Paper Flowers

Chapter One

"I have a lavender honey latte for a Ms. Lavender Honeycutt!"

I thanked the barista as he handed me my drink and then made my way outside to enjoy the crisp, Autumn air on the patio. I set out my laptop and notebook then placed my backpack on the ground between my feet. Once I was settled, I took a drink of my warm pick me up and sighed.

The perk of being a freelance writer is the fact that anywhere can be an office, though my office is normally here at Hot Shots and my apartment. Most of my clients need blog posts, social media posts, and the occasional press release and I'm the one who gets it done. Sometimes I feel like I'm more of a ghost writer though since a vast majority of my clients don't mention me in the work or anything.

It's actually been on my mind for a while.

'Are my standards too low?'

'Am I doing something worthwhile?'

'Should I be doing something... bigger?'

"Lav?"

I looked up from my latte and grinned.

"Cecillia! I'm so happy to see you!"

I stood up and greeted her with a quick hug and motioned her to join me.

She smoothed out her skirt then placed her bag on the table adjacent to my laptop before taking a seat in front of me.

Cecilia Green is a respected well known agent. She knows the ins and outs when it comes to work in this town, especially literary work and the field around it. People usually call her the 'One Stop Shop' because if you ask Cecilia, she knows exactly who, what, when, where, and how and will establish a point of contact.

"Can I buy you a coffee?" I asked but she gently waved me off.

"No, I'm okay! So, Honeycutt, what can I do for you?"

I took a breath and started tapping my pen.

"So... you know how most of my clientele and projects consist of writing, for lack of a better word, small projects? Like blogs and such?" 

"Uh huh..."

"Well, I was wondering... if you had a lead or have heard of a bigger opportunity I can do... One I can put my name on!"

Cecilia sat there for a moment, thinking. She then opened her purse and pulled out her phone.

"Let me... Let me look here..."

As she scrolled, I took another sip of my latte. I started thinking about all of the possibilities and opportunities she would find. What if a Hollywood producer needed a script writer for a movie? Or a politician needed a speech writer? Or the President needed a speech writer? I started smiling, getting a little giddy thinking about my name on something big, something life changing, something-

"Oh shoot!"

I snapped back into reality.

"What's wrong?"

Cecilia looked up from her phone with an apologetic expression.

"Lav, I'm so sorry, I just got a message about an emergency meeting with a director about some playwright- it's a lot of Drama drama. Listen, I will make a few calls and get back to you asap, okay?"
Cecilia quickly gathered her things and started jogging down the block.

"Okay!" I hollered, waving to her as she disappeared around the corner. A disappointed sigh escaped my mouth and I sat back in my chair, staring at my laptop. I knew that something wouldn't just magically fall into my lap at that moment but I got excited so quickly and built my hopes up high in a matter of seconds.