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AUGUST 7TH, 2017 — ❝ I — LIKE — YOU. ❞
Greece was everything Eloise had imagined it to be.
The food was great, their hotel was wonderful, and sightseeing with Tom was even better. He understood that she wanted to take things slow, but Eloise was still afraid to tell him she was asexual.
The time will come, she reassured herself, the time will come and everything will be okay.
Right now, Tom was going to a shop to get Chris and Mark some souvenirs, which made Eloise laugh, but over the time of their trip, she'd been collecting souvenirs for her friends and father, too.
She was sitting on the couch on the balcony of their hotel room, that overlooked a cliff and the ocean. It was absolutely beautiful here. Eloise was currently jotting down ideas for a new novel, a fantasy novel that involved lots of traveling and a bit of romance. It was no secret that none of her books featured sex.
It also wasn't a secret that her science fiction and fantasy books weren't as beloved as her fiction books. Eloise looked up, remembering how people reacted to her first sci—fi—thriller, and put down her pen. The hate she'd received for that still upset her and made her uncomfortable.
So many people hadn't thought about how much time and energy she'd put into that book—it had been a spin off of Stars Awaken, an idea gifted to her by her father. People had called it unrealistic, for having three out of five characters coming from different races, one a robot, and another white.
Eloise had wanted to write a diverse novel, and so she had done so.
But the critics had plagued it with bad reviews, that the sequel practically drowned in them. There was supposed to be a graphic novel, and movie adaptation—but both of them had gotten canceled. It was a miracle the third and final book in the series had been published by Tor. If they hadn't, she would have had to self-publish it.
But, thankfully, in the year of 2017, it was being looked at for an adaptation. And she hoped it would be picked up.
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When Tom returned from the shops, he found Eloise in the kitchen of the tiny house they'd rented. "What are you making?"
"Oh, I'm just eating an orange," Eloise replied, turning around and showing him. He laughed, placing his bags on the table, and asked, "Did you get any writing done?"
"No, I got some planning done. I came up with a new idea for a book," Eloise replied, grinning. Tom came over, putting his arms on her hips, and exclaimed, "Ooh! Tell me about it!"
She laughed, and said, "Let's sit on the couch, and I'll show you what I have written down."
He smiled, and she set her orange on the counter, and then took his hand, leading him over to the couch on the balcony. "It's so beautiful here," Eloise said, sighing as they sat down. Tom smiled, sitting down next to her, and said, "I love it here. It never ceases to amaze me."
