The Second Time Around- BWWM

Chapter 11

Kiya tapped the end of her pen against her chin while she read over the words printed onto the sheets of white copier paper she was editing. The pages were from the latest chapter in her book. She had grown to think of the mindless thumping of her favorite pink fluffy pen along her jawline as a sort of good omen. The tapping was a hallmark of a well written chapter. The less that she needed to use her pen to mark up the pages with the flamingo pink ink, the better the story was becoming.

Kiya closed her eyes and released the tension in her neck with a languid stretch. The calendar on the wall caught her attention when her eyes fluttered open again. Her sigh of relief transformed into an anxious groan.

The deadline for her to turn in her manuscript was circled repeatedly in red ink. She was only two weeks away from this important day and the pressure to finish was palpable. She had plenty of goodwill with her publisher if she wanted to turn in her final story a little later, but she prided herself on never missing a deadline. They had already announced her final novel's release date across social media and her book publicist was making plans for a huge press tour, so delaying her book schedule seemed out of the question.

Besides that, the offer for the film adaptation was dependent upon the final novel's success. Kiya's first book was not really a runaway success, but it earned her a loyal following that grew larger month by month. Her second novel was what turned her series into a best seller. She received glowing reviews lauding her as a skilled storyteller and comparing her to some of the best in the genre. Initially, she was confident that her final book in the series would satisfy her fans, but she was having doubts about whether the ending would satisfy her. She thought that her ending was finalized and that her heroine had chosen the right man in the end; but as she came closer and closer to turning over the manuscript to her editor, her doubts began to bubble up.

There was an alternate ending for her saga. It was only a few typed pages that she'd written before she'd even written the second story much less had any use for the ending. She pulled open the lower drawer on her desk and flipped through the papers and receipts she'd shoveled into it anytime she needed to make room on top of her desk. She found the pages with little effort. They were dog eared and covered with ink marks; a purple ink from her then-favorite peacock novelty pen.

In the draft that she'd pitched to her publisher, Reese is the man with whom her lead character, Erica Fox, has a more passionate connection but when he betrays her, she finds comfort and love with Clay, her lifelong friend. In the alternate ending, Erica decides to forgive Reese and she ends up marrying him breaking Clay's heart. Kiya and her editor had locked in what she had thought of as the ending she wanted for her book's heroine, but she kept returning to the bare-bones ending she'd hastily written some years back and pushed aside. A few ideas sparked in her head, and she thought of fleshing out the alternate ending, but finishing the workload she already had felt like more than she could stomach, and she put down the papers and pushed aside her doubts. Her characters had made their decisions and it was too late for her to change her mind.

Kiya dropped the papers onto her desk and checked the time. She cursed aloud to the empty room; she was astonished that she'd done it again. Kiya had a habit of going into a trance when she worked on her writing and tonight was no different. She had become so fully engaged in fictional world she'd written, that she lost track of time in the real world, and it was nearly two in the morning when she looked up from her work. She had planned to take a break and then work through another chapter before going to bed, but the sudden awareness of the time made her aware of her body's weariness. The yawns she'd been stifling were coming on more frequently. Her eyelids felt weighed as her sleepiness took over.

She closed her computer and rose from her desk gathering her wine glass still half full with Merlot and the remains of a carton of vegetable lo mien that she'd had delivered for dinner. Kiya killed the lights in her office and walked over to the kitchen to rinse her wine glass in the sink. She stepped on the lever to the garbage can and lid of the can sprang open and she dropped her dinner scraps into the canister. She gave the room a final inspection and turned out the light.