ChapterTwenty-Five
OAKLEIGH
Ididn’t see it. I didn’t see it. I didn’t see it.
And yet, here I am reading it. Again and again and again.
From:[email protected]
Dear Miss Michaels,
I hope this email finds you well. I am writing to you today as I was handed the first three chapters of your romantasy novel, Time Saves No One, and I knew I needed to email you personally.
I am in love with these chapters! The concept of the novel is inspiring and the tension in that third chapter alone had me hooked. I am all but begging you to send me more!!
If it is not yet completed, this is fine. Can you send this over ASAP? I’m desperate for more!
Best,
Janelle Parsons
Right in front of me in black and white. It’s right in front of me. Someone didn’t just like what I sent them, they loved it. And not just anyone, Janelle freaking Parsons!
“Holy shit,” I breathe out.
I read it once more, each word seeming more and more like a dream that I never want to wake up from.
She seriously wants the rest of what I’ve written?
“Holy shit!”
I close my mail app and shut my laptop with a rough snap. I all but throw it onto the table and sink further into my couch, putting some much-needed distance between myself and the email.
Not right now. I can’t deal with this right now. It’s too real, toosurreal.
I decide that some chamomile tea would be a good place to start when trying to calm down and quell my frayed nerves. I pour myself a cup with shaky hands, rush after rush of adrenaline coursing through my veins.
My phone is in my hand before I can even think, typing out a message that I send off straightaway.
I need help.
Not even two minutes later, Finn replies.
Dumbass
I’ll be there in ten.
You work twenty minutes away.
Dumbass
You’re worth the speeding ticket ;)
My smile eases my coiled muscles ever so slightly. He always seems to know the right thing to do. Finn’s flirting, while mostly cheesy, never fails to make me laugh.
And he’s definitely not a liar, because ten minutes later, my doorbell goes off. When I open the door, I’m met with a very serious-looking Finn. He’s wearing a plain black tee, worn jeans and workman’s boots, and I’ve never found simple so agonizingly good.
