"Yes Max," Nicole said with a great deal of patience to her
editor, "I know it's been months between books. Give me a break, I just
finished moving."
The man's voice was gently amused, "Excuses, excuses." Max
continued on, "So how's living in the haunted house?"
"It's only been a few weeks," Nicole found herself smiling
slightly, "but we're getting along so far." A bit more briskly she
added, "I'll start writing again when I'm ready."
Max sighed softly, "You have to admit you've made some good
money on those books."
Nicole leaned on her desk, a puff of breath blowing her red hair
out of her eyes. "So did you, boss," she noted. She sat back with a sigh
of her own, "What can I say, maybe after writing ten novels about that
twit's search for a perfect love I'm just burned out."
There was a snort of laughter from her editor's New York office
as Max added, "Please don't let your fans hear you call her that, they
all love her." He paused, "I know you're no longer under contract for
new books, but ..."
"But?" Nicole prompted him once he trailed off, glad that she
was dressed in her most comfortable jeans and a T-shirt.
"It would be nice to wrap things up for the fans, somehow," Max
said. She could imagine the older man, a bit of gray in his hair as the
business suit clad figure sat back in his chair, "Why not do a final
book in the series, let her find her true love?"
Nicole raised an eyebrow, "It's not a bad idea." She paused, an
idea hitting her as she sat forward eagerly, "How's this for a story:
she comes home from her world travels, dispirited. She meets her first
love by chance, something seems to click, and they fall in love."
"Just don't make it a woman," Max said with real amusement in
his voice. "I always have to run through your manuscripts to make sure
that you've taken out all the 'hers' you use on your rough drafts," he
laughed.
"Hey, it works for me," Nicole chuckled. She tilted her head to
the side, "Max, do you remember that first manuscript I sent in, the one
you bounced?"
"Yeah?" Max asked, surprised.
"So how bad was it?" Nicole made herself ask, firmly closing her
eyes and bracing herself for hearing the worst.
"It wasn't," Max said honestly. "I didn't bounce it because it
was bad," he explained, "I couldn't take it because of the topic matter.
Lesbian romances are something my bosses are going to be interested in
publishing."
"Really?" Nicole blinked in surprise. She thought of what she
liked to jokingly call the great Canadian lesbian novel, now safely
stored away in a drawer, and smiled. It was pretty rough, she'd need to
rewrite, but maybe...
"If you want," Max offered, "I could give you the names of some
of the people I know over at Alyson. Though going through your
publishing agent might be a better idea." He paused, "If you do this,
are you using your real name?"
"Of course I will..." Nicole trailed off, "oh, I think I see
what you mean."
"Yeah, it could be interesting," Max agreed. "Could you hold off
publishing your book until the series ends?" he asked.
Nicole chuckled softly, "Okay, I'll get that book done for you
guys first, I promise. Then if I come out as a lesbian author, it
shouldn't hurt your sales so badly."
They chatted for a bit until an appointment arrived for him.
"Sorry," Max apologized, "I'll catch up with you later."
"Talk to you then," Nicole agreed as they hung up.
"So you're a writer," the soft voice said from right behind her,
nearly making Nicole jump out of her skin. She turned her chair around
to see Laura smiling slightly, her head tilted to the side.
"Try not to do that too often," Nicole shook her head, "can't be
good for my heart." She pushed a hand through her hair, "Yeah, I'm a
writer, though not of high literature."
"Like the dimestore novels," Laura nodded slightly. Her dress
was a simple country one this time, one of several that she seemed to
appear in. Why she shifted clothes, not to mention exactly how she did
it, still seemed to elude Nicole.
"Yeah, something like that," Nicole agreed.
"This machine," Laura peered at the computer, "it's like a
typewriter?"
"A bit more than that, but yeah," Nicole opened up her word-
processing program and typed something simple. Laura leaned in to look,
and a sudden spark seemed to leap out at the spirit even as the computer
promptly crashed.
"That hurt," Laura gasped, jumping backward.
"Are you all right?" Nicole demanded as she jumped out of her
chair to go to her side.
"I think so," Laura looked visibly shaken. She held the hand
that the spark had struck as she murmured, "I haven't had anything hurt
me, since.."
"I'm sorry," Nicole found herself saying. 'I guess ghosts have
an electromagnetic field,' she mused, 'one that computers don't like.'
"It's not your fault," Laura shook her head before smiling
ruefully, "I think I shall stay away from your machine, though." With
that, she began to fade.
"Wait, I..." Nicole started, but it was too late, the spirit was
gone without a trace. She walked back over to the computer while
muttering, "Damn."
Nicole started the computer back up, glad she hadn't been
working on anything when it crashed. She opened a few word files just in
case, and was relieved to see the older documents had suffered no damage
from whatever had happened.
"Well, time to get to work," Nicole opened up a new file,
tentatively titling it 'Finale.' She began with an airplane landing, a
young woman who was coming home after spending years away, and soon she
was lost to her work once again.
Bing-Bong! The sound of a bell jerked Nicole away from her
screen, blinking away the lights. The sun was setting outside, and
Nicole realized she'd been typing for hours. She got up, stretching out,
then stumbled out of the room.
"Yes?" Nicole opened the front door, blinking at the stranger
standing there.
"Hi," the brown haired woman beamed, her glasses catching the
light. A long braid swung down her back, and her clothes were just a bit
scruffy as she continued, "I'm Sam Davis, from the local Welcome Wagon."
"Davis," Nicole blinked, "you aren't related to that Realtor,
are you?"
"Big brother," Sam shrugged, "Mom and Dad had a thing about
names starting with s." She picked up a box sitting at her side, "I come
bearing junk from stores in town!"
Nicole found herself chuckling at the girl's odd attitude. "It's
been a few weeks since I moved in," she looked at her curiously.
"It took me some time to get up my nerve," Sam looked just a bit
sheepish as she added, "Simon told me about the ghost and all."
"Well, if you can brave the ghost," Nicole waved her inside,
"you can come inside."
Sam adjusted her grip on the box and smiled, "Lead the way." The
two of them walked inside, Sam looking around curiously as they went.
"What a nice place," she beamed.
"I like it," Nicole agreed as they walked into the kitchen. As
Sam put the box down on the table she asked, "So what junk are you
bringing me?"
"Food samples," Sam pulled out various packages, "free candles
from the new age shop, a flier for our local Unitarian church, phone
books, a local calendar, coupon books, and a temporary membership card
for our local Coles Books."
"Hmm, snack food," Nicole picked up the bags of chips with a
smile. She tilted her head to the side, "So what is there to do here?"
"Not much," Sam admitted, "there's a pub, the library has a
pretty good book club, and we have a movie theater that gets hits about
two weeks after they come out."
"Well, I wanted quiet," Nicole smiled.
"Uhm," Sam blushed slightly, "there's something I wanted to ask
you."
"Yeah?" Nicole raised an eyebrow.
Blushing even brighter Sam asked, "Are you the same Nicole
Richards who's a novelist? My brother Simon said that you were a
writer..."
Nicole hesitated, then mentally shrugged as she answered, "Yes,
I am."
Sam beamed, "That's so cool! I'm president of the book club, and
we were just reading 'Love's Trial' a few weeks ago!" She was about to
say more when her eyes got as large as saucers.
Nicole turned to see Laura standing there, looking at Sam
curiously. "Sam, meet Laura," she introduced them with a smile.
"Hi," Sam squeaked out nervously.
Laura looked at the young woman thoughtfully, then her form
gradually faded out. "Well, that was interesting," Nicole said as she
heard a soft thump.
Sam had fallen over in a dead faint.
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