With Love

Chapter 4

"Hi Anna, can you please put me through the James?" I politely ask Anna, my editor James' Personal Assistant. "Tell him it's Sophia," I add on quickly.

"Of course Sophia, one moment." She sweetly chirps back, I can't see her but I know she's beaming through the phone - she's possibly the sweetest person I've ever met. You should befriend her, I tell myself. She works for James, she doesn't even have time to wipe her damned ars-

"Sophia!" James snaps through the phone, my heart feels like it's in my throat. "How's my least favourite author in all of New York City?" He asks sarcastically.

"Ah, I've missed your smart arse remarks." I sigh through the phone. "I haven't had a chance to read your emails, I was out last night an-"

"Sophia," his voice softens. Oh no, I wince through the phone, you're about to get bad news - my subconscious chimes in. "Look, the books great, you're great, don't get me wrong." He sucks in a deep breath of air before finishing his sentence, "But this last chapter is just lacking... passion," Ouch.

I almost don't know how to response, "please elaborate?" I ask.

"Sweetheart, the sex was subtle. The passion and... and romance just wasn't there. I wanted to be on the edge of my seat - waiting," he struggled to find the words. "And I just wasn't," he sighs.

"I can edit the chapter?" I suggest, my bottom lip so tightly sucked between my teeth.

"I would prefer if you took a month and re-wrote the chapter completely if I'm being honest, I've pulled some strings and we can hold off the release for another six weeks." His voice sounds unsure, but he's persistent. Rewrite the whole chapter? I take a deep breath, frustration running through my veins.

"Okay, So..." I trail off, "more passion?" I ask.

"As a writer, your experiences can sometimes shine through into your writing. A lot of the time that's great, but if your life is lacking passion and romance, then it's going to show through in your writing, too. I suggest you go and find some. Even if it's temporary, get tinder darling!" He says, accentuating the 'darling'.

"Noted," I assure him. "Can you please email me a summary of this feedback so I can have something to go back to?" I ask, picking my nails frantically.

"Sure... Anna, Anna!" I hear him shout in the background. "Email Sophia, quote, passion and romance - end quote. Thank you sweetheart!" He shouts once more. "Sophia are you there?" He asks.

"Yes," I say.

"Okay, one month from today so... December twenty fourth - Christmas Eve, I need your final chapter." His tone suddenly serious.

"Yes, I will spare no romance and no passion." I assure him. The phone call ends abruptly, my face falls into my hands as I lean against the steering wheel of my car, I let out a breathy sigh. My chest feels heavy, James wasn't a horrible boss to have, in fact he's one of the most valuable people in my life and New York City. He just expects a lot, which isn't a negative. He turned down my first novel five times before publishing it, manuscript after manuscript after manuscript and I finally got good news. I was still luckier than post Authors and Authors-to-Be,
some books I've read weren't published over ten years. If he hadn't of turned it away five times, it might not have been as good as it was when he finally released it and it mightn't of ever taken off like it did, I owe him my career if anything. But like any boss, sometimes they make you just want to scream.

I look out my windscreen, rain starts pattering against is softly. Great, even the sky's crying for you. I let out a scream, a real vocal scream. I debate on punching my steering wheel but logic wins the argument, passion and romance. It's not hard to find in New York right? Wrong. Sex And The City depicted a large facade of what finding 'love' in New York City looks like... why me? Why now? I ask myself. I decide to wait out the rain, sunshine peering through over the skyscrapers indicates this rain will pass quickly. I pull my laptop from it's satchel and it automatically connects to my phone's hotspot, I love modern technology.