Nya, Rikland, and I walked into Fellowship Church the next morning at 8:45. They had their fingers interlaced with me behind them. Nya--wearing jeans and a flowy, bright yellow blouse--was leaning on Rikland who was wearing jeans and a nice button down shirt. They found our usual pew and sat down. I sunk down onto the end and watched the worship team as they played the usual song they did as we entered.
When I looked over, I saw Rikland smiling with his head bowed, whispering something to Nya. She giggled and tilted her chin up to peck her lips against his.
I smiled and moved my head forward again. I didn't mind third-wheeling them, especially since I hated going to church alone, but sometimes, they seemed to forget they were in a church.
As my eyes scanned the crowd, I saw Tiffany and Tyrella--twins that we talk to occasionally--walk in. They saw me and waved. I smiled and returned the gesture. They sat down a few rows behind ours on the other side.
The service began and continued as usual. Our pastor, a young man who was wearing his usual bold, purple shirt, read from the bible and led us in prayer. He told us stories and could make the congregation laugh and fall silent all in the same sentence. I liked him. He knew how to move the crowd.
After singing a parting song with the worship team and words from the pastor, the three of us left our pew and conversed with the rest of the congregation on our way out. Then, we took our two cars and did our usual stop at a local restaurant. I told them about Knox's date, not that I had much information myself. When I left this morning, he had been sleeping, so I didn't wake him to ask.
Then we got to talking about my book somehow. Nya was my reader and the one who provided the names of some of the publishers I used. Apparently, fashion designers knew people.
"What's going on? You haven't written in a while."
Fiddling with my drink, I said, "I don't think I like the story-"
"No," Nya whined. "You're not abandoning another story!" Obviously, this happens a lot.
I sighed. "But I'm stuck. I haven't written a page in over two weeks!"
"That doesn't mean you should give up. I like this one!"
I waved a hand. "It's cliche."
"But it's good," she pointed out.
"The writing is sloppy, the plot is mushy, and the love story is...weird. Not to mention, my main character is a borderline baby."
Nya paused. "Okay she is a little whiny-"
"See?!"
"But I still think it has potential." I wiped my face.
"I should just figure out a new plot."
"No," Nya persisted. "I will stop talking to you if you give up on this story."
"Nya..."
"Rewrite the beginning if you have to! Through a plot twist! Slow down the beginning! But don't start from square one!" As I considered this, Nya continued. "You only have like—what—three months to finish this thing?"
"The publisher said she needed it before the New Year, yes," I said quietly.
"And she liked the idea, didn't she?"
"Yeah..."
"And if a big-time publisher from NYC of all places likes the idea, then I think you should do it!" I inhaled, held my breath for a second, and sighed.
"Okay-"
"Yay! Good! Now, go home and get me information on this new girl in Knox's life. I want to tease him." I smiled at her. Always one for gossip. Next to her, Rikland smiled and began pulling out his wallet to pay. He reached for the bill.
"It's okay, Rikland," I said, moving for my purse. "I can pay for my own meal."
"You ordered water and a $7 salad. I think I got it." I would fight more with him, but the thing with Rikland is he always insisted on paying for everything. Not that he didn't have the funds. Nya told me his family in Italy was rich.
I gave him a warm smile. "Thank you, Rikland, and I'm sorry you had to sit through that."
He smiled back. "No problem." I gathered my things and thanked everyone again for the breakfast, telling Nya I'd call her later. Then, I left.
When I got back to the apartment, Knox was on the couch, watching whatever was on tv. I changed from my church outfit into sweatpants and a shirt. Plopping down on the ottoman, I prompted,
"So."
Knox sighed but didn't look at me. "So?"
"Who's this girl? You know, the one you're going out with on Saturday?"
He smiled and blew out a breath. "Her name is Ella. She's my head waitress at the restaurant."
"Ahh, okay, some boss and worker action. I see you. Rebellious."
Knox swung his legs from the couch and sat up. "No. No. It's not anything like that-"
"Oh? Friends to lovers?"
"Audrey-"
"Is it the kind of thing where there was like an attraction build up-"
"We just agreed to go out for drinks. We'll probably talk about cooking and I'll walk her home-"
"I don't know where she lives or what she likes, but you should take her through Michigan Avenue." One of my friends at work wrote an article about it last year. "It's safe and pretty if they remember to turn on the lights. Maybe then, you'll get laid."
His eyes widened. "What?!"
I shrugged. "You get grumpy when you haven't had sex."
Sorin stumbled over words. "Um, well, first of all-"
"It's nothing to be ashamed of-"
"I'm not ashamed of anything!"
"Well, good. Then take her to Michigan Avenue."
Knox paused. "Okay." He stood and began grabbing his jacket. "But just to be clear, I'm not doing this to get laid."
"Mmhm," I hummed, stifling a smile. "Where are you going? Going to see a certain someone?" Rolling his eyes, Knox shoved his keys into his pocket.
"I'm going to the grocery store. We're out of food."
"Are you going to the store with a certain someone?"
"Bye, Audrey."
I laughed. "Have fun! Make good choices!" He waved to me and left.
A second after the door closed, I got up and grabbed a nearly empty notebook I had lying around–it was supposed to be my daily journaling but that only lasted a few days–a pencil, and my computer. First, I reread the beginning of my story, Nya's words replaying in the back of my mind like a song you couldn't get out of your head. I cringed at my words, took notes on my poor world and character-building skills, and began planning.
It would be hours later than I had completed one page of the rewritten story. After a long time of thorough character boards, plot lines, and worldbuilding, I made a separate document, titling it "Rewrite 1" and spent another half hour thinking of my opening line. It had to be captivating and mysterious enough to interest readers. Finally, I settled on,
Elysia was to be married in three months, two months shy of her 18th birthday.
It wasn't perfect, but it would do for now. From there, the process was quick as the first page of my original draft only needed polishing. Now, since I had my first page done, I had to-
"Audrey." I looked up at my name. Knox held a bowl in his hands. "I called your name like five times." I slid my glasses–I only used them when I wrote–off and said,
"Sorry." He walked over to me and handed me the bowl. It looked like a fancy soup.
"Eat it." I raised a brow but handed him my computer.
"You're starting to sound like a Criminal Minds psycho, Knox," I said in a sing-song voice as I picked up the spoon. "What is this anyway?"
"Cassoulet," he responded. "It's a French dish. I have to make it for class and I need to make sure I did it correctly." I smirked and folded my legs under me, sitting up straighter.
"Well in that case..." I picked the bowl up and pretended to examine it. Then, in as best of a French accent as I could muster, I said, "Mmm, the présentation is adequate. I would've liked more of these... green leaf thingies on top-"
"Garnish," corrected Knox.
"-and a larger portion. This is not an apezitar. Other than that though, it smells great and I'm hungry as shit, so I give it an eight." I smiled at Knox, and without an accent, I asked, "How did I do?"
"Well I think you offended the entire French population, but the garnish part is noted." Still smiling, I began eating. It tasted as good as it looked and smelled, as everything Knox made did. Upon expressing my love for the dish, I told Knox to read my re-write, explaining to him my conversation with Nya.
"The first one was good too," he said as I sat down next to him with my second helping of this cassoulet thing. It really was amazing. "But I do like this one better. She's less..."
"Whiny?" I interrupted, shoving some of the cassoulets in my mouth. He nodded.
"Yeah. More relatable." I sighed.
"Thank God." After a moment more of staring at the screen, he said,
"Yeah, this is really good Audrey." I beamed.
"Thank you." He placed the computer back down onto the couch and got up. I assumed he was going to clean the kitchen.
Eating the last bite of the late lunch, I slipped my glasses back on and pulled my computer back on my lap. My fingers hit the keys, and I quickly fell back into the world of Elysia and castles and magic and romance.