Thru Fade Away - (Stone Gossard (Pearl Jam)X OFC)

26.

TRIGGER WARNING - Mention of Overdose and Suicide

Faye's lunch break came around and she headed to the publishing office, which was in a tower block of offices, not far from Pike Place. She could feel the nerves building and the cold air biting her cheeks slightly, in turn making them red, more so because of the nervousness. She walked in and approached the front desk, to see the receptionist with a curly up do, on the phone, signalling to her that she'd be a minute.

Faye stood and nodded with a smile, looking around at the typical office decor and surroundings, with that industrial smell not too dissimilar to a doctors or dentists waiting room.

The woman put down the phone and looked up at Faye.

"How can I help?" she asked.

Faye looked back to the receptionist and smiled once more.

"Uh yeah I'm here for a meeting with Soph Langer?" Faye said a little nervous.

"Name?" the receptionist asked.

"Oh yes, sorry, it's Faye Mercer." Faye replied.

The receptionist looked through her book to find Faye's name and as soon as she did, she called through to let the host of the meeting know, once done on the phone, the woman asked Faye to take a seat.

Faye sat down and looked around, seeing other people with their works, assuming they were all in the same situation as her with getting her work published.

A few minutes later, a lady dressed in a suit approached the waiting room.

"Faye Mercer?" she said.

Faye looked at the woman and stood up, straightening out her attire, before smiling and following the woman to a meeting room.

The room was small but had a coffee maker and a water dispenser, and a desk with a chair either side.

"Please take a seat Miss Mercer." The woman said before closing the door and sitting down on the chair opposite. "If you'd like coffee, water, then please, help yourself."

Faye nodded. "Thank you." 

"I'm Soph Langer, head of publishing, nice to meet you." she said holding out her hand for Faye to shake, which she did. 

"And you." Faye responded, not really saying too much, not knowing what to say from the nerves, but also keeping her words short and sweet.

"I hear you have some work you'd like to try and get published? From what I see, it's described as erotic fiction?" Soph said, looking at the papers that Faye had in her hands.

"Yes, mind if I put it down on the desk?" Faye asked.

"Of course." Soph said, and with that she saw the pile of papers from Faye, perfectly stacked and perfectly flat. No creases or folds at the end.

Soph's face turned to surprise. "That's a lot of pages for an erotic fiction novel!" 

That line in itself made Faye worry a little. Had she written too much for the genre? Was all her time and effort for nothing? She enjoyed writing her story and it was more in depth than your regular smutty Mills and Boon-esque type novel. It had an underlying message, a theme and a charming story underneath.

"I know there are quite a few pages but the story isn't just about eroticism. It's about a woman's journey of self acceptance after a divorce. Her very world was shattered by the one man she trusted. It's about her rise from the lowest she could possibly get, to become a person for herself." Faye stated. She really wanted to publish her work and believed in what she'd written, her hard work worth a little credit in her mind.