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.

couldn't speak, Vince hung up

would really like to meet you. He's having a birthday celebration in two days and has asked

no doubt Timothy would attend his grandfather's party as well. The last thing Jessica wanted was to

I won't be

Vince replied almost immediately.

he's already agreed. Wouldn't you like to come with

Vince's message, then set her phone

business was done

than enough for her; there

he'd spoken up for her that night, Vince was still

finished. There was no need to

while with no response from Jessica, Vince

speak, so it's hard to reach her by phone. Could you please

bother me with her

off without another