Number One Fan.

The tapping of a typewriter, the squeaking of a chair, the quiet *ding* of a coffee maker, the sounds that broke the silence, in a small unassuming home office. It had been months, of work, of toil, but finally it was done. Peter sat back and stretched his arms, looking at the stack of paper, a small smile coming across his face. He stood up from his office chair and went to pour his coffee. He turned back looking into his office, his latest work sitting on the desk.

Peter carefully began to bind the pages together, and set them aside. He always dreaded the next part of the process, the part that saw his words, his work, be taken away and scrutinized by some unknown person. He had come to like his publishers though, they a long time ago, stopped asking to know more, let him keep his quiet peaceful life to himself. He slipped the final draft into a small box, and put the lid on. He typed out his usual note, that hadn't changed at all over the years.

"For your consideration.
15% of all sales to my account, 5% to a worthy cause.
I'm not interesting in meeting anyone. Peter McBride (not my real name)."

Peter smiled softly at the letter, and slipped it into an envelope, and stuck the pre printed label for delivery to his publisher on the box. He then made his way to deliver the package. It had been awhile since he had submitted anything, longer turnaround than usual, but he had struggled with this one.

@ mariquinn;

@ A Drop On the Window
Grace was excited for her new job. She was going to work with a publisher that published her favorite writer. Today was her first day. She impressed them enough to make her an editor. Her bosses were waiting on Peter’s delivery for the past month. She was looking forward to reading the final draft and doing her editing. She hoped she would do a good job, not wanting to mess up this job.

Peter dropped off his package at the courier, before heading to a café for a well earned brunch. He was used to his arrangement with his publishers at this point, and was so glad that they didn't pressure him into giving any more information, well not anymore.

He was a very private person, and only one other person knew who he really was, his lawyer, who set up all the contracts and did the paperwork on his behalf.

@ mariquinn;

@ A Drop On the Window

Grace was reading other works when she got notification that they would be receiving Peters work today. She got excited but she felt nervous since she would be editing her favorite authors novel. There was some pressure on her especially since she was the new girl. Once it got to their office, her boss called her in and handed it to her. She immediately began to work on it, proofreading.

Peter decided to take a couple days to relax, since he'd sent his next book in for proof reading. He was nervous, and excited to hear back from them any notes of changes that they wanted. The usual process for doing so was to contact his lawyer, and the correspondence would trickle each way. Peter disliked how the internet and computers had made people rush so much in life now.

@ mariquinn;

@ A Drop On the Window
Grace delved into the novel. She proofreaded all of it, getting lost as she made minor corrections. She finished her work in a few hours. She then typed a email to her boss and their contact for his lawyer to let him know it was. Some of the corrections she asked questions about in the email. She sent it before taking a sip of her tea.

Peter's lawyer checked his email, as usual. He was surprised to see an email from Peter's publishers, he typed the usual response back, "Thank you received, I'll pass your notes along," and went back to work. He called Peter, to check in on him.

Peter smirked hearing from his lawyer, apparently someone was eager to get things done rather quickly. It hadn't even been more than a day since he'd delivered it.

@ mariquinn;

@ A Drop On the Window
Grace felt confident in her proofreading and her questions but at the same time she was feeling a little nervous since this was a favorite of hers. She sipped her tea as she worked on proofreading another book.

Peter decided to head into his lawyers office, to discuss the matters. He smiled seeing him, he was one of the only people who really knew who Peter was, and it was interesting relationship.

He quickly read through the questions, and the proofreading notes. He was surprised to have so many questions to answer. He quickly penned a response and had his lawyer send it back to Grace.

@ mariquinn;

@ A Drop On the Window
Grace was reading the next book when she got an email. She read it over. She then sends a reply. “Looks good. We will go forward in processing” she sent back.

Peter smiled at her reply, glad that everything was sorted. He bid farewell to his lawyer, and decided to head home. He had a busy day today, and was pretty tired.

@ mariquinn;

@ A Drop On the Window
Grace made sure her boss got the update on Peters novel. She was working on her other projects when she got an idea. Pulling up the email, she noticed the lawyers address was at the bottom of the signature. She wasn’t a crazy fan by any means but a chance to meet her favorite author. She toyed with the idea, trying to figure out if she really wanted to and how she would go about it.

Peter made it to his place and sat back, with a glass of wine. He was happy for this book to be done. Maybe he would finally have some time to himself, to meet someone.

@ mariquinn;

@ A Drop On the Window
Grace thought about how to go about it. Could she just show up and ask questions?. She knew Peter was a private person but she couldn’t give up a chance to meet him. It was the end of her day and she got into her car. First she would just drive by and see if the firm was open at this hour.

Peter's lawyer was still busy doing paperwork, the office still open, as he left ot open until he finished for the day, that way new clients, the odd ones which he liked representing could catch him.

@ mariquinn;

@ A Drop On the Window
Grace drove by and almost pulled into the parking lot but decided against it for now until she could come up with a reason to talk to the lawyer. She drove home for the night.

Peter enjoyed the last of his wine, before he headed to his room and lay down. Today had been a stressful one, it seemed despite the stress of needing to finish a novel on te, it was worse, being done.

@ mariquinn;

@ A Drop On the Window
Grace got home and got relaxed. She decided to leave the planning for tomorrow. She then went to bed and went to sleep. -Next Morning- Grace woke up and got ready, driving towards her work. She got there promptly and started to work after she made herself a cup of coffee.

Peter spent the next morning, feeling a little lost, until things we truly finalized with his last book, he wouldn't start a new project. He decided to head to the beach for the day, and just relax.

@ mariquinn;