Forbidden Heat

Reiner - Too Early to Give Up

I sat down with Charles at his table while we waited for our orders to arrive. Charles seemed to be in a

decently good mood while the same couldn’t be said about me. The whole issue with Reiner at work

was stressing me out quite badly. It was fortunate that I had this job at the bar to run to for comfort so

that I felt like my life was still useful. When I first got a job here, it was mainly to earn some money so

that I could support myself and work towards moving out of the mansion. However, this job at the bar

along with the people here made me feel like I had a place to belong.

“What are you thinking about? You don’t seem so cheerful today,” Charles asked as he stared at me

from across the table.

If he’s saying that then I guess my efforts in trying to act normal wasn’t really paying off. It was like he

could tell right away that I had something troubling on my mind and he was right.

“I’m finding my new job a little tough actually…” I confessed a little shyly.

It’s only been a few days and I’m already complaining about my new job. I wanted to laugh at the loser

that I was.

“Everyone needs time to adjust to a new job. It’s completely normal so just keep trying and don’t give

up,” Charles said encouragingly. Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

“That’s what I intend to do. I’ll keep on trying my best, although, I don’t know if my best will ever be

enough,” I replied, completely deflated.

“Don’t try to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders alone. You’re new there and there’re many

things for you to learn and catch up on. Is there someone who can help you?” Charles asked.

Well, I wouldn’t say that there wasn’t anyone to help me but the guy that I needed help from the most

happens to be Reiner. I sighed when my thoughts turned to Reiner. All he wanted was to send me back

home and because of that he’s not willing to tell me, teach me, or help me with anything. Not like I

could tell Charles the whole story behind that.

“There is. The thing is…my boss is kind of like a…difficult guy to deal with…I guess…” I confessed

hesitantly as I struggled to find the right words to describe Reiner and our situation.

“Difficult? How so?” Charles asked with genuine interest.

“Well, he’s very cold towards me and he gets angry at what I do sometimes. It’s like everything that I do

just isn’t good enough for him. It makes me feel so useless. He doesn’t tell me anything about his work

and doesn’t give me any real work either. He probably doesn’t trust that I can do anything right…and he

probably just doesn’t want me there…” I explained my feelings to Charles.

Honestly, I was surprised at how easy it was for me to tell Charles these things. Before I knew it, I had

somehow put my feelings into words and told Charles what was happening from my perspective. That

made me realize that I was feeling more depressed about this than I had thought.

Charles looked thoughtful for a moment as if he was deciding on what he should tell me. I wondered if

Charles has any experience dealing with these types of situations. Probably not because Charles

seems like someone that everyone would like. I had a hard time imagining someone who wouldn’t like

working with Charles, plus he seemed too capable at everything.

“I don’t know your boss or what type of person he is, and I don’t know anything about your line of work

but in my line of work, it can take a new joiner a lot of time to prove himself to his boss and the team,”

Charles said before smiling a little my way.

“Really?” I asked, curiously. It wasn’t often that Charles would volunteer to talk so much about himself

or his job.

“Well, in my line of work it’s not uncommon for people to lose their lives. How the team works together

and the skills of the people in the team can make a big difference to the success of the mission and the

survival rate of the team. In other words, if the new joiner is not skilled enough or not a good fit for the

team, he or she can put the team in grave danger. It also takes time to develop trust and for people to

get used to working together,” Charles explained flawlessly.

“I see. I guess you’re right…” I replied.

“It’s only been a few days since you started working, right? Don’t give up just yet. I’m sure if you do

your best, your boss will recognize your effort and skills,” Charles said with certainty.

How he said it and the way he looked at me with confidence made me feel more confident about myself

than before. It was like he truly believed that I could do it. In the back of my mind, I wanted to work hard

so that I would succeed and so that I wouldn’t disappoint Charles. Some day soon, I want to come back

here and have dinner with him like this and tell him how well I am excelling at my work. Hopefully, that

day will arrive very soon.

“Thank you, Charles. I’ll try my best. Thanks to you, I think I’ve gotten my motivation back,” I replied

before flashing him a cheerful smile.

“You’re welcomed. This is a strange place for a girl like yourself to be. It’s not an easy place to adjust to

but I think you’re doing splendidly for yourself,” Charles said with a warm smile.

He was right, this place was unusual to say the least. If I hadn’t followed Reiner, I would never have

ended up here on this island and I wouldn’t have met Charles along with everyone else. I wasn’t sure if

this new life that I had found was the right one for me, but I was willing to see it through to the very end.

Perhaps just like how Charles had his missions, this was my mission of sorts.

--To be continued…