11. Chapter ten
Chapter ten:
Amelia
TW: nervous dry heaving- emesis
Amelia waited on pins and needles, staring at her already half-done novel. Should she have cranked out fifty thousand words in two-ish weeks? No, probably not; her wrists were on fire. But she was on a mission. She had a vision! It was, however, time to fess up to her agent and editor. Which is why she was waiting for them to pick up the video call.
Martin, her editor, picked up first, “Howdy Amelia, how’s it hanging?”
“Good! I uh…I got exciting news.” She held up a stack of print paper up to the camera. Martin’s mouth dropped open.
“What is that! You didn’t tell me you were working on something new!” He gasped, leaning into the screen as if he could see better. The Orc was taking up half the screen when Fanny, her agent, popped into the call.
“Cheese and crackers, Martin, back up! Your tusks will break a camera lens!” Fanny snorted, bouncing into view on the call. The orc roared with laughter as the older Fae woman, butterfly wings fluttering behind her like a backdrop, set herself up. “Oooh, what’s that?”
“This would be a romance thriller.” She flipped the stack around to show them the basic title page she’d slapped on the front.
“Ooooh!” they both gasped in unison.
“Okay, thriller queen, love this,” Martin teased, sitting back in his office chair. She’d set up the call on her laptop that was currently perched on the dining room table. Penny was at work and Brayden was at school, she had the whole place to herself. Amelia hadn’t told Penny what she was working on, just that she was writing again. It felt good to have such a passion for a project.
“Break it down for me, what is ‘One Night with the Devil’ about?” Fanny pulled out a notepad.
“Well, our main character, Katerina, and her brother are coming home from a concert one night when they’re cornered in an alley by a mysterious figure. They book it only to get chased through the city. In the end they’re caught and it’s clear Kat’s brother is in trouble. So, she does the only thing she can think, she trades herself for his life. They don’t have the money to pay back the debt and her brother’s been trying to get his life back together for his girlfriend that’s pregnant, so Kat just offers herself up instead. And so, our main guy, Tyrion, he says, ‘Give me twenty-four hours. Whatever I want for a full twenty-four hours and we consider it even’. But, he’s strangely soft with her and there’s a torrid affair where she ends up figuring out what debt her brother needed to pay wasn’t about money, but he’d killed Tyrion’s brother years ago by accident and Kat knows he didn’t actually do it. So, she’s solving this cold case, while also falling in love with Tyrion.”
Both of them ooh’d and ahh’d as she flipped through the smaller character arcs and individual things of the story. It was a good work of fiction. Enough about reality while changing up some things to keep it a story. Just a good story…and not at all a reflection of her life.
“I love it, how close are you to being finished?”
Amelia stared down at the stack in her lap. “I’ve already got the whole thing planned out and it’s about 50% done now so…like two weeks maximum and it’ll be in Martin’s hands.”
Martin rubbed his green hands together with a mischievous smirk, “Yesss, yesss, I like.”
Fanny snorted, “Alright, so, I’ve got a few things in mind. I’m gonna put out some feelers, but I’m pretty sure Salamander’s gonna want this since they already have your other four. They like to keep collections and they’re doing a big romance push this year, so that’ll be nice. I’m gonna do my thing, let me know when the words are in Martin’s little grubby grabbers, and I’ll talk soon. Love you, bye!”
Fanny hung up and left Amelia with Martin discussing other things for the ending. She worked through the plot with him for the last portion of the book. When they were both satisfied with the general feel of what was to come, he wished her well and hung up. This is real and it’s happening and I’m gonna throw up.
Amelia got up from the seat and paced the kitchen, dry heaving. It was nerves. She’d officially made it real. It was going to be a book with her pen name on it and a truth she’d talked about. Penny might read it and call her absurd. Knox might read it and see her differently…or maybe he’d realize that she was still here, thinking of him. She stumbled to the kitchen sink, gripping the side of it.
In nearly three weeks, she hadn’t heard from him. No stolen glances, no flashes of him in the shadows, no prickling of hair at the back of her neck. He’d kept his word and left her alone.
Maybe I should just…do something stupid.
Amelia physically shook the thought from her head. The obsession was driving her to madness. She would do something stupid instead of living her life? She would foolishly do something bizarre and off the wall for what? A man?
A devil of a man.
“Maybe I do need a therapist,” she muttered, begrudgingly agreeing with Penny for once about therapy. Talking to someone about it might solve the longing in her chest.
And yet, here she was, scrambling away from the sink and going to the shower. Just a peek, it’s fine, he won’t even be there. She nearly skinned herself alive washing her writer’s grime off her body and rinsed her hair. Using the dryer, she carefully fluffed her blue tresses and stepped into an easy summer dress. Hopeful thinking, are we?
Amelia stepped into flats and stopped at the front door, purse over her shoulder and keys in hand. What am I doing? But she ripped the door open regardless. This was closure. She was going to show up, realize she was being foolish, and book it away. He wouldn’t even know I was there. Stuffing herself into her car, she stared at her steering wheel for a long time. Finally, she floored it out of the driveway and headed for the city. She knew what casino Rick always haunted. Penny had dragged him out, blabbering and drenched in sweat, blasted out of his mind, so many times. Amelia didn’t go to casinos, but she knew the building well.
A massive black stone monstrosity covered in long windows and shimmering lights, the sounds of electronic coins and laughter spilled out of it. The street was packed full of people coming and going. Even in the middle of the day, it was busy. She ended up having to park down the street near a sandwich shop. One step onto the sidewalk when she heard a familiar voice call her name. “Miss Armstrong?”
Amelia whipped around, caught, busted, and panicking. She worried who would be beside the centaur, but he was alone with a shopping bags on his arm. Amelia let out a nervous laugh, “Denver, what a coincidence.”
“Small world, this city.” He gave her a sweet, you’re busted , smile. She brushed some of her hair behind her ears and stepped toward the sandwich shop. He cocked his head, “Grabbing some lunch?”
“Yeah, uh, was heading into town for a few things but I got hungry, decided to grab something on the go.” This is what you get, Amelia Armstrong . She scolded herself harshly as she crossed her arms under her bust. Making bad choices, thinking foolish thoughts, and nearly walking into trouble yourself. “What brings you out here?”
“Getting some last minute errands run for Mr. Zrazduel.” He held up bags as if they were evidence. She couldn’t focus on a single on as shame and embarrassment drowned her internally.
“Fun!” She nodded awkwardly.
“Ms. Armstrong,” he chuckled.
“Uh-huh, that’s what they call me.” She flinched, internally punching herself for it.
“I would…steer clear of the casino, if you can avoid it. Business is business, after all.” Denver nodded his chin toward the massive, loud building behind her.
“Huh? Oh! Is that the casino?” She wheezed, jabbing a thumb over her shoulder. “I—uh…had no clue. Was just here for some grub, ya know. Gonna go get some books and notepads and other, you know, stuff, and just…just happened to park here cause it’s busy. Yeesh, it’s really busy, huh? Business must be booming.”
What. Are. You. Doing! Amelia would have brained herself on the side of the sandwich shop if it wouldn’t cause more of a scene. She was floundering, plain and simple. Amelia had been caught red handed by his butler. Denver eyed her and she whined softly, “You’re not going to tell him, are you?”
Denver shook his head, chuckling softly. “No, Ms. Armstrong…as you said, you were merely in the area and grabbing lunch. Nothing to report.”
Was it worse that he wouldn’t know or worse that she wanted him to know? She couldn’t tell why her heart ached for a fiend she knew nothing about. Only what he told her and the feeling she got when she was in his arms. Suddenly, she knew why people wrote romance with such strong emotions. She knew why the characters fell deeply within pages. She knew why it never made sense before, and now it was crystal clear. When a person finds that special someone, it’s hard not to dive in headfirst.
“I, uh, I don’t even know why I’m here,” she confessed with her last breath of air.
“I’d say it’s the same reason Mr. Zrazduel has commanded I do not return these to you, but I’m doing so anyway because they belong to you.” Denver reached into a satchel across his body and pulled out a small clothing box. He handed it to her with a soft sigh, “I was on my way to the mail, you’ve simply saved me the trip.”
“Thank you.” Amelia wasn’t sure why it stung. Taking the box felt like ripping off a limb. She stood there, bleeding out and shaking as the centaur butler strode past her. It wasn’t till her trembling hands moved on their own that she opened the box. Her bathing suit sat inside the box, along with her flipflops, the sweats, and tank top he let her wear inside his house. However, when she went to put them in her car, she realized something else was inside the box. His belt…the one she’d worn as a collar.
“Wait, Denver, this isn’t…” But her voice was caught in her throat as she realized the belt was now a collar. It was cut down and sized with added notches for the belt buckle. Did…did he change one of his belts into a collar? Why would he…he didn’t …he had no intention of coming back for me?
Maybe Denver intended it to give her answers. Except, all his act of kindness did was send her swirling worse in her mind as she stared down at the collar in her hand. If he intended to make her stay away, this was making it harder to follow his direction.
Amelia shoved the clothing into her back seat and threw herself into the driver’s seat. She didn’t stop for food. She didn’t go out shopping. She didn’t do anything except drive back home and toss herself back at her computer.