m getting a sense of deja-vu. The last time I checked the market situation at a time like this, the stock price plummeted suddenly.)

Good grief…… Is it going to drop further? I’d really like for it to give me a break. Even a big loss would be considered good—

Hm? What on earth is this……? Since it’s the same situation as the other day, I thought the stock price would plummet again today. Rather, it’s suddenly rising.

(The price has almost returned to what it was before the sudden crash. At this rate, there is a possibility that the stock price will rise even more than before the sharp downward trend.

Furthermore, it looks like the other stocks I own are showing signs of upward movement across the board.)

I wonder what happened……It’s not as if a huge incident has occurred.

That reminds me……

(Flashback to Chapter 1)

Natsume: Maybe you could turn your luck around by reclaiming something familIAR.

(Back to present time)

Ibara: (Could it be because I fixed the stepping stool with Shiratori-shi……?)

………

Hah, that’s ridiculous. If fortune-telling can predict stock price fluctuations, then society will collapse.

It’s probably just that my luck has turned around lately.

Now then. I can focus my efforts on working wholeheartedly.

Even though there was an accident yesterday, contrary to my expectations, it ended up being a good break.

Seems like there’s going to be good progress with today’s work……♪

Previous | Directory

[oliviajanewrites]

25DaysofKitbell Entry

Home for the Holidays

Merry Christmas! I’ve had this little drabble in my head for a month or so and really wanted to write it. My first attempt at writing fic!

Randolph wrestled with the corner of the present he was wrapping, trying to figure out for the tenth time how something as flat as paper could get so bunched up when you tried to fold it into a corner. He bet Kit could fold it perfectly without looking. He'd been stunned into silence the first time he'd seen Kit make a bed--and not just because of what had happened in it the night before. So yeah, Kit could probably make the wrapping paper behave.

But Kit was not here. Chastain had the best CEO they could ever ask for, the kind of CEO that attended emergency conferences in December at Christmas, right before a huge snow storm was slated to hit.

"I promise I will do everything in my power to be home in time for Christmas. Promise." She'd muttered when she kissed his lips before walking down the airport terminal, confident she'd be back before the storm hit. But now, at 6:43 pm on Christmas Eve after multiple days of trying to get home, it was looking doubtful.

Randolph's phone rang, and the present wrapping forgotten in an instant. He dropped the tape and grabbed his phone. "Gonna take a hopeful guess here ...you need me to come get you?"

"I wish."

Randolph sighed. "Where are you? Safe and warm at least?"

"Randolph, I--"

"It's okay, honey. We both knew the forecast might not be on our side for this one. "

Kit sighed softly. "I'm sorry. I really wanted to be home by now and really thought sneaking out of that last meeting a little bit early would get me back in more than enough time. I just wanted to get home to you and thought we'd be spending tonight curled up on the couch together."

Randolph glanced over at the the fire he'd started and hot chocolate mugs sitting on the counter, when he'd started preparing for the hopeful chance she'd be home and in his arms tonight. "So when do you think you'll be home?"

"I don't know yet. I'm waiting to find out."

"Okay. Just stay safe. We can celebrate Christmas anytime we want, I just need you home safely."

"I will. Love you."

Randolph huffed, smiling. "Yeah, I love you, too," he said, then hung up. He put the phone in his pocket and went back to wrapping Kit's present. Maybe if he got them all wrapped, she would find a way to get home to open them before Christmas day was over.

************************************************

Randolph was having a wonderful dream. Kit was waking him up the best way possible, kissing him on the back of the neck, her hands slowly moving down Randolph's side to shove down his boxers. He could feel himself surfacing from the dream, reality trying to intrude, and he fought it, not wanting to lose this, since he didn't know when he'd get the real thing.

Reality wouldn't let go, though, and he sighed, frowning as he realized he was awake, but Kit was still kissing his neck.

Randolph rolled over, dislodging Kit from her hold on him. "Wait...you...you're here!"

Kit's smile was bright in the moonlight, and Randolph leaned in to kiss it. "I'm here," Kit said, kissing him back.

"But you said you weren't going to make it."

"I told you all I wanted was to be snuggled up with you for Christmas. Besides, have I ever actually broken a promise to you?" Randolph chuckled, knowing nothing stopped his wife when she was on a mission.

"Well, I'm glad you're home," Randolph said, leaning in to kiss her again. "I was kind of hoping that I might get a call from you in the middle of the night saying you were at the airport to come get you."

Kit raised an eyebrow. "And you thought you'd travel on these roads in the middle of the night?"

"Well, you just did!"

Kit laughed, pulling him in tight. "Let's go to bed, Bell." she said, curling into his neck. "All I want is to not leave your side for a few days."

Randolph kissed her head. "I think we can manage that."

[jwood718]

Alabama Supreme Court cites the Bible as it confers personhood on embryos in fertility clinics. Adria R. Walker writes in The Guardian:

"In a first-of-its-kind decision, the Alabama supreme court ruled Friday that frozen embryos are 'children', allowing two wrongful death suits against a Mobile fertility clinic to proceed...

Alabama's Supreme Court building. wikipedia

In 2021, a patient at Mobile’s Center for Reproductive Medicine wandered into the clinic’s cryogenic nursery and removed several embryos...'the subzero temperatures at which the embryos had been stored freeze-burned the patient’s hand, causing the patient to drop the embryos on the floor, killing them'...

Alabama supreme court justice Jay Mitchell wrote that embryos are indeed protected under the state’s existing law: 'The central question presented in these consolidated appeals, which involve the death of embryos kept in a cryogenic nursery, is whether the act contains an unwritten exception to that rule for extrauterine children...Under existing black-letter law, the answer to that question is no: the Wrongful Death of a Minor Act applies to all unborn children, regardless of their location.'...

...In 2018, Alabama voters passed a ballot measure granting fetuses full personhood rights, but the measure did not note whether that applied to frozen embryos.

In vitro fertilization. Dallas IVF.

The Alabama supreme court’s ruling repeatedly references God and the sanctity of life, citing the Bible and biblical scholars including Petrus van Mastricht, Thomas Aquinas and John Calvin. Chief Justice Thomas Parker wrote: 'Human life cannot be wrongfully destroyed without incurring the wrath of a holy God, who views the destruction of His image as an affront to Himself … this is true of unborn human life no less than it is of all other human life – that even before birth, all human beings bear the image of God, and their lives cannot be destroyed without effacing his glory.' [emphasis added]

Cook, the lone dissenting judge, argued that the decision should have been a legislative one, not a judicial one.

“It is not my role to judge whether ending this medical procedure is good or bad -- but it doubtless will have a huge impact on many Alabamians. And it underscores the need to have the legislature – not this court – address these issues through the legislative process.”

The recent decision will probably elevate the issue of personhood ahead of the 2024 elections.

Full story from The Guardian and audio from NPR's All Things Considered, by Alejandra Marquez Janse, Justine Kenin, and Alisa Chang.

What I wonder is: what happens now to the embryos that are implanted, but fail? In the All Things Consider story, it is highlighted that multiple embryos are the norm in the procedure as just one may not result in pregnancy, so additional embryos are on-hand for a multiple attempts. If that single implementation fails, is the woman seeking to become a mother then liable for that embryo's death? It would be an easy leap for a state government to come to this conclusion, and penalize the patient. Would they cite religious texts to do so, even if the patient wasn't Christian? If that state supreme court has no hesitation in touting itself as unabashedly Christian, there won't be much stopping others doing so.

[jordandhallu]

Who is to blame for the downfall in recent years at Tottenham Hotspur? And what’s next for Spurs?

It’s only been 4 years since Tottenham Hotspur competed in their first ever UEFA Champions League final and despite losing 2-0 to Liverpool, Spurs fans were excited to see what the future would bring.

With what seemed to be the perfect coach and a team full of potential, they looked ahead to more cup runs and potentially their first trophy since 2008.

Fast forward to the present day and Tottenham sit in 6th place, struggling to qualify for any European competition after sacking their manager and then also their interim manager.

With fans becoming more and more restless and with repeated calls for owner, ENIC group to sell the club, what has gone wrong?

Daniel Levy is the chairman of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, and although Joe Louis’ ENIC group hold a majority stake in ownership, Levy also has shares meaning he essentially has the role of chairman and owner. He took over from entrepreneur Alan Sugar in 1991 and has since built a brand recognised around the world, a new stadium which is widely regarded as the best in Europe and facilities that seemingly every player would dream of training on. But things aren’t going as well as he and ENIC might have hoped. With only 1 trophy to their name – the Carling Cup (League Cup) – won in 2008, fans would have expected a better return and are now starting to point fingers.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Tottenham Hotspur (@spursofficial)

Lucas Moura scoring the winner for Spurs against Ajax in the UEFA Champions League semi-final.

Despite a 15-year drought in silverware, Spurs have still had some exciting times. The most recent being a spot in the UEFA Champions League final in 2019 against fellow English club, Liverpool. But with a hugely disappointing display and result, what followed was the sacking of one of the most popular managers among the fans in recent times, Mauricio Pochettino. Daniel Levy swiftly moved on with the appointment of serial winner, Jose Mourinho but without even completing his second season, he faced the same punishment as his predecessor. Next in the hotseat was a manager who had won titles at every club he’s been, similar to Jose Mourinho.  And after a very brief spell with Nuno Espirito Santo, Antonio Conte was the latest ex-Chelsea manager to join the Lilywhites but yet again, he was sacked before finishing his second season having not won a trophy. What Conte did do though, was take aim at the club in his last ever press conference in Spurs colours, speaking words that Tottenham fans found all too familiar and agreeing with majority of what he had to say. Now without a manager again, supporters are starting to feel that the blame should be shifted from the manager/players to those higher up.

I recently spoke to Spurs fan and host of the podcast, ‘The Fighting Cock’, Flav Bateman on what he felt was going wrong at the club and why his team are struggling so much.

“Daniel Levy’s the main problem.

“He’s made bad mistake after bad mistake. If Daniel Levy was an employee of Daniel Levy, would he have fired himself by now? And probably he would.”

He also spoke about how little pressure is on the Tottenham chairman on getting it right.

“There’s no consequence to Levy getting things wrong because he owns the football club”

Recently, Sky Sports cameras picked up banners and signs saying, ‘LEVY OUT’ and despite Flav claiming that Levy felt under no pressure when making mistakes, he insisted that these messages from the fans would still have a big impact on the Tottenham chairman.

“What the fans can do is make it difficult for him. And that’s what we saw with the banners against [Manchester] United.

“He’s noticing that. He wants that to go away. That isn’t a good look on TV when he’s trying to do business with brand deals”.

Steve Perry is also a Spurs fan and has been since 1965. He’s experienced “great memories and teams over the years”. But even he felt that the club are in need of a change.

“Unfortunately under ENIC, Spurs will never return to the glory days of winning trophies.

“Our only hope is we get a mega rich buyer with money to burn. It’s not the way it should be but the club with the largest wallet wins the most trophies”

He was of course making reference to Manchester City finding success after being bought by The Abu Dhabi United Group in 2008.

Despite making claims that mass amounts of money needed to be spent in order to get the club on the right track again, he also said how there was another big factor that Spurs had continuously gotten wrong.

“There is a lot of criticism of recruitment and this is another huge factor in our failure to achieve footballing success, we waste money recruiting badly.

“Players such as: Walker, Vertonghen, Dembele and Eriksen all left and were replaced by players of inferior quality”.

Tottenham have indeed spent “not insignificant sums of money” as described by Flav but as Steve mentioned, none of the players have made the impact that the manager and fans would have wanted, leading them to blame the man who was responsible of the transfers before getting suspended for ‘false accounting’, former Director of Football, Fabio Paratici. It was later found out that Daniel Levy appointed Paratici having already known that the Italian could face a two-and-a-half-year ban.

Steve Perry spoke about the importance of the Daniel Levy’s next step as Tottenham chairman as well as the consequences that his previous actions could have.

“Appointing a director of football already under suspicion together with a manager who has a reputation of staying at a club for two seasons with clearly no onward plan, the next appointment is crucial for Levy and the club.”

Whoever the next manager of this club will be is currently anyone’s guess. With fans throwing up names like Mauricio Pochettino & Julien Nagelsmann, no one is really sure what the direction of this club looks like. But one thing seems certain among the fanbase, Daniel Levy is not welcome to stay and find out.

Written by Jordan Dhallu

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More and more propaganda against Spurs owners, Daniel Levy & ENIC are being spotted around the stadium.

[treeremovalpensacola]

LM Growth Summit Success Stories: The power of connections

If you live in Pensacola, it's just a matter of time that you have to do the inevitable and remove a tree. Tree Services Pensacola Florida is a tree removal company that specializes in stump grinding, tree removal, and arborist services. They have been in business for over 10 years and have the experience and expertise to get the job done right. Fully licensed and insured, so you can rest assured that your property is in good hands. Pensacola tree service is a company that specializes in removing trees. They have been doing this for over 10 years and they are really good at it. They also do stump grinding, which means they get rid of the stump left behind after the tree is removed. They are fully licensed and insured, so you can be sure that your property is in good hands. Chris Stoudt, owner of Stout Lawn Care in Pottstown, Pa., worked up a healthy to-do list before his trip to the 2023 LM Growth Summit. And while he was able to check off most of those items during the event, he says the most impactful part of his experience was a handful of takeaways that he hadn’t considered before heading to the Summit. “First, going in and meeting with the companies that sell a lot of the products that we use regularly made me more confident in the programs that I had put together,” Stoudt says. “I always suspected that what we were doing was taking the right approach, but being able to get affirmation from the vendors about that, along with a few new ideas to try, was invaluable. “But the best takeaway was probably the networking and the people I met, some from firms the same size as us and others who are bigger, which is where we’re trying to get. I met Chris Brown from Teed & Brown (Norwalk, Conn.) and the guys from Lawn RX (Brad Herrle and Shawn Rodgers) over in Pittsburgh. We still stay in touch and have our own little networking group, which is really cool.” Continuous improvement Although last year’s LM Growth Summit was his first, Stoudt has pursued professional development opportunities throughout his career. His company is a RealGreen by WorkWave customer, so he’s participated in numerous user conferences over the years and has taken advantage of local and regional events when possible. So, when a couple of his colleagues in the area recommended the Growth Summit, he was eager to attend. “I’d heard it was a good event from some vendors I know, colleagues who had gone in previous years,” he says. “And for a long time now, I’ve found that networking and putting myself out there has been good for me as a business owner and as a person too.” Stoudt says he valued the Growth Summit’s one-on-one nature, which sets it apart from other industry events. “It’s such a unique format. The one-on-one conversations and the time with vendors, really digging into problems, is invaluable,” he says. He also appreciated the fact that his fellow attendees represented lawn care companies of all shapes and sizes. “I’m a big fan of diversity in the company size. We’re not a huge company, so it was nice to meet a couple of the larger companies down there in more of an intimate setting than a user’s conference where you have thousands of people,” Stoudt says. “That’s the big difference for me, that you have more time to interact with people you want to interact with (at the Growth Summit).” Five stars, would recommend Just like other landscaping professionals did for him, Stoudt has been singing the praises of the LM Growth Summit and the value it delivered to other colleagues. If the opportunity presents itself, he says, lawn care companies need to seize it. “I think the most important thing that we can do as an industry — particularly as a small-business owner — is network,” he says. “No one has all the answers or all the newest ideas, so being able to meet others, learn how they operate and talk about their business was great. I thought it was a really unique way to elevate your business.” The post LM Growth Summit Success Stories: The power of connections first appeared on Landscape Management.

[grantgoddard]

Some men see things as they are and ask "Why … change?" : 2003 : Neil Stock, Ofcom

 A colleague would arrive at my workplace some Mondays with evident cuts and bruises. A tragic case of domestic violence? No. He was a loyal fan of Millwall Football Club, a team characterised by its “historic association with football hooliganism” (Wikipedia). Did I overhear anyone comment that it might be considered inappropriate to work in a government quango when resembling the runner-up from five rounds with Mick McManus? No. Colleagues alleged that this young buck was untouchable because he held finance qualifications that his boss lacked, despite their requirement to legally sign off public accounts. That same boss was then promoted to personnel director, despite having demonstrated to me a similar skills deficit, and then to deputy chief executive of our organisation. Ho hum.

Relevant qualifications and experience appeared to be non-essential for appointment to the management class at The Radio Authority. If you possessed ‘the right stuff’, prior employment in a Norfolk chicken processing factory could prove appropriate for a job regulating Britain’s commercial radio industry. One woman in my small crowded office talked incessantly, inserting expletives into every other sentence. Did any colleague suggest this to be inappropriate behaviour, particularly when some of us were interrogating radio station managers by phone and recording our conversations? No. Once, an interviewee enquired if I was calling from home, having overheard swearing in our office. Er, no, I just work in a madhouse.

Arriving daily to cross the threshold of our office, I felt like one of those unsuspecting visitors knocking on the front door of ‘The Munsters’ home, only to be invited into a scary otherworld that was bafflingly grotesque. Why did I choose to stay there? Because it was the only job I had been offered after countless rejected applications during months of unemployment. And I knew that my private hell would end soon. In several months’ time, the government would be merging several small regulators, including ours, into one new huge one to which staff would be transferred en masse. Well, with the exception of our only two visible minority colleagues, one of whom was dumped in the new regulator’s basement call centre, the other who was told she would have to apply for advertised vacancies despite her lengthy loyal service to our organisation. Which decisionmaker in our midst did we suspect of having never torn up their dogeared ‘NF’ membership card?

In order to prepare us for employment in a modern state-of-the-art regulator, The Radio Authority’s workforce was sent to a government conference centre to watch our new leader, Stephen Carter, talk us through PowerPoint presentations promising us a bright new future. I left these events finally feeling ‘hope’, though some colleagues seemed to sense ‘tyranny’, preferring the security blanket of a dysfunctional abusive ‘family’ already tainted by a corruption scandal exposed on national television. Preferring paperwork to floppy discs, I suspect nobody in The Radio Authority had even needed to press the ‘PowerPoint’ function on their archaic desktop computers. Why should they bother?

Though I had never witnessed our department required to function as any kind of team, we were all sent on a ‘teambuilding’ awayday organised by one of those faceless global management consultancies. We were told to pull together to solve theoretical problems, to play childish games and express our feelings in ‘breakout’ groups. I was paired with a colleague from my office who admitted her early career objective was to work on ‘BBC Radio Four’s ‘Women’s Hour’ programme, though she had never sought training in radio production. My own ‘learning experience’ from that session was something I had observed before – our privately educated elite expect to succeed in their chosen shiny career without needing to put in any graft as practitioners.

I lacked acting abilities, having always volunteered to organise the sound for school plays, but at our awayday I was picked to roleplay a radio licence hopeful whose latest application had been refused, in dialogue with the officer who had turned me down. Having endured enough of that day’s preposterous exercises, I threw myself into this role, choosing to feign a nasal Northern accent and imitate a persistent applicant from Stoke who felt the Radio Authority was discriminating against him. My colleagues laughed loudly at my desperate attempts to win the argument against my posh counterpart. In fact, my performance was art imitating life. I had heard work colleagues often lampoon the speech of a licence applicant from Stoke, despite his experience in radio broadcasting. Naturally, my play-acting did not dent their snobbishness one iota.

I had not understood how convincing my role had been that day until, during The Radio Authority chairman’s monthly walkabouts round our office, he would greet me using the ‘Wayne’ name of the Stoke persona I had adopted … and neither was he being ironic or witty. I had been renamed. I corrected him each month, but he insisted on addressing me on the next occasion as ‘Wayne’. Though he transferred to the new regulator, the majority of our senior management either were not offered jobs there or decided to accept redundancy, I know not which. Given that some had never used a work computer, preferring to order underlings do the grunt work for them, it was difficult to imagine them integrating within a modern office environment.

Everyone in our department received an email requesting our thoughts on how the radio licence application process could be improved. It had been sent by our team deputy Neil Stock, who had surprisingly been promoted by somebody somewhere to lead the radio division within the new regulator a few months hence. I had lots of ‘thoughts’ on the subject so started banging them out on my desktop computer. I was 875 words into my spiel before suddenly halting, asking myself what the hell I was doing providing free insights from hard-bitten experience. Earlier in my working life, I had spent months writing a radio licence application. Stock had never. That application had won up against 39 competitors. I had started working in commercial radio two decades ago. Stock had never. I had launched a London commercial radio station that had attracted a million listeners per week within its first six months. Stock had never. Might he not be harvesting ideas from his ‘team’ to convince his new paymasters that he possessed some kind of grand plan?

This suspicion was confirmed when, not having initially responded to his request, Stock reminded me repeatedly that he still required my contribution. He knew I considered the present application system deficient in almost every aspect because I had told him as much in previous conversations. However, I had nothing to gain from assisting his meteoric rise through the regulatory ranks without commercial radio experience. As is evident from the raw stream of consciousness I wrote then and reproduce (uncorrected) here, my verdict on my employer’s licensing system was damning as a result of having watched it contribute to an increasingly disastrous commercial radio sector in Britain. But criticising The Radio Authority meant criticising my new boss, so I never replied.

Months later, we had moved to the modern office environment of Ofcom. At last, it felt as if I was living in the present century. However, I sat at my desk day after day doing nothing, sidelined by Stock. Eventually he invited me to join his sub-committee tasked with updating the paper licence application form, which seemed like continued attrition to divine my insights. We met a couple of times, during which I retained my counsel about the disastrous system, since it was evident that Stock contemplated only minor amendments rather than a full-blown overhaul. At the end of our final meeting, Stock concluded our discussions by announcing that the application form would remain exactly as it already was, with only the old logo on the front page to be replaced by ‘Ofcom’. I was still working in a madhouse!

One day, everyone in the radio section received an email from Stock requiring their presence at a team meeting, a novelty as no such meetings had occurred at The Radio Authority. We all filed into the glass-walled room in the middle of our floor, waiting to be addressed. I wrote a header in my notebook and expected to jot some bullet points, but what followed left me open-mouthed and unable to note a single word. The sole topic of discussion was these former Radio Authority employees’ refusal to update their working methods to support Ofcom’s modernisation plan. Everyone in the room who spoke supported this strategy. I said nothing as my jaw had already hit the ground. My colleagues were a rabble of anti-revolutionaries. They wanted nothing to change. They were working in Ofcom’s office, drawing salaries from Ofcom, using Ofcom’s resources to hold this meeting … but they wanted to pretend they were still working at The Radio Authority. It was bizarre!

I was reminded of the ‘Luddites’ I had studied for economic history: textile workers in Nottingham who, between 1811 and 1817, had opposed factory owners replacing their labour with machinery. The government had sent 12,000 troops to quell their destruction of new equipment and violence against mill owners, after passing ‘The Frame Breaking Act’ that had made “machine breaking” a capital crime. Two centuries later, I was in the midst of a middle-class penpusher uprising where their disobedience was probably limited to not clearing their desks of papers before sneaking out to catch an early train home. Instead of armed troops, the most violent official response might be a polite e-mail etiquette reminder.

I returned to my desk in a state of disbelief. I must have attended hundreds of meetings during my working life, but that was the first where the consensus was to refuse to adapt to twenty-first century working methods. It felt like ‘Back to The Flintstones’. They would have been happier NOT to have computer terminals on their desks and a fast internet connection. I seemed to be in a minority of one, surrounded in our open-plan office by a couple of dozen paid-up members of the ‘Popular Front for the Liberation of Radio Regulation Reactionaries’. I was half-expecting a singsong of ‘Power to The People’ during our afternoon tea break.

I was SO disappointed. I had endured a miserable eighteen months’ employment at The Radio Authority, during which I had been shouted at repeatedly, told not to talk about ‘radio’, denied my yearend bonus and had failed my annual review on every criterion. Despite my successful track record in radio, I had been treated like a troublesome child. The only thing that had kept me arriving daily for work in Holborn was the hope that the situation at the merged regulator would prove different. Yet, within weeks of Ofcom’s launch, I was witnessing the same crazy behaviours that my colleagues had carried across the Thames with them to recreate their own private Transylvania. Like Harker, I needed to escape the clutches of these vampires if I were to retain my sanity. Could I tie together enough bedsheets?

[countessofravenclaw]

A homeland this north, country dear fathers! Part dos

Winter is the time for holidays, celebrations, and fun. Nina, Gastón, Luna and Matteo receive a wedding invitation to France for the New Years and decide, since they're already going to Europe, why not take everything out of it and take a well-deserved skiing vacation? Simon and Ambar join them and all is set for a relaxing holiday at Finland's northern region called Lapland. A place for speed, reindeer, fun, and dangerous situations... Just kidding, what could possibly go wrong at the Winter Wonderland? (There is a Finnish Christmas song linked on the title)

Kylmä voisko olla kellä, talven säästä kun tuoksahtaa

“So do you know who other representatives are attending that conference?” 

“At least someone from Renishaw,” Gastón answered as he put his glass back onto the table. It was Christmas day and he and Nina were having dinner at his parents, “Maybe that’s why they wanted me involved, cause I worked there, but I don’t know. Apparently, it was a bit of a mess on PR’s part before HQ got involved and they realized they needed to send an engineer from the executive.”

“You did go to HR and ask if it was allowed?” His dad furrowed his brow. “Set stone vacation time should not be changed.”

“Yeah, Dad, I did,” Gastón sighed, they had had this conversation at least twice, “Everything is covered. I even asked Ambar to check. Do you need to see the bank deposit of the bonus to believe me?”

“We believe you,” Isla responded, “But it doesn’t seem right that German sent specifically you to do work on your vacation.”

“If you didn’t want me to work for Castillo Corporations,” Gastón rolled his eyes, “You could have just said so.”

“Why would we have done that?” Marco questioned, “The company is a huge opportunity for you.”

“As long as you are happy, we are happy,” Isla continued, “But…”

"I know you don’t like him, and dislike him all you want—” Gastón sighed again, “—but he just happens to be my boss, and he handpicked me for a promotion I did not deserve.”

“No one here is going to agree on that,” Nina ran her hand on his arm.

“Anyways,” Gastón continued, “I’m not being best friends with him. Can we just stop talking about this? My work is eating into my vacation as it is.”

“Of course,” His parents agreed, “You got everything set on the trip otherwise?”

“Yes,” Nina answered, “I’m actually quite intrigued to see the Central Library at Helsinki. It’s apparently quite new, not even ten years old.”

“You got the flights booked okay too?” Marco asked next, “Because it’s almost impossible to find flights to France for the New Years.”

“Good thing we booked them early enough,” Gastón remarked, “A week later, we would have been in trouble.”

“Sofia mentioned that the wedding will be held in some ancient church,” Isla noted, “You both have a proper jackets for it right? It might get cold.”

“Yeah, we do… Wait, are they invited?” Gastón stopped on his tracks. Flor was Matteo’s cousin from Lucia’s side. Gastón had no idea what kind of relationship Flor or her parents had with Alexander, especially after Lucia’s death.

“Sofia said that they were,” His mom continued, “She was a bit surprised too, but they can’t make it. Matteo is taking their wedding present. Hopefully, you’ll land on some good weather. It can be so unpredictable early in the winter at Europe, especially in the south. That reminds me, you did take those influenza vaccines?”

“Yes,” Gastón answered diligently. Of course, Mom was going to fuss over every little thing, even when he was an adult. “We got the prescriptions from the pharmacy and April actually gave them to us, now that she has the medication licenses.”

“She truly has worked hard. Mía is so proud of her. She is surely getting the residency she wants.”

“Because neurosurgery residency will be easier,” Gastón laughed, “Hopefully this makes up from me not becoming a doctor, since your niece will be one.”

“It’s always good to have doctors as your acquaintances,” Isla nodded, “I actually recently was talking to Serena…”

“Who?”

“Dr. Serena Alzamenti.”

“Delfi’s mom?” Gastón realized, “You’re friends with her now?”

“Shouldn’t I be?” Isla shrugged, “As I was saying, she actually told me that lots of vaccines that are in use in the north for example, are starting to be useful here as well. She has told Delfi to consider vaccinating the baby with additionals as well. It’s something you should consider too.”

“Yeah,” Gastón moved his arm around Nina, “We will think about it… Once it’s it’s time. Don’t start.”

“I wasn’t going to.”

“When was the last time you skied?” Thankfully Dad changed the subject before Mom could start going on about grandchildren. 

“2016… I think,” Gastón responded. “So, it’s been a while, but it’s gonna be fine. You remember how good I was?”

“You were a natural in it, but you’re not 16 anymore,” Marco pointed out, “So be careful. The emergency number is different there.”

“I’ll make sure he doesn’t get in trouble,” Nina glanced at Gastón, “Thankfully, they can’t spend the whole day there as there is so little light. We did look up the emergency number. 112 is the most common one in Europe, but they didn’t use it at England. But I doubt, we’re gonna need to use it.”

“Are you getting your hair cut before you go?”

“Mom, not now.”

***

“I’m so ready for the adventure!” Luna exclaimed through the screen. Gastón and Nina were having a Christmas night video call with them after they had gotten back from Gastón’s parents. “I can’t wait! Uuup, Simon and Ambar are calling us, we have to go.”

“We’ll see you at the airport. Merry Christmas!”

“You know, I actually agree with your mother,” Nina ran her fingers in Gastón’s hair after they had disconnected the call. 

“About what?” Gastón laughed, “About the vaccinations? She just had to bring that up…”

“About you needing a haircut,” Nina looked at him, “You’re representing the whole company. You could go get one on the 27th, before we leave.”

“Okay, I’ll get my hair cut,” Gastón rolled his eyes before placing the tablet down and wrapping his arms around Nina's waist. “Can we now stop talking about my hair? Come here.” 

He pulled her onto his lap and kissed her softly and Nina wrapped her arms around his neck. 

“I have something for you.”

“You already gave me a present,” Nina looked at Gastón disapprovingly as he reached into one of the drawers under the TV. 

“Then this is another present,” Gastón responded as he handed the small box to her. “Open it.”

In the box there was a dainty silver chain. It was about a choker length and had two stones on it. The first one was a pink stone, while the other one was scarlet red. 

“It’s a tourmaline, while the other one is a garnet.” Gastón said while pointing to the stones, “They’re our birthstones.” 

Nina still sometimes couldn’t fully believe the lengths he went to with even Christmas gifts. It should have not been a surprise, given how much effort he had put into her engagement ring for example. “It’s beautiful.” 

“I got it so stones can be added to it—” Gastón said while clasping the necklace around her neck, “—when we want. I didn’t put Newton in there, though.”

“Don’t tell him that,” Nina laughed as they looked at the dog who already was snoozing away under the Christmas tree. “I love you.”

“I love you more.”

***

“Matteo, come on!!” Luna was wheeling through the terminal hallway that left from the car-park to the check-in where they had agreed to meet up with Gastón and Nina. 

“Luna, wait!” Matteo finally caught up to her. He was pushing the trolley that had all of their bags and breathing heavily. “We all can’t fly on our feet.”

“But, I’m so excited!” Luna did a twirl, “I mean, we're going to a wedding and to a brand new country which is basically a winter wonderland. I’m gonna learn to ski…”

“That’s all super great,” Matteo nodded, “But if you want any of that to happen, mind helping me with the bags?”

“Oh, of course.” Luna stared for a moment before grabbing one of the bags off the trolley. “Sorry, I forgot.”

“We should have hitched a ride with Gastón and Nina,” Matteo huffed as they started moving again, “They’re able to park at one of the priority parking slots and don’t have to drag all the stuff for kilometers.” 

“Doesn’t your Dad have that kind of thing as well?” Luna questioned. 

“He kind of does,” Matteo nodded, “but, it’s through the embassy. It’s not his. Gastón has the full access to almost all assets Isla and Marco have, because it’s all theirs. You know that they are richer than Dad.”

“There they are!” Luna pointed ahead as they started approaching the bag check-in area. Gastón and Nina looked like they had just dropped their bags off. 

“Hey! You did make it on time after all,” Gastón laughed as Luna and Matteo reached them. 

“I hate parking,” Matteo simply remarked. “I can’t wait to be rid of all of this luggage.”

“You have jackets on your carry-on right?” Nina asked right before Matteo would have started to load the suitcases, “It’s winter in France and will be cold.”

“Oh, right.” Luna dove into one of their suitcases ad pulled some jacket out, “Thanks’ for the reminder, otherwise we would have completely forgotten.”

“Okay, lets go.” Gastón started leading the way toward the security. 

***

“Okay, I’m here.” Luna dropped down on the bed in Gastón and Nina’s hotel room. The clock was striking 12 soon, they had three hours before the wedding ceremony was about to begin. “What were we doing again? Matteo went with Gastón to get food… I’m starving!”

“I called in some reinforcements, since we couldn’t take Jazmin with us.” 

Whenever Nina had needed to get her hair done for something, which had actually been quite often, during the time they had been living in Buenos Aires again, she had relied on Jazmin’s services. Nina wasn’t that good with her hair, especially with added length she had gained during the years, if it really needed to be done. She was able to do the basic ponytails and braids, and curl them on basic beach waves, but those wouldn’t really work for a winter wedding. 

So, while struggling to figure out what she was going to do, she had realized the obvious solution. 

“Reinforcements?” Luna rolled over on the bed when there suddenly was a knock on the door.

“I should not be surprised, but you have a great taste in hotels.” Nina got up from the armchair in the room to open the door to Ariana. “Hey.”

“Hey! Gastón did the booking,” Nina said as she hugged Ariana. “What has happened with your hair?”

“I’m gonna make a counter of how many people say that,” Ariana rolled her eyes. Her usually colorful highlights were gone, and her hair was significantly shorter. “I’m gonna let Grace test this rainbow technique on me, but I didn’t think it would be very appropriate for the wedding so bob it is for the time being. Hi Luna.” 

Ariana walked over to the vanity and dropped her bag on the table. “So, I heard that you two need some help with the hair?”

Nina had called Ariana to see if she could help her. She had done her hair multiple times when they had been roommates at Oxford. Ariana had started working at the salon her brother and sister-in-law owned after she had moved back to Ireland. She even went to cosmetology school now. 

“Oh my god yes!” Luna jumped up from the bed, “I totally need some help.”

“That’s what I am here for,” Ariana pulled her hair back, “I’ll gonna start from you, since I actually looked up couple Mexican style braids I want to try.”

“Go, for it,” Luna planted herself in the chair before the vanity. 

“Where are you staying?” Nina asked as she sat down on the bed and watched as Ariana started to sort Luna’s hair from the messy bun it had been on before. 

“Couple blocks away from here,” Ariana answered, “Closer to the train station. Obviously, it was impossible to get anything in the town the wedding is in, so I didn’t even try. Anyway, I’m heading off to Paris for a week after this. Checking a couple of modern art museums and getting some supplies for Grace.” 

“It’s great that everyone is coming here,” Nina responded, “It’s been so long since we’re all have been together.”

“I know right?” Ariana had finally gotten Luna’s hair completely detangled. “I mean Marlee’s girlfriend isn’t able to come…”

“She isn’t?”

“No, she apparently had work,” Ariana explained, “Marlee is coming with Jacob and his boyfriend—I forget his name. We haven’t met him before, so should be fun. This all just solifies that I am officially the last person standing single with no plus one.” 

“Well, I don’t have a plus one,” Nina moved her head, “Technically…”

“Nina, you’re married, you’re never going to have a plus one again,” Ariana rolled her eyes. “Not like that. So that doesn’t exactly make me feel better. I wasn’t able to fill my empty plus one slot. I don’t know what I am doing wrong. Honestly, I’m totally up for being set up with someone at this point, so if you know single guys, please tell me.” 

“Uuu, Ramiro’s single.” Luna piped up from the chair. 

“Ramiro?” Nina stared at Luna, “Estas siendo seria en este momento?”

“Progue no?”

“Uhm,” Ariana looked confused, “I still don’t speak Spanish… So, who was Ramiro again?”

“Oh, he’s my skating partner.” Luna explained with her very broken English. Nina translated the incorrect part to Ariana. 

“Old friend of all of us,” Nina explained. “He was in our wedding.”

“Oh, the one with big curly hair?” Ariana’s eyes widened just a little bit in recognition. “I think I remember him, he was one with those extravagant dance moves. He was cute, I give him that.” 

“I can totally set something—”

“But I doubt he’s willing to move to Dublin,” Ariana sighed, “I can’t come to Argentina. Otherwise, I totally would be game, but international relationships might be a bit too hard. We have a good thing going with Tom and Grace right now, and I’m really gonna be able to do more once I get my cosmetology papers. What kind of aunt would I be if I just abandoned Marianne and Liziel? Yeah, I don’t think it’s gonna work…but I mean, never say never I guess.”

“There is someone out there,” Nina leaned back on the bed, “I’m sure.”

“Okay, enough boy talk,” Ariana turned Luna around, “You’re done.”

“Wow, this is so great!” Luna spun on the chair as the door to the room opened up again and Gastón came in. 

“You’re back?” Luna got up from the chair, “Is Matteo back too?”

“Yeah, he took your food to your room.”

“Okay. See you in the bit!” Luna yelled after dashing out of the door. 

“Hey, Ariana,” Gastón hugged her briefly before sitting on the bed next to Nina, “You’re already here? And what happened to your hair?”

“And that’s two. Hair takes time,” Ariana rolled her eyes. “Do you want help too?”

“I think I’m good.”

“You sure?” Ariana kept eyeing Gastón, “When was the last time you got a haircut?”

“Literally couple days ago, why is everyone onto me about that?”

“If you say so,” Ariana turned around, “Nina your turn.” 

Nina pulled her rings off her finger, before sitting on the chair. She almost never took them off, the engagement ring only at night, the wedding ring never. But she didn’t want them getting douched in hairspray, so she handed them to Gastón. 

"Luna had an idea to set Ariana up with Ramiro," Nina told Gastón.

"Really?" Gastón raised his eyebrow and looked at Ariana, "Don't tell me you're going for it."

"I actually would, if I could move to Argentina," Ariana remarked, "I'm sick of being single. Maybe I'll try tp pick up some Italian guy at the wedding..."

Gastón looked like he disapproved.

"If any of you start pulling a protective older brother act on me, we're so done," Ariana shook her head, "I already have an actual brother, who made mt high school dating life terriple."

"I don't know where you got that idea from."

“Honestly, can you actually believe that Oliver is getting married?” Ariana remarked as she pulled a flat-iron through Nina’s hair.

“It was bound to happen eventually,” Gastón shrugged, “What do you want me to say? When we all met, you would have not believed that I would be married.” 

“But still somehow you are,” Ariana rolled her eyes. “You two are some sort of story book soulmates, that earthly people like me will never understand.”

“I wouldn’t maybe say that much,” Nina chuckled as she met Gastón’s eyes and saw a particular gleam rise into them. 

“I mean, I would.” Gastón responded, “Oliver at least didn’t need to be in a love triangle with only one person. Nina, you should really write a book about that.”

“I’m not doing that alone.” 

“Anyways,” Gastón went back into the topic they had deviated away from, “I mean obviously Oliver needed some help, who doesn’t when it comes to girls, but the effort paid off.”

“He truly has grown up,” Ariana tilted her head, “Just yesterday he was that redhead kid who always had to blend colors everywhere.”

“Aren’t you younger than him?” Nina questioned as Ariana called Oliver a kid. 

“That’s irrelevant.” Ariana rolled her eyes, “Who remembers birthdays anyway?”

“We do?”

“Well, that's great for you,” Ariana laughed again, “And I’m done and I gotta run. See you at the church.” 

“Thanks Ariana!” 

Nina turned toward Gastón after Ariana had gone, “How much time do we have before we need to leave?”

“About an hour before the train,” Gastón looked at his watch, “I’ll text that to Matteo.”

Nina got up from that chair and looked her hair in the mirror. Ariana had done a thick fishtail braid that she had pinned up.

“Luna and Matteo promise to be on time,” Gastón said as he started buttoning his shirt up. “So, lets hope that’s the case. I gave them a time 15 minutes before.” 

“That is smart,” Nina responded as she put her rings back on her finger after finishing her make-up. 

Nina walked to the closet and took her dress off the hanger. Mora had found her this midnight-blue velvet dress that went below the knees and had small bell sleeves on the wrist. The color matched perfectly with Gastón’s suit. 

“Can you zip this up?” She asked him as he had just pulled the suit jacket on. 

“With pleasure.” Gastón circled around the bed and Nina turned her back on him so he could pull her zipper shut. 

“You’re gorgeous.” He ran his fingers on the zipper he had just closed. His voice was coming from right next to her right ear, and she could feel his breath on her neck, which was making her extremely distracted.

They had attended quite a lot of weddings during the past years, and there had been literally zero instances where the dress she had worn hadn’t been unceremoniously disregarded to the floor at the end of the night. It was just the romantic atmosphere that put you extremely in the mood, which was also helped by her husband looking extremely attractive in a suit. Tonight, was not going to be any different—

“Luna and Matteo will never let us hear the end of it, if we make us late.” Gastón placed a little kiss on Nina’s cheek before moving away from her to grab his cufflinks from on top of the chest of drawers to put them on. "No matter how tempting that would be right now."

“Sometimes we should actually just try it,” Nina chuckled as she checked her necklace in the mirror. 

“And get the never-ending side eye? Gastón looked at her as he finished lacing up his shoes. “Remember when they dragged us to Disneyland right after our honeymoon? What were they expecting us to do?”

“I don’t know.” Nina walked over and straightened his tie. She had not been tying those since the Blake days, so she wasn’t even sure if she knew how to do it anymore. Good thing, that she didn’t have to, but she was almost sure that Gastón left his crooked on purpose so she would come and fix them. “Okay, now we’re ready.”

“Matteo says they’ll meet us in the lobby in five minutes so we're right on time.” Gastón helped Nina her coat on before putting his own on. It was about -2 Celsius, which was actually a bit on the colder side. The air was dry and light snowflakes had started to billow down from the sky. Basically, perfect weather. “Let’s go.”

“Lets go.” Nina grabbed her purse and linked her arm with Gastón as they walked out of the door. 

They had just made it to the lobby when Luna and Matteo appeared behind them. 

“Ah, we see you were on time.” 

“Flor would kill me if we were late,” Matteo shrugged as he straitened his bow tie one more time. He had opted for a classic black suit with a red bow tie to match Luna’s dress which was red and black with a rose pattern. It looked quite distinctly Mexican. She had paired that up with an outragedly bright pink coat. 

“I’m so excited for a family wedding!” Luna was skipping as they started walking. Thankfully the train station was close by to the hotel. 

“I’m excited for Flor…” Matteo responded, “...not so much the family part. Nonna’s family is huge and I’m not sure how many Flor has invited. Fede said that he and Ludmila were invited as well, but couldn’t come. I haven’t seen some of this family for years and not looking forward to explaining myself, what I do, how old I am and where I have been. You’re lucky, you’re just here celebrating your friends.” 

***

The subterranean monolithic church of Saint-Jean was actually a chapel that had been carved into a rock. It was basically a cave, but super intriguing. The whole chapel was almost a work of art, which suited Oliver and Flor perfectly. 

“This is beautiful,” Nina said as they walked in. The time was 14:30, so they had arrived perfectly on schedule. 

“It is,” Gastón said while looking at the place all over. “But, Mom was right. It’s definitely gonna get chilly in here.” He wrapped his arm around her pulling her closer to him. Nina was quite receptive to the cold. 

“Gastón, Nina!” they turned around to see James walk into the church with Isabel. 

“Hey!” Gastón hugged him as they came up to them. He and James hadn’t seen each other in a while, and he had really missed him. They had become really close at Oxford. 

“Wow, this day really has arrived,” James remarked, “Oliver is really getting married. Good for him.”

“Well, you’re next,” Gastón pointed out as Isabel had just gotten done showing her engagement ring to Nina. They had gotten engaged a month prior.

“Apparently, I am.” James nodded. 

“You are,” Isabel rolled her eyes at him. 

“Do you have a date yet?” Nina asked them. 

“No,” Isabel laughed, “You have no idea how hard it is to find a venue in London. I have tried, and I work for the field. James is not that keen on just getting married at Disneyland Paris. We’re gonna try and manage it for next year.”

“So, you need to drag yourself back to England at some point,” James finished. 

“I don’t need you to do that,” Gastón sighed, “I’m getting dragged around the world as it is. Who knows where they think to send me next at my job.” 

“Oh, yes, the job where you “accidentally” got yourself promoted to an executive position,” James laughed, “You know, I’m jealous of what they have you do. You’re clearly their PR darling.”

“Don’t be.” Gastón shook his head, “It’s not as fun as it sounds. How are you doing at TEXEL?”

“Actually, I heard, through the company, that Renishaw is looking for an assistant manager for the design division of a hydropower station.” James straightened his jacket, “I know it’s a long shot, but—”

“I wouldn’t say that at all,” Gastón remarked, “Totally go for it. You definitely have a chance. Do you want me to give them a call? I could put in a word for you.”

“Well,” James seemed to hesitate, “What can you say? You have never been my employer.”

“Maybe not, but I know you and I know how you work. I would hire your for us, if it was up to me, which is apparently something I will be involved with eventually, at least when it comes to new team members.” Gastón took his phone out, “Think about it. I’ll forward you the contact of the head recruitment agent there, Warren Merill. At least contact him.” 

“I don’t know.”

“James, let him do it.” Isabel looked at James, “You have connections, so use them.”

“And I think it’s time to stop the work talk,” Nina added, and she wrapped her arm back around Gastón’s. “We better go and sit down.” 

“Have you seen anyone else yet?”

“No, not yet,” Gastón answered while scanning the chapel, “We came with Luna and Matteo, but they got sucked into somewhere with relatives probably.”

“There they are.” Nina pointed toward the left row of benches. Maybe about five rows from the altar, they saw three people sitting there. A woman with an almost white blonde hair and freckles and a man with an earring. Next to him was another man, whom Gastón didn’t recognize. 

“Hey!” Jacob and Marlee turned around as they walked to the row of benches. “You’re finally here.”

“We’re not late.” Gastón responded as he and Nina sat next to Jacob. James and Isabel went around next to Marlee and Ariana joined them shortly as well. 

“Okay, so,” Jacob started speaking, “Miles, this is my other former roommate Gastón Perida and his wife Nina, who was Marlee’s roommate. This is Miles Toller, my boyfriend.”

“Great to meet you,” Gastón shook Miles’ hand. “I have heard a lot about you.”

“I have heard a lot about all of you.” Miles responded, “I gotta say, you don’t sound very Argentinian.”

“Six years does miracles to the accent.” 

“Pheew, we finally found you,” Matteo and Luna suddenly appeared next to them. 

“Should you be sitting this far back?” Nina questioned. “You’re family.” 

“Look, we’re probably gonna be forced to sit with some great aunt once removed the whole reception, so we’d rather join you when we’re allowed to pick where we sit.” 

The ceremony started after a while. Oliver showed up right before and had had time to say quick hi, before taking his place at the altar. The wedding was small and there was no bridal party. Oldest of Oliver’s younger brothers was acting as the best man, while Flor’s high school best friend was the maid of honor. 

The ceremony was relatively short and performed in English, for Oliver’s sake. He had privately admitted to Gastón that he had started taking Spanish and Italian lessons, due to Flor’s heritage, but progressing slowly. 

Well, at least some progress had been made, since the last sentences of his vows were in Spanish and Italian. Gastón knew about that, since Oliver had asked him to grammar check the Spanish part, plus teach him how to say it. 

“That was so beautiful!” Luna apparently was bursting with energy as they exited the church after the ceremony. “I understood almost everything! I am getting better at English!”

“I give him props,” Matteo nodded, “I mean, Flor has great taste… and he did bring the effort. The Italian was almost correct.” 

“You finally dropping that overprotectiveness act?” Gastón laughed, “It’s actually time.”

“That act saved you from looking super stupid.” Matteo countered as they walked into the reception venue and looked over the seating chart. “Yes, I love her!”

“What?” 

“We’re seated with you guys.” Matteo pointed to the seating chart, “Thank goodness.” 

*

“Okay, so here are the people who kept me on track at Oxford.” After dinner, Oliver and Flor had made the rounds around the tables, saying hi to everyone with their parents. “So: Ariana Williams, Marlee Wynne, Jacob Tomas, James Wilson and, Gastón and Nina Perida. Then we also have Isabel, James’ fiance, and Jacob’s boyfriend Miles.”

“And my cousin Matteo Balsano and his wife Luna.” Flor added. 

“Quite mad that we haven’t been introduced before.” Oliver’s mother started saying, “Honey, who were your roommates again?”

“Gastón and Jacob.” 

“The ceremony was really beautiful,” Nina said to Flor and Oliver, “Congratulations.” 

“Thank you.” Flor was caressing Oliver’s arm, “He learned some languages for me. But honestly, we have you to thank.”

“We just notched you into the right direction.” Gastón remarked. 

***

“Hah, we made it about 5 minutes longer than you did.” Gastón remarked to Matteo as he and Nina returned back onto their table during the anniversary dance. 

“Accomplishment.” Matteo rolled his eyes at him. 

“Aren’t they doing this in the wrong order?” Marlee asked. “Doesn’t the anniversary dance start with everyone and then go from married longest to shortest? Well, what do I know.”

“I’m glad that they are doing it this way,” Nina said as she sat down. She had maneuvered her chair into a position so she could completely lean herself on Gastón. “If it was the other way around, we would be one of the last ones on the floor. Our wedding was enough eyes on us while dancing to last a lifetime.” 

“I agree,” Gastón’s arm crept from her waistline to her hip, pulling her closer to him, “We can be the last ones on the floor when it’s our grandchild’s wedding.” 

“Are we supposed to read something into that?” Ariana perked up. 

“Read something into what?” Gastón and Nina exchanged glances with each other.

“Well, you can’t have grandchildren with no children.” Marlee continued, with a sly smile. 

“Oh, no no no,” Nina started shaking her head, “That’s not the case, at all.”

“Even if it was, you really think we would tell you now? At Oliver’s wedding?” Gastón shook his head, “That suggestion is reflecting on very badly on you girls. We’re not having a child, right now.”

“Well, had to try.” Ariana leaned back. “How were we supposed to know? We almost never see you, and Nina doesn’t drink anyway, so there are no signs.”

“Okay, time for the bouquet toss!!” The maid of honor announced through the microphone, “We’re doing this a little different. So, if you’re married, engaged, or in a happy relationship stay in your seat. We want to see the single ladies on the floor!”

“Well, aren’t you gonna go?” Marlee asked Ariana. 

“I thought we were gonna do this together,” Ariana scoffed, “I’m not gonna go out there alone.”

“Just because I’m attending stag tonight, doesn’t make me single,” Marlee noted, “But you’re not gonna miss out on this. What if you catch it, and that way you finally find love.”

“It’s just a superstition.”

“I mean it works. Didn’t Flor catch Nina’s and two months later they were engaged?”

“She did,” Nina nodded to Ariana encouragingly, “Go.”

“Okay.” Ariana said and got up from the table. 

“So, we’re all basically rooting for her to catch the flowers and then have a one night stand with somebody in attendance here?” James questioned. 

“I guess so?” Gastón shook his head. 

“It would be good for her.” Marlee remarked, “She’s the only one who has that freedom. Rest of us don’t. She has to have fun.”

***

“Haven’t you looked over that slideshow about ten thousand times already?” Nina sat next to Gastón on the bed of their hotel room at Otaniemi. 

They had landed to Helsinki-Vantaa airport at noon and then figured out the public transportation system, to get them to Otaniemi. Good thing was that there was an app which gave you the route, the busses or trains you needed to take—at their case it had been both—and what ticket they needed to buy. 

Now it was late at night, and they had settled at their hotel. 

“I know.” Gastón sighed, “I’ll stop now.” 

“Make sure you do.” Nina closed his laptop and put it on her side of the dresser, so it was out of his reach. 

“I’m sorry this turned into my work trip,” Gastón sighed again as she cuddled on his side and he wrapped his arm around her. 

“You have nothing to be sorry about. There was nothing you could have done.”

“Maybe there would have been something if I tried hard enough, but…”

“But you want to do this.” Nina completed his sentence. She knew him way too well, sometimes better than he did himself. 

“I guess I do,” Gastón nodded, turning to look at Nina, “Not the conference part that much, even when it is important, and I know how necessary it is… Anyway, it’s the talking to the students part that’s actually interesting for me. I guess, I am looking forward to that.”

“Of course, you are,” Nina ran her hand on his arm, “You’re definitely a much better person to talk to them than some PR person, who is getting paid to make it sound good. You actually do the job and can tell how it is actually like.”

“They’re freshmen.”

“That makes it even more important. You have been where they are. You are also a very good teacher. I would know.”

“So, we’re basing that off of a physics course, you never should have taken in the first place—” Gastón questioned laughing, “—and that I helped you with for completely different motivations than for you to actually learn physics?”

“As long as it worked.” Nina shrugged slightly. 

“And it did work.” Gastón smiled at her and kissed her left hand right next to the rings. 

Suddenly both of their phones dinged. 

“Hopefully Luna and Matteo have not broken the showerhead or something,” Gastón remarked as he pulled his phone out. “Oh, it’s not them.”

The message was from the group chat they had with Pedro and Delfi, that they had created as they were taking care of Newton. 

Pedro had sent a picture there, where Newton was laying on the couch with Delfi, head on her stomach. She was only about five months along, second trimester, so had really started to show in recent months. 

“Aww,” Nina said as she looked at the picture, “That’s so cute.”

“It’s official. We have lost our dog to an unborn baby of our friends.” Gastón laughed.

“Well, it’ll be very good to know that he’s good with kids,” Nina noted, “But Labradors naturally are like that.”

“That’s true. Our boy is in good hands.” Gastón kissed Nina on the top of her head before reaching for the TV remote, “So, what you wanna watch? We haven’t binged Andor in a while.”

“Do we really wanna go through that emotional turmoil again?”

“My answer is yes.”

*

“So, you got everything?” Nina asked Gastón as he was getting ready to leave early in the morning. For some reason, the conference was starting at 8:30. 

“I think so,” Gastón zipped up his backpack after putting his laptop in there, “I just need my IDs.”

“Got them right here,” Nina spun two lanyards on her hand. One of them was Gastón’s basic work ID at the Castillo Corporation and the other was the ID specifically issued for the conference. “Come here.”

“You are a lifesaver.” 

“It’s my job.” Nina grinned and straightened his collar that was sticking out under the cardigan he was wearing before putting the lanyards around his neck, and then kissing him. “I love you. Now go out there and show them what my husband is capable of.”

“I love you.” Gastón said to her before grabbing his jacket from the closet and walking out the door. “Have fun and you need to tell me everything in the evening.”

It was definitely quite colder in Finland than in France. On this particular morning, it was -8 Celsius and you could see your breath. 

The conference was being held at a building on the campus called “Dipoli” which apparently was like the administrative building… 

You were able to just walk there from the hotel they were staying in. Otaniemi was also called “Teekkari village”, the word Teekkari apparently was what the student in the science and technology faculties called themselves. 

Finnish University culture was quite different from England for example. Gastón had done some research about it with Nina’s help. The students wore overalls specific to their majors with pins sown into them and some variation of finnish graduation caps with some sort of tassels coming out of them. Those costumes were mostly commonly seen during the first of May which was a local holiday to Scandinavia and Nordics in general. 

There also were no dorms. Most of the students lived in apartments provided by independent nonprofit companies that provided affordable housing for students. 

Gastón found the Dipoli building quite easily. The area wasn’t that big, and building was distinct. He should have not been surprised, the founder of the University was an architect and Gastón as an architecture minor could appreciate it.” 

“Gastón Perida, representing Castillo Corporation.” He showed his IDs at the door and was let into some sort of a lounge. 

“Gastón?” Suddenly he was approached by a familiar voice. 

“Elias?” He turned around and saw his former manager from the time he worked at Renishaw walk toward him. He had worked directly under Elias Winton for most of his internships and the year after his graduation at Renishaw, and he had become some sort of a mentor to him during that time. 

“I didn’t come to think that they’d be sending you.” Elias remarked after they had shaken hands. 

“Well, then it’s a surprise for all of us.” Gastón laughed, “How are you doing?”

“I’m a main project manager on the carbon efficiency front now. A little bit of a step up from a team manager. You know HQ let me hear it for letting you quit.”

“Well, it had nothing to do with the company. It was just the time to go home.”

“And we couldn’t possibly keep you from moving onto bigger things” Elias added, “Which you obviously have done. Castillo Corporations and the executive team definitely count as that.”

“No one will ever believe me when I say that it was a completely impromptu promotion.” Gastón ran his hand on his neck. “But, yeah, I’m doing great.”

“And you got married? Same girl?”

“Yes,” Gastón smiled while twisting his wedding ring, “Two and a half years ago now. We had the wedding quite fast after we moved back to Argentina.” 

He stopped and thought for a moment. James had never said no about him putting in a word for him at Renishaw. Even if he wouldn’t want him to give a formal recommendation, he could still put his name into the rotation through Elias. “By the way, I heard that you’re searching for an assistant manager for hydro power.”

“Yes,” Elias nodded, “We have had a couple of meetings about it now. We want the spot filled as soon as possible. Hopefully before April.”

“So, this will be completely off the record,” Gastón started, “but I think I know a person who would be perfect for the role.”

***

Luna, Nina and Matteo stepped off the escalator at the top level of the Helsinki Central Library. 

“Wow, this is cool.” Luna said while looking around. 

“Honestly, I’m actually surprised that they can make libraries this modern.” Matteo remarked, “Blake’s was ancient.”

“You should have seen the library at Oxford,” Nina noted as they walked forward. The library had a curved ceiling and walls were windows. She raised the camera that had been hanging on her neck and took a picture of the sight. She also snatched a pic on her phone and sent it to Gastón, “That was ancient. This is more than a library, more of a community center.” 

“Uuuu, Nina!” Luna suddenly jumped next to Nina grabbing her arm, “What if they have your books here?” 

“I doubt it.” Nina shook her head. “They have only been translated into English. I’m not a notable author internationally. Only in Argentina. No one here would care.”

“Well, we should still go and see.” Luna said before bouncing forward. “They totally should have it here, I mean your books are the best. Do they have a section for Spanish books here?”

“I doubt that too.” Nina said, but Luna was already dragging her forward. Matteo was following them and giving Nina the: “You don’t question her” look. 

Nina was sure they surely wouldn’t have her writing in here. None of the libraries of note didn’t. Blake only did because she was a notable alumni with Gastón, given that she had a degree from Oxford. 

Luna, in some way had already scouted the section where they held the books that were in other languages. English books seemed to have their own section. How she had found it so quickly, was beyond anyone. Luna had dreadful navigation skills. They had only found their way to the Helsinki centrum from Otaniemi because Nina knew how to use that HSL app. But if Luna really wanted something, she would always succeed. 

Nina eyed the titles absentmindedly. The Spanish section was quite sparse, but she did recognize couple of the titles. She took her phone out and saw that Gastón had responded to her message. His message was saying that the conference would be running at least for one more hour and then he still had the lectures left. 

Nina really wished that he could have come with them to see the capital, but his job obviously came first right now. Once they were in Lapland, they would have plenty of time. Even with Simon and Ambar and Luna and Matteo, there would be more than enough time to have just to themselves. 

“Nina! Nina! Nina!” Luna was suddenly jumping in front of her like a bunny. 

“What?” Nina looked at her confused. Luna was holding some sort of book in her hand, but she was jumping so furiously that Nina didn’t get a good look.

“Okay, Luna, let's calm down,” thankfully Matteo walked over and got Luna to slow down gradually by placing his hand on her shoulder, “We don’t wanna cause a scene. What do you have there?” 

“Look! I found it!” Luna held a book up to Nina, “Told you.”

Nina stared at the book before taking it from Luna’s hand. Why on earth did the Finnish Central Library network stock her book? The book was only released five years ago. This was the original Spanish version, from the second print. The copy also looked new and crisp. 

“Excuse me? Can I be any assistance?” They turned around and saw a staff member smiling at them. 

“Oh, noh,” Nina shook her head slightly to get herself to focus, “I was just… just wondering… well, maybe I wasn’t wondering. Just surprised that you have this here.”

“Oh yeah, I have actually read that one personally,” The staff member responded after checking the book cover, “Well, the English version. That and its sequel are actually one of our more recent arrivals. The board specifically picked it out, because it’s written by a young female Argentinian author, so it brings nice variety. I personally really love it, the author really captures the topic she’s talking about.”

“Oh, we know,” Matteo piped up as Nina wasn’t able to get something out of her mouth. She did have some fans, through her books and working with Matteo and Latino BookTok really loved to talk about her books, but in this country, she hadn’t prepared for this in the slightest. “You’re talking to her.”

“What?”

“Yeah,” Nina started awkwardly, “I’m Nina Perida, or well, it’s Simonetti in this context… I promise I don’t usually go around libraries looking for my own books. We’re tourists and my friends here…”

“It’s an honor to meet you,” The employee continued, “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize—I thought you were British.”

“Common misconception,” Matteo laughed, “Gastón’s gonna be so mad that he missed this.”

Nina rolled her eyes at him. Luna and Matteo loved to tease her and Gastón about the fact that they got mistaken as brits almost everywhere they went, because they spoke English with British accents. What else were they supposed to do? Nina had really learned how to speak English after she had moved there. 

***

“...and that’s why we prioritize renewable energy sources on all of our projects to keep the construction of today and tomorrow as sustainable as possible. That is the number one value in our company, and we are dedicated to upholding the climate goal of completely fossil-free future.” 

Gastón turned his laser pointer off and switched onto the last slide. He had given the same speech two times already. First to the people studying the same major he had: energy technology engineering, then machine industry majors, and finally now he was talking to the chemical engineers. 

“So, that’s all I have to say today. Any questions?”

Multiple hands rose in the auditorium. 

“Speak freely.”

“You said you were Argentinian,” A guy in the third row started speaking, “Why do you have a british accent?”

“Bueno, ¿Hubieras preferido que hubiera hecho todo eso en español?" Gastón leaned on the table that was behind him as the auditorium filled with bunch on “no’s”.

“Yeah, didn’t think so, porque todavía puedo hacer eso.” He grinned. “I am Argentinian, lived in Buenos Aires since I was four, but like I said at the start, I studied at Oxford. I lived there for six years, so you would think that accent would catch on. So, any other questions?”

“How did you get such a high place at the company when you’re so young?” A girl from the second row asked, “If that’s okay?”

“Yeah, it’s totally okay,” Gastón nodded, “I get why you would think that. I am young. How I got where I am is a really long story, and I won’t lie and say that there haven’t been moments when luck has been on my side. But all that said, when it comes to it, I always put in the effort and work. I put in the work while I was in college and when I got the job I continued. I didn’t start at the executive team when I got hired at 24. I was a member of an energy preservation team, which was a lower tier division at the company. My effort there caught the attention of the higher ups, and I was offered a promotion. It’s not about the age. It’s about effort and passion you’re bringing with you and what you can offer, because everyone of you will bring so many ideas to the field. That doesn’t mean that work should totally over take your life. I have a wife and we have a dog, and family will always be a priority for me. Balancing that and your work life is something everyone will learn on their own.”

“You did extremely well today.” A professor approached Gastón after the students had left.

“That’s great to hear.” Gastón nodded as he was grabbing his laptop. “The kids were really great.”

“You managed to keep them really engaged,” The professor continued, “a lot of guest speakers don’t always do that. Have you done this a lot?”

“Surprisingly, today has been my first time,” Gastón admitted.

“You couldn’t tell. We might need to note to Castillo corporations that they sent you next time we have a guest speaker from there. You should keep doing this.”

“Hey! How did it go?” Nina perked up from the bed where she had apparently been reading a book, when Gastón opened the door to their room. 

“You’re back already?” He questioned as he walked in. “I thought you’d be longer.”

“We had to cut the sightseeing bit short as Luna and Matteo got too cold,” She put the book away as he walked to her and gave her a small peck before starting to pull the cardigan off. “I understand. They aren’t used to it and maybe better that they won’t experience the deep freeze before we get to Lapland where it really will be cold. But tell me, how was it?”

“Well, the conference part was tolerable, because it’s for an important cause, obviously,” Gastón sat on the bed after he had gotten done changing, “but giving the lectures, I actually really liked it.”

“I though you would.”

“The kids were great,” Could you really call them kids? They had been in the 18 to 20 age range. “And they had lot of great questions… I loved it.” 

“Thats so great that you did.” Nina smiled at him. 

“That just got me thinking that maybe I should do more of this kind of stuff. I mean like teaching.” Gastón continued, “If I should ask the company to send me do this kind of stuff more… I mean not overseas, because I don’t want to be away… or…”

“Or?” Nina was looking at him quizzingly, “I don’t understand.”

“You remember when I was maybe thinking about doing the PHD?”

“Yes,” Nina responded, “But you decided against it because it wasn’t worth it to you at the time.”

“Yes… Now I am just thinking that maybe I should do it after all.”

“You mean argue for a PHD?” Nina asked again.

“Yeah,” Gastón nodded, “If I had a PHD, I could teach at a university. What do you think about it?”

“If that’s what you want to do,” Nina grabbed his hand, “Of course I support you.”

“I don’t wanna quit my job, that’s not what I meant,” Gastón continued, “I guess I could enroll at the University of Buenos Aires or somewhere as a doctoral student and do that on the side, maybe reduce the hours for a little bit. I could at least try.”

“We both know you can do it,” Nina squeezed his hand, “And it probably won’t be hard for you, since you’re so smart.”

“Let’s hope so,” Gastón laughed quite nervously, “I don’t need to make any final decisions about it now. So, tell me, what you did?”

“Nothing that special. We went to see the library and the church and then looked around in couple museums close by.” Nina started talking, “Actually, Luna found my book at the library.”

“Really?” Gastón questioned. 

“She did,” Nina continued, “and then an employee came over and started talking to us about it and she turned out to be a bit of a fan… I was not gonna tell her who I was until Matteo blurted it out.”

“Always count on Matteo to have the worse timing,” Gastón laughed.

“The bottom line is that I ended giving her an autograph, which you know I hate doing.” Nina sighed, “Why would someone ever want my autograph?”

“You are amazing writer, and the books are amazing,” Gastón traced his finger on Nina’s chin. “I totally understand why. I wish I could have been there. I’m jealous that I missed seeing this side of the country on this trip… I guess we’ll have to come back here then.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, how about we return here. Like for our third anniversary. It’s summer here then and we could go look around lots of cities… stay in nice hotel rooms…” He slid his hands on Nina’s back. 

“You’re already planning another vacation?” Nina raised her eyebrow at him, “We’re not done with this one.”

“I have not even been on vacation yet,” Gastón scoffed as he pulled her closer, “I have been working.” 

He kissed her deeply.

“Now I’m on vacation.” He said as they separated for a brief time.

***

“Come on Simon!” Ambar said as she and Simon were strutting across the Helsinki-Vantaa airport to find their connecting flight’s gate where they were meeting the others.

“Darling, we’re not in any kind of hurry,” Simon caught up to her wheeling the suitcase. Their luggage would be transferred from one plane to another but given that they had left from Buenos Aires during the summertime and touched down in Northern Europe in the winter, they needed a change of clothes and other things to be accessible. 

“Well, we shouldn’t leave them waiting either.” Ambar remarked. 

They had landed on gate 28 and the flight to Lapland was leaving from gate 5, so from a totally other side of the terminal. That was understandable, it was a smaller domestic flight in a small country.

“Ambar! Simon!” They heard the yells as they passed the TSA checkpoint. 

“Perfect timing.” They stopped and waited for Luna, Matteo, Gastón and Nina to catch them up from the gate. “Hey! How was the wedding?”

“It was so beautiful,” Luna started a huge flood of words, “I wasn’t allowed to go and catch the bouquet.”

“Yeah, that’s not really an activity for married women.” Ambar laughed. “Did you see who caught it?”

“Ariana did.” Nina answered, “One of my roommates if you remember.”

“After we forced her onto the floor.” Gastón added. 

“Do you know where our gate is?” Matteo asked Simon and Ambar. “No matter how big or small the airport is, you never find your way around.”

“I think according to the map, it’s that way,” Simon pointed ahead, “We need to walk as far as we can.”

“Fabulous.” 

“So, how was the school?” Ambar let Simon go ahead with Luna and Matteo as they started walking and joined Nina and Gastón. She wanted to hear about the infamous Aalto University. 

“Great,” Gastón responded. “Got things that I needed to get done done.” 

“How were the kids?”

“Dependable were they really “kids” per say,” Gastón continued. “I think the youngest were 19… But otherwise, it was honestly my favorite part of the whole thing. Had so much fun talking to them. Gave me really things to think about, about what I wanna do.”

“Sounds ominous.” Ambar raised her eyebrow. Over the years, her, Gastón and Nina had formed a bit of a comradery—in addition of the strong friendship they all shared—over being the ones who had spent the longest at school and had the highest degrees so to say. Not that it made anyone else’s accomplishments any less important. Ambar was immensely proud of everyone in their group over how far they had really come. 

“Not really,” Gastón shook his head. “Just some things in the future that I might wanna do. But that’s the future, I have time to think about it.”

{}

Okay, so you all obviously have noticed that even if this story follows Gastina, Lutteo and Simbar, it will be very Gastina-centric. Because whose story do you think you're reading? Others will get their moments but there is a very good story reason for Gastina getting most of the focus. This story would have not worked if they had taken the trip just two of them. Luna and Matteo obviously were invited to the wedding of Matteo's cousin and Simon and Ambar join them for added fun. Because this fic will be just fun and nothing bad will happen at all. I also took this opportunity to catch up on all the people from Oxford, who I hope everyone has missed since GOS finished. I wanted to do a small round on what they're all up to now, with Oliver getting married and James is engaged while Jacob and Marlee and in stable relationships. Ariana's still single. I said I wouldn't abandon them and we see how far they have come from calling themselves the "singles club of Oxford".

[bearpillowmonster]

So yesterday we had our conference call where the CEO goes live and makes a presentation on the state of affairs and blah blah, here's what happened over the past month. The first thing he talks about is these lessons that we have every week where it's like a positive quote (idk something hr probably thought up) and it was something along the lines of walking in each others shoes. But he goes over that topic and what it means to him then moves on to financials.

All year, we've been under what we've been last year but we were still turning a profit. But for some reason, this month was different, it wasn't a percentage, it was zero. I've felt like this month has been decently productive but they also gauge it as a whole company so I don't know. But he says about how we don't get a holiday bonus this year. Which is apparently a new thing, like this is my first year and I got a bonus last year but we also did record numbers, it was a huge spike from the year before so to keep up with it would've been a tremendous effort on all fronts and even then, it was a phenomenon that was still decided by customer base.

They exclaimed how we didn't do anything wrong but there might be some things we could do to improve it for next year which I thought was an alright way of letting them down, though it seemed weird that it was practically unheard of beforehand. But then he says that we got more of a bonus than we should've last year and then everyone lost it.

These calls are live but there's no engagement, it's this guy telling you this without input, why it's even live I'm not sure. But to poke the bear like that was just stupid. He continues on like normal and then at the end talks about the "difference between thankful and grateful" and basically thankful means that you "say it" and grateful means that you feel it. Or at least, according to him. Why he said this, I'm not too sure, maybe he was just trying to say "be thankful you even have a job." but it's a large disconnect when you preach to be thankful and grateful and to walk in each others shoes when you don't yourself. I mean, we were down from last year but they also turned a huge profit on the side that none of us will ever see a part of because they built their own manufacturing company and then sold it and then continued to sell off all the extra inventory that's been sitting around at a discounted price. THEY made tons, but WE didn't get rewarded. They were well within their power and to say that they didn't make enough money to meet a bonus was crazy.

Today I saw something even more unheard of though. He CHANGED HIS MIND. Yes, you read that correctly. The backlash was so hard, even from the board or whatever that he reversed it and then tried to spin it that they're going to shut down a certain project and then give us money that "isn't considered a bonus" it still goes through taxes and all that and works the same as a bonus but he refused to call it as such. And actually, I think last years was a hundred bucks. Childs play for a great year, I know, but it was ok I guess but he TRIPLED IT. The backlash must've been so hard that he is giving us each 300$. That didn't come without him getting back into the grateful thankful speech like it was some power play to show who's boss or something only then to say "since this is taking out of the (fund) then please consider donating your (bonus) for those in need."

But of course, he's already donated and we'll never see how much and we'll never see proof but he can assure us just like any leader who's house is worth 2 million with 8 bathrooms. (literally, I looked it up) the poor guy. I thought we didn't make money this year? No, you're right, YOU made money this year. Who's to say that fund is even real, I'd like to think but I don't trust corps for any funds or donations. Even if it was real, if most of us were paid what we're worth anyway then we might consider it but a lot of us are relying on this bonus and you just tried to take it away.