7. seven
seven
LYSANDRA
“What do you think?” I asked, staring back at the executives of my publishing house.
They all turned to one another before peering back at me.
“You’ve published great books with us. That’s without including, So Long, Scotland, but we think that your new idea needs a bit more work,” Elena said gently.
“How so?” I asked.
“It’s overused,” Brad, the editor-in-chief, said.
Amelia breathed in sharply at his harsh comment as she glared at him. Hopefully, she could come up with strategies to market this book.
“It’s a story of redemption, second chances, and love that seemed lost. Not everyone has that kind of opportunity. Many of us have said words we wish we hadn’t said. Regrets that can’t be reversed. I believe in this story, and I know that my readers will love this.”
Greer’s eyes watered. Silence was their answer. A long, noiseless pause. It was the best idea I could come up within a matter of hours. I didn’t know what else to write, but I knew that I wanted to write something different.
I had to admit that I tended to write stories that ended in heartbreak or tragedy. Each book that I had written were mirrors to the emotions I felt when writing them.
But this was a novel of hope. And I’d been hopeless for a long time. Would it hurt to transform the ending of So Long, Scotland?
Greer scanned Brad, Elena, and Amelia. I watched as they gave a small nod to one another before shifting their gaze back to me. Camille mirrored my expression. She knew just how much I was struggling to come up with a new idea, and she was finding out about my idea during this meeting.
“Bring us a couple of chapters. Perhaps we’ll be able to make a decision once it’s fleshed out,” Elena said.
“When would you like for me to deliver them?” I questioned.
“We will give you four weeks from today. We know that you will be a bit more occupied with the movie deal. Mark it on your calendar, we will meet then,” Greer replied with a soft smile.
“Okay, thank you.”
“Thank you for listening to Lysandra’s proposal. I’ll be in touch.” Camille stood, extending her hand over to Greer, and shook it.
My heart pulsed so heavily that I felt like I would vomit. Greer and the rest of the publishing team had always been flexible with me and the other authors on their roster but it still didn’t lift the pressure off my shoulders knowing that I had a deadline.
I didn’t know what I did to deserve such a great team, but I was starting to have a serious meltdown as I thought about the fact that I’ll have to continue a story I thought had ended.
I gave them my best beaming expression before nodding. “Thank you for your consideration. I will try my best to deliver the first chapters before the deadline. I know we are in a time crunch.”
“Correct. Thank you, Lysandra. It is always a pleasure to meet with you,” Amelia said.
“Thanks again. We will let you know when we are ready to meet again,” Camille said with a firm tilt of her chin. She grabbed her thin, leather mahogany suitcase and headed for the conference room’s glass door.
We both walked out of the main office. I let out a breath.
“You did great!” Camille exclaimed, bringing me into her arms.
“Cami, I don’t know how I’m going to do it.”
“I heard your pitch and the summary you gave them. It sounds very similar to a story I know.” She eyed me with a smirk. Her black hair flowed with every heeled step.
I sighed, rubbing my eyes. “That story’s finale has been predetermined since we transferred to Lachlan Prep.”
Camille remained silent. She’d been staring to her left, and when I followed her stare, I wished I hadn’t.
There he was. All six feet of him. Dressed in his royal blue suit and tie. He’d seemed so refined, more mature, much more tortured. Our gazes met. Like a tether that’d been tied between us. I could not escape it, escape him.
His friend came out of the conference hall, his blonde hair at the same level with Ezra’s raven-black locks. Ezra was the first to break eye contact. I quickly turned back to Camille.
“I, for one, don’t think it has finished,” she argued.
“I am getting married to Aldair in a few months. Don’t say things like that,” I whispered hurriedly.
“A wedding that you don’t even have a gown for,” she argued.
I crossed my arms. She was right, but I couldn’t tell her that. I’d never hear the end of it.
“There’s some unresolved business there.” Camille pointed an index finger at me.
“No, there isn’t. I feel nothing for him.”
When did I become such a liar? I felt contempt, disdain, and hatred for him. It wasn’t the same emotions that she thought I held for him. However, I couldn’t forget his deep blue eyes and imagine the way his toned figure felt under his fine attire.
“The fact that he caused a reaction from you before the meeting means that there is something there. Don’t deny it. Deal with it. Because it is not fair to Aldair.”
Right, my fiancé. Aldair.
I glared at her. “Fine. I have to go. I’m exhausted, and I want to start the chapters for the new book proposal.”
She smiled while rubbing my arm. “I’ll see you later tonight, I’m gonna go run a quick errand.”
Then she walked down a glass corridor.
“Don’t get home too late because I sure as hell won’t be heating your dinner again!” I called. Knowing Camille, she would find someone to chat with and deviate from the previous topic until she realized she’d been talking for hours.
She waved at me without looking back. I was thankful for the friend I had in Camille; she never pushed me beyond my limits.
There’d been moments where I’d share my past, not in the same way that I did with Ezra, but parts of it.
And she always had a word to encourage me.
At times, I didn’t even have to say what I felt because she already knew.
As if she were my twin at heart.
My eyes found their way back to the tall businessman who had once been the greatest sorrow of my life.
Now he’d become a stranger. Another person.
An unknown entity to me. Zack and he finished a small, practiced handshake before he looked back at me, his grin almost dropping.
I gulped the lump in my throat and rushed to the elevator, lowering my gaze to the loafers that hugged my feet.
I clicked the lower button continuously, praying that the door would close before anyone else could enter. My eyes started prickling, my cheeks burned, and my chest contracted inward. If he entered the elevator, I would probably lose it.
It was as if my dread to be near him had summoned his presence.
I knew it was his hand that had stopped the elevator from fully closing.
Silently, he strode into the boxed area and pressed on the same button I had done moments before.
There’d been a little star beside it, indicating that it was the ground floor, and the only exit.
He cleared his throat. I kept my gaze focused on the floor. He was right next to me. Ezra was in the elevator with me. This spoiled rich boy, whom I had once known, was right beside me. He knew I was in the elevator and yet he chose to ride with me.
“So, is this how it’s going to be every time we are in the same room? You’re gonna go mute on me?” he asked.
I couldn’t control my tongue as he repeated the first words he had said when we met. “Whose fault is that?”
“That was five years ago,” he whispered. From the corner of my eye, I noticed he’d been leaning on the wall of the elevator, facing me.
“Not for me,” I replied, checking the number box to know which floor we were on, to know how long this torture would last.
He sighed. “I thought that after all this time, you—”
“Well, you thought wrong.”
“I’m sorry—” he began as rage rattled within me.
“Yes, Ezra, this is how it’s going to be. You may have offered a very good deal, the movie deal I’ve dreamed about my entire life, but that does not change the ridiculous excuse that your human existence is to the universe.”
His lips gaped. The elevator dinged open. The tapping of my shoes resounded as I marched off, away from my chamber of punishment.