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"Well, well! That was surely an active walk!"
Greta was standing in front of her father, as Bars was behind her. A rectangular building with round edges and a line of windows on the wall was positioned on their left side, while an Inkling man wearing a complete black suit including a white shirt, black tie and sunglasses had his head pointed at the group and his arms folded.
Mr. Surfeln wrapped his arms around the girl, as she snorted and rolled her eyes.
"Daddy, please… you do know that you have a grown up woman in front of you, right?!" Her eyelids lowered to the middle. "Or do I have to take off those nostalgia-lenses out of your eyes?"
"Nothing can take them off, my dear…" He sighed, as he backed off and lowered his head. "You will always be my little Squiddy girl, who has the brightest smile of them all…"
Greta turned her head away, forming an expression that is both annoyed and cheerful at the same time…
"… but alas, I can't ignore reality for this long…" He shook his head, as he turned behind and opened his arms. "My daughter is a woman! A woman who's thinking about the future!"
"You jump again inside that no-fun area?!" Greta blushed, as she aimed her sight over her dad and covered her chest shyly. "How about we see each other later and… continue our discussions?"
The man nodded slowly, returning over his daughter and waving his hand at her.
"See you later, my dear daughter… Mr. Bars."
"Like, catch you later!" Bars waved his hand, as he simply smiled.
Greta sighed in relief, smiling and waving her hand as well.
"If you need anything though, you know that my smartphone is with me for a reason."
"Yes… yes, I know." He walked backwards at first, before twisting in that direction and proceeding normally from there. "Take care."
"Bye!" The girl kept waving her hand. "… can't wait to spend some more time with daddy, when I'm not around anyone else…" She lowered her hand without thinking about it.
Bars walked forward, passing Greta and stopping in front of her.
"Wanna go?" His hands had the urge of touching her shoulders…
"Uh?" Her eyes focused on his face. "Oh… sure?"
"Like, do you need some choco?" His mouth rose.
"Nah…" The girl began walking forward, passing Bars and moving towards the standing man. "Let's get today's shift started."
The man stepped sideways to the left, as he nodded and looked at the girl, while keeping his arms folded.
"'Morning Greta." His right hand escaped from below the left, bended elbow and pointed over the metallic door with his thumb. "He's quite jumping, today…"
"No surprises there, Mike." She grinned, while shrugging and leaning her left hand over the door. "Is he wearing something totally funky, today?"
"Nope!" He chuckled briefly. "Although, did I gave you the photos I took when he was wearing that clownish suit?"
"Ha ha!" She pushed her hand down, stretching her smile to her cheeks. "Yes, but I have deleted them… he might be a complete oddball, but I'm not a Squid who takes advantages over the others' habits."
"You are too kind, Greta…" He snorted slightly, shaking his head. "I have been told the nasty things he says at you… I don't think you deserve such treatment."
Greta's free hand patted his right shoulder.
"If you can deal with the tough cookies, you can deal with the whole world." She nodded, winking with her right eye. "This good ol' motto has still to disappoint me, after all those years…"
"Heh!" His sunglasses lowered a bit, showing the upper part of his eyes. "Did someone in particular told you this one…?"
"Yes, one person… me." She pushed the door. "Stay fresh, Mike." She glanced at Bars for a moment, before entering inside the building.
"Ha ha!" He waved his hand at her. "You always know more than one way to surprise people!"
"You can bet your sunglasses on that, dude!" He was following the girl, patting Mike right on his chest. "See ya later."
As soon as Greta stepped right inside the facility, the first thing she notices was an Inkling man with a goatee on his face jumping up and down, while throwing fists in the air and making puffs of smoke appear on his head's sides.
He has a rounded belly covered in a large-sized shirt depicting purple, generic flowers spread in a greenish background. He was also wearing sunglasses, whose lens were as big as his eyes.
"You are late! You two are always late!" He stopped, this time pressing the floor with both his huge feet. "You even promised to come sooner for just this one time!"
Greta rolled her irises, as she focused the man's surroundings: a sky background, with a drawn sea below, was standing far behind him, almost leaning to the wall. Some Inklings were positioned to the far left, as they were all looking at Greta: one of them was holding a tablet, while another one was munching and holding a chocolate bar with his hand.
In front of the sky background, a carpet of sand who was extending for at least a good amount of feet. A blue umbrella was put casually on a random point of the sand-covered area, while a beach ball was standing right below it.
Lastly, she caught a chair who had the name 'Greta' behind its backrest, which was positioned a few yards away from the beach scene and near another chair of the same type who was spelling the name 'Calmag' behind it.
"Just, what I have to do with you?!" He folded his arms, tapping his foot and losing his patience even more. "How can I make you come in here faster?!"
"By preparing some delicious breakfast to eat in the moment." She chuckled, as she kept walking towards the man.
"Might as well." He pointed his forefinger at the girl. "But once I do prepare your breakfast, will you come in here sooner than usual?!"
"Not all the time… but if you add some cinnamon rolls in the mix…" She looks over the ceiling and the various beams attached to it.
"You are joking, do you?!" He slammed his hips, as he walked away and over the small group of Inklings. "How did you manage to make a contract where you decide the time to start any of your acting sessions, is beyond me…"
"Nobody wants to see a stressed, frustrated Greta who wishes complete freedom once again…" Greta stopped, opening her arms and turning over the rest of the Inklings in the distance. "Am I right?"
Yes!
Totally!
No one shall deserve the same stress you had in the past!
"Grumpf! It's always the same situation with you two!" The man bounced on the right-sided chair, quickly grabbing both its arms with his hands. "Haven't you considered the tight schedule we have?!"
"So tight, we manage to stream all the show recordings in time…" She turned behind, watching the boy staring at a poster in the distance. "What are you doing, Barsy?"
The poster was depicting Bars lifting two black, rounded weights, each with one of his hands. Greta smiled, lowering both her eyebrows and her eyelids to the middle.
"Ooooh… he is looking at some glory alright…"
"Have you also considered the various briefings, cameo appearances and more potential opportunities in the way?!" The man opened his arms in desperation. "You just had a meeting, yesterday! What are you going to do, if you receive more than three meetings in a row?!"
"Then, I will come sooner…" Greta sighed, as she aimed back at the man. "Mr. Calmag, do you seriously think that I'm as unaware as the most beginner of all actresses?"
"She is an experienced talent!" An Inkling woman wearing glasses frowned at Calmag, while grasping a book close to her chest. "Why do you treat her this badly?!"
"Because her way of dictating the schedule is not solid!" The man slammed the chair's arms with both his fists. "I do not trust her decisions! There is no way to do that!"
"Dude, like…" Bars was almost running over the man.
Calmag leaned backwards, almost tilting the chair in the same direction. The boy stopped in front of him, as he grinned.
"… when we start the recording? I gotta show the younger Squids how to be fresh like me!" He puffed his chest.
"Ah… aaaaahh…" His forefinger pointed over the sand. "S-stand over there, please…"
"Got it!" Bars chuckled, as he rushed over the pointed direction.
Calmag drenched his forehead, as he sighed loudly… catching Greta passing in front of him.
"Yeah, let's get this thing started." She sat on her chair, carrying her right leg above her left one. "Talking with Mr. Calmag is just plain boring, anyway…"
He growled, raising his shoulders and pressing the chair's arms down, while turning his head over the girl.
"You didn't even answer my phone call I made yesterday…" He punched the wooden chair. "You don't even have the slightest respect over me, do you?!"
"You did?" She opened her mouth a bit, looking back at him. "… let me check."
Her hands went over a specific spot of her clothing… as her irises shrunk.