"And that’s all the mail for today," she mutters, wiping the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand. Sighing loudly, she sits down on the chair facing my desk. "We’re going to need to hire some people," she says, breathing raggedly while her eyes wander over the pile of manuscripts on my desk.
"Yeah, seems like it," I reply, opening the boxes and getting the heavy stacks of paper out. "This is crazy."
Well, this is actually more than just crazy. It’s been like this everyday for the past six months. Since Aidan and I launched Naughty Angel Publishing it seems that writers all around the world have swamped us with their manuscripts. We’ve already published quite a few of them, but the few interns we have can’t keep up with the pace of submissions. We’re receiving dozens and dozens of submissions in the mail everyday.
After Aidan’s insane stunt at the convention, Big Dick shot right back to #1 one, and it stayed there for six months. During these six months, we launched a sequel… And the only book capable of dethroning Big Dick ended up being its own sequel, Hungry Pussy. Studio execs have already approached us, hell bent on bringing our story to the big screen, but we’re not sure if that’s going to work out - our books are so scorching hot that the only way you’d be able to adapt them was to turn them into porn.
Okay, just between you and me, there’s reason we haven’t sold the movie rights to Big Dick: we’re hammering a multi-million dollar deal with Ethan Kane, the undisputed porn king of America. Instead of bringing Big Dick to the big screen, Kane wants to adapt it to his new VR platform. Crazy, right? I went from starving writer to rolling in money and fame in the space of an year.
"What are you girls talking about?" I hear Aidan’s voice, and a second after I see his head peering from the doorway to my office. I get up from my chair as I see him, forgetting all about the dozens of manuscripts on my desk, and make a beeline toward him.
Little Cody is in his arms, and believe me when I tell you it’s the cutest baby ever. And this coming from someone that had a hard time seeing the beauty in babies. I guess motherhood can really change a woman.
"Come to momma," I whisper at Cody, and he gives me a lazy smile, extending his little arms toward me. I grab him and hold him close, laying a gentle kiss on his forehead, and then give another kiss to Aidan.
"I thought you were staying home today," I tell him, and he leans against the doorway and gazes at my busy desk.
"I thought you could use a little help. I mean, three woman alone in the office? I bet you’d just spend the day talking about men and -- Ouch!" He cries out playfully as I punch his bicep.
"Missed ya," I mouth to him, and he smiles at me.
"Oh, come on, stop that, we have work to do," CJ and Cheryll start protesting, and a few of the interns in the main floor sneak a peek inside my office, trying to see what all the commotion is about.
That’s right, we have interns too - twelve of them, and if they keep up with the good work we’re probably going to make them full time employees somewhere during the next few months. Naughty Angel Publishing is a growing operation, and it won’t take long for us to overtake Bad Boy Publishing. It’s not that big of a deal anyway - since Aidan’s stunt with Huge Cock that they never really managed to sink their teeth into the romance market again. All they seem to do nowadays is pump out cheap knock-offs of the novels Naughty Angel publishes every week.
Last I heard also, Austin over at Python had sent some guys over to his house about the whole camera thing that Aidan told me about.
No one has heard from him since.
Good riddance, Grady, serves you well.
Still, though, if we keep on expanding at this rate we’re probably going to need a bigger office. Our current one has space for thirty to fifty people, but before the year’s over I’m betting that we’ll occupy this whole floor of the building we’re in. Maybe in two years we’ll be occupying the whole building. Really, the sky’s the limit for us now.
More than just writers (or models), Aidan and I are now co-CEO’s of a booming publishing company. CJ and Cheryll serve as our lieutenants, and God bless them - Idon’t know what we’d do without them. There are so many contracts to go over, so many paperwork to go through, that I don’t know how we keep up. Of course, that also means that the money is coming in… And it’s coming in fast.
Our company is worth a few millions now, and after we sign our deal with Ethan Kane, we’ll probably rocket upward into the hundreds of millions bracket. Sweet, uh? Abby and Aidan, multi-millionaires - how does that sound?
I go back to my big CEO chair - yeah, I don’t get tired of calling myself a CEO - and, with Cody sitting on my knees, I grab one of the manuscripts.
"Well, let’s get this done," I say, and the three of them sit around my desk, each one of them grabbing a manuscript from the sky-high pile. I take a few seconds before I start reading, just taking in the scene - me, Aidan, Cheryll and Cj, all of us together and running a publishing house.
Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that something like this could happen. Sure, I dreamed of having a bestseller, but owning a successful publishing house while still putting out book after book? Yeah, I didn’t see that coming, not by a long shot.
Oh, yeah, I didn’t tell you about the penthouse Aidan and I bought, have I? Yeah, we rolled half the profit from Big Dick into the downpayment for a high rise apartment overlooking the beach. We’re so close to the beach that if I throw a pebble out from the balcony, it will fall on sand. Does that sound awesome? Because, yeah, it’s totally awesome.
Okay, I’m going to stop bragging about my perfect life. You’re probably tired of me by now, aren’t you? Just a minute, though, I need to explain the big ring on my finger. Yup, it’s exactly what you’re thinking. The day Cody was born, Aidan proposed and slipped this diamond ring in my finger. Sure, I didn’t really envision it happening like that - with me all bloodied and exhausted, laying down on a hospital bed - but, looking back, that was one of the most beautiful moments in my life. To say that it was perfect just doesn’t quite cut it.
We’re probably going to get married this summer. Something classy and traditional, or perhaps something more modern, like on the beach or something. We still haven’t worked out the details. But they’re just details, and they don’t really matters. What matters is that me, Aidan and Cody are a family.
Bestsellers, millions of dollars, a company, a baby and a wedding. Now this was one crazy year, that’s for sure.
Hey, don’t be jealous. Remember how I started? On a cramped apartment and with a cheating asshole of a boyfriend? If I can make it, anyone can. Sometimes life’s like that, I guess - it throws you deep into the raging river of destiny, and it’s sink or swim. I swam - oh, yeah, I swam against the current as hard as I could, and now here I am.
"Hey, what are you thinking about?" Aidan’s voice cuts through the fog of memories, and I raise my head from the manuscript I was supposed to be reading.
"Stuff," I say with a smile. I’ve had an idea tingling in my head for awhile. It’s starting to worm its way out.
"Stuff?"