Until Her (Sequel)

chapter three

My pointed heels walked quickly through the halls of my editor's office, followed by the quick tapping of Heidi's shoes. She handed me a vanilla latte over my shoulder, reminding me of the meetings we had for the day.

Mondays were never particularly miserable, but were always the busiest. That's why Heidi always loaded me up with three shots of espresso in my drink instead of two, and it made a miraculous difference.

She meticulously ran through my schedule for the week. "You have a meeting with the editor, well, now of course, because that's where we're headed." She laughed at herself, remaining professional. I laughed, knowing the difference between the professional Heidi and the drunk-crying-over-her-ex Heidi. I loved her all the same though, and I appreciated her help and her friendship.

"During your lunch hour, you have to pick a cover for your new novel. A book signing at three, and um, someone left a note on my desk this morning." As we quickly rounded the corner, I looked over the shoulder of my red blazer to see her large glasses covering her wide eyes. "Some author is having a book signing at Ivy's, by the name of Alexander Long. And he asked if you could be there?" she stated, unsure. A smile crept across my cheeks. "I can say no if you want,"

"No," I said softly. "let's squeeze that in. I'd love to be there."

"Good luck in there!" She whispered, leaving me at the door of Graham's office. When I swayed through the door, not bothering to knock due to his open-door policy, he looked up at me, his tired eyes sunken down by years of hard work and dark circles hanging under them.

"Long day, huh?" I said, sitting down in the soft chair in front of his large desk, covered in papers, manuscripts, and jotted down notes.

"Long life," he huffed, then turning his face into a smile. The few hairs left on his head stood straight up, further evidence that he was too tired to care. Graham had been with the company going on thirty years, no wonder he was exhausted. Reading thousands of manuscripts a year had to be tiring. Sometimes I hated reading my own work.

"If my youngest author didn't cancel on me, I wouldn't look like this."

I hadn't taken a sip of my latte, so I handed it to him instead. "Three shots." His bushy eyebrows rose, and he took the cup from me and took a sip and looked satisfied, wiping off the remaining foam from his lips. "And, I know. I'm sorry. My anniversary with Carter was last night, and..."

"Didn't you two get married in October? It's June, darling."

I settled into a smile. "We got engaged in June, got married in October of the following year."

"So... you celebrate your engagement, your wedding day, and the day you two started dating? Do you celebrate Arbor Day together, too?"

I held back laughter. It was true, Carter and I took anniversaries a little too far, but we loved each other too damn much to not celebrate each victory. Because of his insane schedule, there were several times I'd spent an anniversary alone, so I had no regrets about the night before.

"Not a bad idea," I pretended to mull it over.

He said nothing, just rose his eyebrows again in response.

"Anyways, what do ya got for me? I'll stay here as long as you need me today, to make up for lost time. I know you want to get home to your kids."

A smile formed on his lips, his five-o-clock shadow moving with it. "Let's get started, then. Where are you with your story?"

I began excitedly describing to him in detail my recent inspiration, thanks to the play Carter took me to. I gave Graham my concrete ideas for how I would get those ideas on paper, gave him my ideas for a plot twist, and skipping nothing in between.