Editor's Note

Samuel sat on an uncomfortable couch in the stuffy waiting room. He stared up at the ceiling and made noises with his lips.

"Nervous, Sam?" Janet looked up from her desk.

He rubbed the back of his head. "Impatient, maybe."

"That's not like you, Sam. What's the job today, hon?"

"Something about… I don't know." He threw his hands in the air.

"Writer's block, hon?"

He rubbed his eyes and groaned. "I have the words. I think I'm just missing the balls."

The office door flung wide to reveal the slender editor, manuscript on one hand, coffee in the other. She looked ragged in a coffee stained white blouse. Her pencil skirt was just high enough for comfort and gave the illusion that she was tall. Her left stocking was half way down her leg. The other not even there.

"Janet, could you cancel my afternoon meeting?" She said, eyes glued to the manuscript.

"You got it, hon." Janet started typing away at the keyboard. "Lit the candle both ends again, huh?"

The editor rolled her eyes, fanning herself with papers, spilling coffee on the carpet.

"Afternoon meeting canceled. Should I get lunch?"

The editor placed an ink stained thumb on her lip then threw her hands in the air, spilling what was left of her coffee. She returned to the office and slammed the door behind her.

Janet returned to her computer typing away.

"Janet?" Samuel popped his lips.

She screamed, "I forgot you were here!"

The office door slammed open with the editor looking every which way.

"What?"

"Sam's here."

The editor stared at her, confused. "Did I call Samuel today?"

He cleared his throat and smiled. "Just a visit, Kate. How are you?"

She turned in surprise. "Samuel, I don't have a check for you right now though. Was there anything you needed from the publisher?"

He waved it off, and led her into the office, nodding at Janet before closing the door.

He stood quiet when he saw the whole room in disarray. Books and manuscripts littered the floors and tables. The couch at the corner had a pillow, a blanket, and a pizza box with two slices. The television played old black and white movies with the volume at the lowest.

Her nervous laugh could not break the silence.

"Metaphor of my life, huh?"

He smiled, shook his head, and took out a neatly folded paper. "Got time to read?"

She pushed her glasses. "It is my job."

She looked around for a place to sit. Her eyes darted at the mess of her room. She felt his hand on her shoulder and they shared a laugh.

He leapt over a block of books over to the couch. He closed the pizza box and threw it like a disc to the other side of the room.

He patted the crumbs off the couch, bowed low and motioned for her to sit. She skipped walking over the piles of books scattered on the floor.

He began to pick the books one by one as she started to read.

"Whether today or in fifty years, I promise the same thing.

"I will love you with every beat of my heart. I will cherish every moment that we had and have. I will love every time we are together.

"The work of my hands will be dedicated to you. Every bit that enters my bank account will have your name on it. Every sweat from my brow, long overtime, working lunch, extended meeting, I dedicate to our life together.

"My waking prayer is for the strength of our marriage. My evening prayer is for another day with you. Every moment in between is to think of your joy and our love together.

"I will not be perfect. I will fail in all of this. But whatever failure, I place before you open and clear. I will work not to hide anything from you. Whatever I hide, I'll pull out, kicking and screaming from the darkest parts of my heart for you to see.

"I will keep no secret, even those that may hurt us, knowing that I chose to love you, and in loving you, I choose to do it truthfully and without hesitation. Everything that I am, everything that I will be, I place before you that we can grow together and be together all our days.

"I promise to keep my voice down when we are going through difficult times. I promise to forgive you for whatever fault may happen. I promise to never sleep until I have shown you that through our problems, I still love you and will still love you. I promise to take care of our children, our home, our lives, and maybe our in-laws… maybe. I promise to love you no matter what our house, bank account, and job description says.

"I love you with every beat of my heart."

She took off her glasses and bit on the end. "You're writing wedding vows now?"

He shook his head. "It's a new story."

"What's it about?"

"You and me."

Her glasses fell. The paper fell. Her eyes were wide in a blank stare. He waved a hand in front of her face, and snapped his fingers twice.

"I think I broke her."

He leaned down, took her glasses and the paper, folding it neatly, and placed it on her lap.

"Should I take that as a…"

She grabbed the note and shoved it in her pocket.

"Janet!" She shouted. "Take the rest of the day off."

Janet's head popped through the door. All she saw was a confused man, and a catatonic woman. She shrugged it off, took her coat and purse and ran as fast as she could, before she could even hear Kate change her mind.

He started picking up the books again. She sat completely dazed.

"Does this mean you're firing me?"

He brushed dust off a hard bound copy of Melville. "Not a big fan of editing your fiancé's work?"

Her face turned bright red. The rapid blink of her eyes held back a giggle.

"How do we do this, then?" Her voice melted slowly.

He sat beside her and held her hand. "Lunch sounds like a good start."

She stood up, beaming a wide smile. But her eyes wandered all over her office, at all the stacks of manuscripts still unread. Her face drooped. Her body fell back to the couch.

He kneeled by her and placed a hand on her lap. "Pizza?"

She cheered with sounds that were incongruous but jolly. "Thanks, love."

She covered her mouth, the slap echoed. Her face rushed red. Her eyes shut tightly, holding back a scream.

"That would be a good start." He said.

He picked up the phone and called for pizza.