Amidst the bustling noise of the discussion , kassie Lawrence stood up and walked towards the coffee machine kept at the corner, just beside the meeting desk .

she got up and stirred her coffee and said, as if in deep thought. ' let me think this through.....' she put her left hand on the coffee table as she leaned forward.

Her colleague , who was also her best friend at Violet , the magazine they worked for , kept gazing at her from the back .

'waiting for an idea.....' sarah , the friend , said as she looked at kassie who sipped her coffee .

Sarah was standing just a few inches back from kassie and kept her head almost on her shoulder to wait for kassie to say something just then,

she hurriedly took a few steps back as kassie spat her coffee.

kassie jumped comically. ' Ugh , i added salt by mistake.'

Everyone looked at them.

'Hehe , sorry . please continue your discussion! ' she smirked .

Just as kassie was wiping the table , she shouted

'IDEA'

Now everyone again stared at her , but this time with curiosity .

She walked up towards the centre table where the meeting was happening.

As she leaned on the table , she sighed.

' Listen, our travel department at violet has been the least read by audience. Reason?

she paused then

continued

'..... because all the other departments

have

resorted to ways that are more intresting than just a read . The reading retention of the people has decreased .what

shall we do in such a case ?'

kassie took a pause again.

An intern shouted with excitement.

' Ask the other department for help!'

kassie hit the table with her palm and murmured,

' stupid .'

' of course not ! We , as travel journalists , can make vlogs of our travels

and upload the videos with our articles . This way , people will be attracted to the short movies that we make and give them a visual tour of the place.'

'BRAVO!' the intern got up and clapped at that.

kassie said as if she was posing on a red carpet,

'Thanks . Thanks.'

She ordered and everyone dispersed.

'Now get working !'

There was a new intern who was waiting for kassie in her office .

He had peeped through the discussion room beside and thought that his new boss was so cool.

'she doesn't look strict at all, ' he thought to himself.

As he waited for her , he saw a bowl with mentos kept in it , He picked up one and just as he was about to keep it in his mouth,

Kassie entered.

'What do you think your'e doing?'

'Uhm...' he didn't understand what to say.

'who asked you to eat that candy?'

she was angry.

Thinking that it was one of her pranks, he started giggling.

She hit the table with a thud, 'you think this is a joke?'

When her anger didn't lessen, he realised she was not messing with him.

He got up and put his head down.

'Ma'am , i am sorry.'

'Never eat these candies from here you got it ?

'Ye.. yes..' he hesitated.

As she was signing the offer letter, she said

'here, take your offer letter....'

'Thank you, ma'am.'

Just when he come out, another intern whispered to the new guy.

she has a weird connection with those Mentos candies. You should never touch them.'

****

kassie stared at the bowl of candies and sighed with sorrow.

'meemo....' she said softly as if she was calling someone

she came out of her thoughts and picked up her phone.

'Hello.... please do me a favour.'

she said.

***

Ben, the new intern , walked up to his desk sadly .

He was discouraged

at

how his first day began with scolding.

he kept his head down and didn't feel like working . Just then, someone poked him.

'Yes?' he turned around .

it was a person who was holding a small basket of candies.

He said as he kept down the basket, 'ma'am has sent this for you.'

it wasn't a basket of mentos but kopiko, sweets made of caffeine. There was a letter on top of it.

' I apologize for the scolding.

These coffee - flavoured candies help in relieving stress.

Hope these will help you work better! welcome , mate !'

Ben smiled as he read the message . 'Mate...'he kept repeating the last word. He put a kopiko toffee in his mouth and began working with a smile on his face . 'she isnt bad after all. This is so informal. I like it it .'

***

It was the end of the day and kassie got out of Violet, tired .

when she finally got home , she was looking for a painkiller in the pantry. just then her father entered and offered her a tablet.

' Take these. it will relieve your headache.' Mr Lawrence said. 'Didn't I tell you I am okay? you don't have to test all your medicines on me.... just because you own a pharmaceutical company doesn't give you the right to prescribe medicine to me......' Kassie swung the medicine packet that her father kept on the centre table .

'And since when did you start to care for me, huh? You'll always be an ignorant father ; stop acting out !'

she vanished into her room like a furious wind and closed the door with thud .

Mr Lawrence stood at the gigantic hall staring at the medicines fallen on the ground .

He ordered his servant to pick up the packet up with the just the movement of his eyes.

The servant knelt and wiped the floor even though it wasn't required.

'Yes , sir.'

He walked up to his office which was two rooms away from the big hall.

It looked like a huge library, stacked up with old books that smelled of rusted papers .

The telephone line rang and he picked up the call with elan.

His studry voice recieved the phone .

'Yes?'

'Right .....T16Z is a pain killer, also used to cure anxiety attacks. I want the boxes shipped by tonight , do you get them ?'

He ordered .

Back in the room, Kassie was just finishing up her articles when her thoughts kept distracting her . She massaged her forehead to ebb the headache.

She opened her desk drawers and pulled out a paracetamol tablet.

'T16Z my foot....' she said as she gulped in water.

few drops slid down her lower lip as she leaned back on the chair. she gazed outside the window at the half moon and flashes of few images started popping in her head.

just as she closed her eyes to relax, there were scary visions that started to pop in her mind.

there were flashes of a woman's wrist who wore a silver chain. She could picture big nails with red nail polish

and also hear the tingling of the bracelet. Kassie started to Pant harder as she imagined this . She shouldn't want to think about it .

she Pressed both both her ears tightly , trying to get out of the scary thoughts . 'Ugh....'

' I need to get a drink. Else, I will not be able to submit this blog by tonight, ' she said as she took her slingback and strode out the big mansion.

The driver asked as she reached the main gate , ' ma' am , shall I drop you somewhere?'

' No , I don't rely on chauffers like that big man, 'she said as she looked up at her the windows of her father's room . I can book a cab

it's already ten ,

you should sleep, jef .'

' Yes ma'am ,' he replied and saw Kassie wait outside the gate for a cab .

As she got inside the car , she ordered, 'To the milo bar.'

It was 10 pm when she looked out of the window .

A s they drove through the lane with big mansions, she went into deep thought . ' it was this dark that night also......'

At the turning her eyes caught the gaze of a tiny wooden bridge where squirrels came to collect the fallen nuts. This spot always made her nostalgic . Her heart started to beat faster . she became more anxious as if she wanted to desperately embrace her meem once again .

she sniffed, ' when will I ever meet him again? I don't even know his real name'.

The driver got distracted and looked into the mirror. Now he was staring at her.

He got confused and asked ' I hope this is a right direction?'

she instantly wiper her face and replied .' Oh yes,

yes....

she became conscious and was aware of the driver's presence. she needed to control her emotions.

Everybody asked her at Violet , why she chose the travel department when she had better skills in Fashion. She often gave suggestions to the fashion department.

That day itself, brian, the head of the cover came to Kassie for her opinions. some of them often came to her to seek her fashion advice . After All, the fashion shows they had organised recently was the idea of Kassie. But she never took credits. it was like pursuing two passionright at the same time.

So, whenever someone questioned her about being in the travel department, her motive was one,' She might find him somewhere if she travels the world.'