Love Letter

Lynne:

I had survived the first Ian encounter, and the next time it would be a lot easier. Or so I tell myself. His eyes had searched every inch of my body when he stepped through the apartment. They relaxed after a while like if he had thought I didn't exist and then realized I was actually standing there. I have worked up alright, but I read the story that I was very much a part of. I read the first chapter, finally seeing how he saw me that first time he had met me. As soon as I had stepped on the bus, he knew that I would be his next muse. He reveals that he picks out ordinary everyday people. Still, he wrote there was nothing ordinary about her when I saw her. I really needed to ask the twins if they could tell that I was thinking out everything before I said or did it. The first chapter was like I was reliving meeting him all over again. He was flirting with me on the bus, and he even admits that he doesn't know why he was. When I get to the end of the first chapter, he is at the back of my house for my welcome home party. I wanted to keep reading, but I tell myself it is because I am invested in this, and I need to follow the guideline. I go through the chapter again, finding his grammar and punctuation errors.

C.R.,

There were plenty of comma and punctuation errors. I have fixed them and emailed them back to you to reread and see what you think. I have also crossed out things you may want to rethink since they seem "cheesy." Otherwise, the first chapter is well written. I see all the women out there guessing what will happen next. Gasping at the first cliffhanger... "is it the messed up girl from the bus?" or "Why her? You are Cannon River"

For some reason, I feel like I know what will happen...

Miss Bettendorf

His email that comes in half an hour later is not what I expected.

Lynne

Annoyance is something you always told me to work on. However, I am striving for my annoyance to overcome you to give me another chance. As far as the parts that you crossed of that were too "cheesy," I am leaving the "there was nothing ordinary about her" I did say I would tell the truth; please do not veer me from it. Please refrain from calling yourself messed up; maybe "insecure" would be better. And as to the last question of why her? You will see the woman that I see in you as you read. Even if you see me as a pathetic liar... would you really have gotten to know me if you had known I was Cannon River? The author you read all throughout college during stressful times. I highly doubt it.

Ian

I reread the email for the next twenty minutes and saw his points in some of it. Still, he did lie to me, and he should have been secure enough in himself to trust that I would have fallen for him, not for the author side of him. I drift to sleep, thinking of Ian, knowing I have a problem seeing him more. The façade I was holding up could only last for so long.

The following day at the office was not what I was expecting. "Did you hear the news?" Mandy said, dropping off my coffee at my desk since it was her turn to bring it in.

"No, what?" I asked, even though I had a feeling it was about Ian.

"Rumor is that Cannon River is going to do a book tour with his next novel," Mandy says.

"Really? He has never done one before," I say.

"I know. I know I would be lining up getting my novels signed by him along with half of the women population out there."

"I bet," I say, swigging my coffee.

Marge pages me, letting me know Jimmy wants a meeting with me right away.

"He has been having meetings with you a lot lately," Mandy says, and I sense a bit of envy in her tone. She had not yet received a meeting with Jimmy, only Marge, who had hired her.

"Hi Patricia," I say, bringing a donut for her and placing it on her desk, hoping this will help me with the last phone conversation I had had with her.

"You can walk in," Patricia says, and her tone says it all that she is upset with me. I squeak out thanks while I passed her, wishing I could explain my last conversation with her. But it would be a waste of breath.

"Good morning," I grumble out to Jimmy, who is sitting in his chair looking out toward the city.

"Good morning, Lynne," Ian says while spinning around in Jimmy's chair. "Jimmy is on vacation for the next few weeks. I will be taking over the weekly maybe daily meetings on the newest Cannon River novel."

"Stalking tendencies do run deep, I see" I gape out at him. He finds amusement in my response which makes me angrier. I try to compose myself, so he doesn't know he is getting to me.

"Let's go over last night's chapter notes? Shall we?" he asks.

"I didn't bring them with me. I thought I would be meeting with Jimmy. Our meetings have been informal, especially since he was pushed into hiring me," I say, leaning against the chair in front of me. Ian starts smiling, and I ask, "What?"

"You look nice today," he says, looking me up and down.

I sit down in the chair and grumble, "let's get this over with."

"Such a morning person," Ian says, smiling. He handed me a copy of our emails from the night before and the first chapter that I had sent back to him. He breaks it down line by line. He asks all different questions if he should use this word or that word. We haven't even reached the middle of the chapter when he pages Patricia to order lunch for the two of us.

"I have lunch at my desk," I say, standing up.

"We are going to work through lunch. Plus, it looks like someone could be advising you on what to eat," he says.

"What does that mean?" I asked, gaping at his rudeness.

"Lynne, you have lost ten if not fifteen pounds since the last time I have seen you. It is not healthy," he says, looking concerned. Twenty minutes later, Patricia walks in with our lunch.

"Pizza is your way of being healthy?" I ask.

"Just eat it, will you," he says. I let this one go and take a bite of pepperoni pizza, and I let my mind wander to the time he asked how I liked my pizza on our fifth or sixth date. He had remembered, and I felt like he was trying to prove a point to me. It made me feel sick more than anything. I had eaten a piece of pizza while Ian watched me the whole time. He picks up a second piece and puts it on my plate.

"Are you doing a book tour after this book is released?" I ask curiously.

"I don't know... yet," he says, looking at me. "Maybe it is time for everyone to know that Cannon River is a twenty-six-year-old who writes like he has experienced true love." I wasn't expecting my question to lead to this conversation.

"I see," I say, taking a bite of my second piece of pizza and throwing my plate and the piece away. "Let's get started again," I say, taking my pen and copy of the first chapter. We finished the first chapter half an hour before my regular hours would have ended.

"Good work Lynne; I feel like we made real progress today. I am looking forward to your second chapter notes," he says, looking at me.

When I got home, I thought two things: I was in trouble, and what the hell did I think when I thought I could pull this off. I eat a pb&j sandwich and get to work dissecting his next chapter. I did not know that Luke had introduced himself and that Ian saw Luke as sizing him up as competition. I laugh, thinking how ridiculous that is. He was delusional. That was until I read about Luke showing up at his house and marking his territory with me.

Ian,

I see lying is not the only thing you are good at. But keeping something from me as well... Why did you never tell me about Luke's house visit?

Annoyed

Two minutes later, I got a response.

Lynne

I am glad you are back to calling me, Ian. Looks like my annoyance may be working. I didn't know how you felt about him. I didn't want you running into his arms. I thought I made that pretty clear in the chapter. Other than that, was there anything else you found wrong or off about the chapter?

Ian