World renowned writer, Molly Tulip, moves up to Northern Montana, hoping to escape the busy city life and a cheating ex. After years of stress and toxicity from her previous relationship, Molly needs to focus on healing herself through her writing...
The espresso machine to my right sends out a high pitched screeching sound that startles me enough to draw my attention back to reality and see that sadly the steam from my tea has dissipated. My cold hands latch onto the warm mug and I slowly sap the remaining warmth from the porcelain. I stare down at my open laptop, having gotten no further in my writing than my second night in Whitefish. Even with Brigette's help this last week I'm worried that the story won't get published on time.
What am I even doing here? I think and throw my face into my hands, defeated. It feels like ever since the boating trip on Saturday I've had this massive writer's block. I don't know if it's the change of pace from busy bee New York, or the fact that Brigette had to cut her stay short and now is back in The City trying to negotiate a later release date, leaving me all alone once again. Or...it could be the fact that I haven't been able to get Carver, and that almost kiss, out of my mind.
"Molly?" The sweet, angelic voice of Clara floats its way over the table and I peek through my fingers to see her seated across from me.
"Hi." I whisper embarrassed, "How long have you been sitting there?" I ask and all she does is give me a weak smile. So the whole time.
"I can come back a different time if you want?" She offers as she starts to stand up but I wave my hands in protest. I shake out my shoulders and hands, letting go of all the negativity that I had just been latching onto, and look back at Clara as she settles back into her chair.
"Thanks for coming, I need your opinion on some plot points that will be coming up in the next book." I watch Clara's eyes widen as I speak, "That is if you can keep a secret." I shoot her a wink and she shakes her head yes in the quickest response I've ever seen.
"I'd be honored!" She's practically shaking with excitement and I quickly grab the mug from her hand before her coffee spills all over the table. "Sorry," Her cheeks redden as she takes a deep breath. "I'm a vault," She runs her fingers over her mouth and pretends to lock her lips shut, "Feel free to run any ideas by me." She interlocks her fingers and rests her chin on the tops of her hands in anticipation.
"Well, I have a feeling that something big needs to happen to Lilac so that she realizes that she doesn't need Zander in her life and she gathers enough strength to win the war against her Uncle. So, my thought was to introduce another character, potentially another love interest." I can see Clara's hesitation but she doesn't say anything as I continue talking. "Brigette and I discussed the possibility of Zander being a double agent for Uncle Kemper, since there's always been this mystery as to why Lilac's Uncle had these inklings about her plans. A mole on the inside of the rebellion would explain his 'clairvoyance'." Clara nods her head in agreement. "This guiding character can help her overcome the new obstacles that the book has started to present to our protagonist."
"So would this new entity be someone the Gods sent? You know, to right the wrongs that Zander did to precious Lil."
"That would be the idea. They would be the person to heal Lilac's broken heart after Zander's betrayal." Clara nods as I speak and I can see that she's lightening up to the idea of my mystery character. I tell Clara more about the future ideas for the story, she shoots down certain scenarios that would cause too much conflict for the heroine while encouraging and adding a reader's take onto concepts that weren't quite fully hashed out.
After about an hour of nonstop talking I sit back and take a breath. It's really nice to talk about this new book with someone other than Brigette. I sigh. "Thank you for all your input." I close my laptop, having taken notes the whole time we've been talking, and now I'm feeling a lot more prepared and inspired to crank out some plot.
"No need to thank me! It was my pleasure helping you with the book!" Clara sips on her third cup of coffee. "I really hope the input helps. I know you and Brigette were a bit worried about the deadline while we were on the boat, but I know you'll get it taken care of with plenty of time to spare." She really is a good person and definitely someone I wouldn't mind calling a friend if I do end up staying in Montana.
I pause, mulling over the next question that's about to exit my mouth. "So how's your brother doing?"
Clara's face widens as a smirk emerges on her lips. "Oh, is someone falling for a Hollis?" She teases and my cheeks start to burn from embarrassment.
"It's not like that."
"Oh, of course it's not. But are you sure don't have the ittiest bittiest crush on my older brother?"
"Clara."
"Molly Hollis, it has a nice ring to it."
"I'll take my tea to go." I say sarcastically and Clara erupts in a fit of giggles.
"I'm just teasing Molly," She winks and takes another drink from her mug. "He's doing well though, since you asked." She pauses then adds, "You know, he asked the same thing about you the other day. I'm guessing you two haven't been in touch since Saturday?"
I shake my head no. He's asking about me too? I know we almost kissed, but I shouldn't think too much into it since he could just be trying to clear up the awkward tension that we had the rest of the cruise on the lake. He probably has plenty of girls fighting tooth and nail to get a date with him. I take a deep breath and slouch back into my chair, having self defeated myself once again. Clara reaches her hand across the table and wraps my hand in hers.
"I think he might have an itty bitty crush on you too. And trust me, that's big for my brother. Since Kaytlin, Carver hasn't look at another girl, well not until you. He has this spark in his eyes that I haven't seen in years." She's beaming with happiness. I smile back at her but fear still clouds my mind. Fear of rejection. Fear of abandonment. Fear of letting myself love only to inevitably be hurt. All the things my ex did and now I'm left alone to pick up the pieces of my life. The pain will eventually subside, but the scars of emotional abuse and neglect will linger long after the memories of him fade away. Clara gathers her things and pulls on her adorable mittens before looking me square in the eyes and says, "Don't wait, for all you know the war could be over tomorrow and we're not on the winning side."
"You can't use my own quotes against me!" I shout as she sashays away from the coffee table, waving her hand goodbye in the most casual, yet victorious way possible. "That was my line." I mutter to myself as I stare down at my phone nestled up next to my scarf in the middle of the table. "What the hell." I give in and scoop up my cell. As I begin typing out a message to Carver a notification sounds and I see Carver's name pop up in the text bubble on the screen in front of me. My heart skips a beat at the sight of this simple yet nerve wracking message.
Carver: Are you free for dinner?
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