This story went through many revisions before acceptance. Not until I imagined Robert Downey Jr. as the hero did the story finally come together. So thanks, Robert. And if you're looking for a new project, you'd be perfect for this role. :) With Rachel Weisz as your leading lady (she starred in the version in my head, anyway).
Here's an excerpt:
Sydney didn’t like the look in Claudia’s eye. Like she was about to fire her. “Uh oh. What’s going on?”
Claudia took off her reading glasses, always a precursor to a delicate conversation. Never a good sign. “Do you remember Ben Taylor?”
Sydney released the breath she held. “Is that a trick question? We only have a conversation about him once a week or so.”
She hadn’t seen him in almost a year, a night that began with excitement and promise, continued blissfully for hours, and ended like a train wreck, with Ben dragged from the wreckage by another woman. Possibly his fiancé. Sydney could never quite learn the true story, but that fateful night stood out in her memory as a marker. The beginning of the end. After that, all her dates ended on a sour note.
Ben Taylor had opened the flood gates of Bad Date Hell. From those gates streamed a neverending lineup of ill-suited matches, men who she should never have wasted her time on, but who each looked so tempting, she couldn’t resist trying. That was the thing about Hell, though, wasn’t it? People ended up there because the sin always seemed like a good idea at the time.Claudia pursed her lips. “Yes, I know. The thing is… how do I put this?”
Sydney tensed. Claudia was not one to dance around a topic. Her style was more blunt – the resulting blunt force trauma notwithstanding. Something must be wrong. Terribly wrong.
She blanched. “Is he… “ Her voice trailed off. She couldn’t finish. Ben must be dead. Why else would her editor – her friend, her confidant, her mentor – be looking at her with such pity?
“He’s here.” Claudia watched her as if ready to catch her woozy body.
Those two short words snapped Sydney to attention. “Here?”
