Love & Serenity

Chapter 1

The New York traffic was everyone's nightmare, having to leave their homes at ungodly hours in the morning and still barely making it to work, then having to do the same while heading back home.

Lillian had scheduled her meeting with her agent for ten in the morning, to avoid the morning traffic and to make it in time before Deidre's eleven o'clock appointment. From midtown Manhattan to East Harlem and a quick stop at Starbucks which wasn't so quick, she drove her grey Honda insight through the not so terrible traffic.

She remembered when she struggled to make the trips to Deidre's office a few years after she left the system. Those days are what made her appreciate the ones she now had. Deidre was the one that had taken a chance on her, given her the opportunity and the means to achieve everything they had. Eight years together and she was the only family Lillian had.

Lillian pulled into a slot in the car park, grabbed the cappuccino as she slung her bag across her shoulder. She closed the door and locked it as she made her way towards the building. Pushing the glass door to the building open she made her way to the front desk.

"Hi, Anthony." She greeted the young, slender, curly-haired nerd that looked up at her. "How's it going?"

"The yoozh." He said with a lift of his shoulder.

"Here you go." She picked one of the drinks from the holder and placed it on his table over the counter.

Anthony gasped as he picked up the drink.

"You. Are. A. Goddess." He said dramatically.

"I know." She said as she made her way towards the elevator.

She made it to the fifth floor and stepped out of the car and made it towards Deidre's office.

"Hey, Maggie."

Deidre's assistant was on the phone but she managed a smile while signalling with her thumb for Lillian to head into the office. Lillian placed a drink on her desk and smiled at her.

"Thank you." Maggie mouthed before Lillian turned to head into Deidre's office.

"...and I specifically told him to enlarge it or change the font because our client doesn't like it." Lillian heard as she entered Deidre's office. "Just make sure you see to it and have the sample sent over again."

Lillian placed a drink on her table before taking a seat in front of her desk, letting her bag slide to the floor as she did. She pulled out the last drink from the holder and sipped on it just as Deidre hung up.

"Problem with the publishing house again?"

"Again." Deidre picked up the drink and took a sip. "Hmm, I needed this."

"You're welcome." Lillian smiled at her.

"So, anything new?" Straight for the kill.

Lillian's smile fell as she sighed.
"Nothing yet."

"Lil, it's been six months since your last book. You should have a complete manuscript for your next by now."

Deidre's nickname for her was from the Little in Little sister and also coincidentally seemed like a short form of her name. Deidre had referred to her that way since her first book was published and she said it was because she'd always wanted a sister and Lillian was the closest thing she had to one. Deidre was just starting up her agency when she met Lillian and after Lillian's first book, she'd gotten more clients and offers from publishing houses to work with her. They had helped each other in more ways than just professionally.

"After the book series, I don't know what else to write."

The seven books series had been a huge hit among teenagers and young adults and was inspired by memories and wild imaginations from being in the system. Her characters had been a part of her since she was eight and read her first book which was the first installation in Enid Blyton's famous five series. Her first and last family had bought the series for their son and she couldn't watch as it sat there on the shelf collecting dust.

"Your book series was great," Deidre said. "But it's time to move on to something new, something fresh. All you have is a blank page."

"That's the problem," Lillian said. "A blank page, it means no past." More specifically, her past.

"Most writers think it's great because it symbolizes a clean slate, a way to begin something new."

"Oh, it's new alright." She said. "Clean, not so much."
A clean slate might mean a new beginning but it will always be tainted by her past.

Deidre sighed before getting up and stepping around her desk to sit on the chair next to Lillian.

"Lil, it's time to look forward. To experience something new." She said. "The series was you holding on to the only thing you knew, your past. But now that it's over, you're feeling stuck and confused on what to do next."

Lillian frowned and turned to Deidre.

"You know I'm just paying for you to be my agent and not my therapist, right?"

Deidre smiled.

"You could add the fee for this session in your next payment."

Lillian smiled then and sighed the next moment.

"I just don't know what to do."

"You've been in New York all your life. You need a change in scenery and people, someplace where you can find peace with your inner self, your past, and help you move on and get some inspiration back."

Lillian thought for a moment.

"Greece?"

"No. Greece is for vacation, one which you're not on. We're looking for someplace that'll help you find your...," Deidre looked for a word. "your..."

"Zen."

"Exactly."

"And where would this place be?" Lillian asked as she sipped on her now cold drink.

Deidre was quiet as she searched her mind for places that would help Lillian get her mojo back. Then as it hit her, she gasped.

"What?" Lillian looked at her suspiciously

"I know," Deidre said with wide eyes. "I had totally forgotten about it in the past two years."

Deidre got married two years ago and hasn't had time for anything beyond married life and the agency.

"I have this place my aunt left for me after she died and I checked it out once, a couple of years ago, but I haven't gone there ever since. It's perfect."

"Where?"

"Vermont."