Lost

Julia ocean child calls me.

                 

                 

                                                                                             Chapter 4

"Jenna, follow me!" Ana shouted at her assistant. The office was a buzz as everyone worked on the final details for a show. "What's my schedule today?" she asked the young college intern who acted as her personal secretary of sorts.

"Jim needs to talk to you and you have a phone call on line one."

"Great. I'll talk to Jim now and tell the person on the phone to chill for a sec."

"Well, it's your editor," Jenna said barely above a whisper.

Ana froze in her step. She took a deep breath before saying, "I'll be quick."

She continued in the direction of her boss's office. After a few quick knocks, he welcomed her in and she took a seat across from him.

"Ana, I wanted to personally congratulate you on getting a green light for you show." He smiled knowing she hadn't heard the news yet.

Ana's heart soared. "Which one? Who picked it up?" She had a thousand questions raging through her mind.

"History Channel loved your idea of the real life Lara Croft. Eva Hollings will make a great TV character and her travels will be perfect to draw in female viewers. You really nailed this one on the head. I am proud of you."

Ana's cheeks flushed in embarrassment.  She could hardly believe that she would be the Executive Producer of her first TV show. "Thank you so much, Jim! Seriously, thanks for the opportunity." The words barely stumbled out, but her boss smiled and continued to reassure her that the glory was all hers.

"Well, get out there and start planning! We need to begin shooting before October and your first destination is Cambodia so you'll need quite a few permits."

Ana nodded enthusiastically. "Absolutely, on it! Right now!" she reassured him as she left his office. Her grin stretched from ear to ear. A few of her coworkers stared at her, but all she could manage was a slight nod and a broad smile. After 5 years in the industry, she finally had her big break.

When she got to her office, Jenna motioned to the phone reminding her of the call on line one. Ana quickly moved into her office and shut her door.

She picked up the receiver and said, "Hello, Brenda." Her voice wasn't necessarily devoid of emotion, but she also wasn't really ever happy hearing from her editor.

A few years before, Ana had published her first book, a memoir, and it did fantastically well. In fact, it helped her pay off her school loans and take a month long work sabbatical through Europe. In addition, she still received royalties each month.  However, ever since the success of the book her editor had been pressing her to get another memoir out as soon as possible. Normally all would have been fine, but she had writer's block.

The voice at the other end of the phone shared the same sentiment. "Hello, Juliana. I hope I am not interrupting you."

Ana cringed as she heard her first name. Years before, she had decided to go by Ana rather than the full Juliana. However, when it came time to pick an author name, her editor suggested and basically chose Juliana Stone. Her full birth name.

Despite her hate for her first name, Ana tried her best to remain pleasant and not allow the annoyance to seep through.

"Not at all. " there was an awkward pause before she laid in, "Look, Brenda, lets skip the chit chat and get to the point. You want another story, right?"

"It's been over a year, so it's time for a new memoir. You are still on the up end of the wave, so now is the perfect time to release another story."

"I don't have anything. Not sure what to tell you." Ana said apathetically.

"Really, anything would do at this point." Brenda said.

"I am not going to write for the sake of writing." Ana added.

"Look, here is the deal, either you have a story for me in 4 months or we cut you from the publishing company. It's really that simple."

"Tough love, huh?" Ana asked.

"That's why you don't become a writer, kid. It's all about numbers. Just get me a story." Brenda quickly hung up before Ana could add another quip.

It wasn't like she hadn't tried thinking of something. She'd even started a few chapter ones. In fact, on her computer she currently had six documents with Chapter One labeled that were accompanied with at least one sentence. After that, her brain froze and she couldn't write anything else. Each document is a different memoir, but none of them could bring Ana past the introduction. She sighed and placed her head in her hands. The idea of being hounded by an editor, which often times seemed like a nagging mother, never occurred to her when she entered the writing world. In fact, writer's block never seemed like a possibility since she had so many ideas, at one time.

A gentle unsure knock on her door snapped her back to reality.  Ana looked up from her desk and saw Jenna holding an envelope and staring at her from the other side of the glass door. She motioned for the girl to enter.

"Sorry to bother you. I forgot to mention that you have mail from Kansas." Jenna handed the crème colored envelop to her.

Ana nodded and Jenna took the cue and left. Ana studied the envelop for a few seconds before opening it. She slowly read the invitation that informed her of her upcoming high school 10-year reunion.

She groaned loudly and started ripping the card into pieces. Her sudden raise in volume startled her assistant who quickly stood up and barged into the office.

"Are you okay? What is something bad? I am so sorr-"

Ana cut off the girl, "Jenna, stop. It's fine. Just...book me a flight...to Kansas."

As the girl left and sat at her desk searching the airline sites, Ana leaned back in her chair and swept the remains of the card in her garbage can.  She couldn't help but think to herself, "If there was ever an amazing day, it is today. But if there was every an awful day, it, too, is today."

Her mind drifted to the last time she had been in Kansas. It was six years prior and right before she accepted her first job. The distance and time changed her. A surge of pain shot through her chest as she thought of the last summer night in her hometown. Who knew friendships could hurt so deeply?

With a quick shake of her head, Ana dismissed the thoughts and began writing an email to the production team. If there was anything that could help her forget the pain, it was the legalities of obtaining an international filming permit.

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Thanks for reading!!! I am so excited to bring you the adventures of these four girls. I know these past few chapters have been a bit boring since they are mainly introductory, but things will get crazy soon.

Also, a quick reminder that every Tuesday will be an update day for Lost, so keep your eyes peeled for a new chapter!!

This past weekend I got to debut my story at the First Annual Story Fair. During the event I played a game with my readers, so I want to dedicate the next few chapters to them because they shared their awesome adventures with me.