Goodbye, Mr. Regret

He let her go, his face dark as thunder. "Get out."

What a complete buzzkill of a woman.

She'd managed to ruin his good mood entirely.

Jessica didn't linger even for a second. She bolted from Timothy's office as if fleeing a storm.

Only after stepping out of The Lawson Group's building did she finally feel the tension in her chest begin to ease. She flagged down a taxi by the curb, made a quick trip to the mall for a new laptop, then returned to her tiny apartment.

Once inside, she powered up her new computer and logged on to a well-known international animation forum, hoping to get a sense of the style Director Smith preferred.

Seven years ago, Jessica would have been brimming with confidence.

But now? The most she'd done recently was put together a few simple animated stories for Henry-easy things, really, nothing challenging.

Still, she remembered Ines's words of encouragement and refused to give up.

Since Mr. Smith's new film hadn't been released yet, the script was, of course, under wraps. Jessica had no idea what style he was looking for, so she drew inspiration from his previous work and created a new animated character, just to practice.

It wasn't long before her phone rang.

A call from Vince.

Vince hung up quickly and sent her a

birthday celebration in two days and has asked me to invite you.

was no doubt Timothy would attend his grandfather's

Zimmerman, I'm sorry, I won't be able to

Vince replied almost immediately.

already agreed. Wouldn't you like to come

Vince's message, then set her phone

business was done

there was no reason to get

up for her that night,

were finished. There was no need

waiting a while with no response from Jessica, Vince

wife can't speak, so it's hard to reach her by phone. Could you please ask her to come to

me with her

off without another