Ink & Lust (On HIATUS)

Prologue.

The room was a battlefield of disorder. Clothes lay scattered like casualties of a forgotten war, crumpled papers, and takeaway pizza boxes carpeted the floor. Root beer bottles stood like fallen soldiers, lining a makeshift barricade. A laptop sat on a cluttered bed, another island of chaos amid the sea of debris, a half-eaten slice of pizza precariously perched on its keyboard. Sunlight struggled to break through the blinds, casting an amber hue across the room, revealing the chaos in all its glory.

A girl was fast asleep on the bed, her face buried on the keys of the laptop, with another slice of pizza standing proudly on her hair and another one threatening to fall from her mouth. Just when we thought the room couldn't get any more chaotic, a grating ringtone pierced the room, startling the girl on the bed, making her stumble to the ground as she knocked over a stack of pizza boxes and pizza slices on the floor with her. She groaned in pain as she struggled to stand up "Ouch...my head" and falling back severally before finally regaining her balance. "goddammit!" She groaned in pain

A robotic voice emanated from her room, "You have an incoming call, Ava."

"My phone...where the fuck is my phone...my ph..one!" She screamed as she snatched her phone from the sea of pizza and papers, a slice of pepperoni still dangling from her mouth. "Okay, found it!" Swiping the screen, she accepted the call and quickly moved to the living room, carrying the remnants of her pizza with her.

On the other end, a man's irate voice boomed through the phone. She had to shift the phone away from her ears "Ava, do you realize the deadline for your manuscript is approaching like a freight train?"

"You almost cost me half of my hearing, David" Ava groaned

The man ignored her and continued "We haven't seen a single page from you! What have you been doing?"

Ava gulped, feeling a mix of embarrassment and panic. She attempted to explain, pizza crust still in hand, "I've been...uh...working on it, just got a bit behind...I promise, I'll catch up." She glared at her hand before wiping them on her jean.

"Macy, remind me to throw this jean Andrew got for me later."

The robotic voice from before spoke up again "Sure thing, Ava."

Her publisher from the other end groaned feeling his nerves boil, voice remained stern, "You have three months, Ava. Three months to deliver a masterpiece. I expect a substantial draft in a week, or you can kiss your contract goodbye."

Damn David.

Ava nodded frantically, "I understand, I'll get to work immediately, I promise."

Having worked with Ava for years, the publisher's once-stern tone softened slightly. He had witnessed her consistently delivering bestsellers, and her books were adored by legions of fans who eagerly craved her next creation. The constant inquiries from readers about her next release had become a daily torment for him. "Ava, you've got potential," he acknowledged, "but potential alone won't complete this book. You need to focus, and, for heaven's sake, pleasee...tidy up that room; it sounds like a disaster." He finished with a cut of the line.

After a sigh , Ava removed the phone from her ear and surveyed her chaotic room, feeling the weight of her disarray closing in on her. "Ughhhhh!" She cried "I swear, I used to be neat!"

With determination in her eyes, she muttered to herself, "I've got to pull myself together and meet this deadline. But first, I need coffee. I'm loosing my goddamn mind"