Big break.

“I love you… I love you. Oh my god.” She giggles. He smirks and takes her hand into his. “What took you so long?”

I hit the spacebar on my screen pausing as I let out an excited shriek. I roll my eyes at myself. Its just a show, relax. I nod composing myself. I don’t know about you but I’ve been waiting all season for this moment. I let an excited giggle leave my lips as I hit the spacebar once again, fully composed this time.

She playfully shoves him and they laugh. There is a pregnant pause. Her gaze is piercing. He gently reaches for her neck and le-

Ding

I quickly pause in frustration as I see my email notification in the corner. I open my email. A new email from SEARS, that’s unexpected. I cross my fingers and jiggle my hands with my eyes closed, I’m making a wish. This email could mean everything for my career or… No, we wont start spiraling until we absolutely have to. I take another deep breath. Get to it already! They took a sweet 5 weeks 3 days and… I check my watch. They took a sweet 5 weeks 3 days and 9 hours to get back to me so I think I’m ok with making them wait a little more than half a second to read it. Okay, here we go. I double click to open it.

Wilfred Halton,

We were so pleased to receive your work here at SEARS, among all the submissions yours really stood out. We are overjoyed to not only congratulate you on beating out all the other stories but to welcome you to the SEARS family. The storyline you have presented to us is riveting, passionate and well written. As I’m sure you read in the competition rules, we have nine months to get your story to the printing press! That is a mammoth task, but we are here to help. I have attached your weekly submission schedule as well as some feedback on the first three chapters you sent us.

Kind regards,

Jenny from SEARS.

I was up and out of my chair in a flash. Step to the left, and to the right… now jiiigle. I repeated my steps over and over until I felt my excitement meter was balanced at neutral once again. I slumped into my chair. “Sorry, but I have a much more exciting endeavor awaiting.” I close the show I was watching and open up the document where I’ve already typed out my first three chapters. This is going to be a breeze. I wrote these chapters months ago in an inspired frenzy but now I’ve got all this time to really refine the storyline. I don’t want to say that I’ll knock their socks off but… if the shoe fits. Ha-ha. I’m hilarious. Honestly, maybe I could even incorporate some jokes into my next ch- I digress. Let’s focus. They want three chapters a week, I’d better pipe down and get to work. Okay, Okay. Where was I? In the story I mean. A quick refresher is certainly necessary.

Hmm. Lots of feedback, huh. I think as I see all the little comment icons next to so many lines. I scroll down, it doesn’t get much better. I groan, reading their comments and my work is going to be… I sigh. You’re a big boy, come on. I take out a small notepad just in case some changes come to mind while I’m working. I hear a sound as I’m scrummaging through the bookshelves for a bigger notepad, just in case. I open the door of my study to see where the sound had come from. I smile. Oh! My little feline delight. There she is sitting on my kitchen island calling me with her eyes. I scoop up the soft ball of fluff I call ‘Scarlett’. I pull my phone out of my pocket and check the time before returning it. “You must be so hungry, Scar. Good thing you pulled me out of there or I might have forgotten to feed you.” She purrs almost angrily and I shoot her an apologetic grin as I put her down and prep her meal. She nibbles on her food and then leaves having barely touched it. She must have had a big breakfast. I head back to my study, determined to get grinding. I laugh as I see her perched on my laptop. I lift her and place her on the floor. A bunch of gibberish has been added to my story. “I must admit Scar, you’re one hell of a writer” I say playfully as I delete her strokes of genius.

Maybe too soon for this moment, suggest adding to later chapters.

I roll my eyes. Suggestion denied! I flip over the page of my much larger notepad, this second chapter is even harder to get through than the first. I’m not sure feedback is the right word for this criticism. I purr- sigh. It must be Scarlett calling for my attention, because I certainly don’t purr. I walk past the kitchen to the living room and there she is, the diva in the flesh. She tilted her head and continued to scratch her post. Watch me, watch me. I shook my head as I patted her little active body. I have to work, you little scratcher. Onward! I left and sat down again at my desk and just as I do, she slips onto my lap. She looks an awful lot like a snickers bar if you ask me. A mixture of a bold brown and lighter caramel shapes. I lick my lips. Or I’m just hungry. I check the time again. Its after one ‘o clock, although a good chocolate sounds good I’d better just make a meal instead.

We eat together and I clean up, well replenished to put in a few more hours of work. I go back to my study and sit down furiously typing away. Its quite a mission to take feedback without rewriting a story. It is so easy to make one wrong turn and just change the whole story. That why focus is of the utmost importance. Out of the corner of my eye I see Scarlett in a patch of Sun, her eyes slowly closing. That looks delightful. I’m almost jealous. Almost. However, the sun is lower now. Not too harsh but not quite useless yet. I notice a patch on the couch next to her. I take my laptop and join her on the couch in the sun. Much better. My back sighs with pleasure, that desk was really ready to kill me. I’ve got to feel this for a moment, build momentum for the work ahead.

I wake up to a soft brushing against my face. Oh dear. I must’ve been really tired. At least now I can really get to work. I open my eyes. There is no sun. There is no light at all! I get up and place my laptop onto my desk switching on the room light. I go around my house closing the curtains and turning on some lights. I head back to the study but I hear a clanging in the kitchen. Claire has dropped her bowl. Like I said… Diva. I prepare her food and decide that I might as well do the same for myself. Once again, we eat. This time we’ve got the living room television on for some entertainment. I switch off the TV as I finish my food but she protests. “You like this show? I mean it’s not bad. Actually, kind of…”

Who knew a season could pass by so quickly. It’s late. I look around but Scarlett isn’t around. I clean up my dishes and hers then go up to my room. Scarlett is in her bed, ready for rest. Perfect time to get some work done now that she’ll be sound asleep. Of course, there’s always tomorrow? No, now. Make some real progress before bed. I bring my laptop up to my room the change of scenery will put me in the mood. “I thought you were going to bed, Scar.” Who told you that? She says with a stern glare. I hold my hands up in surrender. “You’re right. That’s what I get for my bold assumptions.” She seems to nod as she continues to prance across the room. It almost looks like she’s dancing. I turn on my radio. Music really gets my mind going.

Awesome! All edited and done. Now for chapter four. Scarlett has been in and out doing… I don’t even know what but right at this moment she slips back into our bedroom and hops onto my bed. I close the laptop and place it on my dresser. “Your bed is over there.” I say pointing to her cushion. I stroke her soft fur and cave. “Fine. Chapter four is tomorrows work then.” She nestles into bed with a smile at her victory.