Chapter 6
"Flora, come on. You haven't come out with us in months."
I ignore Mia's whining and continue watching the video playing on my laptop.
Her and Asia both jump on the bed making the laptop bounce and land near the edge of the mattress.
My eyes flash to the two giggling messes beside me. "If that had of missed the edge and hit the floor, you'd both be paying for a new one."
"I'll buy you a new one if you come out with us?" Mia tries to bribe me.
"No thanks. My one works perfectly fine" I respond. "When are the two of you leaving?
"When you get ready to come." They both say in unison.
"I don't feel like going anywhere tonight." I say, the exhaustion apparent in my voice. "And I have a to be at the studio by eight-thirty tomorrow morning."
Asia flips onto her stomach and reaches over to clutch my arm in her hands. "If you come I'll do the thing you told me about today."
As Jaxon and I were on our way to pick up lunch, we finished the conversation we had with Asia and Sophie earlier this morning. He brought up the name of a friend of a friend who works with a company that helps promote self-published books.
The company has a bunch off influencers who have a following on one or more social media platforms. How it works is, you send them the final edited draft of your book, if they like it they go through the list of their influencers to see which ones have a following they think would be interested in buying it and out of each book sale that comes from the links the influencers are given, the company gets a twenty per cent commission, which they use to pay themselves and the influencers who promoted the book.
After Asia and I left work I mentioned everything Jaxon had told me.
"They handle all the marketing for the book and you don't even have to pay any money upfront, they just take a percentage out of each book purchased through the link the influencers are given."
She pursed her lips, unsure about the idea. "I don't know if self-publishing is the way I want to go."
"You wouldn't have to self publish forever." I said. "You could just self publish two books and use them to gain a fanbase."
"I'll think about it."
I wasn't sure she'd actually go for the self-publishing idea. Don't get me wrong, I think it's great. Especially for authors who don't write mainstream content that traditional publishers want. And when I think of Asia and what kind of writer she is and the content she writes, I see her getting a six-figure deal and the books doing so well they get adapted into a movie.
Maybe I'm biased.
Those kind of book deals rarely happen. And it scares me to think that Asia will chase after the dream of getting traditionally published for as long as she writes.
Along with that, I've always thought in the back of my mind that if she ever got a publishing deal, that there would be a power struggle between her and the publisher. Asia can take constructive criticism just fine, but if a publisher were to try changing the ending or relationship between the love interests just to appease readers. I don't even want to think about what would happen.
Her having one hundred percent control over what does and doesn't stay in the book is one of the reasons I think she should do this.
I raise my eyebrows, shocked by Asia' agreement to self publish one of her books. "Are you sure you want to? You can't back out once I leave this apartment with the two of you."
Rolling her eyes, she pushes herself off the bed. "Yes, I'm sure. I thought about it and...I think it might actually work for me."
"What changed your mind?" I ask.
"I'm happy with all my books. The way they're written, the storyline, everything. I think if I published them traditionally they be changed. And I don't want that."
"So this is a control thing?"
"We all know you love control" Mia teases.
I belt out laughing thinking back to Asia' eighteenth birthday. "I always knew Kody had a thing for being submissive."
"Right!?" Mia joins in. "I just never thought you would dominate someone."
She fake glares at us. "I just wanted to see what all the fuss was about."
"And..."
"It felt kinda good telling him what he was and wasn't allowed to do or say." She explains.
"Maybe we should find someone for Flora to dominate." Mia suggests, wiggling her eyebrows,
"Please don't." I groan.
"If you can't find one for yourself, what makes you think you can find one for Flora?" Asia laughs. "She's pickier than you and I put together."
As I head for the bathroom, I stop in front of the wardrobe, pulling out my favourite dress and the new bra and thong set I bought. The door closes behind me and I strip off my clothes, clipping on my bra and sliding on the thong.
The reflection in the mirror shows me the faint white stretch marks on my hips and shoulders. I quickly pull the dress over my head, letting It fall around my body, covering the scars.
"The uber will be here in five!" Mia yells through the door,
_______________________________
"Remind me again why we had to come here?" I look around the room, seeing women dressed in the finest evening outfits and men wearing slacks and button-ups.
Mia drags us straight to the bar. "Because I need a rich man to pay my bills and eat my pussy." A man sitting two bar stools away hears the statement she makes and chokes on his drink.
"Tell the whole room why don't you!" I whisper, acting like I don't know her.
"If I did, I'm sure someone would volunteer."
"Oh my god." I mumble. "I'm going to the bathroom."
I walk down the dimly lit hallway searching for signs on the wall that could tell me where the bathroom is. It's so dark I almost walk past the first door I see. As I reach for the handle, the door opens and knocks me back into the wall.
"Oww." I squeeze my eyes shut as my forehead starts throbbing.
"Shit! Are you okay?"
My eyes flutter open, the figure standing in front of me slowly coming into focus as my blurry vision fades. "I'm fine."
"Maybe you should sit down for a minute. I'll get you some water." He disappears down the hallway.
I don't know if I'm hearing things or if it's real, but the man's voice sounds so familiar. I swear I know someone with that voice, but I'm almost positive I'd remember who.
Especially if they were as attractive as this man is.
"Here you go." He hands me the glass of water.
"Thanks." I respond before gulping it.
"Uhh...do you feel dizzy or sick."
I shake my head.
"My friends are probably wondering where I am." I say. " I should go..."
"Of course!" He brushes a hand through his black hair. "Sorry about knocking you with the door."'
We get to the end of the hallway, stopping to face each other. "There's no way you could have known I was there."
I let my eyes roam over his face, taking note of small details. Grey eyes scattered with flecks of pale blue, a small thin scar above his right eyebrow, nose slightly bent.
He swipes his thumb against his bottom lip, making me notice how kissable they are.
"I guess not." He catches me staring. "I think your friends are waving at you."
Two men stand beside them as they wave me over.
"I guess I'm coming with you." He says, confusing me.
"Why."
"Because I'm here with the two men talking to your friends."