End Of Story.

At least that's what I thought.

The constant clicking of keypads resounded in my kitchen, all the way to the living room. It was loud, and so avidly consistent that one could guess what letters I clicked, if they listened just hard enough.

Another thing that seemed to be almost as loud as the clanking keys of my laptop, was the ticking clock that hung at the top of the door, one which led to the short, narrow corridor of my apartment.

Unrelenting as ever, came the tick-tock that I once thought was soundless. It had slowly risen in volume to match my laptop's employed, and overworked keypad. I loved my MacBook, it was my most loyal employee(ok maybe my only employee), but one who's efficiency was only balanced by my own explosive imagination.

Tick.

TIck.

TICK!

I pinched the bridge of my nose then let out a frustrated sigh, my black doe eyes ran up the simple door till they finally fell on the face of my present enemy. I glared at the hanging quartz clock for over 30 seconds, thinking of just what to do to get the irritating sound out of my head. The thought of bringing it down did cross my mind, with the afterimages of me happily shoving it into my closet.

Alas, that was not to be.

I was just too lazy to climb on anything at the moment to get it down, and far too engrossed in the last lines of my novel to even consider getting up at all. So making do with my situation, I blocked out the noisy timepiece and returned every ounce of my focus to the task at hand.

~As the dust settled on the blood torn valley of Camresh, so did the pain that had burdened Arthur's heart for over a decade. He smiled, it was a tired, empty and almost nonexistent smile, but the spark in his eyes would tell, that for the first time in years, he was truly happy.

This time, the young king knew that the hard won peace would last for centuries.~

Finally! I thought, heaving a loud sigh. If not for the fact that I was in my kitchen, nestled comfortably on one of the brit counter stools by the island, I would have thrown myself backwards without a care, just to relax my tense muscles. That could only be done on a lounge chair though or on a bed, and just the thought of hugging my copper sheepskin baby in the living room, made all this effort worth it.

A childish grin spread across my face as I sat still, watching and admiring the final lines of the novel, the same one that I had tirelessly pushed myself into writing these past three months. Although this particular book started as a side story to the main trilogy, "Throne Of Thorns" (a work I had written for two years, and only completed just last year), it had slowly risen and unravelled into something much more incredible than I planned, but much unlike it's predecessors, this part had the fairytale ending that my fans craved for.

I was proud of me.

DING-DONG...

BAM!

BAM!

There goes my moment, I facepamed.

There was only one person in the entire world who could be ramming up my door like that in broad daylight.

"It's open!" I shouted as loudly, so she could hear me over the incessantly ringing bell. A surprised "Oh" came from the patio and I rolled my eyes.

"Well how the heck was I suppose to know it was open?" She asked, literally stomping in on her black converse sneakers, like she owned the place.

"You always be keeping your cute ass locked up in here all day like there's something wrong with you." Her rich african-american accent dripped off each word as she marched into the kitchen, her adorable brown pomeranian - Kiwi on one hand, and a gorgeous prada jacquard bag on the other.

Abigail my friend from college and the only girlfriend I currently had, was dressed to impress as always, she wore a grey off-shoulder crop top, it had a small shoulder sleeve and a deep v-neck interweave, that accentuated her brown boobs and flawless shoulder. The top went almost too well with her blue high waist jeans, which hugged her wide hips and toned thighs like a glove, a testimony to the many hours she spent at the gym. A black leather jacket was strewn over her left hand, the same one that carried the designer bag she'd gotten during our last shopping spree.

"I was working Abbie ." I sighed tiredly, massaging the annoying crease lines on my forehead, while glancing at her outfit, thinking just how it complemented her caramel skin.

"You always working. " She huffed.

"Today's a saturday and the school is on holiday, but here you are still spending every minute at home on your laptop."

"Gimme a break please." I hissed annoyed.

"Oh hell naw lil missy, you're mine today and am going to take you out to have the time of your life" she said enthusiastically, I couldn't help but laugh.

Carefully putting Kiwi down, Abigail dropped her bag on the island just by my computer, then walked around to where I sat, snagged a stool and made herself comfortable.

"What're you doing?" The question popped out of her lips that were pink with gloss as she inched closer to me, curiously peering at my laptop.

"Just finished a story, now I'll simply need to copy," I said casually, my fingers padding away at the keypads at a usual breakneck speed.

"And email it to my editor to do the groundwork and...sent!" The email displayed a notification that showed it had been sent successfully, i heaved, releasing a tensed breath then smiled warmly at Abbie, who shot me an odd look.

"Is it the one where everybody dies at the end?"

"Not really, this is kindof the side story to it, has a happy ending tho."

"That last one was pretty dark, anyways get up let's get you into the something chic so we can go out." Reaching for my hand I withdrew from her, muttering the words

"Lemme alone am tired, I wanna sleep," I pouted laying my head on the cold smooth countertop of the island, hoping she'd go away. At least not until two lithe but firm hands went under my breasts and roughly dragged me off the stool.

"Leave me alone Abbie, I don't want to go out," I pleaded as she easily pulled me from behind towards my bedroom, my arms which were free from her tight grip struggled to hold onto the doorframe, but with a rough tug she dragged me inside.

"That hurt," looking at my slightly red finger's I got upset.

To be honest, going out, meeting different people and partying was never really my thing. Unless it was for work, for family or to get the necessities, I could stay cooped up in my home all day. It wasn't because I didn't enjoy leaving house at all, on some occasions outings were really interesting, but I wouldn't think twice about trading them for the peace and quiet of my haven.

While I could spend my free days at home or at the nearby café, burying my self on one of my blogs and sometimes a different story, with a mug of expresso hot chocolate and Joe's world-record brownies in hand.

Abbie was the exact opposite. The ever concentric, energetic and ready to go girl. As a model and social media influencer, she loved celebrity parties, flashy cars and anything that came with a designer tag. We were polar opposites, one time enemies at college, but after settling our differences, we'd been best friends since.

I pursed my lips and glared at Abigail, who had dumped me on the bed unceremoniously and now busied herself in my closet.

"Craig is in town, he's having a party tonight," she said checking out two sets of dresses, before shoving them back into the hanger.

"Am not going." I muttered, grabbing my cellphone from where I usually stashed it under the pillows, as expected there were numerous emails waiting for me.

"What did you say?"

"I don't want to go."

"Say it again one more time." She threatened, walking over to the bed while patting a coat hanger in one hand.

"I was joking Abbie, relax." With a huff, she turned back into the wall closet, rummaging through it all over again. To be honest I was too scared to try to convince her otherwise, massaging my bum gently as I recalled what happened the last time she held a hanger to me like that.

"Hey Evie!"

"Yeah?" I answered nonchalantly, scrolling through my numerous messages. Most were from some of my blogs and businesses, about three came from the school where I worked, and the majority were book reviews from Amazon, scribed, goodreads and several other platforms I had published on.

'The reviews are good.' I thought, skimming through the latest ones on Amazon.

~Started with a promise, but now I just regret spending my money and time on this game of thrones X witcher wannabe. A waste of space with a really stupid ending---don't read!~

I nearly laughed out loud at this particular one, but a harsh look from Abbie shut me up. This review was from some person named Sam, who was clearly dissatisfied (may not have even read the whole trilogy, or even a single one in it) and looking out to diss up hate.

"Are you still getting threats from your book fans?" She asked, a stash of sweaters, cardigans, leggings, jeans, and tops at her feet, none of them meeting the mark.

"Yep," typing a very unprofessional reply, I coated each on my reply to Sam's review, with his own glaring stupidity.

"Anything serious, I didn't like that last one at all."

"It's nothing serious, just some heartbroken teenagers, and a few other readers who want to get back at me for killing their simps"

Ever since the end of the -Throne Of Thorns- series about six months ago, I had been receiving all sort of response from my audience, some loved every bit of it, others we're not satisfied, but the majority absolutely hated how the final book ended the lives of all the main characters in a tragedy, and they didn't hesitate to tell me off on my choice of ending.

Although in my opinion it ended perfectly, and I couldn't think of a better way to it, my readers thought otherwise. This eventually led to me writing the side story, which was a continuation of the series owning the fairytale end they desired.

And while the Throne of Thorns remained what it was, a beautiful, best-selling tragedy, I hoped the side story would appease my betrayed fans.

The mattress dipped softly under Abbie's weight as she sat next to me. I hummed in surprise, casting a weary look at her hands for the dubious hanger, when I couldn't see it, I finally relaxed.

"That's what you think, but these petty threats can become very real, don't take anything your fans say for granted, even if they are only heartbroken teenage girls."

"I know, I know." I said, content to have given Sam a well deserved response.

"Are you done with that?" Abigail asked, motioning towards the phone in my hands. Just a second from giving her an answer, I noticed my closet door was shut, the clothes were no longer on the floor, and a panting kiwi danced around the room trying to bite on a fluff ball.

Something was off, and the suspicious grin on Abbie's face could only mean one thing.

"NOOOOOOO!"

Grabbing the polished headboard, I screamed with all my might, as her strong hands sneaked under my chest again and hoisted me up in one swift tug, followed by her excited voice and kiwi's happy yelp.

"Let's go shopping!"