Bright City Lights

Chapter 2-1

2

Anna

I called Maria back and acted really surprised when she told me that they were considering casting Rob Masters as the male lead. She wanted to throw me a celebration dinner that night for the book’s success and talk about going on another book tour. I hung up and called out to James to tell him.

“That was Maria. She had some great news for me. We’re going out to celebrate tonight!”

He didn’t respond, and I didn’t want to bother him if he was busy working on his book. Unlike me, James’ work had yet to be published, even though I thought he was a brilliant writer. A few times it had set him off into a dark mood when I’d had something good happen, like a renewed contract or an invitation to speak at an event, and we’d fight over something ridiculous. I knew it wasn’t about the dishes or forgetting to replace the toilet paper roll. I knew what he was thinking; I was even thinking it sometimes. That my chick-lit books were getting published, and his deep and intelligent literary works weren’t. By now, I knew better than to disturb him when he was writing. I scribbled him a note and left to go back to the café to pay for my coffees and find my scarf.

The sun had broken through the clouds, and I inhaled the warm spring air, thinking to myself how much I loved London and my life. Pretty much every one of my dreams had come true, and judging by this morning’s news, it seemed to be getting even better. As I turned the corner, I couldn’t figure out whether I hoped Rob Masters would still be at the café or not. I had butterflies in my stomach, that much I knew.

When I got to the café, he wasn’t there, and I had a sinking feeling of disappointment in the pit of my stomach, where butterflies had fluttered just moments ago. Oh well, I’d probably used up this day’s luck, anyway. While I waited for Susan to finish with her customer I checked my phone for messages.

James: Sorry, babe, I’m on a roll with the writing, but have fun with Maria!

His message annoyed me—I wanted him there with me to celebrate this milestone. Another part of me understood him completely. When you’re on a roll with the writing there’s nothing better, and a writer’s life is almost never uninterrupted writing time where things just flow.

Susan lit up when she saw me and came down to my end of the counter, her black curly hair dancing around her head like a halo.

“I forgot to pay for the lattes. I’m so sorry!”

She waved her hand dismissively. “Doesn’t matter. The lovely Mr. Masters paid them for you!” Her brown eyes sparkled with excitement.

“What?” I had trouble understanding what she was saying. Why had he paid for my coffees? He didn’t even know me. How was I going to pay him back?

“Yup, he even took your scarf and promised to come back with it tomorrow. I told him you’re here every morning.” She looked as excited as I was. “If you ask me, I think you made quite an impression on him.”

I cracked up even though I didn’t want to. “Susan, you’re delirious! He obviously just has manners!” I struggled to put my “serious face” back on as I glanced at the message from James.

“I wanted to ask you, since James can’t go, if you want to go with me to a dinner tonight.” I told her about the book, the film, and the possibility that Rob Masters was going to immortalize one of my characters on screen. My mood rose again as I forgot my earlier disappointment. This dinner might bring me and Susan closer. I would love to become good friends and imagined how much fun we’d have together. This morning’s stupid fight, and the sting of James’ choice to write over celebrating my success, subsided as Susan talked outfits for tonight.

“You should wear something gold to signal success,” she said, staring into the distance, her eyes sparkling with an inner vision.

“I don’t think I have anything gold.” I mentally went through the part of my closet that wasn’t still in boxes.

“Something silver then. I can lend you a dress, but this occasion calls for some bling, don’t you think?”

I thought Susan would look fabulous in silver with her dark complexion, so I said, “You should wear the silver dress, I have a dark green one I’ll wear and I’ll bling it up with some jewels.”

“Perfect, green will really bring out your auburn hair.” She smiled, pleased with herself having sorted out our outfits for the night.

The dinner was full of champagne and handshakes with people I didn’t know. In fact, I only knew Maria, my editor Nelly, and Susan. It was a fun but weird experience, having strangers toast to your success. But I appreciated their enthusiasm on my behalf and decided that it was all fully earned, so I should soak it up while it lasted. Tomorrow it was back to butt in chair, hand on keyboard, grinding something out for the new draft of the next book.

* * * *

Next morning, I woke up with a hangover. Too much champagne and only a few hours of sleep made the girl in the mirror less fabulous than I’d hoped for today. I showered and took my time finding the perfect outfit because I wanted to look good for Rob Masters. I shouldn’t want to look good for anyone other than James, but I felt like I was back in school and wanted to present my best side, in case that boy I had a crush on noticed me at the lunch break. Nothing wrong with flirting, I thought to myself as I got dressed. Black skinny jeans, paired with a loose white T-shirt, and a black cardigan. I pulled up my hair in a high ponytail, and put on a coat of mascara, and just a touch of raspberry lip gloss.

“I’m leaving, see you later!” I yelled to James as I stuck my feet into my red sneakers and grabbed my coat.

When I got to the door he was still in bed; I didn’t want to leave without kissing him goodbye. I went back to the bedroom, leaned over and kissed him on the forehead. He swatted me away and rolled over to the other side.

“Hrmpfr! I’m sleeping!” He’d gone to bed after me, having spent the entire night in front of the computer, writing on his next book. This was a good sign. His mood would surely be better now that he’d cracked the writer’s block.