Page 9 of Inked Nights

Olivia snorted since Alice sounded serious, but her friend got to this point in her work at least once a project, and it was Olivia’s job to calm the other woman down. The two had only met once in real life but they talked almost daily. Alice was a few inches taller than Olivia, far more slender, and her skin was a few shades darker. When the two had met at a conference, according to Alice, they’d turned heads since, apparently, they made a sexy picture. Olivia, as usual, hadn’t noticed. But that’s why she had Alice. One of the many reasons.

“You always say that, and then you end up loving the book. You’re at the middle, aren’t you?”

“Why do books even need a middle? Why can’t it just begin, they have sex, and then boom, ending? Those are so much easier to write.”

“And yet you come to me while you’re looking at a blank page, asking why books need a beginning. And then again at the ending where you say you just want to blow everything up or throw them into bed and call it a day. I know how you work, missy.”

“Don’t throw my words back in my face. I’m not supposed to make any sense. I’m an author.”

They both laughed, and Olivia sank back into her chair, her head still throbbing but not as much as before. She was going to count that as progress.

“You’re a dork. But that’s why I love you.”

“I love you, too. But why is writing so hard? I mean, we’re in what century now? Why can’t we just plug our brains into our computer and just get all of our thoughts right out of our minds and onto the screen?”

“You say that, but I’ve seen a movie with that plot, and it didn’t end well for the humans.”

“Well, it would if it were my books. It’s all angst and intrigue with steamy sex and a happily ever after. The world needs more happily ever afters.”

That was the truth. And, of course, on that thought, Derek once again slipped into Olivia’s mind, and she did her best not to think too hard about him. Some part of her had once thought that their once-a-month meetings could perhaps be something more. Another part of her had thought that keeping it at once a month kept her safe.

She’d been wrong on both counts because she was never going to see him again. Not when she could hurt him by making him remember.

She’d already hurt herself by doing that.

“You there, Olivia?”

Alice’s voice brought her out of her thoughts, and she cleared her throat. “Sorry. Just thinking.”

“You’re always thinking. Same as me. And while we occasionally trail off mid-sentence because we’re in our heads, I don’t think that was the case this time. What’s wrong?”

That was the problem when your best friend knew you so well. Alice tended to know Olivia’s moods before she did. The fact that Alice could do that without knowing Olivia’s past spoke well of Alice’s talents, but Olivia wasn’t going to share everything, not yet. She needed to tend to her own thoughts and figure out what she was going to do about these new revelations before she shared anything with Alice.

“Nothing’s wrong. Just thinking about work.” A lie. And she hated herself for it, but she wasn’t ready to tell Alice everything.

She wasn’t sure if she ever would be.

“I know that’s not one hundred percent true, but I’m going to let it slide because you know as soon as you’re ready to talk about it, I’m here. You and I do best when we don’t push each other and know our boundaries.”

Olivia let out a relieved sigh, aware that Alice could hear it as well. She loved the other woman, and what she loved most about her was that she respected Olivia’s need for privacy. She did the same for Alice, and that was why the two of them worked so well as friends.

“Thanks.”

“No problem. And now I have an idea for the middle part of the book. Talk to you later.”

Olivia didn’t even have a chance to say goodbye before Alice was off the phone and onto her book. That was her friend, completely in the zone when she wanted to be even if she was a distraction from Olivia’s work at the same time. It was okay, though, because her watch buzzed at that moment, reminding her to move. Her job required her to sit for long periods of time, staring at a computer—and ruining her body in the process.

She would just go for a walk, clear her head, and then come back to finish up the end. If she focused, she could finish today and get the book out well ahead of time. That was always her favorite thing to do, but she also did her best not to get authors used to that in case she got behind, or the book took longer than expected. The latter usually happened with fantasy books because the world was so vivid she either got lost in it or had to break it apart to make sure it flowed. She loved it, but it was even more of a headache than the one currently running rampant through her brain.

After making sure she’d hit save one more time on her project, she closed her laptop and went to her bedroom to find her shoes. Since she was already wearing leggings and a tank, she was pretty much always ready to work out. Not that she wore them for that reason, but the practicality of not having to change was nice. She couldn’t run in the bra she was wearing, but with the size of her breasts, it took two sports bras at a minimum to keep herself from bruising her chin.

She was pretty sure it had happened once, and explaining boob strain and bruised chins to people wasn’t something she ever wanted to do.

Not again.

She pulled on a light jacket and made her way outside, putting in her headphones so she could listen to an audiobook rather than hearing the sound of her feet hitting the pavement. If she had to listen to that, then she wouldn’t walk, and she’d end up lazing about, working and slowly growing horizontally. If she were ever to run—something she only did when she contemplated the zombie apocalypse and reminded herself that she needed to at least be fast enough to outrun them—she had to put on loud music rather than a book.

Olivia was a little kooky, but she was fine with that. She’d long since realized she’d be the crazy cat lady living alone as she worked at home. She just needed a cat—something she was going to do soon, but she hadn’t found the right one at the shelter yet. Plus, she was still getting over losing her other cat last year and didn’t want to bring about change so quickly.