Spaces in Between

Chapter Three: Adrianna

The moment I arrived for work, it was filled with so much buzz that it made my stomach tie into nervous knots. When the models spotted me, their voices grew louder and I could hear glimpses of their conversation. I could hear James’ name being said but before I could demand an answer, I was tackled by my favorite fatty.

“Adrianna!” he exclaimed, “Please let me be the official photographer at your wedding!”

I blinked when he let go of me, “What?”

“Look, it’s all over the news! One of New York’s most eligible bachelor is tying the knot and the fiancé has been revealed to be you!” Marcus stated happily, “The entire Upper East Side is festive because of it! This is a grand wedding to look forward to.”

“Adrianna, I thought you were still hung up over Adam!” one of the models commented, “You sly girl, when did you start dating James Parker?”

My head was spinning. I didn’t know how to answer the question but then the models started squealing and I felt a hand on the small of my back and I looked up and met the bluest eyes I’ve seen, “Hi Adrianna. This a bad time?”

“James Parker!” Marcus exclaimed, looking overly excited to be in James’ presence, “It’s so good to see you, sir!”

Veronica, one of the models, tapped James, “Look, excuse me, but this is kind of a big reveal, to be honest because Aide here has been overly hung up over Adam Grayson.”

James glanced at me, “We met a little over a month ago. I know the engagement is all fast and stuff but I’ve never been so sure about anything in my life and that’s her. Since she agreed to marry me, I think that translates that she has moved on from whoever that douche is. Right, love?”

I was still trying to fully comprehend the situation but James pulled me closer to him and I knew I had to answer him, “Yea.”

James cast a smile in my direction, kissed the side of my head which caused the other models to coo and then turned to Logan, “Is it okay if I steal my girl just for today? Wedding preparations.”

“I’d agree if you agree that we’ll be the official photographers at the wedding.”

James grinned, “A deal’s a deal, brother.”

“Alright,” Logan said grinning and then turned to me with questioning eyes, “Aide?”

“Come by at the loft later, okay?”

I’m pretty sure Lily hasn’t informed Logan about anything concerning this. She doesn’t normally tell Logan anything anymore since she has me which was a relief to Logan because he doesn’t have to be the one to listen to Lil’s rants about the male species. But there are some things that she’d tell him and sometimes they concern me but confidential ones are held between us.

Once James and I left the building and he pulled me to where his car was and when we were situated in, I heaved in a long and exasperated sigh, “We need a background story.”

James chuckled, “That we do. But we need to put a ring on your finger first.”

He handed me a black box and when I opened it, I gaped at the ring inside it; I looked at James, “This is too much.”

“That was my grandmother’s engagement ring,” he said softly, staring at the beautiful piece. It was a myriad of geometric shapes carved together to be a gorgeous detail on a ring. It was a ring that I’ve dreamed of slipping on my finger but having it slipped by a guy that held my heart, “I know that this isn’t real but um, it seemed proper.”

He carefully took it out of the box and then held my left hand and carefully slid it on my ring finger, “You know it was used to believe that the reason why the ring is slipped on this finger is that this finger contains a vein that leads to the heart.”

I looked up at him, “You know a lot of medical related things.”

“I’m a wannabe doctor,” he said and winked at me before starting the car, “So I have a friend I want you to meet.”

“James,” I started, worrying about meeting people without having a sorry to sell, “The background story?”

He pursed his lips and ran a hand through his blonde hair, “Let’s see. We met at a party at New Haven a year ago. Got into talking. Found out our Dads were good friends. Got closer. And then I fell in love with you. But you had a boyfriend but we met again last month and you were single. I asked you out on a date. You were hesitant to take a chance on me but eventually, you did. It was four blissful weeks of romance until I popped the question. You said yes. Now we’re here.”

I furrowed my eyebrows, “That’s not very romantic.”

“It’s all I could think of when you’ve just gotten off a relationship two months ago.”

He had a point. We couldn’t say that we’ve been together for a year when most people knew that I’ve been with Adam just two months ago, “But wouldn’t they think it’s fast?”

“Ah,” he mused, “That’s when my smooth talking comes in.”

I raised a brow, “And that is?”

“When its love, its love. I refuse to believe that I’m a rebound because I could feel that her feelings for me are genuine. She’s not that cynical to agree to marry me just to forget about a guy. And the years of being together isn’t a measure if the love is true. Sometimes you just meet the right girl and then it’s just, bang, meant to be.”

I giggled, “But I am cynical to agree to marry you to forget about Adam.”

He shrugged, “I made it an option. You don’t have much of a choice here.”

I smiled at him. Somehow him being this nice and humorous made the situation a little bit better. I stared out at the window, the busy streets of New York fading until we finally stopped at a familiar building. I looked at James, “This is Norton Publishing House.”

“I told you we were meeting a friend of mine,” he said with a grin. I didn’t realize that he had already gotten out of the car and had opened my side, he held out his hand, “Come on. They’re excited to meet you.”

He held my hand, locked the door and basically dragged me inside. I couldn’t move an inch. I’ve passed stories on most of the publishing company here in New York but hid my name so they would publish the story because of the content, not because of who I was. A novel never came out with the pen name I used. But I never dared to go to the Norton Publishing House because they were one of the most known publishing houses in New York and all over the world.

“Come on,” James murmured, pulling me inside. He casually strode in, smiled at the employees, got on an elevator and then turned to the door where I’m pretty sure the owner was, “I would knock to make sure you two aren’t making out there but I could always just embarrass you.”

He opened the door grinning to reveal two disheveled and sheepish couple. The guy broke into a grin mirroring James’, came forward and clasped his shoulder, “It’s not like you were never used to it since college.”

The girl snorted, “You need to learn manners, James. Knocking would be a start. And introducing us to this lovely lady here would be too.”

James chuckled, “Adrianna, these two are my best friends, Caleb and Jade Norton.”

I choked, “Norton? As in?”

“The owner of this publishing house,” Jade answered timidly. She was a small brunette with gorgeous green eyes that reminded me of Adam’s but they were hidden under her thick-rimmed glasses, “And I’m assuming you’re Adrianna Stewart, the child model turned into a model bombshell of today and also James’ fiancé.”

“You can call me Aide,” I added lightly, “And I find it so romantic that you bought this publishing house to give to Jade. Even if it’s a Christian Grey move.”

Caleb, a tall lanky guy who wore his brown hair brushed up and had a slightly big nose and freckles on his cheeks, scoffed, “He totally stole it from me.”

“Anyways,” James spoke, butting in the conversation, “I brought Adrianna here because I’ve been told that she writes and dreams to be a published writer.”

I looked at James, “What?”

He smiled sheepishly, “Claire did a background check on you. My sister is a little bit protective on who will hold her older brother’s heart.”

“But I’ve met her before,” I pointed out, vaguely remembering a blonde girl with similar blue eyes as James.

He nodded, “Yes but you were supposed to be courteous since it was your family’s party. You know how it is in New York, people put up fronts to be liked. She thought you were just like the others.”

I blinked. That was the first time that I’ve heard of a negative first impression on me. It was always too spunky but terribly nice. Never in my life had I heard someone think ill of me, think that I’m putting up a front to be liked. James noticed my surprised and then casually placed an arm on my shoulder, pulling me closer to him.

“Don’t worry. I think you’re okay.”

I couldn’t help but smile at him. James was making this situation okay. I looked back at Jade and Caleb who both had a smug look, “You know, for this to be forced, you two are making it look so natural that you even have us believing it.”

I blushed at Jade’s comment, “Thanks, I guess.”

She giggled and then pulled me from James’ side and made me sit on the couch and she sat across from me. She studied me for a moment, “You know, I’ve always known that you were beautiful but I didn’t think that you’d be this gorgeous in person.”

I bit my lip, hoping that I didn’t turn red again because of the compliment, “Thank you.”

“You pose on so much magazine and hit the runway like it’s just the sidewalk yet you still blush after a compliment. Humble,” Jade mused, “Now, when James told me that you write, I was surprised so I did a little digging on you and found out you’re SealedwithaAKiss on FanFiction, w*****d and at Figment.”

I flashed an awkward smile at her, “I can, um-.”

She held up a hand, “You don’t need to explain. I find your one-shots endearing and I can’t stop reading Reincarnate.”

I smiled. I’m awkward when people compliment me for my looks but I take pride when people compliment my work, “Thank you.”

“So would you seal that story with us?” Jade said with a smile and my eyes widened.

For as long as I could remember, I’ve always wanted to have one of my works published, just even one, so I could share my mind to the world, share with them another universe and make them fall in love with words the way I’ve always had. And I’ve been trying to get published since I was in high school, searching the web for publishing sites, settling for online publishing and scouring New York for publishing houses that wouldn’t reject my stories. But I haven’t been that successful but nonetheless, I majored in English in college just so I could polish my writing skills in hopes of having it polished would have it accepted. But still, they kept on rejecting me, choosing dystopian stories over mine and so I just settled for online publishing through w*****d and Figment and sometimes in FanFiction when I’d get so crazy over a TV series. It doesn’t pay but it’s okay. I still prefer sharing my talent than getting profit from it.

“You’re serious?” I squeaked.

Jade laughed, “Yes, Adrianna. I’m serious. I don’t want other publishers lining up for Reincarnation. That story is a beaut and you have the comments and votes to prove it. Now imagine when it’s up on the shelf on your favorite bookstore.”

I felt James nudge me on the side, “Take it, Ria. It’s not every day you get an opportunity like this.”

And then suddenly it occurred to me that he might have had something to do with this. I looked at him with narrowed eyes, “Did you put them up for this?”

He raised his hands, “All I did was introduce you to her and let slip the fact that you write, she’s the one who did the stalking.”

“And for once in his life, he’s right,” Jade butted in, winking at me, “I did the stalking. I knew that there had to be some work on the internet that has your name on it. Every writer in this modern era does that.”

I smiled, “Thank you. But please tell me that it really is because of my work and not because of who I am. Because I’ve passed to others, using an alias and I kept on getting rejected.”

Caleb came forward and wrapped his arms around Jade, “We only accept real writers. My wife thinks your good and I trust her taste. A few of our authors are from w*****d and FanFiction and they have just as many readers as the others.”

“To be honest, I didn’t think that former VS angel Adrianna Stewart could write. I underestimated you. You’re just as good as the others and please, just say yes,” Jade added with a grin.

I winced when she mentioned that I was a former angel but was later replaced by a huge smile. I couldn’t help myself. I tackled her in a hug, “Yes!”

Giggling, we let go of each other, “Alright. We’ll set a meeting for next time to discuss what you need to edit and for the cover of your book. Okay?”

I was so excited I was sure I was beaming, “Okay!”

Jade smiled, “Alright. Put your contact number here and all other information. Don’t worry, I’ll keep it confidential and you might already want to use Parker as your last name there.”

She handed me a paper that asked for my personal information. Her last comment made me glance at James who was beaming at me, “It’s up to you if you want to use it.”

“Is it okay if I just use Stewart here?” I said softly, “I’m still kind of uncomfortable with using a different last name.”

He just smiled and nodded, “Sure, Ria. Whatever makes you feel okay.”