Hey howdy hey! I got my words together and wrote this! This story is so fun to write and imagining these characters interacting makes me so happy, I hope you're all enjoying this as much as I am. Obviously both properties don't belong to me, now, enough with the hoopla, let's just get into it
Wolf and Virginia locked up the restaurant for the evening, Wolf cleaning the kitchen while Virginia sat in the office with Forrest logging their inventory for the night, Virginia played soft music on the radio as Forrest nodded off to sleep. 'Poor little sausage.' Wolf thought to himself. All these late nights must really take it out of him, he felt bad for keeping their son out at all hours of the night while the two worked in their restaurant. There just wasn't much they could do, the restaurant was only a year old, and needed their management. Unfortunately, they didn't have any family in New York to watch over their son, and they couldn't just send him to the fourth kingdom every day- Wendell was a busy king after all.
Virginia was thinking the same thing, she looked over to her son, his dark blue eyes hidden as he dozed. She smiled warmly and brushed a lock of curly hair away from his forehead. A small frown pulled at her lips as she pulled her hand away. 'He really can't be part wolf, can he? I mean, so what if he is?' Her thoughts wandered 'I just wonder...I mean I don't know what would happen if he was. There's no magic here, the nine kingdoms are nothing but fairy tales. Who would believe us?' she grimaced.
"Virginia, my love? Are you ready to go?" Wolf peeked his head in the office, a smile lit up his face as he gazed at his wife and son. "Aw the pup's asleep! I mean I can't blame the little chap it is pretty late." He reached out to pat his son's curly head affectionately. Virginia hummed in agreement but didn't say anything. Wolf looked up at his wife, his eyes searching her face.
"Is something wrong?" he asked as she hoisted Forest onto her hip, picking up her bag with her other hand- she was unbearably quiet for a moment, he could see her shuffling her thoughts together.
"Maybe this was a mistake" She said at last, and Wolf felt his hand grow cold.
"What?"
Virginia slung her bag on her shoulder and shook her head, "I mean coming back to New York, starting the Restaurant, raising Forest here." she sighed "Maybe we should've stayed in the kingdoms, y'know? I mean my dad is there, Princ- Wendell is there, maybe we should've stayed there and let Forest grow up in a world full of magic. It was selfish of me to take you both away from that"
Wolf reached for his wife's arm and shook his head "Virginia-" he cooed
"- I don't know I've been thinking about this for a while, I just..." she paused, and looked into Wolf's face, her deep blue eyes softened "I just don't want you to regret coming here for something that I wanted." Wolf smiled and squeezed her arm in reassurance "Well my dream, Virginia, truly is to be here with you and our son, making your dreams come true." Virginia swallowed the lump in her throat, and she wondered how he could put up with her doubting herself at every turn. She started to open her mouth when he started to laugh.
Her eyebrows creased together "And what is so funny?" she demanded.
"I'm sorry," he said through his laughter "I'm sorry I'm not laughing at you- well I am but-" he reached for her hand and squeezed. "Oh, Virginia, love of my life you are the smartest, most amazing woman i've ever known, and yet you are so incredibly dense when it comes to people's feelings for you!"
She squeezed his hand back and playfully grinned "Shut up,"
The couple made their way out of the restaurant and locked up behind them
"You know your problem is that you're too open!" She teased "customers don't come here for sonnets they come for omelets- now to add omelets to the menu and that would've been a killer joke."
Wolf laughed anyway.
Tick
Tick
Tick
Tick
The clock on the publisher's desk ticked on, filling the silence that hung in the air. Sarah watched as the publisher: a greying man named Richard Wechsler, with his knobby fingers, he flipped through the pages of her script. He closed the cover and tapped on the bound pages with his thumb quietly, he broke the silence, making Sarah jump.
"Well Ms. Williams!" he said with his booming voice, "The play was great! Your writing is very compelling- I'd love to see this translated to stage." Sarah smiled and sat up in her seat.
"Really? Does that mean you'll be picking it up?" she asked, he hands clutching the backpack in her lap. She watched as Mr. Wechsler opened her script and flipped to a page somewhere towards the middle.
"I'd love to Ms. Williams, however, there are a couple notes I have. It's just a small couple things really." he assured her, looking at her over his oddly out of style horn rimmed glasses. Sarah's heart dropped for a moment, however she quickly swallowed her insecurity and nodded. 'Sarah you know that this is how this works- you're a new writer, criticism is expected.'
"O-oh? You do? Well i'm always open to notes!" She said, stuttering, cringing inwardly. Richard took a pen from behind his ear and clicked it loudly. Everything about him was entirely too loud or eerily too quiet.
"I think that Amelia should be played by an older actress, I think that this might give the story more appeal with adult audiences." he said flatly, scribbling in the margins of her script "Someone who can mature the character." he took out a notebook from a drawer and took down some more notes.
Sarah twitched as the pen scratched the page, an uneasy feeling started to blossom in her stomach. 'Someone who can…mature…' she tried to shrug it off- this wasn't too bad, she was getting bent out of shape for nothing. She wrote the piece specifically with the intent that her main heroine be a young girl. 'Someone who the audience can doubt, and maybe even dislike for her childish arrogance and naivety'
"And the other notes?" she asked Mr. Wechsler warily. Her grip tightened around her bag.
"I was thinking that, well you know romance is what really sells: characters at odds with each other but ultimately fall in love... you and I both know people eat it up." Mr. Wechsler looked up from his notes. "I think that maybe a rewrite with Amelia's love interest being uh…" he looked down and flipped to the synopsis page of Sarah's rough script, jabbing a finger down onto the page, a triumphant snort hummed from his drooping freckled nose.
"I think a love story between your main character and that Goblin King would be perfect! And if Amelia is an older age in the story this would work perfectly I think!" He replaced the pen behind his ear.
Sarah's pulse pumping so loud in her ears she was sure that he could hear, she felt her blood rush to her cheeks. She said nothing, her mouth opening but no words passed her lips. Mr. Wechsler looked up at her curiously. "Ms. Williams?"
Sarah's eyebrows scrunched together, and she blinked in shock. "I... You want to make my play into a love story." She stated more that she asked. "That's not what it's about at all!" she felt her voice go cold "The Goblin King was Amelia's childhood boogieman! He stole her brother and put her through hell! The things he did to Amelia were manipulative, not loving! He's Fae- he doesn't understand how to be anything but spiteful!" she felt the words tumble out of her mouth before she could think clearly. She quickly snapped her lips shut and sat stark straight in her seat.
Mr. Wechsler sat back in his own seat "Look, Sarah." he started to say slowly "I'm sorry you feel this way but let me give you some invaluable advice." He pushed his glasses up onto his head.
"I know that as an artist you want to keep your integrity, your vision and your projects are the most important thing you, but, and I say this with all respect due- you need to learn to accept that that vision cannot always be fully realized as is. To get ahead you need to understand this right now, when someone who has been in this business for decades gives you notes, you take them. Whether you take this with a grain of salt or whether you take it to heart I don't care either way." Wechsler picked up the script on the desk and held it up
"I'm just telling you this because I like your writing and I think that with greater experience you could make a great career, I'm sorry if you think you're sacrificing integrity or your vision. I'm just trying to tell you what works."
Sarah looked at the floor, a familiar warmth flared up in the back of her throat and her eyes stung. She cursed herself for being so emotional over stupid notes- it wasn't about her, it wasn't directed to her, she told herself. She cleared her throat to keep her voice from cracking.
"Thank you, Mr. Wechsler, do you- that is, would it be okay for me to think this over?" she asked politely.
Wechsler handed her script back "sleep on it," he continued "but I can't give you much more than a day, I've got other appointments- I said I like your writing, but that doesn't mean I'll wait forever." Sarah nodded and put the bound papers back in her bag quickly.
"Thank you, Mr. Wechsler, really. Have a good day." She stood up and quickly left the quiet office. "Goodbye Ms. Williams, I hope to hear from you tomorrow."
As soon as the door clicked shut behind her she let out a huge breath. 'Well, Williams, that could've gone better' she tutted herself. 'You have to stop letting your emotions get the better of you. Mr. Wechsler's right you can't expect to have everything to be exactly how you envisioned.'
She groaned as she stood by herself in the elevator
"Well that doesn't make it any less infuriating- the Goblin King in love with Amelia? That's terrible, poor taste, absolutely awful!" she said aloud. "She would never fall in love with that disgusting rat, not when he threatened her brother and her friends!" she swallowed a lump in her throat and shook her head.
Her friends…. she hadn't seen them in ages.
"Should you need us"
"Yes, should you need us"
"Oh, I need you now more than ever." She reached into her bag and pulled out her compact mirror, she stared at her reflection "Hoggle, Diddymus, Ludo…I miss you" she whispered. The only sound that cut the silence was the ding of the opening elevator door, people shuffled. Sarah shoved the mirror in her pocket, not waiting for a response, she didn't have to.
Her friends hadn't answered her in years.
Virginia was sitting at the window, a binder full of paperwork that needed doing sat in front of her. She normally did her work in the office, but today she watched the people walking by. She did that sometimes, just watched the people on the street and wondered if they had a little magic in them too. Wolf came by periodically to refill her glass of water, or to ask her how she was doing. He wasn't waiting on anyone today, he was behind the bar watching Forest and showing him easy little parlor tricks, she watched them too as her husband's eyes sparkled as he talked enthusiastically. She watched her son's tiny hands clapped together in delight.
Wolf would laugh loudly at something Forest said, turning to look over his shoulder at the chef in the kitchen, telling her what just happened. Virginia laughed and turned her attention back out the window.
She watched a man in a steel grey suit, in the midst of an intense phone call, she watched a group of friends all dressed for a night out, and she watched as Sarah Williams came walking down the street.
Sarah was a regular, when she had found The Orchard six months ago Wolf had mentioned something about Sarah was different- something otherworldly. He didn't really elaborate, sort of shrugged it off and blamed his "wolfiness". Since then, the two of them had become friends with the otherworldly Sarah Williams who always seemed to have a story to tell.
The bell above the door jangled pleasantly as she walked in. Virginia called from her seat at the window. "Sarah! Good evening!" She waved the younger woman over to her table. Sarah, with an unusually sullen expression, shuffled across the room. Virginia gestured to the seat across from her and watched as Sarah plopped down.
"Rough day?"
"They wanted to pick up my script,"
Virginia's hands shot up, a small celebratory gesture. "That's amazing Sarah! I knew they would- you're an amazing storyteller!" When Sarah didn't smile back at her, she knew there was more to it. "That's not just it is it?" she asked.
Sarah picked at her nails quietly, shifting in her seat.
"It's- well, Mr. Wechsler wanted to make some changes, I think…" she looked up at Virginia "I think I may have overreacted, but it's a huge change" she chuckled softly, her green eyes looked stormy. Virginia couldn't read the emotions in those stormy eyes- was she regretful about her actions? Was she angry at her publisher- of course, but there was a deeper feeling in her friend's face that she just couldn't grasp. She didn't have to grasp it though.
"Hang on just a second." Virginia got up and headed towards the bar, Wolf asking what she and Sarah had been talking about.
"I saw you and Sarah over there! How is she? Did her appointment go well? I hope so, huff puff i can't see how it couldn't have! Oh, Virginia did you need something? I'll get it for you don't worry!'
Virginia shook her head "I think I should talk to Sarah, don't worry Wolf, I'll get you if we need anything else." She patted her husband's shoulder and moved past him to grab a bottle of red wine and two glasses.
"Alright, I think this is a good place to start." Virginia said as she plopped down the bottle with a glassy thump. Sarah's gaze flit between Virginia and the bottle.
"Oh- are you more of a Cabernet girl?"
Sarah smiled, "Can't stand the stuff, really, the redder the better" She held out a glass for Virginia to pour.
Sarah talked about sitting in her publisher's office, the thrill of him approving of her script, the elation of thinking about her play potentially being acted out on stage, and then the drop in her stomach when he talked about revisions. She felt herself on the edge of being worked up again thinking about it.
"So, he wants to turn your play into a romance- and you told him that's not what you want right?"
Sarah rolled the stem of the wine glass between her thumb and forefinger "I did, in fact I told him that's not my intent with this play" she groaned, heat spreading to her cheeks and ears, from her irritation or the wine she couldn't say. "I mean it changes the theme! It's ridiculous! Totally ridiculous! But what can I do? I don't know if I'll get another publisher to pick up my script."
Virginia rolled her eyes and pointedly stared at her friend across the table "Sarah are you kidding me? You are a gifted writer, and with the optimism i've seen from you over the past few months i'm really shocked at you! Listen, If Wolf and I can open a restaurant and keep it running for a year, you can find another willing publisher"
"Virginia, please you're inflating my massive ego- anymore and I really think i'm heading into macy's balloon territory." Sarah joked, and Virginia scoffed playfully.
"But, honestly, Sarah, I've seen you working on this for months. I know how much this means to you. I know this play means the world to you and you want it represented in a faithful way-" she began. And Sarah smiled inwardly 'You have no idea, and I don't know if you'd ever believe me if I told you just how personally I take this.' she thought.
"I think that this passion is what make you stand out! I can't stand to see you give up like this. Stranger things have happened than you finding another publisher- trust me"
Sarah set down her glass "Stranger than starting an amazing business with your thespian of a husband?"
An odd look fell over Sarah's friend "Oh, stranger than even you could think up, trust me!"
"Not possible, I had a weird childhood" Sarah quipped
"Oh, everyone had a weird childhood- it'd be weirder if you had a normal one!" Virginia poured another glass of the deep red liquid. "But weirdness aside- if you need me to call up that publisher and give him a piece of my mind I totally will!" Sarah snorted "Careful Virginia, don't make promises after three glasses of wine, in my experience it might end with you cashing out on a quite unfortunate elf costume."
"Okay I need to see pictures of that!"
The night went on and as the two ate dinner, courtesy of Wolf insisting they must be "quite ravenous" Sarah felt energized, and more at home than she did in her own apartment- she figured this was what drew her back to The Orchard regularly, not knowing that what she felt lifting her spirits was magic. As the night came to a close, she paid her bill, despite the couple insisting that this meal was on the house. Virginia and Wolf urged her to allow one of them to walk her home and knowing that this was not an argument that she could negotiate, she agreed, and she and Wolf were off.
"Huff puff Sarah you really walk all this way to see us every day?" Wolf seemed surprised. Sarah shrugged "I like walking, and the food is really worth it." he didn't seem fully satisfied with this but said nothing, they walked in silence which Sarah found a little odd.
"It's not really just the food is it?" Wolf finally asked, his eyes holding an oddly knowing gaze.
"Well I mean you guys are pretty great too, fishing for compliments tonight, are we?" Sarah joked, but the expression still settled over his features. "Okay, what's with that weird look?"
"Sarah, I think we all have something in common, and it's not just our love of food and company."
Sarah narrowed her eyes and stopped walking "Ookay,I'll bite, Wolf, what do we have in common?" She crossed her arms over her chest.
Wolf looked around subtly, and lowered his voice so she could barely hear him above the roar of the city
"I think, Sarah Williams, that you know about magic- I think you have real magic in you."
