Ardor: A Storm and Silence Fanfiction

7: Raising the Stakes

Rikkard Ambrose eyes you over his office desk, his stormy blue eyes piercing their way into your soul.

"Barcelona Rain," he says sharply.

"What?" You ask, fidgeting in the chair across from him.

"Barcelona Rain. The fanfic. Have you read it?" His voice cuts you like a whip.

"Um....I think so?"

"You have or you haven't. There is no 'I think so'. Try again."

"No," you answer, voice trembling. "No, I haven't read it yet."

"Then what are you waiting for?" His eyes flashed. "I don't pay you to stand here gawking about and refusing to read what I put in front of you. Read it! At once!"

"Yes, sir. Immediately, sir!" You scramble to do as he orders.

"And make sure you vote! And comment!"

"Of course, sir! I'll do that right away, sir!"

"Adequate," he says. His eyes follow you as you hastily exit his office and race out the door, trying to locate the fanfic in the pile of files you have mounted on your own desk.

You sort through them all, throwing miscellaneous files around until you stumble across the one you need. You see the author's name printed across the top, and the name of the fanfic you were told to read.

THEDEADLYPEN
Barcelona Rain

You seize the file and open it, seeing the crisp white papers filled with a story about your employer and a girl, and the way music impacts them both on a journey to Paris.

You take the papers in your hand, and start reading, writing tiny comments on the side on the parts you find interesting and the bits that snag your attention. When you are finished with each chapter, you put a large star on the top.

You read and read until you are finished, and finally put the file down, glad that you obeyed Rikkard Ambrose.

You wonder what he would do to you if you refused to comply, and how many others had read the file before you did.

If Mr Ambrose wanted the fanfic read, then it was probably best if it was indeed read, page to page, voted upon and comments applied.

All in a day's work, you think as you close the file, and return to your other duties.

The file lays on the desk as you hustle about, waiting for someone new to read it.

In his office, Rikkard Ambrose sits in his chair, choosing the next employee to read the fanfic.

It's only a matter of time before all of Empire House is roped into checking out the mysterious story titled Barcelona Rain, and the tale grows.

"Adequate," Rikkard Ambrose tells himself, and nods in satisfaction.

It was only fitting that everyone pitch in to aid their employer and ensure he garnered good ratings from his adventures.

He paid them, after all.

______________________

A/N: Hi guys! So if you haven't figured it out by now, this is my way of giving a heads up that Barcelona Rain is now completed on my profile!

It's for Sir Rob's fan fiction contest, and I know you all hate advertisements for new stories and such, but I really need everyone's help!

UPDATE: The voting has been moved to Sir Rob's social media pages on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+ so you can vote for your favorite fanfic in the contest! If you would like this story to win, please select Barcelona Rain in the voting form! Thank you so much!!! :)

If you guys could please read Barcelona Rain and vote a couple times, it would be amazing and I'd be very grateful. Your votes are what makes my story a contender for winning the contest, which is why I really need a lot of you to help.

So please, please, please vote!!! Especially silent readers--just a quick press to the star button on Barcelona Rain would do wonders.

Thank you all so much for the support!!! Love you all! :)