AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Melody: I know, there’s just something about you…
Jeremy: We definitely need to meet. Think about the Valentine’s wedding and let me know, okay? It might be prudent to have a plan outside the house for while your mom is there. In case you need to get away.
Melody: Good idea. I’ll let you know.
After they bid each other farewell, TJ walked out of the locker room to the climbing wall, his chest heavy with the revelations Melody had unloaded on him. Once again he felt rejected by how much of herself she had kept from him. She didn’t trust him enough to tell him her story. The goodandthe bad.
And it was bad. Way worse than he’d ever imagined.
“Lord, help me to help her.”
When she found out she’d been duped by him, it would be no help at all.
He shrugged the unwelcome truth away as he used his upper body strength to scale the wall, pulling himself up with one handhold. He’d cross that bridge when he got there. At this point, Melody needed him to be Jeremy.
Three days later at work, he was laser-focused on the manuscript in front of him. He had to use his time with greater efficiency than normal this week due to leaving early for play practice daily. There didn’t seem to be much else in life besides work and acting. But since the latter put him in Melody’s presence for prolonged periods each day, he wasn’t complaining.
“TJ?” A firm rap attempted to sound on his padded divider. He craned his neck. Gary, Senior Acquisitions Editor, stood in his doorway. “I’m putting out the word that Anne Marie has accepted a position in Portland at an affiliate publishing house. Her spot is open if you know anyone interested in applying. Let me know.”
TJ’s mouth flapped open. Anne Marie was one of the junior acquisitions editors. The job he wanted. The job he’d prayed for and longed for and hoped for.
Hewas interested.
He tried to form the words.Me. I want the job. I’m your man.But he stopped. He was only a line editor. He didn’t have the experience they would want. Wouldn’t they require someone with content editing under his or her belt? Prior acquisitions on the resume?
Gary would laugh in his face. Or kindly tell him to apply and then get a good chuckle when he saw his resume. How embarrassing would it be getting rejected for a job within his own company? How would he face his coworkers? How could he keep coming to work?
“Uh, sure. Yeah. If I think of anyone, I’ll…pass the word.”
“Great. Keep up the good work.”
Then he disappeared, announcing the job to the occupant of the next cubicle, and TJ sank his forehead into his fist.Coward.
“That went well.”
At the dry, feminine voice, he swiveled around so fast he started to tip his chair before righting himself with his foot. “What are you doing here?” He gawked at Melody standing where Gary had just been, then ripped his reading glasses off his face. He only wore them at work. The hours upon hours of close reading had led to focusing issues in both eyes. Wearing the glasses kept headaches at bay.
“Put them back on.”
He looked between her and the glasses in his hand. “These?”
“Yes.”
He did as told, aware the cubicles around him had grown significantly quieter. He had an audience. It wasn’t as if Melody had never visited him at work before. But it had been a good number of years.
“I like it. You look like a real writer now. Speaking of…”
He shook his head. “Don’t go there.” He just couldn’t. The book he’d spent hours writing. Days. Months. Years. The book that was inspired by Melody. When he read her one of his short stories in high school, she told him it was so good he should write a book. So he had.
He couldn’t send it off to an agent—or worse yet, to one of the acquisitions editors here. They’d squash his dreams in a two-line rejection letter. He knew the ropes. It was easier to live in denial and say “someday.”
Someday he’d publish his book and write another.
Someday he’d apply for the job he truly wanted.
Someday he’d tell Melody how he felt about her.
But not today. He couldn’t take the rejection today.
