6 AM in the morning. An ordinary time for everyone to wake up and yet Sett was having a troublesome moment doing so. It wasn't as much of the weather, surprisingly enough it was a sunny day, which is a rarity to witness, and everything was bright and colorful. That's something that boosts your adrenaline waking up, but not if it is about going to work. Sett had work at 8 AM, but he read that if he woke up earlier and made it a habit, it would be beneficiary in the long run, so he attempted to make a routine out of it. Today was not a regular day because his favorite book had been announced to release and it didn't follow through. The release had been postponed to a few days later and all of his dynamics had been gone with that.

There was no time to waste. Sett got up from the bed, after contemplating for a while whether or not there was a purpose to what he is doing and if he would ever see a result. He wanted to keep going more on adventures with his thoughts, into endless debates, but he had to get up cause the time had already gotten 7:30 PM. In an instant, Sett speed-ran all of these chores: ate breakfast; got ready; cleaned up the house, and went to his job.

The job is the most boring part of his day, although it's the highlight of his day cause he doesn't do much apart from working. Being a deliveryman definitely has its benefits, but also its drawbacks. Spending most of the work going from one place to another can be tiresome, but for Sett it's almost robotic. He loves to travel, and even though the distance is as big as inside his town, he finds entertainment in doing so. Working a 12-hour shift every day is something that drains a person, hence why Sett loves rewarding himself with book releases that captivate him.

Today's work had gone surprisingly slow and he just couldn't wait to get done with it. He was about to go take his usual bus to go home, but something rather peculiar had happened -- the bus was malfunctioning. That was something that left a sour taste in Sett's mouth since he just wanted to get home and rest. To add insult to injury, it started raining. Although it was pretty common to rain, the fact that it alternates from sunny to rainy in the blink of an eye can be very frustrating. This time around, it wasn't just normal rain, it was raining a lot. It gradually started getting worse and worse. Halfway home, he realizes that a single girl is waiting on a bus stop, waiting for it to be repaired since she didn't have an umbrella. She almost looked defeated, about to give up and just lay on the floor. Apparently, the bus over here had malfunctioned as well, which rarely happens.

“Hello!” said Sett, "My way back home is straight up, do you want to stay under my umbrella and I can accompany you? I don't think that this thing is getting fixed tonight."

He suddenly realized that he might have been too abrupt, and considering the alley is pretty much empty, the interaction can also be seen as predatory.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

"I would love that." replied the young lady in a sweet voice.

On the way home, the two just had a small talk about what they do and the sudden storm that occurred. No one was surprised, they were more astonished at the fact that the

buses had a problem. The girl's occupation was a chef, which really amazed Sett because he never took the time to do anything for himself, and always either ordered or ate

at work. When Sett arrived home, he noticed that the storm wasn't stopping.

"This is my house," said Sett. "How far away is your home from mine?"

"It's at least 40 minutes." replied the girl.

Without thinking about it twice, Sett quickly jumped in.

"Do you want to sleep at my place tonight?" he said confidently.

This took both of them by surprise.

"Uhh, hmm, I mean, you will sleep on my bed and I can rest on the sofa. No arguing over that." Sett started blushing.

The girl let out a giggle.

"That would be very welcoming of you, and I don't think I can say no at this point".

And they both got inside the house. It was its own house, he had gotten it when his parents passed away. The place wasn't too big, but not too small either. It had a living room, a bedroom and a bathroom. The kitchen was on the other side of the living room. The girl was taking a quick shower to refresh and Sett was preparing the sofa for an adventure. He actually did not mind sleeping there, he would often just end up staying late and sleeping in the sofa anyways, it was very soft in that regard. When the girl got out of the shower, he got caught off guard by the fact that she was the one that wanted to sleep there. Considering that he did not want to make a big mess out of it, he decided to oblige.

"Alright then, you have everything you need here. If you want to grab any snacks, you have them on the fridge," said Sett.

"Sounds lovely." replied the girl. "Thank you again for the hospitality."

Before closing the door of his bedroom, Sett asked:

"What is your name, by the way?"

"I'm Lara, nice to meet you," replied Lara.

"I am Sett, pleasure is all mine."

Sett could not sleep that night for some reason. Every night had always gone normally well for him, but this one was different. He was going around on his bed for about an hour until he decided to get up and go grab some water. He was against that because he did not want to disturb Lara and kept insulting him about how he didn't think about having a bottle of water close to his bed for circumstances like this. When he got into the living room, he noticed that a small light was lit and it was coming from the sofa.

"AHHHH" Lara yelled.

"AHHHHHHHH" Sett yelled in response. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm sorry, a new book that I was awaiting finally came out, I mean it technically didn't yet but I got the early access, and I wanted to read it."

Sett let out a chuckle. Until he realized that the book she held in her hands was the same one he had been anticipating.

"Wait, don't tell that that book is 'The Otherworld'?" asked Sett.

"Yes it is!" replied Lara excitedly. "Do you know it?"

"Of course I do, I have been waiting for its release all this time," said Sett back. "Do you mind if we read it together?"

"Not at all," said Lara.

And so they spent the entire night reading the book.