"... And it was just an ordinary love ."

A gust of emotions hit me hard as I jumped of joy inside. After days of intensive writing, I had just written the last chapter of my first novel. Admittedly, it had taken me a huge month, but I finally had a finished first draft, after years of dreaming of this moment. I still didn't know why I hadn't started years before. Despite the feeling of happiness that had overwhelmed me, I also felt an enormous amount of sadness at the idea of saying goodbye to my fictional characters. Of course, I was going to go over my book for correction purposes, but I wouldn't touch their personality traits or conversations that made them feel so alive very much. A few people had told me about this feeling of nostalgia, but I'd never believed it until I'd experienced it myself.

After putting my computer on the coffee table and getting up, I took a long look around my living room as I stretched. Seeing the curtains closed but a few rays shining through, I concluded that the sun was setting. Strangely enough, I suddenly felt extremely tired. I was about to go to the toilet, feeling like my bladder was going to explode, when someone banged on the door. I was startled, as people usually rang the intercom first. When I opened the door cautiously, I was surprised to find Eve's face flushed with worry.

— My God, what's going on Eve?
— What's happening is that you're not answering your phone even though we've been trying to call you since yesterday. I thought you were busy, but as you didn't send me any messages last night or this morning, which you usually do, I came in early.
— But wait... What time is it?
— Five past seven.
— So that means I've been up all night? But wait, it's Wednesday, isn't it?
— Er, no, it's Friday. What the hell have you done? Are you all right? I'm really worried Liz, you've never acted this way previously.
— Yes I'm all good, I was writing my novel.

Stunned, I let her in, realising that I'd missed my Thursday morning jog. How could I have lost track of time so badly? It frightened me. Eve to have worried more than I've seen her previously.

— So that's it? Have you finally started writing your novel?
— I've finally finished!
— Really? she jumped with excitement. I want to read it! I want to read it!
— First of all, I have to go and pee. Secondly, it's only my first draft, so there's still room for improvement.
— It doesn't matter, I still want to read!
— Very well, the manuscript is on my computer, I said as I headed for the toilets.

I was so pleased that she was so keen to read it. When I got back to the living room, she was on the phone. I was about to go into the kitchen to get some nibbles when she mentioned my first name.

— She's here, I'll put her on.

She smiles at me, embarrassed.

I heard a familiar voice at the other end of the line.

— Bloody hell!
— Harry?

I was surprised that Eve had spoken to him on the phone, as they so rarely spoke.

— How did you get Eve's number?
— I sent her a message via social media but that's just not the subject of our conversation, Elizabeth!

He seemed extremely angry. Harry had never called me by my full name. I knew it wasn't a joke or something to be taken lightly.

— What's the matter?
— Why haven't you answered my calls in two days? I've been worried sick! I was so worried that something had happened to you that I quickly contacted Eve. She told me that sometimes you don't put your phone on charge, so she waited until yesterday to send you a message, then she came...

I looked at Eve, who raised her eyebrows.

— My God... You didn't have to worry so much, I was writing.
— Next time, write with your phone switched on and charged, he says before hanging up very abruptly.

I felt a huge twinge of sadness, Harry had never been so angry with me. I wasn't used to him being so harsh with me.

— Don't blame him, he was extremely worried. He pestered me to come and see you earlier, but I know you like to be independent and feel free, so I thought he was exaggerating. But when you didn't reply last night, I thought I'd wait until this morning. And seeing that you still hadn't replied today, I came straight over.
— But there was no need to worry so much! It's highly unlikely that anything will happen to me at home!

Raising my eyebrows, I noticed that she had been very frightened.

— You never know! In any case, don't pull a stunt like that again.
— Okay, even though it's way too cute that you were so worried about me. But I do apologise for having caused such a worry.

I went over to the fridge to get us some orange juice and saw the faintest hint of a smile as she mimed exasperation. I decided not to take Harry's reaction too personally although it had made me feel all sad.

As for Eve, she ended up staying at my place all day to read my manuscript. Meanwhile, I'd had time to sleep for a few hours and go for a run.

When I got back, Eve pointed out typos and sections that were too detailed or not detailed enough. She seemed so committed that it warmed my heart. I always knew she was serious when she told me that she would be my biggest fan and would help me as much as she could. I never thought she would be invested to this extent. As we were both journalists, and I knew her literary talent, her comments helped me enormously to improve certain major sections. She kept telling me how much she loved the personality traits of the main character. I then sent my manuscript to Ingrid, my potential editor.

— So when do you see Ingrid? asked Eve as we sat down to dinner.

I served her some truffle ravioli.

— She said she wouldn't be able to get back to me for two or three weeks. One of her colleagues might do it within a week. But as I trust her from our previous conversation, I'd be happy to work with her if it came to that.
— I fully respect your choice. But are you going to be able to wait until then?
— It's going to be very difficult, but if that's the price I have to pay to have Ingrid as my editor, I'll have to accept it.

Eve breathed out a long breath before turning the conversation back to my book.

— But then, I thought you wanted to write a romance!
— But it's a romance.
— A romance where the story ends with a heroine who no longer has feelings for the hero? That's not a romance! A romance is supposed to have a happy ending, and normally you're against that kind of novel! You yourself say that you don't spend hours reading a story where they're no longer together at the end!
— Life can be shitty and love can break up, but that's part of the cycle of life, so I decided to tackle this subject.

I couldn't help thinking of Aurore when I said that. She had suffered the loss of her father and even though I had stayed with her for several days, I knew that nothing would ease her pain. She had then decided to spend some time with her family.

— Okay, I see what you mean. Anyways, the title of the novel is beautiful: Ordinary Love.

I smiled, delighted that it had made someone happy. It was Eve's opinion that I dreaded the most; she could be so extreme about her feelings, and I would have been disturbed if my best friend hadn't agreed with my book. But after all, as they say, fate has a way of doing things.

After we'd finished dinner, I sat down on the sofa in front of the television, but Eve stood in front of it looking disapproving.

— What do you want us to do?
— What all young people our age do: go out for drinks!
— Well, why not!

We hadn't done that for a long time. I'd been so preoccupied with the articles, my novel and the comments from the notes guy that I'd put my social life on hold. Despite my love of writing, it would probably do me a world of good.

Eve, who had the same morphology as I, was able to help herself to my wardrobe.

— Do you think it suits me? she asked me about the black velvet dress she was wearing.
— Great! It moulds well to your curves too.

After a few tries, I opted for black leather trousers and a slim-fitting red blouse. I applied a line of eyeliner and mascara to my eyelashes. As for my hair, I quickly fixed it with my hands. After applying some lipstick, I turned to Eve who was staring at me, eyebrows raised.

— It's been so long since I've seen you dressed and put make up on like this. I was beginning to miss it.

I smiled. A thorough search revealed my black heeled sandals, which I slipped on straight away. Although they were my favourite heels, I rarely dared wear them as they were higher than I was used to.

— My God, Liz, are you going to attract the whole pack?
— You're exaggerating! But yes, it does me good to take so much time to get ready after so long.

I laughed. After a few final touches, we finally left the flat, ready to let off some steam.