Chapter One- Orange Juice and Drunken Chicks
The leather chair was cold against his back; He normally didn't wear dress shirts so he forgot that with thin cheap ones you wear a white shirt underneath. He pulled at his tie as it seemed to tighten around his neck on its own. He really didn't know whether to be excited or terrified as another fellow writer walked out of the office with their head high.
"Smith." A pause, he looked around the room to the other people in the area. "Murdock Smith." He stood; he was fairly certain there was another Smith in the room but doubted there was another Murdock. He followed the nicely dressed man into the office and adjusted his tie. It was cold, probably because the air conditioning was on full blast. The grey office looked and felt like how a large corporation should feel; cold, distant and filled with trendy gadgets like a Roomba that Murdock tripped on in his pursuit to sit down. As he slid himself into another cold leather chair he glanced at all of the generic photos of skyscrapers and the random pictures of big jungle cats puzzled him.
"So Marrdock, did I say that right?" No he absolutely butchered it.
"Just called me Doc, it's easier for everyone." He winced; he just insulted the man he was here to convince. The man just chuckled and lifted a large stack of papers.
"So you're the writer of…"
"Adventures through Time and Space, yup that's me." Murdock chuckled lightly, but he was nervous as hell. The man thumbed through some of the pages and then set it down on his desk before folding his fingers in front of him. "So Doc, who are you aiming to sell this to? Who are your target readers?"
Murdock grinned. "Kids."
The man slightly sighed; he ran a hand along his salt and pepper beard before he spoke again. "Well from what I read, it pushed the bill a little bit. Violence. A love interest? Philosophy? I'm not sure kids can really process all of that."
"Violence, nothing more than most children's video games have. A love interest that is G rated and is healthy positive relationship. And philosophy…don't we want children to be smart and free thinkers?"
Murdock now sat in his favorite bar; it reminded him of the pub he used to frequent while he was in college. He shook his head as he took another swig of his whiskey wondering if it was a good idea to drop everything and move to America. After living New York City for three years he still got lost on the subway.
They told him no…More like hell no. They preached that kids nowadays didn't have the attention span for such a large book. Murdock scoffed and finished off the rest of his glass before throwing down a couple of bills and walking out of the bar and into the humid night air.
Despite all of its flaws; like nowhere to park and killer pigeons, at night with all the lights twinkling it was beautiful. He sighed with sadness in his heart and walked down the street with his hands shoved into his pockets.
"You know Doc maybe you should just write something else." His best friend Rory called out from the kitchen, the sounds of chips hitting an empty glass bowl almost drowned out Murdock's reply. "No! I worked way too hard to just give this up."
Rory; a tall gangly type of a man with a shaggy brunette haircut walked into the living room carrying a bowl and a six-pack. He sat down on the couch next to Murdock and handed him a beer, he shook his head in refusal. "I already had a drink tonight." Rory sighed and took the beer for himself. "Look I'm not saying give up, what I'm saying is try writing something else."
Murdock frowned and threw his feet up onto the coffee table; the front door opened and slammed shut as two women stumbled in laughing and singing incoherent songs. Rory smiled at the red head, she was their roommate and his new girlfriend.
"Amy, you ok?" Murdock chuckled as she swayed carrying most of the weight that this unknown girl was refusing to carry for herself. Amy swallowed hard before waving a finger in the air. "Before you say anything no I'm not drunk, and this." She points to the short brunette. "Is Clara."
The tiny girl waved haphazardly almost hitting Amy in the mouth as she continued to ramble on about how Clara was from the UK and went to the same high school as Clara, they were best friends. Clara looked up from under her brown bangs with a large grin on her face, her face was small and nose was small like the rest of her. Her eyes were brown like her long hair and Murdock would have to admit that she was attractive. He smiled at her and she opened her mouth to say something but instead she threw up all over Murdock.
He ended up giving Clara his bed since Amy threw a fit about her sleeping on the couch. "What if she chokes and dies?" He grumbled and reluctantly agreed, but for the rest of the night Amy tried to set him up with Clara. He had no time for a girlfriend; well he never had a girlfriend so he really didn't know how much time girlfriends needed. But from the way she talked most of the night he doubted she was his type…if he had a type.
Murdock was always a very sheltered child who only ever hung out with boys his age since his mother was terrified that some little girl would corrupt her baby boy. He never was allowed to say any vulgar words and he still never cursed and most of the time he was so focused on school or writing that he didn't even date or have interest in any girls.
He stared up at the ceiling from his very cramped couch he was still upset that his dream was shot down…again. He had been trying for years to get it published but no one would bite. He rolled onto his side and grabbed the remote; he pressed the power button and on flashed some news station.
"The book 60 Shades of Green is the best seller for this month and can you believe that it's all about sex?" The two reporters laughed and Murdock groaned and switched off the TV. It was books like 60 Shades of Green that made it that more difficult to get his book published. A noise in the hallway made him sit up; Clara came tiptoeing around the corner with a carton of orange juice in her hands. He cleared his throat and she froze. "Oh hey, sorry I got thirsty and I couldn't find the cups."
He slowly moved from his spot on the couch and went to where she was standing. He towered over her and she smiled up at him and offered him the carton. He grabbed it from her and stalked down the hall to the kitchen.
"Nice talk, goodnight," She called after him as she closed his bedroom door and he knew in that moment with his OCD tendencies flaring up, that he and this Clara were not going to get along.