Part 21 (1/2)
I was sleeping on hter woke er than I could renized Mrs Russo's voice outside roup had already co their leave
I bolted up with a curse, stumbled into the kitchen to see the time on the stove
It was past noon
I didn't even bother to shower, only changed rabbed my coat, my laptop,with one of her group e who held his jacket over his arm
”Well, Clay! You're hoswor- ”
”I'm sorry, I can't talk” I brushed past the man and hurried down the stairs
I could not re so slowly I was frustrated by the wait, by my inability to take the stairs out of the Kendall Station two at a ti to catchso slowly I was frustrated by the wait, by my inability to take the stairs out of the Kendall Station two at a ti to catch my breath and let my vision clear
Inside the Brooks and Hanover offices I slipped past Sheila's desk, now occupied by a teht have been pretty had she refrained froet inside ht know I had not been there allI shut my door, docked my laptop, stared at the stack of office mail in yellow tie-top envelopes on the corner ofIt was Helen ”Clay, can you come see me?”
”Helen, hi I'oing on otten the contract back to Anu-”
”Clay, can you just cohed ”Sure”
I scratched ers I didn't feel like another reprimand I was soon to become a double asset to this house, and I needed so her usual cash on their beaded chain, her hair in a headband worn only by girls in high school and wohed as I sat down ”I don't kno to say this”
My first thought was of the book-she couldn't get the larger advance, or they'd have to defer its release by a season
”We can't work this way The le viable proposal accepted by the co your own-in the last three months, and despite the fact that we just spoke yesterday, you still showed up well after noon today” She threw up her hands ”I mean, we just talked yesterday!”
I just sat there inat her
”There's still a fine chance that we'll offer you a contract for your book, though I think we should give that a feeeks to re-evaluate howto be behind on and how quickly we can find an editor to take your place It's a good book, Clay This is not a statement on your work as a writer-only your work habits as an editor”
All of this ca in slow, crawling baritone
”Are you kiddingoverIn one stroke she was relieving me of not only my job but also of the book that was, to my mind, all but published How could this be possible?
I' to tell youto write it down and publish it and you're going to write it down and publish it He had said it And I had written it, and the committee had accepted it! Obviously this decision would be reversed Soe Helen's mind He had said it And I had written it, and the committee had accepted it! Obviously this decision would be reversed Soe Helen's mind
Helen shook her head ”I'm afraid not”
”The contract is in h it-or just signed it and sent it right back, never ned, Clay,” she said in that tone adults take with recalcitrant teens ”And this ht be the best for both of us We can both take soer house The book is certainly good enough”
”Are you patronizing me?” I realized my voice had risen ”And we didn't talk yesterday, Helen You pulled me aside like a ard student in the middle of the hall”
”Clay, I'm sorry about that, but the fact is-”
”The fact is you have no idea what h these last fewer as I waited, waited for the reversal that I knew must happen
”Clay”- her voice steeled-”You're not the only one with problems”
”Exactly And when Sheila put herself in the hospital after drinking herself half to death, did you fire her? No I don't think you did You gave her tiether That's some kind of double standard, Helen”
I was on fire, all the tension of the last week, of the last three-and-a-halffrom me as if from a cannon
”Clay”-she rose and extended her hand-”I wish you luck”
I stared at her hand for an instant before turning onher door behind me
In the hallway, the tes” What was she, twenty-two? Fresh out of college, one to coht froht to follow me into my office with a box?
I shoved items off my desk and into the box, threw in the contents of drawers: pictures and books,cards accuhthes, a Cross pen set, a quote-a-day calendar from the year before opened to July 7 I left the rest-the alleys, the covers-where they lay on my desk and then, on impulse, knocked the stack to the floor
I undocked my computer and put it into the box The teht?”
I stopped cold My story was on that laptop Almost as important, my calendar was on it too It was the only one I kept, and every one of Lucian's ot the demon's horrible sht in the cafe, the voice within htened me before, I had walked out before, and always there had been anotherBut without my computer, ould happen to the appointments? Hoould I know if he made one?
I had no way to contact hiain, and after what had happened the last ti network tell hied around in the box, found a cheap flash drive, and copied my book onto it Then I deletedwith my sent and deleted e-mails and, facetiously, several drafts of edited copy
No one stopped me As I left, no one rushed out after me I had arrived at work an editor, writer, and soon-to-be-published author and left the proud owner of a box full of junk As I walked to the station, I noticed a du I set down the box, threw open the lid, and dumped the entire box, contents and all inside It was all junk The only thing of value, the flash drive with my manuscript on it, was already tucked into my coat pocket
TURNING IN MY LAPTOP meant I had no computer Despite the fact that I now had no idea hoould pay for my trip to Cabo, let alone a new computer, I walked the several blocks to the Galleria Had I , I could have ordered one online As it was, I was at the mercy of whatever the co the help of a kid half e, I chose the ed it to my credit card I took a cab ho onon the seat beside me