The Author and Her Bodyguard

Chapter 45

"If you promise not to scream, I'll remove my hand," Kristie hissed, nails digging into my skin. I nodded, having ZERO intention of keeping that promise. Who would actually be honest about that? Belle and Amy each slowly took a step back, letting me go.

"I don't get it, Kristie. You guys sent in my story to the magazine. You are the reason I got my agent," I said once she let my face go. I could still feel the imprints her nails left behind.

"We sent in your story to the magazine AS A JOKE!" she snapped. "You were so obsessed with storytelling. Always wanting more writing assignments. Always talking about the stories you were writing. You ended up getting the entire English class to get double the homework! I never saw a teacher so irritatingly inspired by a student's desire to learn."

I blinked. "A joke?"

"Yes! You were supposed to get a rejection letter from the magazine! Something that would get you to cool your jets and stop talking about stories, books, and your stupid goal of getting published! It was supposed to be a wake-up call that you SUCKED!"

Even though I shouldn't have been surprised, her words still hit me like a slap across the face. The three of them had inspired my journey... but it had all been a joke. Sanders took me on as a client because they sent in a story to a magazine as a joke. I would have laughed at how utterly stupid it all was if I wasn't afraid of getting strangled with my morphine drip tube.

"But YOU. GOT. PUBLISHED. IN. THAT. DAMN. MAGAZINE." Kristie said each word slowly, through gritted teeth. "And it just... snowballed."

"Why did you ask me to live with you?" I asked confused. "When you all moved into an apartment together, you asked me to be your fourth roommate."

"Well... we needed a fourth roommate for money reasons. And we wanted someone we could make fun of. A common enemy. And honestly, I wanted to see what would happen when you started to submit your first novel." She crossed her arms, brow furrowed as she glared down her nose at me. "We read the first draft of your novel on your computer once while you were out. It SUCKED. Who gives a shit about a mermaid falling in love with a pirate?"

Millions of readers, I thought.

I didn't appreciate her attacking my readers, or Ara, my main character. Ara may not have been real, but she was real to me. And I felt a mamma bear level territorial-ness for her and every single reader that had taken the time to read my stories and leave me comments.

"Then you actually sold it and moved out and all we got was an acknowledgment in your first book."

"What else could you possibly have wanted?" I asked, exasperated.

"You have done nothing but trip up the ladder! While we," she said motioning to the three of them. "Can hardly get ANY JOBS!" Kristie took in a deep breath to calm herself, adjusting her hair so it sat gracefully against her shoulders. "You knew we were actresses. You could have offered us parts in your movie. But we had to audition with everyone else and we didn't even get a part!"

I sat up, glaring at them, my heart racing rapidly. Rage roaring through my veins. "So you are mad that I did well and you didn't? YOU COULD HAVE JUST TOLD ME! BUT INSTEAD, YOU TRY AND RUIN MY LIFE?!? ARE YOU ALL INSANE!?!"

My body shook, from exhaustion and rage, a cocktail that would lead to dangerous actions if I wasn't careful. My voice was quiet, each word corded with venom. "You act like I was holding out on you. Like I had all this power to change your lives. To give you jobs. But you had decided I had more than I should. And you tried to hurt me before you even realized I had a movie coming out. So don't you DARE sit there like you are the victims. It is not my fault that you started all of this with a cruel joke that ended up being a blessing for me."