The shrill sound of his phone jolted Jack out of his slumber. The floor was hard beneath him, and all was quiet around him. Peace. Finally…

Groaning and puffing, Jack took it out of his pocket and picked it up without checking the caller ID.

"Hello?" His voice was raspy from sleep. "Who is it?"

"It's me," a pensive voice said.

Jack shot up.

"Demi..." The headache hit him then, and he felt the aftermath of the choke hold around his neck. He rubbed it with his hand. "Where are you?"

"I should be asking you that question!" Her voice was enraged in an unrestrained way. "Where the hell are you? I've been calling."

"Really?" Jack hadn't heard anything up until that moment.

"What do you mean by 'really'? Of course, I did. I called you several times, Jack, for the meeting? It could take your career to another level, but no, you had to up and disappear!" Her voice had risen with every new word. It ended at a peak that caused her to huff and puff loudly.

Nonetheless, no matter how hard Jack tried to muster up a befitting, apologetic answer, all he could say was, "Oh."

"'Oh'? Did you say 'oh'? That's all you can come up with for disappointing yourself and every other person who waited on you?"

Jack rubbed his head, a blinding headache building. "I'm sorry," he said because that was the only thing that seemed right, maybe. "I am very sorry."

"Sorry about what exactly?" she asked, her annoyance unmistakable. "About disappointing yourself or disappointing everyone else? Which of these destructive things are you sorry for exactly, Jack?"

"Demi, I... Look, I know that today was one hell of a strange day, but I promise you that if we can meet again in a more private place and you lend me your ears, I will explain everything. I will make it right."

"If what you want to explain is the same rubbish you have been spewing all day, then I don't want to hear it. There is nothing you can say that will make sense."

"Don't do this, please." Jack rubbed his forehead and felt the brutish horns growing there. "Please, you can't let me do all of this on my own."

"Do all of what?" she asked. "Did you think of getting a 'partner' in whatever the hell this is before you started making idiotic decisions? Did you think you needed me, your manager, before making such an announcement without even discussing it first? Did you?"

"I didn't plan for any of it, Demi!" Jack said, exasperated. "It just came out of nowhere."

"It didn't come from 'nowhere'. You’ve been thinking about it. Stewing over it. Is this depression? What’s wrong with you?"

"It's not! Why couldn't you all stop saying that? It wasn't helping!"

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

"What wasn't helping was you allowing yourself to self-destruct. You were getting to your peak, Jack. What was making you climb back down? What did you want to do to yourself?"

"I swear, if you let us sit and talk, you will see reason. I have to explore other options, Demi. I have to do something else… live some other way."

"What the hell are you saying?" Jack got up and made it into his room. He sat on his bed and listened to her sizzling anger tipping over. "You have to stop this madness."

Jack closed his eyes and opened them again, making a decision. "I can't, Demi. I'm sorry."

He heard her grinding her teeth. "Listen to me, Jack," she seethed. "The executive producer has decided to forgive what you pulled today because I made a case on your behalf. He has generously given us another date to come for the meeting so we can start discussing plans for your last book… or the next one."

Jack frowned in confusion. "'The next one'? I don't understand. What does that mean?"

"Exactly what it sounds like. You don't behave like this with people like that and think forgiveness won't come at a cost. You should be grateful that it is at a cost that will be beneficial to both parties..."

"Demi," Jack said carefully, "what are you saying?"

She yawned, and Jack imagined her in silk pajamas, her nipples pointed and straining against the fabric. She would be without panties, and her body would be fresh from a scented bath. He closed his eyes and shook the image out of his head.

"The man, David Johnson—ring a bell?—is considering waiting on your next masterpiece. He knows that each new release from you tops the last. You have proven yourself, Jack, and he will not mind waiting on you. Something fresh out of the oven is better than yesterday's bake, anyway."

She finished on a high note, no doubt waiting for a shriek of joy from Jack's side.

But she was disappointed again. There was absolutely nothing to shriek about. There was no joy to be expressed.

"But... But how could you agree to such an arrangement?" Jack asked.

"I didn't agree," Demi hissed. "How could I agree to something you and I have not deliberated on yet? You think I am you?" he winced at the jab. "I only said he was considering it."

"And you sounded pumped about it like you agreed a hundred percent," Jack said, suddenly furious with her.

"Of course, I agreed with it. Didn't you hear everything just I explained?"

"Yes, I heard you. I heard you clearly speak about our future being decided for us. Isn’t the book I was supposed to write already taken? What the heck is this?"

"What do you mean 'taken'? You will be accorded the accolades as the writer for years and years to come. You will also be revered as the originator of a brilliant movie that will win many awards as the others did."

"But you don’t know that!"

"It’s a given. It always happens."

"With me being put under duress to write like this, it most likely won’t happen this time around!"

"Nobody is putting you under duress. You are going to write just like other times. It is a job you did and enjoy doing. What the hell is the duress?"

"Because I said, I don’t want to do it anymore! Don't you get it?"

Tempers were high. Their voices had been slowly rising as they went back and forth. Now though, everything was silent. Only their heavy breaths echoed along the line. Jack tried to calm himself, but it was a lost cause. He knew the same was true for Demi. Too much had been said. There was no going back.

"Look," Demi eventually said, "let's not go back and forth over the phone. Get up and go write now. Put this aside and try, Jack. This is your career we’re talking about here—the readership and followers you’ve built over time. You can’t allow it all to go down the drain. Get up and go write something now. We can talk in the morning."

"Wait, Demi. I can't..."

She had already ended the call.