Chapter 5: Midnight Mishaps & Manuscript Mayhem

I ran all the way home, cursing Natalie a hundred times.

"Natalie, you’re trying to kill me! How did you use my computer to connect to the boss’s computer? I nearly pasted ‘voluntary layoff’ right on his forehead!"

Natalie pleaded, "I didn’t share the screen, I was just afraid you hadn’t saved your files so I didn’t turn it off. Maybe someone else clicked it by mistake."

That’s possible too.

I quickly checked my document.

It was the story I’d been writing while slacking off. Thank God it wasn’t lost.

I grabbed snacks and water—ready to hunker down for an all-nighter.

As for getting laid off and cashing out, that could wait.

Being likable is hard, but being annoying is easy, right?

By midnight, a chilly breeze snuck through my window. I sneezed so much my nose started running. I went through tissue after tissue until the trash can overflowed.

Exhausted, I opened my email to send out files and messages.

"Pulled an all-nighter, my whole body aches, seems like I’ve caught a cold, asking for comfort."

My editor and I have a good thing going—I always joke with her like this.

I waited for the file to send. But…

Sending failed.

Barely awake, I kept messaging my editor: "Is my baby far away still mad?"

(Long story. She got a hate letter one night, cried with me on the phone, and swore off late-night emails.)

Maybe she forgot today was my deadline. I yawned, half asleep, sent the new manuscript to her email, and teased: "Not mad anymore, let me show you something good."

Then I passed out, missing all the emails flying back and forth.

My apartment felt weirdly quiet—just the fridge humming and some sitcom laugh track drifting from down the hall. I curled up in my favorite flannel PJs, mug of chamomile in hand, pounding out those last sentences. If it all went south, at least my side hustle could keep me in ramen and rent.