"What happened?" Hunter asked eyes narrowed as he already went through the possibilities of what could have gone wrong. Kellie swiped fiercely on her tablet, seemingly searching for something before she turned the device off and looked Hunter directly in the eye.

"The editor cleaning up the design forgot to save his changes. Because of the program that the editors prefer, when his changes weren't saved, none of the versions were." Kellie explained, causing Hunter groaned as he remembered signing off for that program. He thought it to be a terrible idea but his editors had insisted and there hadn't been any issues. Until now. "Tea was then spilled on his computer, and the entire animation was lost."

Hunter dragged his hands down his face, trying to alleviate the stress that had built in his body. He stepped out of the elevator, allowing the doors to close behind him before he turned to Kellie again.

"I want you to contact all the animators that we have in the building. If any of them are willing to work overtime, then I want them in conference room B in ten minutes." Hunter told her, watching as she nodded before quickly rushing off.

As Kellie went to deal with getting help, Hunter turned to the still crying man and woman flailing her hands as she spoke not far from him. She had a towel in her hand and was wiping around the computer as a couple of people spoke angrily at her.

Hunter walked up to the group that had formed, not having even reached the group before they quieted due to his arrival. The man and woman stared at him with wide eyes, clear fear resting in there, and Hunter felt odd with it being directed his way. He stared around the group with a stoic expression before his eyes landed on the man.

"You were the editor working on the animation, correct?" Hunter asked bluntly. The man nodded his head and Hunter watched as he lowered his head in defeat before another word had come out of Hunter's mouth.

Hunter sighed, not happy with how defeated the man appeared in his office. It was far from the vision he had when he created this company, but he would deal with the man's mental state after he fixed the mess that he had helped to create.

"It's pretty late. Why don't you head home and get some rest? Relax, unwind, and come to work tomorrow ready to produce better work than you ever did before, alright?"

He was nodding with a shocked expression and slowly standing. Hunter noticed some of the nasty looks he got from the others around the man and scowled.

"I hope that none of you thought that you were being helpful by grilling this man over his mistake for the past, what, ten minutes? I don't care if you felt right or justified in your actions, the next time another crisis like this happens, I want my employees mobilizing for a solution, not tearing each other down over the problem." Hunter stated, berating them easily. Hunter then pointed at the girl who had been wiping up the tea. "You, what do you do?"

The woman blinked, seemingly unsure of what to say.

"Uh, animation, sir." She stuttered out, wet cloth still in her hand. Hunter grinned slightly despite the stressful situation.

"Then you're staying here. We are going to need any animators that can help on this design, hopeful some of whom worked on the original so we can get it as close to that as possible." Hunter explained to them, seeing understanding come to some of those standing around him. "If none of you can help with that, I suggest that you finish up any assignments that you had and head home."

Hunter walked away from the group, and as he left he quickly yelled.

"Meet me in Conference Room B if you're able to help." Hunter yelled over his shoulder before he marched his way to the room, eyes following him as he went. As he walked, he found Josh who had come downstairs to see how everyone was faring with the mess. Seeing that Hunter clearly planned to stay behind and be one of the people working to fix the issue, Josh smiled sadly.

"Well, I guess you aren't going home after all." Josh told him, sending his boss a sympathetic look when he sighed and smiled in response.

"No, I guess I'm not." Hunter replied, continuing on to the conference room. The saddest part of all this, an aspect that Hunter couldn't share, was how badly he had wanted to leave so he could see River again.

I guess that is left for another day. Hunter thought, shoulders sagging tiredly. Hunter only gave himself a couple of moments to feel disappointed before he squared his shoulders and stood up straight. He was the CEO of StickFigure Corporation. He would fix this issue. Not for him, but for everyone involved.

The client, the artists and animators who had worked on the original version, even for the guy who hadn't saved his work and for the animator who spilled her drink. Hunter had these people in mind as he got to work. They were the reason why he was not going to leave this building until they had a perfect new product.

~~~~~

River walked through the front door, nodding left and right to customers as he went. Working in this bar for as long as he had, he was a familiar face to anyone who came more than twice a week.

A thick faux leather briefcase was in his hand and his jacket was thrown over the other arm. As he weaved through customers and seats and skillfully slipped passed the bar counter, he lifted his arms to make sure his things didn't touch the possibly sticky counter.

As much as he encouraged those that worked here to wipe the counters as diligently and frequently as possible, there were always bound to be places that couldn't be dealt with fast enough to stop the drying.

Two people were working the bar since it was a slower day, so the first thing River did was go to the back and drop of his things.

On his way back to the front, he was stopped by the manager who stood with a clipboard in hand. When River was in, she was his right-hand man in handling customers and orders of alcohol or garnishes. When River wasn't in, she or the other manager acted as the authoritative voice at the bar.

River couldn't be sure what she was coming to him for, because it could have been anything.

"Good evening River. Glad to see you energetic today." Cassie said tensely. River smiled and chuckled but he didn't take any offence by it.

Cassie was not a cheery, bubbly, or naturally energetic person. If she had any energy at all, it was because she was hardworking and forcefully pushing herself to do it. She wouldn't have tried to say anything like that at all, but River had long enforced greeting each other kindly at work, so she pushed herself to do her best. Her best was kind words through clenched teeth.

River briefly thought over what she had said before smirking when a thought came to mind.

"I'm sad to say that I can't say the same about you." River told her, a faux sad expression on his face. Cassie smirked tiredly, finding River's comment amusing before she sighed and went back to the clipboard.

"Anyway, I have some good news and bad news. Which one you want?" Cassie's blank expression would have told River that she was being completely serious, but the slight --yet barely visible-- look in her eyes told River that she was still a bit playful.

"Let's go bad news first. I'm trying to start the night off right." River told her, looking away from her towards the bar with an optimistic expression. It wasn't obvious as it appeared on his very cool and controlled face, but Cassie was able to see it. Cassie nodded.

"In the past three months, sales of one of our bottles of Cognac has dropped to the point where it is no longer profitable. We will have to consider either lowering the amount that we purchase or no longer purchasing that brand."

River frowned with a thoughtful expression

"Which one is it?" He asked, looking up at Cassie. Cassie was silent for a moment before uttering a quiet sigh.

"Pierre Ferrand Cognac." River winced, rubbing his forehead while shaking his head.

"Man, that's a nice one." River sighed, staring down at the floor with a thoughtful look on his face. "What's the good news?"

"A few of our niche spirits have been gaining popularity." She explained a faint smile on her lips. "So we may have to consider purchasing more of them."

River chuckled at the extremely similar news.

"I wonder if that's because Cognac drinkers are craving a different type of spirit." River thought aloud. He laughed softly to himself and Cassie simply smiled at a response to his comment.

"I'm not sure. Maybe boss." Cassie commented with a shrug. River hummed while gazing around where he and Cassie stood.

They were in the hallway that connected the bar to the back offices and employee room. The dark burgundy walls somehow calmed him as he thought and kept him focused. He stared intently at the wall behind Cassie before he came to a decision.

"I want to try a marketing tactic regarding the Cognac. If spirits are popular but that specific brand isn't, we may be able to encourage customers to ask for it." River told Cassie, explaining his plan to her. "We should also encourage the bartenders to serve that brand if the customer doesn't specify and asks for Cognac."

Cassie nodded, hand nearly blurring as she frantically noted what River had said.

"Do you want to think over it yourself or have the other manager and I consider it." Asked Cassie, looking down at River with a curious expression. River thought over it for a moment before nodding.

"Let's discuss it at our next managers' meeting." River told her, continuing on to his next thought even as she rushed to write it down. "I would like to give us all the opportunity to brainstorm and bounce ideas off of each other. If we can continue to charge more for the more expensive Cognac, then that is our goal."

Cassie did not hold River up for much longer than that, and he was soon tying on an apron and attending to customers at the bar. As it was a bar and they did not serve anything other than drinks for the moment, River did not need to have many employees in the building at once.

Only him and two other regular bartenders were addressing the crowd, and they currently seemed to have no issues with the large group's continuous orders.

Those that worked at Stanley's were trained to handle very high speed and intense atmosphere with an intense workload. Working as a bartender, especially at a place as popular as this, would never guarantee a reasonable or fair amount of responsibility.

Just having one or two people missing could mess up the entire balance established, and it was any employees job to be able to pick up the slack and continue to handle whatever was thrown their way.

River had been reminded of why that was so important for the hour that he was forced to work a large night crowd all on his own. And Cassie hadn't been able to help since he insisted that she remain in the back offices. There, she tackled as much of hers and River's joint paperwork as she could. While it had been difficult, years of working at this bar had trained him for that moment.

After working the bar for nearly an hour, River checked his watch. Noticing how the crowd died down and the moments his coworkers had to rest if only for a moment, River decided to head to the back.

"Alright, I'll be heading to the back. Fran, go take a fifteen." River said firmly and clearly, staring intently at the two on either side of him as he removed his apron.

He then hung it on a nearby knob in the back where it couldn't be seen by customers. "Make sure to sit down and get something to drink. If it is still slow when you get back, then I want you guys to switch and you to take a break. If things begin to speed up again, feel free to come and get me or Cassie from the back alright?"

They both nodded and Fran smile her beautiful and slightly babyish smile.

"Got it, boss." She said cheerfully as if the phrase was said with nothing but positive emotions towards the man in question. River gave her a small, and constantly practiced, smile in return and turned to head to the back.

River was quick to head back to his desk and begin on the light stack of paperwork next to him. There were many complicated details to owning a bar, details River would have never known before he took the business. This aspect of it is tedious, and River would truly be lying if he said that he enjoyed that aspect of his job.

The stacks of papers containing alcohol orders, licences, and other documents that can come from a variety of sources seemed to never end. But River had plenty of reasons to look past small aspects of his career he didn't enjoy and come back to this bar over and over again.

River looked over at the photo, a soft yet genuine smile appearing on his lips. He did it for her. As long as River remembered that, the boring became a simple obstacle that he just had to take down.

Hours later, with the day's paperwork finished and extras resting in his briefcase for later, River left to head back to the bar. To end his evening at work, he worked the bar until only the manager, Cassie, was left and preparing to close the store. The process of mixing and serving drinks always calmed River and oddly made him happy, it was the best way for him to finish a workday.

An older man with a thick beard and circles under his eyes asks for a simple drink. River in a near-instant River saw how drunk the man was. Looking over at Cassie, who had begun to serve at the slow closing hour, River noticed her apprehensive look and came to the conclusion that she had purposely been avoiding the man. If River were to guess, he'd say that she had served him several drinks before and thought the previous to be enough.

River looked back at the man, being forced to look up due to the higher chairs, and nodded. He supposed another drink couldn't hurt and imagined being able to manipulate the man into going home afterwards.

River went to quickly mix up the drink, moving about the bar and reaching for bottles in such fluid motions that anyone could see the mastered skill he had. But River stops in his tracks when he notices the bottle now placed comfortably in his palm.

It was whiskey. Old Crown Royal Canadian Whisky to be exact. The exact type that River had chosen to serve that man all those weeks ago. Nearly every time River had to serve that whiskey, or the name was brought up, River was reminded of those startlingly clear eyes and slightly awkward smile.

The confidence the man had brought in had been almost immediately broken down when faced with an interaction. River still wondered if the man was a bit too much of a social media lover, and his portrayed confidence was quickly stripped away in person. It was a bit cute, seeing how he had stumbled over his words when River smiled or leaned closer. River would have enjoyed teasing him more the next time that they met.

But the thoughts were pointless, River thought with a bitter chuckle.

He doubted he would ever see that stranger again.