What had I forgotten?

Throughout yesterday, something was at the back of my mind. I had wanted to do something. Waking up, I had realized the first thing: I had a bit of money left over, since mom was now in fact cooking for me. With that, I ordered some cheaper BDSM equipment for Amber's six days in my basement. I couldn't afford anything big, but I think I made some good choices.

As I approached the wardrobe, to find a lonely shirt, a pair of pants, a pair of socks, and some underwear inside, the realization hit me like a truck. Because of the investigation and the nights with mom and Amber, I had forgotten to build my closet. FUCK. I had gotten so used to my clothes lying around the house, and I bet mom stuffed them in some of the empty rooms too, to make everything look nicer. At least I knew what I was going to do this evening.

I woke up pretty early today, but weirdly, I didn't feel tired. It was 7AM and I wasn't too far away from my workplace. I pulled out my work laptop and saw that despite me barely doing any work on the days I spent with Jane, I had already proofread all articles. Two writers submitted too late, yesterday evening, but I had little to do this morning, so I decided to go over their articles as well. I'm sure Beth won't mind me doing a bit of her job for next week.

Donna slowly woke up.

"Hey Donna, everything okay?"

"Kinda... God, it feels like I got ran over. I think I can still walk though."

"Oh god, was it that bad? I'm so sorry, Donna."

"I told you, not your fault. Anal isn't my forte and especially not with a big dick like yours. Don't blame yourself, just help a lady out, okay?"

"On it, ma'am. One breakfast in the bed coming right up." She chuckled and I was happier as well.

After a short while, I could bring her her breakfast. She tried to sit, but it took some adjustments for her to find a comfortable seating position.

While she was getting ready, I took a look at the app again, just to see what I missed. An Orgasm Lock on Em, I hadn't gotten one of those in a while. And one on Klara. Laura was now added, too. Sadly, no new traits on Donna. I had hoped she could get something to recover from her injuries, but no. Her quest mattered most, anyway.

100SP Quest (Donna): Recognition of skill
Let the subject experience a recognition or acknowledgement of their skills by someone else. They will continue their future based on other's praise of their skills.

Hm, this was oddly worded. In a way, it kinda reminded me of Amber's initial quest. Later, the app revealed to me that two paths were possible and that I had chosen one. Maybe there were two paths too? I mean, yesterday Donna told me that she always felt a bit like a bimbo. Blond hair, big tits, likes sex way too much. Add some more ass and take her intelligence and she'd just be the perfect example of one. But Donna also had aspirations to write more, it seems. I wonder what I'd have to do to get her writing skills recognized by someone else, though...

I was waiting for Donna to finish until I got a short message from mom. 'I checked the company email and some girl sent a video? Do you know what's going on?' 'I'll explain it later. She didn't want us to remove the camera yesterday, and was very sad when I convinced her.' '???' Yeah mom, same.

Donna and I walked to work, she occasionally had to grab my arm to steady herself, and we walked a little slower. In the office, Beth greeted me: "Hello James, would you please come to my office? We'll give them time to read the articles before the actual meeting." "Sure."

Donna limped to her chair and let out a huge sigh of relief, as she found the chair to be accommodating to her current issues. Amber and Christine entered, Amber happily waved at me, and Donna tried her best to act natural. I had to meet with Beth. I never really liked Beth. Not because she was a bad person, but just because she was important. I was already way too self-conscious about my social failures, and now you make the other person decide about my job? How couldn't I be nervous? Plus, weirdly, she was a rather expressionless woman. I'm not as good with Donna for example, as I am with mom, but I could still always get a good indication as to what direction she was heading in, whether she disliked what I said or approved of it. But Beth was unpredictable.

"Well, I've got some good news, James." She wasn't smiling. "People keep flocking to our magazine thanks to your article. That does mean the follow-up matters even more now, though. But it also means that keeping your own job after Dan returns should be way easier."

"That's a good way of looking at it, thanks boss. I have some ideas already, I'll probably start researching after the meeting."

"Oh... and another thing. You are a really great editor. The articles from the freelancers are very well polished and some of the better work that they have submitted thus far."

"Thanks, I'm glad you appreciate my skills."

She left out a sigh. A sigh? "Everything alright, boss?"

Silence. Just deadly silence. I didn't know what to say. It was difficult for me to guess her emotions, but this seemed easy. She must have been frustrated with something. But with what?

"James, can I ask you something?"

"Sure boss, what is it?"

"I-... Do you think I'm doing a good job?"

"Huh? Sure you are. From what I've heard, you've out us into a position where we can be a magazine and on the internet while making money."

"B-But..." Was she insecure? "I haven't written an article in months. I have started editing because my articles did so badly. I didn't recognize how popular your article would be, I wanted to scrap it initially. You're also a better editor than me and I just... I just think it's time for someone else to take charge."

"I... don't know. You certainly have experience on your side Beth."

"Experience? Yeah, but experience that's no longer necessary, this magazine is now online and still has a print issue. All I did beyond that was hiring good writers. When I started this job, I had hoped to be the bridge between our old readers and the new young generation, someone who could understand both of their needs. Truth is, it took Floria for us to have online success, I couldn't do it. It took Helen to keep our magazine in the hands of our older readers. I'm just stuck in the middle. My old boss, who is now retired, had put such hope in me, to be able to understand both generations. But I simply don't. I don't want to do this anymore. I got several job offers for various jobs that are technically promotions, but I worry they'll find out how little this was my success and I lose that job within a year or so."

I had to think for a moment. "Boss, if you ask me, it could be good for you to take a break from this job, if you no longer enjoy it."

"And who should lead the company?"

"Donna."

"Wha-? Why her?" Beth +20SP (-40SP) Did she assume I'd try to suggest myself?

"I think Donna's an excellent journalist, she probably has the best record of anyone you have hired right now. She has a good understanding of what younger people want and uhm... Don't tell her who told you this, but she still reads newspapers, does crossword puzzles, et cetera. If you have anyone besides an older person who could know what they might want, it would be Donna." I briefly pause, but she shows not a lot of change from her usual looks. "And if you ask me about your own future, you have three options. One: Try to life off of this success for as long as possible and either fake it till you make it or fool people long enough until you can retire. Two: Try some kind of new job with job training. If you think you're too old for social media and too young for traditional print media, why not go into doing something for TV? Third: Let Donna become head writer, hope we make enough money, and make what you do your actual job description. You said expansion was best for our business anyway, so we'd need an HR person, right? And you still handle all the business aspects of this magazine."

She was deep in thought. "I'll think about what you suggested. We have to start the meeting now."

During the meeting, we were discussing the articles extensively, but I couldn't help but see Christine get madder with every article. I was already afraid of our afternoon. We eventually wrapped everything up and Amber left, while Donna was called into Beth's office. Did Beth decide so quickly?

It was a lonely lunch. Christine and I had to share a table, but we sat diagonally opposite of each other on the long table. Briefly, Christine's face lit up with anger. I turned around and saw why, Helen entered. Did I fuck up their relationship on accident? Fuck.