_Elana_
"I'm back," I called from the door as I kicked off my shoe with a loud sigh.
"Elana," Cherry screamed my name as she ran out of the kitchen, a little towel in her hand and a huge smile on her face.
She was excited to hear how my day went. If only I weren't going to embarrass her with the news.
I tossed my bag on the seat, before plopping down beside it, my heart feeling heavy in my chest.
I heard her sigh, before I felt the sinking feeling of the chair, telling me she had sat down beside me.
"It didn't go well, did it?" She asked softly as she placed her hands on mine.
"Nope."
I was going to keep staring at the ground because I couldn't bear to look into Cherry's ocean eyes.
I knew it wasn't going to have disappointment in them, but maybe that's what made me scared. I'd gotten so used to seeing disappointment from my parents, my brothers, my sisters, that it felt like…home now, but to actually see someone be sad for me or care about me is what my heart can't handle.
I had gone to the writers' summit to see if I'd get noticed by other writers who might help me promote my new book or even my old one, seeing as none of them had any sales or readers.
Well, I shouldn't overhype the situation. My last book, a tragic piece, has about fifty-seven sales so far, and it might get more, and my new book already has seven sales, which is probably Cherry and every member of her family, but I know it's going to improve. The problem is that I want to impress my family, and fifty-seven sales or a vision of more sales is going to do nothing other than make me a laughing stock like always.
I had actually met someone who could promote my book at the summit, Salem Frank. She's had her books best-selling for a long time, and she seemed to like mine, but in my usual Elana manner, I ruined it all when I spilled champagne on her really expensive cream colored suit.
"Maybe I should take Everest and Mom's idea and join the family business. They'll stop being ashamed of me then. And I'll stop making a fool of myself." I placed my head in my hands and rubbed my eyes with the heel of my palms.
My eyelids felt heavy. I hadn't had a good sleep in a long while because of work, but even if I chose to sleep, I'm hounded by the smug laughing faces of my siblings.
"You're kidding me. Right?"
"No, Cherry I'm not."
"Oh no, you have to be." Cherry snapped and jumped off the chair, startling me.
"What's…" I started in shock and confusion.
"Don't fucking say a thing right now, Elana." She snapped, her nose flaring and her face turning redder by the second. "You're my friend, and I have been keeping you in my apartment for free, not just because you're my friend, but because I believe in you. You have the most potential I've ever seen in my life, Elana. Your book is one of the best I've ever come across, and after buying your last book as Christmas gifts for my family, they bought all your books. I didn't ask them to, you know. They bought it because they loved you, so if you want to give up now, you'd better know that this is where we end. And I get you want to impress your family, but we can still do that in another way, don't you think?"
I sat there, my eyes widened, tongue tied and my bones absolutely frozen in shock as Cherry fumed over me.
I had no idea that she was not the one buying the books for her family, and I had no idea that she had this amount of anger in her tiny self.
"You knew how to give pep talks from the beginning and you never thought about doing that?" I squeaked and she erupted in a laughing fit as tears poured down her face.
"Are you laughing or crying?" I asked as I held her.
"Both, numbskull." She hit me playfully. "I thought I was never going to read any good books in my life again."
"Oh my…." We both held our bellies, laughing hysterically.
"Okay." Cherry started, totally and completely out of breath. "I cooked. I made my lasagna, which I know you love, so if you want to come eat. My treat."
"You made lasagna?" I placed my hands on my chest in pure appreciation. "I knew I smelled something ethereal when I walked in here. You just have a way of lifting my spirits, Cherry. Maybe my next book will be about you and your wonderful lasagna." I got up and walked with her to the dining room.
She rolled her eyes in response. "You're so dramatic, you know that?" She laughed. "But then again, that's what makes you a fantastic writer."
"You're so soft and slender and built like a siren, you know that?" I copied her earlier style of speech. "But then again, that's what makes you a fantastic model."
We both laughed as she brought the lasagna out.
"But really picture it. A book cover with pictures of cherries on it," I made a visual on the air, "with the title "Cherry's perfect lasagna."
"Yeah, that'd be super awesome, seeing as there's nothing else you can write about me besides that." She rolled her eyes and sat gently down before tying her super long curls in a bun.
"Let's dig in." I was saying when my phone pinged from where I was charging it on the other side of the living room.
"I never get messaged, except by you or my editors and publishers and we aren't editing or publishing anything right now, so who could that be?" I murmured, Cherry and I staring at the phone as if it had morphed into something else.
"I think you should go check." She whispered, causing the fear in me to rise to a peak.
I nodded slowly. "Yeah. Yeah, I should."
I got up and hurried to the phone before anxiety caused me to drop dead on the way there.
"It's…" I opened my messages. "A voice note from my mom."
Cherry groaned and tossed her head back on the high-backed chair she was sitting in, while I rolled my eyes and walked back to the dining table.
"Wanna listen to it together?" I asked softly, knowing that I couldn't face it on my own.
"Yeah, sure." She smiled encouragingly at me.
I took two deep breaths before clicking the glowing play button.
"Elana, why on God's green earth are you not here?" Her voice rang out loudly from the phone. She was mad.
"Aren't you aware that we're having a family gathering? And don't tell me you're busy, because you really aren't doing anything. Your siblings who have real jobs are here, so you better get your ass here." The voice note stopped.
"Shit, I forgot." I palmed my forehead as I put the phone down on the table.
"It's okay. You can just go tomorrow morning. The dinner is tomorrow night right?"
"Yeah." I nodded, stabbing my fork into my lasagna.
"So you go tomorrow. Easy as that."
Yeah, I wish it were so easy. I was about to go into the lion's den. Hopefully, I made it out this time around.