Ruby shook her head fondly, slipping her arms around his waist to hug him close for a moment. So easy to please, she thought, hiding her quiet laugh in the crook of his neck as he practically vibrated with delight over a little salary he’d probably forget to spend anyway.
"Karl, don’t stare at it too much!" Ruby huffed, pulling back just enough to look at his face — which was practically glowing as he kept peeking into the envelope like it was some secret treasure map. She rolled her eyes, swatting his shoulder lightly. "As if I never gave you pocket money before. You act like I’ve kept you starving and broke!"
Karl’s grin only grew wider, the kind that made the corners of his eyes crinkle. He hugged the envelope to his chest dramatically, tilting his head to the side like a smug cat. "Hmph! But Wife, salary is salary — pocket money is pocket money!" he said, sticking out his tongue a little, too giddy to hide it.
Ruby crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes, trying to look stern but failing miserably because he looked so pleased with himself. "And what did you do with all that pocket money, hmm? I never see you spend it."
Karl just gave her an innocent shrug, lips twitching as if he was hiding a tiny secret. Of course I never spent it, he thought proudly. Every single coin she’d given him was carefully tucked away — hidden inside the pocket of his favourite robe, folded between old notebook or below mattress, like tiny gems he could peek at when he missed her.
Now this salary — this real salary would go right there too. And when he had enough? He’d buy that Soulstream he’d been dying for. Then he’d burst into the house one day, waving it high above his head and yell "Surprise!" and everyone would be shocked. The thought made him want to giggle right there.
He caught Ruby staring at him, clearly suspicious of his quiet daydream. So Karl just smiled wider that sweet, devilish grin that made her chest tighten with fondness and exasperation all at once.
"Don’t worry, wife," he said, hugging the envelope tighter as if it were the most precious thing in the world. "I’ll keep it safe. Very, very safe."
Ruby just shook her head with a sigh, a soft laugh slipping out despite herself. This silly ghost. My silly ghost.
At night, the house was quiet — just the soft hum of the rain against the roof and the faint tick of the old clock above her little desk. Ruby sat cross-legged in her work corner, her new laptop open in front of her, the gentle glow of the screen painting her face in shades of blue and silver.
She was deep into the editing software of this world — the best they had for photo retouching and design. She knew some of its quirks already, thanks to her work on the production project before, but still, every click felt like wrestling with old tools that didn’t quite bend the way she wanted. The functions were good... just the bare minimum. No fancy filters, no sleek automation like the ones she’d used back on Earth. Here, if she wanted it perfect, she had to craft it line by line, pixel by pixel.
Ruby didn’t mind. Her eyes flicked from the bright poster design to the little notes she’d scribbled beside her laptop. She’d already laid down her own custom fonts — the ones she’d painstakingly designed in stolen hours late at night, the ones that were now selling better than she’d ever dreamed. Seeing her own letters, her own shapes, lining up perfectly on this new poster made her chest feel warm, even as her back ached from sitting too long.
She started with a blank canvas, then slowly brought the poster to life — brushing away tiny shadows on Karl’s cheeks, brightening the twinkle in the little boy’s eyes, smoothing the lines where the raincoat folds caught the light too harshly. Each adjustment felt like smoothing out a wrinkle on a dream.
She was so lost in the work that time disappeared. When you do something you love, she thought, her eyes locked on the screen as she blended a splash of color near the corner, time doesn’t feel like time at all. But when you force yourself to do what you hate... one hour drags like a whole day.
She leaned back for a moment, rolling her shoulders as the clock struck midnight — the soft sound echoing through the quiet room. She was only halfway done, but she didn’t mind. She wanted the quality to be the best — better than the bland HD this system capped at. If they can only handle HD, I’ll make it look like 4K anyway, she told herself with a small, tired but proud smile.
She reached for her mug of cold tea, took a tiny sip, and turned back to the screen.
She finally turned off her laptop screen when her eyes started to blur from staring too long. A deep yawn slipped out, her shoulders drooping with that sweet, heavy tiredness that only came when you’d worked on something you wanted to do — the kind of work that pulled you in so deep you forgot how late it was.
Ruby flicked off the little lamp on her desk, the soft click echoing through the quiet room. She padded over to the bathroom, splashing her face with cool water to wash away the stickiness behind her eyes. When she stepped back into her dark room, the hush of the house wrapped around her like a gentle blanket. She slipped under her covers, pulling them tight around her shoulders. Within minutes, she was fast asleep, the last image in her mind that bright, perfect poster half-finished on her screen.
Morning came far too quickly. Ruby stirred awake to the soft patter of the lingering drizzle on the windows and the low hum of someone moving about outside her room. She sat up, pressing a palm to her forehead — a tiny throb pulsed there, just under her temple, reminding her that she’d worked a bit too hard the night before.
—To be continued...🪄