Lili & Danni Stories

[JR19759]

I’ve decided to move over some of my Lili and Danni shorts to this thread as it’s probably a more appropriate place for them. You can probably expect some further additions as well.
Anyway.

A Family Gathering

“I heard there’s a sperm bank or some such place opening over in Kent Street next week.”
Lili sighed and stared at her plate, trying to avoid her mothers’ gaze. She could feel the pointed gaze, as it was obvious that an answer was expected. This was why she hated going over to her mothers for dinner. It was always the same. She glanced around the table, purposefully avoiding looking towards her mother at the end. Danni gave her an apologetic smile from the seat next to her, whilst her brother Jason just shook his head. Then there was Kate.
“I think you girls should try it.” She said, her voice hitting Lili’s ears like someone driving a spanner into her brain. “I mean come on, it’s not that uncommon anymore, you know, for, like, lesbian couples, or gay couple I guess, to have kids. It’d be totally awesome if you did.”
Lili tried her hardest not to give Kate her worst death glare. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Jason face-palm over his casserole, but neither their mother nor Kate noticed, which was probably for the best. It was hard enough having to deal with her mother going on about this stuff over their weekly family dinner, but when Jason was around it was made ten times worse, all because of Kate. Lili had wondered what Jason had seen in her to begin with. When they were first introduced Kate didn’t make the best first impression, she seemed gossipy, overly interested in involving herself in other peoples lives and just generally annoying in Lili’s eyes. Of course she got on with their mother like a house on fire. They chatted and gossiped like old friends. And when they were both around Lili at the same time their conversations always turned towards the same subject, Lili and Danni’s sex life, which tried Lili’s patience almost to breaking point.
“I mean, it’s better to do these things sooner rather than later,” Kate continued, her voice acting like a cheese grater to Lili’s nerves. “Me and Jason have been trying, but we can’t be sure of anything yet.”
Lili shot a raised eyebrow over to her brother, who was pointedly not making eye contact with anyone at the table.
“I don’t see why it’s such a big problem Lilith.”
Lili winced at the sound of her mothers’ voice. It never meant anything good when she said her full name.
“I just don’t see why you’re so against the whole idea of children. I can accept this whole ‘lesbian’ thing, but would like to have grandchildren at some point. At least Jason is trying.”
Jason was starting to turn red, but Lili was really getting to the end of her thread. Having the same one-sided conversation each and every week had really worn down her nerves. Why wouldn’t they just let it drop?
“You know, your father and I were around your age when we had you….”
“WILL YOU JUST SHUT UP ABOUT IT!”
Lili threw herself to her feet, slamming her hands onto the table and causing everyone to start.
“I’ve told you enough times, I don’t want to have children yet. Why can’t you understand that simple concept?”
It took a few seconds for the shock to leave her mothers face, but the look that replaced it was a look that Lili didn’t want to see.
“You don’t want to have children yet?”
A shudder traveled down Lili’s spine, as her mother leaned forward, hands clasped together, a hopeful, almost greedy look on her face.
“Does that mean you plan to have children at some point in the future?”
“I…. what? I don’t…. I don’t know.” Lili spluttered. “I… just… oh screw this.”
Before anyone could stop her, Lili had left the table, fleeing the dinning room, slamming the door behind her as she left.

The room sat in a stunned silence for a few seconds following Lili’s dramatic departure. Once again though, it was Lili’s mother who regained her composure first.
“Really, there was no need for that. I was only asking a question.” She exclaimed in an annoyed tone. She glared over at Jason with an authoritative look. “Jason, go and bring your sister back here at once.”
“No, please. I’ll go.”
All eyes at the table were drawn to Danni. She was wearing a calmly determined look and her tone, whilst soft and gentle, invited no arguments.
“This is a matter between us, and I think it would be best if we sorted it out together.”
“Well, I suppose that is true,” Lili’s mother huffed, ruffling her shoulders like a bird fluffing its feathers up in the rain. “Do what you must.”
Danni nodded in acknowledgement and gave a slight smile as she rose from her chair and exited the room. Entering the hall, she turned up the stairs and headed towards the room second from the end of the hall, Lili’s old room.
“Lili, it’s Danni. Can I come in,” Danni asked quietly with a gentle knock on the door. There were some shuffling noises from behind the closed door, the sound of steps and the handle twisted, the door slowing opening to reveal Lili, her eyes red and make-up smeared and smudged where she had obviously been crying.
“Hey.” Lili’s voice was raw and almost choked. She opened the door wider and allowed Danni into the room.
“It’s been a while since I’ve been in here.” Danni said, glancing around the room, trying to make light conversation. The walls and cupboards were plastered in old band and comics posters, the bookcase and shelves were practically bare, as all of their contents had been moved to the apartment they both now shared.
“Heh, no, I guess not,” Lili said with a faint smile. She sat down on the bed, with Danni joining her a few seconds later. “Must have been shortly after we first started dating.”
“Mmm,” Danni murmured, as she slowly put an arm around Lili’s shoulder in a comforting fashion. Lili instinctively leaned into the embrace, taking the comfort that was offered.
“I guess you’re gonna ask about what happened down stairs?” She muttered as Danni rested her head upon her crown, giving her a small kiss as she did so.
“Only if you want to talk about it,” Danni whispered. “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a bit worried about it, but we’ve talked about this before and I know how you feel about it, so you don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to.”
Lili relaxed slightly, but tensed again as Danni continued.
“It’s just, you’ve never reacted like that before.” Danni’s calm, gentle voice was tempered slightly with concern. “Kate and your mum have done this sort of thing before, but you’ve never flipped out like that.”
Lili sighed and pulled away from the embrace, raising her gaze to look her lover in the eye. Danni could see the conflicting emotions in Lili’s eyes, so she stayed silent and allowed her to find the words she needed.
“I… I guess it was how she mentioned dad.”
Lili’s words were soft and haltingly spoken. Danni had only seen her drop her guard like this a few times, always in conversations involving her father. She reached out and took Lili’s hand in her own, giving it a reassuring squeeze. Lili gave a sad smile before continuing.
“The stuff that happened between mum and dad… I was so scared. When you’re a kid, your family is the only security you have and it got torn away from me, so hearing mum just mention dad in such an off hand way, let alone use him as an argument against me, when she abandoned him like that… I just couldn’t take it.”
Danni gave a sympathetic grimace.
“I can understand that. I guess it also helps explain why you’re so against having children.”
It was Lili’s turn to grimace. As much as she didn’t want to admit it, Danni was right.
“Yeah, I guess so,” she sighed, turning away from her girlfriend and staring down at her hands. “After what happened, I… I sort of couldn’t face the idea of having another family. What if it fell apart like mum and dad. What if I end up like my dad. I just couldn’t take it. I….”
Lili was stopped in her tracks by what happened next. Danni roughly grabbed Lili, pulling her into a passionate kiss, which, despite her shock, Lili found herself returning. The kiss lasted moments, but Lili found herself breathless as they parted. She gazed at Danni’s face, wondering if she would ever find herself getting used to that feeling.
“Lili, trust me, I’m not going anywhere. You don’t need to worry about ending up alone, because I’m always going to be here for you.”
Such was the conviction and raw emotion in Danni’s voice and gaze that Lili was taken aback. She felt her heart swell as she processed those words. This time it was her turn to kiss Lili, a kiss that was no less meaningful or passionate as the last, or even their first. The couple fell back onto the bed, still locked in their passionate connection.
“I know,” Lili whispered as they parted. “I know you will.”
“I love you.”
“I love you too.”
As they lay on the bed, basking in their feelings, a thought crossed Lili’s mind.
“Danni?” She asked tentatively, rolling onto her side so she could see her partner.
“Yes babe,” Danni answered, glancing down at her companion without moving, her eyes twinkling with a passionate energy that Lili couldn’t help but adore.
“When we talked about the whole child thing, it was always me saying that I didn’t really want kids and you would then agree with me.” Lili said thoughtfully. “You never really told me what you think about it.”
“Ah.” Some of the sparkle from Danni’s eyes faded as she gazed up at the ceiling, trying to piece together her thoughts. “I… it’s not that important really.”
“It is important to me.”
This time it was Danni’s turn to be taken aback by Lili’s words. She turned her head to face the other woman and saw the serious look on her face.
“I….” Danni sighed. “Please don’t be mad.”
“You actually do want to have children.” Lili sat up, no longer looking at Danni, instead concentrating on the empty bookshelf across from the bed where they were sitting.
“I didn’t want to say anything because you felt so strongly about it.” Danni exclaimed as she too sat up. “I’ve always wanted a family and I…. I didn’t want to say anything because I just wanted you to be happy.”
A small smile flickered across Lili’s mouth.
“I never said I was against having a family.”
The words were soft, but they caught Danni’s attention none-the-less. Almost in unison, the couple turned to face each other.
“I just said not yet,” Lili’s smile was evident. “If I was going to have a family with anyone, it would be you babe.”
The pair embraced, a small moment they had shared many times before, but one that seemed even more special now.
“But as I said, not quite yet,” Lili said as their embrace broke. “I’m not sure if I’m quite ready for kids just yet. But if you want to do it, then I am more than willing to go along with it.”
Danni nodded and a mischievous glint entered her eye.
“At least it would shut your mum up about the whole grandkids thing.” She said with an impish wink.
“Leave it out,” Lili exclaimed, pushing Danni playfully away as the other girl stuck her tongue out in a teasing manner. Their giggles carried down the hall, down the stairs and into the dinning room, to their abandoned dinning companions, sitting in a confused silence, listening to the carefree laughter emanating from the room above. But right now the two girls could not care less.

[JR19759]

A Restless Night

“Mommy, Joey just stole my doll from me.”
“Didn’t, she’s lying.”
“Am not.”
“Are too.”
“Mommy, can we have ice cream? I can hear the ice cream man coming.”
“Mommy, what’s for tea? I’m hungry.”
“Mommy.”
“Mommy.”
“Mommy!”

Lili’s eyes sprang open, and she sat up, her body covered in a cold sweat. She glanced over at the clock. Half two. It wasn’t even light outside. Blindly, she scrabbled for her glasses on the bedside table, making sure to not jab herself in the eye as she put them on. Now that she could see slightly better through the dark she glanced over at the sleeping figure next to her. Danni was still asleep, covered by most of the duvet that Lili had obviously kicked off of herself during her sleep.
Laying back down on the sodden sheets, Lili stared up at the ceiling, trying to get her head around the vivid dream still rolling around her mind. It had been almost a week since the episode around her mothers and every night she’d had the same dream, or very similar. After a few minutes she sighed and lifted herself from the bed and to her feet, trying to make as little noise as possible to avoid waking her sleeping bedmate. Leaving the bedroom door slightly ajar behind her, Lili made her way down the hall to the bathroom. Turning the light on, she blinked multiple times as the sharp light hit her tired eyes, before squinting all the way to the sink. Gentle she placed her glasses on the side before splashing some water on her face and groaning into her hands.
“You need to get a grip on yourself girl.” She muttered as she wiped her face dry with a towel.
“Are you ok Lili?”
Lili started, whipping her body around to see Danni standing in the doorway, groggily rubbing her eyes and yawning.
“Yeah, I’m fine” Lili said with less conviction than she would have liked. “I’m fine, really. Just go back to bed babe, I’ll be back in a second.”
“Are you sure?” Danni’s concern was evident, even through her tired expression. “This is like the third time this week you’ve been up in the middle of the night.”
“I try not to wake you up,” Lili said with a sheepish smile. “I guess I failed.”
Danni gave a tired smile.
“Every single time.” She replied as she turned back to their bedroom. “If you don’t feel like talking to me about what ever it is that’s bothering you, maybe you should talk to JR. He’s coming over in a few days.”
“I told you, there’s nothing wrong,” Lili said in an irritated tone.
Danni just shook her head and went back to the bedroom, leaving Lili to just stare at her reflection in the bathroom mirror.
‘She’s right though’ she thought to herself. ‘It’s not good to keep all this a secret. But I can’t say anything to her, I promised her and I can’t just go and say, “actually no I don’t want to anymore” can I? That’s just not fair on her. Maybe I should talk to JR. He might have an idea on how to fix all this.”
As her thoughts carried her back to bed, she barely noticed that Danni was already asleep. Absentmindedly, Lili took off her glasses and gave Danni her customary peck on the cheek, drawing a contented noise from her sleeping girlfriend. Laying back, Lili tried to put her jumbled thoughts out of her mind as she once again drifted into an uneasy slumber.

[JR19759]

An Unusual Guest

“Lili are you ready yet? They should be here soon.”
“They?! I thought it was just JR coming round?”
“No, apparently he’s bringing someone else with him. He said that he’d like us to meet her.”
“Okaaaay. Wonder why.”

“I do wish you’d stop doing that James.”
I take my focus away from my notebook and look over to Sempi standing next to me, wearing a disapproving look on her face.
“Oh come on,” I say in a playfully exasperated tone. “How am I meant to set the scene if it starts out with us on some street? It’s much more interesting to know what Lili and Danni are doing before we turn up. Besides, I need to have some sort of build up for your appearance. It’s not like you’ve been in this story before is it?”
Sempi shakes her head and sighs.
“I have no idea how Lili and Danni can understand half the things that you say sometimes. I struggle sometimes and I’m a Veil. Reality is my thing, but you’re going off the deep end.”
I give her a knowing smirk and we continue walking.
“And anyway,” she continues. “I don’t quite get why you need me here. I have other things to do you know. Surely you of all people could deal with this problem?”
“That’s exactly why I need you here,” I reply flatly as we enter the apartment building. “I couldn’t give them a straight answer. You know what knowing your own future can do to people. I’d rather stay away from all of that. No spoilers and no looking at the script.”
“But I know my future,” Sempi said indignantly, stopping in her tracks. “Are you treating me differently to them?”
“You’re a special case,” I reply softly. “Your story wouldn’t work if you didn’t know the end. Besides, you don’t know the whole story anyway, but that’s not important at the moment. Now come on, we’re going to be late.”
With a small indignant huff, Sempi reluctantly follows as we enter the elevator and head upwards.
We spend pretty much the rest of the way walking in silence. Of course, Sempi keeps giving me sideways glances to check I haven’t got the notebook out again, which makes me chuckle.
“Here we are,” I exclaim as we stop outside an apartment door and I knock. The sound of footsteps from inside the apartment grows quickly louder before Danni appears in the doorway.
“JR, you’re here,” she says in a chirpy voice. “Excellent.”
“Yup,” I grin back. “Though how do you know it’s excellent? For all you know I could be writing that something terrible is gonna happen.”
“Oh shut up you,” Danni replies, giving me a playful shoulder bump, before turning her attention to Sempi. “So, aren’t you going to introduce me to your friend?”
“Of course. Danni, this is Sempi Turner. Sempi is another one of my creations, she’s a Veil, a…. reality guardian I guess would be the best way to put it. She’s the reason I can come visit, very useful to have a reality manipulator at hand, isn’t it Sempi?”
I give Sempi a playful wink, to which she rolls her eyes.
“Oh lighten up you, this is a social call, not a death sentence,” I say shaking my head. “Anyway, I’ll leave you two to get acquainted. I assume Lili is in the lounge?”
Danni nods and indicates down the hall. I make my way down towards the second to last door on the right. Sempi will relax in a bit, I think to myself. I mean, I’m sure not her favorite person at the moment, not with everything that is happening to her, but she knows the score. It is what it is.
I make my way into the lounge and find Lili sprawled lazily on the couch, staring at me with a disapproving look.
“You’re late,” she says, completely deadpan in her expression and with a stony edge to her voice.
“A wizard is never late, “ I quote. “Nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to.”
“Really?! Did you really just do that quote?!”
The look on Lili’s face was half one of exasperation and half one of amusement. I give her a cheeky wink and she cracks, her face breaking into a wide smile.
“It’s good to see you,” she says as we share a quick embrace. “I’m glad you could make it. Um, if it’s not too much trouble, there’s something I need to talk to you about.”
“Later,” I whisper as Danni and Sempi walk into the room. Sempi has obviously relaxed slightly; at least she’s smiling now. I take a seat in my usual place, the seat by the window, as Danni takes up her place on the sofa next to Lili leaving Sempi to take the chair opposite me, next to the TV.
“Lili, this is Sempi,” Danni says warmly. “She’s another one of JR’s characters.”
“Another one huh?” Lili says with an impressed tone. “Does he put you through as much rubbish as he does with us?”
“You have no idea,” Sempi says with a shake of her head. I notice her glance over at me, but she avoids eye contact. I’m in for hell for this later, I can tell. She is not going to be co-operative after we leave. Oh well, worst comes to worst I either have to bunk here for the night or I’m not gonna be able to work on her story for a few days, either way it’s manageable.
“So what is it then?” Lili asks, leaning forward intently. “Screwed up family, neuroses, anxiety, we got ‘em all.”
“Bit worse than that.” Sempi gives a small, slightly sad, smile. “I’ve got to save one of six universes that are meant to be crucial to keeping all of reality in balance. To do that I’m supposed to help the chosen ones, my friends, to overcome a whole series of disasters that I set up, in order to prepare them for the final battle, at which I am destined to die. And because I’m not prepared to go along with certain aspects of this plan, my people have unleashed the dark part of me and are using it to do all the things I won’t, meaning I’ve got to fight them, and in part myself I guess, as well.”
I watch Lili and Danni’s reactions whilst Sempi is speaking. They are quite amusing. Lili just sits there, open jawed and dumbfounded, whilst Danni just stares at the floor. Sempi quickly notices their reactions and gives another small smile.
“So yeah, I think I got it a bit worse than you.” She again glances over to me and I shrug non-commitally. “Sorry for being such a downer.”
“No, not at all,” Lili exclaims, quickly regaining her composure. “We don’t get to have these sorts of conversations often, so it’s interesting to hear about what else he’s up to.”
She signals over to me as she speaks and I pretend to be suddenly very interested in the stitching on my seat. I can tell I’m about to get double teamed here, but fortunately for me, I can always rely on Danni.
“Does anyone want a drink?” Danni asks, breaking Lili and Sempi’s conversation before it can really get going. “Orange juice JR?”
“Yes thanks,” I say with a grateful smile.
“What about you Sempi?” Danni turns to face my companion. “We have juice, Coke, wine, a few bottles of beer.”
“I’ll just have water.” Sempi gives Danni a small apologetic look. “Sorry, I haven’t had anything alcoholic before, I wouldn’t really want to risk it, reality hoping when drunk doesn’t seem like a good idea. And fizzy drinks make me feel funny.”
“That’s ok,” Danni says with a kind smile. “One glass of water it is then. I guess you’ll be having a beer then dear?”
“In the bottle please,” Lili says with a small wink, to which Danni rolls her eyes in mock despair.
“You could at least have it in a glass, considering we have guests over. Oh, are you guys planning to stay for dinner? I bought extra in case, we were planning to have Chinese.”
“I don’t see why not,” I say glancing over to Sempi. “I don’t have anything urgent that I need to get back to and I don’t think Sempi does either.”
Sempi shakes her head to confirm my statement and Danni smiles.
“Awesome, I’ll make a start on that after I’ve got the drinks. Does eating at half five sound good to you?”
“Sounds fine, thanks Danni,” I say with a smile.
Danni leaves the room and an awkward silence falls over the three of us. I can tell what Lili is thinking, but Sempi is harder to read. Fortunately Danni doesn’t take long, returning a few minutes later with a tray full of drinks.
“I’m gonna have to go out quickly,” Danni says as she sets the drinks down on the coffee table in front of the sofa. “I forgot to pick up the beansprouts. Sorry about this, I don’t know why it just slipped my mind. I’m usually very good at remembering things.”
“That’s fine, everyone forgets things occasionally,” I reply quickly. I can already tell Sempi has figured out my little plan, but fortunately Danni is clueless, which is helpful.
“I shouldn’t be too long, 10 minutes maybe,” Danni says as she walks out of the room into the hall and grabs her coat and keys.
“Ok,” Lili answers, still staring off into space.
“Back in a few,” Danni calls as she opens the front door.
None of us move or say anything until we hear the front door close. Once the lock has clicked shut, Sempi looks over to me with a slight smirk on her face.
“I guess that was your doing,” she says with a slightly impressed tone to her voice.
“Yeah,” I sigh as I turn to face Lili, who looks slightly confused. “Sorry for being a bit presumptuous Lili, but I assumed that you’d rather talk without Danni around, so I had to make an excuse to get Danni out of the house.”
“Oh.” Realization dawns on Lili’s face and she tenses up slightly. “Well, thanks, I guess.”
Her voice is very uncertain and it is easy to tell that she wasn’t going to be the one to start this conversation, so I decide to take the straight forward, to the point approach.
“So, you wanted to talk to me about the conversation you had with Danni round your mothers a week or so ago and the dreams you’ve been having since.”
“How did… oh forget it,” her eyes go wide with surprise before settling back to a resigned expression. “I gave up figuring out how you know this stuff ages ago.”
“Um, do you mind if I ask what this conversation and the dreams are about?” Sempi interrupts before Lili can say anything further. I nod to Sempi, indicating that it’s ok to tell her, and Lili sighs, slumping back into the sofa and putting her hands up to her face.
“Well, my mother has been pressuring me to consider having children, which is something I’ve always been kinda against,” she starts, her voice almost shaky, but she manages to hold it together. “Last week it came to a head and I ended up finding out how Danni felt about the whole thing.”
“I guess she doesn’t feel the same way as you.” Sempi interjects. Lili nods her head to confirm Sempi’s statement before continuing.
“I kinda promised that we could have kids at some point, but….”
“But you’re still worried about it aren’t you.” Sempi finishes for Lili as Lili words trail off at the end of the sentence. Again Lili nods, before looking up at me.
“Is there any way you can help?”
I sigh.
“Sorry Lili, there’s nothing I can do. I’m not sure exactly what you’d want me to do, but either way my hands are tied. I know what is going to happen, but I can’t really tell you. No spoilers I’m afraid. Sorry.”
I swear my heart actually hurts with the completely defeated expression Lili gives me. She looks like a puppy that had just been kicked or something, it’s awful. Luckily, I had come prepared for this.
Sempi is immediately by Lili’s side, putting a comforting arm around her shoulders.
“Hey, don’t be like that,” she says softly.
“But I don’t know what to do,” Lili says, almost on the verge of tears. “I can’t let Danni down, I promised, but I’m scared. I don’t want to end up alone like Dad.”
“Listen,” Sempi says firmly, putting both hands on Lili’s shoulders and turning her so they are face to face. “James would never do that to you, he cares for you too much. And Danni loves you, that’s obvious to anyone with even half a brain. So you don’t have to worry about ending up alone. And let me tell you something else, you don’t have to worry about having children. Sure it’s a big thing and it’ll be tough, but it’ll be worth it. I have friends back in my dimension who are in a similar situation to you guys and they have a kid. I helped them with that and they couldn’t be happier and they are closer now than they ever were, so you shouldn’t worry.”
Lili took a moment to process Sempi’s words but, slowly, a small smile worked its way onto her face.
“Thanks Sempi,” she says softly. “Thanks, that actually does make me feel a lot better. You’re right, maybe I’ve been worrying too much. I still don’t think I’m ready yet, but I’m not going to let Danni down, I’m sure of that.”
I leant back in my chair with my orange juice as Sempi shot me a satisfied smile. I smile back and at that moment I hear the front door unlock.
“Hey guys, I’m back,” Danni chimes as she crosses the threshold. “Anything exciting happen while I was out?”
“Oh not really,” I reply, glancing over to Lili and Sempi with a knowing smile. “Just us talking.”

[JR19759]

A Piece Of Good News

Ring-Ring
Ugh.
Ring-Ring
Danni stared over at the phone, ringing on the table across the room from where she had just got herself comfortable on the sofa. She wished Lili would get it so she wouldn’t have to get up, but of course Lili was doing some Skype meeting with those magazine people, doing some sort of “creative consultancy” or something.
Ring-Ring
With a grumbling groan, Danni hefted herself from the sofa and made her way slowly to the phone. Picking up the receiver, she put it to her ear and spoke.
“Hello, Danni Dartford speaking.”
“Hey Danni, it’s Vince.”
Vince was a friend who acted as Danni’s agent. It was his job to send her manuscripts round the various publishers to try and get them published.
“Hey Vince, what’s up?”
“Nothing much,” Even over the phone Danni could hear a slight mischievous tone to Vince’s voice. “Not much going on. I mean I just got off the phone with some guy from Delta Rhodes Limited. He says they’re interested in the book!”
“What?”
Danni very nearly dropped the phone. Her head felt numb, she couldn’t believe what she was hearing. That manuscript had been bouncing around various publishing companies for the best part of two years with not so much as a hint of going anywhere. But now…
“They’re looking for a meeting next week to work out the contract. We’ll need to sort out some form of proper legal representation of course. I’m good with law stuff, but they’ll be looking for a professional approach and anyway, having a second person to go over it will make absolutely sure they’re not trying to screw us over.”
“What?!”
“Danni, snap out of it,” Vice chuckled down the phone. “I bet you’re gawping like a goldfish at the moment as well.”
Danni shook her head and tried to get her thoughts collected. This had to be a dream or something, Vince was having her on.
“Are you being serious?” She found herself asking, almost in-spite of herself. “This thing has been going for ages. Has it really been picked up?”
Vince gave another small chuckle.
“Yeah, I’m being serious. Tell you what, we can meet up tomorrow or something and I’ll run you through everything.”
“Sure, I’m working the evening shift tomorrow so maybe we could meet up at lunch?”
“That works for me, I’ll meet you at the coffee shop in town. See you then.”
Danni put the receiver down lightly and leant back against the wall, trying to take in everything she’d just heard. One of her books was going to be published. She grinned to herself. Ok, they still had to get all the contract details sorted out, but she wasn’t going to let that spoil the moment. Lili stuck her head around the living room door.
“Vince?” Lili asked quizzically. Danni nodded, the silly grin not leaving her face. Lili smiled. “I guess it must have been good news, given your grin?”
“Yeah, the book got picked up by a publisher. Me and Vince are meeting up tomorrow to talk a few things over before we sort out the publishing contract with them next week.”
Lili practically launched herself at Danni, forcing her back against the wall in a crushing embrace.
“That’s fantastic babe!” Lili exclaimed joyfully. “We’re gonna have to do something to celebrate. Where did I put that bottle of wine? Should we go out for dinner or something later?”
“Wine sounds good for the moment,” Danni replied. “We’ll save the dinner for when the deal’s actually done, ok.”
“Deal,” Lili beamed as she released her hold and turned towards the kitchen. “Where did I put that bottle of wine though?”
Danni grinned again.
“You left it out on the side. I put it in the fridge for you, you doffs.”

[Author]

Posts