She leads me into a small, lit room. In the corner is a pyramid of pot plants, and on the left piles and piles of papers.
"Please do sit, um," She points to a small wooden chair.
"Marc," I smile.
"Hello Marc," her face brightens, "I'm Jennifer."
"Nice to meet you." I nod gently.
She had a sharp lilac haircut, and small oval shades that made her look as if she was as young as me, but the wrinkles around her eyes told me otherwise. She looked friendly enough.
"Nathaniel told me you have some sample work for me?"
"Ah y-yes," I stumble, shifting around my bag franticly.
"Here," I almost yell, handing her a tattered, stained, black notepad.
"Thank you," she says slowly, the creases around her mouth folding as she smiles. It seemed like a fake one. But that was okay, I was used to them.
She flicks through the thick pages, the sound of papyrus on papyrus seeming like the only noise in the building.
It was so nerve-racking and I grip my left arm with my right hand, sinking my black nails into it.
She taps her own nails on the side of her wooden desk, long chrome talons shifting impatiently.
My heart thumps frantically, my head pounding with thought,
This is my only chance of getting my work published, there is no way anybody else would want work from such a young person, the older generations just don't trust us you know?
Nathaniel's Mom's friend was the only person that was willing. Jennifer holds our entire publishing career in her hands.
"Interesting," she mutters.
I peel my focus away from the book, and scan Jennifer's desk for anything else I can shift my thoughts to.
Right in my view, below a cascading round succulent sits a tall, green wine bottle.
Well if she was trying to camouflage it in there it wasn't a very good hiding place, even from ten meters away you could probably see the almost finished crimson red liquor. The colour was just so intense.
In the centre of it is a tiny golden label I couldn't completely make out.
All I saw was Merlot and some other numbers and minuscule words.
It looked fancy as hell.
"Well Marc," A sweet voice coos, dragging my eyes from the wine to the person to which the voice belongs.
"I think it's a very good plot and I'm hoping to see more," She grins, handing me the book.
I grab it from her and slam it down on the table in shock.
I frown.
MORE?
Does this woman know how hard Nathaniel and I have been working on this?
That's all we have, it took us two bloody years.
"W-what do you mean?" I manage to spit out.
"Well you can't just come in here with a plot and a few samples, we need the entire story," She adds, "Marc."
"But that's what we have. Anne said it would be enough, I-"
She cuts me off, "I understand, I was once a budding author myself, you know," She grins at me with bright red lips.
I feel bubbles explode in my stomach; it felt like a cauldron,
No, like the singeing tongues of a fire.
This woman has no idea what I have been through to complete even half of that journal.
I push my notepad to the side, slamming my elbows on the desk and sliding myself closer to meet the caked-on face of Jennifer.
"Please, at least tell me what it's worth? How good is it?"
She sighs.
"Do I stand a chance?" I say.
She laughs lightly.
"Against what's out there?" She stands up, signalling to the large window behind her, overlooking Paris.
I nod sheepishly.
"Maybe," She smiles.
"But you're lucky. There's nothing else out there quite like Nathaniel's and your work. Everybody's too scared to try it," She says.
"Try what?" I question, why do people always have to speak in riddles to me??
Do they think they're Jesus or something?
"You know, taking the lives of two people you know, Ladybug and Chat Noir," She swishes her hands around, "And making a story about them, without knowing what they're lives are really like, or what they're really like as a person."
I mean I have to agree. Maybe we might get lucky, Nathaniel and I.
"I like you Marc," She watches me intently as I stare out the window.
"You're different."
"Thanks," I croak.
Jennifer extends her hand, and I shake it.
She then reaches for the wine bottle and guzzles the rest of the Merlot in one go.
I lift up my bag and start walking out of the room, fixated on getting to Nathaniel. Fast.
author's note:
SO I'M NOT VERY GOOD AT DOING ENTIRE NOVELS AND I LIKE TO WRITE ONE SHOTS. I WANT TO USE THIS PLOT SO IM GOING TO TRY A NEW WRITING STYLE. READ MORE AT MY NEW ACCOUNT:
YOU ARE READING
Colour- NathanielxMarc
Adventure"The whole world was black and white, but we were in screaming colour"- Taylor Swift
