Vespa

Vespa sat on her bed reading a book. She was always fascinated with the creative and unique imagination of others, especially in fictional books and stories, finding it entertaining and fun to read and listen to. She always loved books of heroes and villains, other worlds, and creatures both wonderful and horrific as she let her mind run free to imagine the scenes and all the action within the fascinating stories and take her mind off of the cold and harsh reality of the real world. She was so enthralled by the book she was reading that she was startled enough to drop it when Kerberos called out to her.

"Hey, Vespa; Bittern's calling for you. Seems important, I wouldn't want to keep him waiting for too long if I were you," said Kerberos as he stood at the doorway to Vespa's room.

"Alright then," Vespa said as she got up and walked over to the doorway where Kerberos was standing. Kerberos moved out of the way and got back to his work.

Vespa walked around HQ for a while until he got to Bittern's office. She knocked on the door and waited for a response. After a while the door opened to see Bittern, holding a piece of paper in his hand.

"Oh Vespa, come in, there's something important we need to discuss," he said as he went over to his desk.

Vespa followed in confusion. Something important? what happened? did she make a mistake of some sort? did they think she was responsible for the death of- she stopped her mind, she couldn't bear the thought of it again. Whatever the matter, she told herself that she would deal with it calmly and professionally, or at least she would try to.

Bittern sat on his end of the desk and beckoned Vespa to sit on the other end. Vespa nodded, then pulled the chair a little and sat on it, her heart still racing and her mind filled with panic. As Bittern was about to speak, Vespa quickly interrupted him.

"Before you say something, I just want to say I'm sorry if I did anything wrong."

At first, Bittern looked at her with a look of confusion, but soon after he chuckled a little, then slid the piece of paper he was holding before to Vespa.

"You did nothing wrong Vespa, you're fine. Though, you might have to get used to some changes."

"C-changes..?"

"Read the paper and you'll understand what I mean."

Vespa looked down at the piece of paper and picked it up. She read it for a while, her eyes widening the more she read. When she was done she looked up at Bittern, her heart pounding even more than it did before. She didn't know whether to feel happy or sad or anything at all. She wanted to say something but she was lost for words. Bittern noticed the shock in her eyes, but he wasn't surprised or confused. He knew that taking up such responsibility was a big change and he knew she'd think she wasn't ready.

He sighed, and said, "Vespa, I know it's a very big change, and I know you think that you're not ready for this but I think you are. That's why we chose you, you have assisted us for a long time and you did it amazingly, no one else here is as good of a choice as you for this job."

Vespa tried to speak, tears starting to stream down her face. She couldn't take this job, not until she knew she would be as good as the one that came before her.

"I-I- s-secret-tary..? I-I don't think I'm ready sir, I-I don't think t-that I'll ever be as good as, as.." she stopped herself from finishing the sentence, afraid that she'd burst into tears.

"Vespa, I'm sure you'll do a great job, and if you need any help then I'm here to help you, both me and Acropora. And you won't be as good as him, you'll be better, and you'll be a great secretary. If you need some time to think about it, you can go back to your room. Meet me back here when you're ready and we can discuss it some more."

Vespa nodded, and left Bittern's office, carrying the piece of paper in one of her hands. Bittern shut the door behind her as she left. Vespa walked around Maelstrom HQ until she got back to her room. She laid down on her bed, the promotion being the only thing on her mind as she drifted off to sleep. She didn't even bother picking up the book on the floor.

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