Sleepless Nights

Chapter Five: Conditions

"Alright let's have a look." Hirose opened the folder of proposals directly after we rejoined Chief at the table. The first paper his eyes fell to was the romantic comedy. Without a word spoken, he flipped to the interview styled one. I was keeping a careful watch of his face, trying to see what he thought of them, but he did a good job of hiding his emotions. "What did you have in mind for this exactly?" He held up the interview proposal and looked to Chief.

He smiled and shifted the tie around his neck. "It would involve you writing a pure love novel based on one of our readers' real romantic experiences."

"Wouldn't that be considered a nonfiction?" When Chief nodded, Hirose skipped over to the masquerade one with drawn lips. My thoughts temporarily drifted to the daydream I had had in the car, but I quickly shook them out of my head. It wasn't the same as what I had been fantasizing about anyway. "A masquerade romance? I see..." He looked up from the papers to my crimson eyes. "Which one is yours Arrow?"

"Huh? Oh, it's this one." I reached forward and drew the paper I typed from the bottom of the pile. Finally we'd be able to hear his opinion.

As he read it over I actually saw something flash across his eyes, but I couldn't make out what it was. Was that a good or bad thing? Ugh, men. "A novel from a male perspective?"

"I've noticed that many of the books you've written were from a female view."

"To be more accurate, all of them are. But would that be acceptable in a women's magazine?"

Chief nodded in agreement. "If the demand was there..."

He continued to stare down at the paper, and I sighed a little. Guess it was no good after all. "Well, I've never written anything like all these proposals, but I wanted to bring up something else, Arrow."

"Yes?"

"The one thing I posed from our conversation earlier. What benefit is there for me to write a serial novel story in Cinderella?"

This question is starting to get on my nerves, especially since I don't have a real answer to it. "I think you could cultivate a new fan base." I fidgeted in my seat under the gaze Hirose was giving me.

He placed his right elbow on the table and rested his chin on his open palm, staring at me intently with a smirk. Of course he'd be looking smug about this; it's exactly what he predicted. "Oh?"

Well, if it's all we have I might as well milk it for all it's worth.

"I understand that our readers normally aren't the type to read novels," I saw Chief give me a wary look for the comment, but I continued regardless. "but I think your stories could capture their hearts and attention."

"And why do you think that?"

I opened my mouth to say something, but words had lost me. No! I was doing so well! I can't stop now! But what else could I possibly say?

"...'Yukari walked along with the lipstick in her hand...'" I started slowly. Hirose's eyes widened in the slightest. "...'Even when the deep red line stretching along the breakwaters got interrupted, she just kept walking.'"

"'Red on the Coastline', hm..." Hirose said, and I nodded.

"Yeah, it's my favorite scene in the whole book. A woman casted away takes the cap off the lipstick she got from the man who ignored her. Then she draws one long line along the breakwaters." Hirose listened to me patiently, his eyes never leaving mine as I continued. It was then I knew I had his full attention. "The first time I read your novel I got choked up from her misery and helplessness. Your works are full of things that really capture women's emotions accurately. That can take many forms, from scenes, to words, to episodes. In the end, it touches the hearts of the readers." I stopped to collect my thoughts for a brief second. "But no matter how amazing of a story it is, it's wasted if someone doesn't get a hold of it."