My Body-Mine by Blakely Bennett

could it hurt? At least it would pass the time until Marcello got home.

    Chase: Have you read the publisher’s email yet?
    Jane: Yes! She wants to publish my story.
    Chase: You must be so excited. That’s really great!
    Jane: I’m excited and scared.
    Chase: Why scared? Scared people won’t buy it?
    Jane: Subject matter mostly.
    Chase: Will you ever share with me what the story is about?
    Jane: No.
    Chase: No?
    Jane: Sorry, I meant to write, MOST DEFINITELY NOT. That’s a little clearer I think. LOL.
    Chase: I might have to tickle it out of you.
    Jane: You most definitely will not.
    Chase: You fail to understand my powers of persuasion.
    Jane: Oh, I have been up against the best.
    Chase: So I have heard. :P
    Jane: You will pay for that remark!
    Chase: Are you feeling better?
    Jane: I’m not telling!

    A smile beamed across my face and I started to feel rather warm.

    Chase: Are you smiling right now? You know I can see right through the Ethernet. Listen, I mean it when I say I could really use a new friend.
    Jane: As long as that’s all you’re after. You know I’m involved.
    Chase: Yes, I know, and that breaks my heart. :(
    Jane: You’re a big boy. You’ll be just fine.
    Chase: Yeah but will you? ;)
    Jane: Grrr. Talk later.

    I signed out but my pulse raced. What was I getting myself into here?
    My mood had lifted. I felt ravenous and made my way to the kitchen. My lunch sat on the counter so I took the bag, grabbed a fork and headed back to my room.
    * * * *
    Janice and I avoided each other over the next couple of days. Although I thought a lot about the online chat with Chase, I didn’t allow myself to sign back into Facebook for two days. I did however call Parker to let her know I’d meet her at the jazz club and she was over the moon about it. Her words.
    Each morning Marcello called me while I still lay in bed, to connect before the start of his day.
    “ Still sleeping?” Marcello asked when I answered my cellphone.
    “ Waiting for you to call … my new alarm clock.”
    “ I like knowing I’m the start of your morning. Did you have a good day yesterday?”
    “ Have you spoken to Janice?” I asked, rolling on my side and sitting up. I saw my disheveled reflection in the mirror and patted down my messy hair with my free hand.
    “ She hasn’t returned my calls. How did lunch go?”
    “ It didn’t. Could you hold for a sec?”
    “ Sure.”
    I slid off the bed and padded into the bathroom. Putting the phone on mute, I plopped down on the toilet seat and peed. I quickly washed my hands, splashing water on my face before grabbing the towel.
    After unmuting the phone I said, “Back.”
    “ Feeling better now?”
    “ Much.”
    “ I sent the publisher’s contract back with some recommendations. You can also do some research online regarding what is standard for first-time authors. Most of the terms seem reasonable but you should try to keep some of the rights like movie, foreign language and audio. I sent some links for you to explore and some changes I suggest you make.”
    “ Thank you so much! You can’t imagine how reassuring it is to have you support me in this. It makes it less scary.”
    “ You’re very welcome. So lunch with Janice didn’t happen?”
    “ I’d rather not discuss the details but suffice it to say, she pissed me off so I left. We’ve been avoiding each other ever since.”
    “ That does not sound good.”
    “ You think? What do you plan to do about it?”
    “ I’m hard pressed to do anything about it from here.” He sighed heavily.
    “ Yeah, I know. I’m sorry to even bring it up. I’m sure it will sort out with time. How’s your mother acclimating?”
    “ She hates it. She hates not being able to take care of herself. I don’t blame her. She is usually a very sweet woman but has lost patience with the orderlies. I find myself placating her with the same adages she told me in my youth. ‘You will catch more flies with honey than vinegar.’ ”
    “ Oh my