It was quiet. Quiet at the Authors’ Headquarters. ‘Quiet’ and ‘authors’ were two words that did not belong near each other due to the explosive dangers of what happens when they are. Yet, this time, those words were near each other. For a majority of the morning they were in fact, up until Nicole slowly pushed open her door and crept from her office to the feast room to find herself a drink.

Gil, Giana, Kaitlin, and Kylie were all already there, standing scattered through the room each in search of their preferred snacks. Nicole stared at them and they stared back until she continued about towards the allergy free minifridge. Nicole clicked her tongue to stifle the silence as she picked a bottle of juice from it and stood up. She drank, sighed, and then turned to the others. “Hi.”

Silence for several cricket chirps.

“Hey,” Gil responded, busily trying to eat the remaining of a chip bag before anyone else could take it from him— though that person would most likely be Megan more than anyone else.

“Hello,” Giana smiled, glancing back from her search through a cabinet.

Kylie gave a wave from where she was busy cutting up a sandwich— with the ‘prop’ knife. Nicole glanced around and saw zero other people glancing at Kylie. Oh. Okay, well, she can’t say anything now, can she? But that was no prop knife was i— Kylie glanced back at Nicole and grinned.

Nicole smiled back.

Kaitlin huffed, making the two glance over. “Okay, so are we going to talk about it?”

“The silence?” Nicole replied.

“No, Rafael and Myra, and that teacher—”

“KAITLIN NOT AGAIN!” Nicole snapped.

“Yes again! We need to do something about them.”

“No, you don’t. They’re under CPA protection now because of you all!”

Kylie and Kaitlin giggled at that. Giana smiled more and nearly joined in with her almost laughing breaths.

“Nickie has a point,” Gil butted in. “It has been quiet today, we can talk more about Myra and Rafael later. Why have all of you been quiet? Normally there is at least one snippet hung up on the board or passed around.”

Giana’s mouth turned to more of a line as she bit back a response, Kaitlin tapped the table she leaned on, and Kylie continued cutting the sandwich which really was being turned to mush now— What even was the point of cutting up the sandwich THAT much?! Maybe distraction. Or showing off the knife. Or both.

Nicole rolled her eyes. Seemed she’d be the one to answer Gil’s question though. “I’m working on getting started on continuing to work on editing.”

“You still haven’t moved one?!” Kaitlin questioned.

“No,” Nicole groaned. “I— I am just— I don’t want to edit and I do and then all the errors— I don’t know!”

Giana hummed.

“Megan is going to go after you, have you tried writing anything?” Gil asked, glancing to the open door in the case his sister had her perfect timing today.

“YES! But it’s never the thing I was planning on writing! I think it’s writer’s block,” Nicole crossed her arms, sipping some more juice. “Or my characters are protesting again.”

“I would try to help you, but I’ve been going through my own writer’s block,” Giana sighed. “For the past year or two.”

“I can’t talk here either, being honest with all of you, I’ve been having writer’s block too,” Gil murmured, rubbing his chin.

“Kylie, Kaitlin, do you two have any writing that could distract Megan for a little bit and save all of us?” Nicole asked.

The two shook their heads.

Gil hummed, adjusted a monocle onto his face. “How peculiar, there must be a plague spreading around. It is rare for such an occurrence of group block to happen,” he spoke in a faux accent.

Nicole cringed at the invisible blackboard being scraped by the voice “Where did you even get a mo—” Wait. She blinked. “What if there is? I mean, we’re all still alive, and Megan hasn’t come after us. Maybe she has writer’s block as well!”

The group exchanged glances before they all herded out the doorway and hurried down the halls, yelping as they stepped over each other’s feet or stumbled over another’s shoelace— in particular Gil’s undone shoelaces— scattered with hisses to hush up each other.

Soon they stopped by the doorway to the manager’s office. After a short debate of pointing fingers and shaking heads, Gil was appointed to open the door while the remaining four prepared to make a run for it, but at least they had enough bravery to linger behind—

Giana slipped away as the door opened.

Okay, well the other three of them stayed at least.

“Hey Susie,” Gil laughed.

Megan held up a hand. “Shush, I’m busy.”

“With what?” Nicole asked.

“Writing.”

“Is it something you’re stuck on? I can help!” Nicole offered.

Megan scoffed. “No, no, it’s not that! I just got the most brilliant idea—”

The four in the doorway looked at each other.

“She stole our inspiration!” Nicole hissed in a whisper to them. Kylie, Kaitlin, and Gil gasped.

“What are you all gasping about?!” Megan called.

“Nothing!” Gil replied, putting his hands up. “Other than concern for Jaxton considering you got a piece of cheesecake there and that malicious grin.”

“Uh huh.” Megan was quiet for a few moments. “What have you all done today? I haven’t seen any snippets?”

And with that, Kaitlin and Kylie hurried out the door and Nicole and Gil scrambled to follow after them as Megan suddenly stood up from her desk having finished her writing for the moment.

Nicole Soto "Do it for the Fame!" A Contemporary/Semi-Dystopian novel touching on revenge and Corruption. Following Emeric through his fight with the Game Show Empire of Fame! Written Californian Author, Nicole Soto, we all are sad because it is... NOT YET RELEASED! Click ​HERE​ to read more about Nicole!

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