NOVEL WEB Consultation 148.1
Consultation 148.1
At long last, I was finally free from the confines of that cursed prison and back to work. After my run-in with the God of Shitty Taxation, I intended to immediately return to work. To my dismay, when I returned, I was met with a piece of paper taped to the door with two words on it. ‘Temporarily Closed.’ It was signed by Author.
Normally I’d be more than happy for the time off, but after all this time without any pay and not a single Godcoin to my name, I was desperate for some work. I did my best to get in contact with Author over the last month, but I was given the cold shoulder. She never responded and I had no idea where she was. I was tough out of luck.
I dutifully came back every day, hopeful I’d be met with an open door, but unfortunately for me, my office was always locked and wouldn’t budge an inch no matter what I did.
Today, when I arrived, it was no different. Dejected, I leaned my back against the door and slumped down to the ground.
“Haaaaaah.” For the last two months I’d sat around and idled away my time with nothing much to do. I just sat here all day every day while I twiddled my thumbs watching streams and videos. I was honestly sick of it all. They were only interesting for so long before they got stale. Worse yet, a gatcha game I’d played religiously every day, mostly free to play, grinding out daily missions and events as a time sink for years finally announced its official shut down a few days ago.
Bored out of my mind, I eventually dozed off with my back to the door as I repeated the same daily routine.
…
In a dream-like state, several fragmented scenes flashed before my eyes.
A man stood beside a bed looking down at an aged woman with a cup held up with both her hands. His lips moved and he said something to catch her attention. Sadly, his words didn’t reach her. As if he didn’t even exist in her eyes, she mindlessly raised the cup in her hands to her mouth.
The cup was sealed but there was a straw that poked out of a hole in the lid. However, she didn’t use the straw despite it being there. Instead, she held the sealed cup to her mouth and tried to sip from it, but naturally, no liquid came out.
The man pushed the cup down away from her and asked what she was doing. She failed to respond, it was as if she couldn’t comprehend anything that went on around her. She was oblivious, ignorant to her surroundings.
Devoid of her senses she sipped on the sealed cup with the lid still on it again, not understanding the futility of her actions.
The man repeated the same process three times, hoping, praying desperately that she’d snap out of it. Alas, each time he only lost more and more hope. His heart was in a quagmire, it slowly sank to his gut, bogged down by an unexpected fear as it was crushed by murky sand.
It was apparent that her death was something he’d long been prepared for. It was something he accepted as inevitable, but this possibility wasn’t something he’d accounted for.
Dementia.
That was no doubt what her appearance looked like to him.
The man from before was seated on a small staircase with his head hung low. All sorts of thoughts no doubt passed through his mind in a flash. What he would do if she didn’t recover? If she turned into a potato. He was seriously considering telling a doctor to put her down. He didn’t want to see her living in a state like this and he was sure she wouldn’t want to either.
In the next scene, the man stood outside in heavy rain with only an umbrella in his right hand. He was just walking forward aimlessly.
The only sound that could be heard was the pitter-patter of the rain that landed on his umbrella and the ground below. That was all he heard.
He was not alone in this scene. There was a youthful turquoise-haired girl a bit over half the man’s height behind him who’d called out to him anxiously. He was unresponsive, despondent even, her voice didn’t reach him through the heavy downpour outside.
She caught up then extended her arm out and grabbed onto his left hand, but the man failed to acknowledge her presence. His mind was too preoccupied with the heavy choice he could be faced with in the near future.
To end his own mother’s life or let her live on as an invalid.
...
When I opened my eyes after a short rest in front of the locked door to my office. It was the same as ever. Nothing had changed and it was already time to head home for the day.
I stood up with a deep frown after another pointless day of waiting. Ready to leave, I took one step forward but I stopped in place when I remembered the last scene that flashed through my mind with the turquoise-haired girl. Wasn’t that one of my clients? I hadn’t seen her in a while. It wasn’t very often that clients appeared in random dreams of mine.
I turned around skeptically and examined the door. It was still closed… however, there was one difference. The ‘Temporarily Closed’ note that had been on my door for the last two months was gone.
Could it be?
No, maybe it just fell off.
I looked down at the ground and discovered the note not too far away off to the side. When I confirmed that it had just fallen off I let out a rather disappointed sigh. I picked it up from the ground and pressed it against the door to stick it back on.
There’s no way it was something convenient like the door was now unlocked and a despondent depressed Author awaited me inside my office for a consultation.
As such, I didn’t bother to turn the knob to check. I turned around and fled at high speed. As for the real reason I didn’t check… like hell would I do a consultation to the bitch who sold me out to the God of Shitty Taxation and disappeared for two months straight.
As per my usual routine, I’ll check the door tomorrow and just maybe it will be open without that pain in the ass Author inside so I can get back to doing consultations for my usual clients. She’d never ex[ect something like that, right? There’s no way she’d spend the entire night inside my office.
