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Chapter Twenty-Five
Saturday morning was unusually overcast when Anna took her coffee onto the balcony. Even though she knew from experience, the marine layer that obscured her view of the Pacific ocean would eventually burn off, she was still a bit irritated that for the exorbitant price she had paid for her home because of the view was not depreciated by nature’s cruel joke. It was on days like these that made Anna even more appreciate the clear, blue sunny skies she could enjoy nearly every day of the year.
Anna checked her clock. It was nine am, plenty of time to get ready for her meeting with Nate later that morning, Anna thought. She was uncomfortably nervous, trying not to feel as if she were on a first date and not a business appointment.
The sound of the phone ringing interrupted her thoughts on what she was going to wear, but the voice on th
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Vashti's Daughter Chapter Twenty-Six
By now, Anna was no longer referring to her past life travels as dreams. The more times Anna was transported into her Adara persona, the easier it was becoming for her to adapt to the environment, so when she found herself back in the garden holding the wedding invitation in her hand, she wasn’t that surprised it was the exact parchment that Nate had handed to her only what seemed like seconds ago. The biggest changes were that the faded print she had been looking at was now perfectly clear lettering and the hand holding the page was no longer Dr. Nathaniel Braverman’s. “I believe the scribe really outdid himself.” Darius retrieved the invitation from Anna’s hand. “These invitations will be hand-delivered immediately after you’ve accepted my marriage proposal following the banquet tonight.”
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“I’m very flattered.” Anna closed the book and returned it to Esther’s hands. “But this story belongs to all the people. We should have copies made.”Anna was always thinking about publishing, even in a fantasy dated over 2,000 years before the printing press was invented. “As soon as I return to Shushan, I promise I will hire the finest scribes in the kingdom to do just that. It will be dispatched to all parts of the kingdom, to each province in its own script and to each people in their own language, using their native tongue, just as King Achashverosh had commanded in his failed attempt to subjugate women.” “Sounds like the perfect revenge,” Anna chimed in. “I’m going to get ready for tonight’s banquet. I’m really looking forward to Darius meeti
Vashti's Daughter Chapter Twenty-Eight
Because they were going to meet Fred at the office in a few minutes, Anna decided to take the more direct route on the freeway instead of Sepulveda. One reason she had bought a condominium in Santa Monica after her divorce was that it was only a fifteen minute drive to her office on Wilshire Boulevard taking side streets.Two miles after turning onto the southbound exit, Anna saw flashing red lights in the distance. She cursed under her breath as the traffic in front of them was slowing to a crawl. The last thing Anna wanted at the moment was to be alone for a long period of time with the author of the book she was about to complete, or have to explain to him how she had come up with the ending without sounding like a complete lunatic.Anna realized it was too late to exit off the freeway to avoid the traffic jam and much too late to avoid answering the awkward questions she knew he was going to ask. Ho
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With the preparations for the festive taking Anna and her staff’s full focus the week before the event, she had little time for distractions. After Fred finished the edits, adding the final chapter to Vashti’s Daughter, which explained in detail the death of Queen Esther, Darius’ efforts to destroy the book and the subsequent cancellation of the marriage, Anna sent the galley to pre- publication. The pressure of a deadline was a much needed distraction from Anna’s dilemma, trying to explain all that she had experienced over the past several weeks. Fortunately, she’d not had a single dream or dizzy spell since her experience in the museum, and she was grateful for the respite from the unknown so that she could accomplish all that she needed to do to prepare for the upcoming weekend event. The Festiva
Vashti's Daughter Chapter Thirty
After spending the morning supervising the various authors who were signing their books at each of Steine and Steine’s exhibit booths and going over her notes for the panel discussion that afternoon, Anna was grateful for a lunch break. She tried to stay as anonymous as possible to avoid the onslaught of authors who were looking to side-step the submission process by giving their query letter, or, what was worse, their entire manuscript directly to the publisher. For whatever reason, the words “no unsolicited submissions” didn’t seem to apply to them.Anna emphasized with her authors who had agreed to attend the event under the Steine and Steine banner, as well as all the independent authors at the show who had to pay the exorbitant registration fee themselves to promote their books and instead were constantly being accosted by writers who only wanted to know the magic formula they used to get their book published.&nb
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The dust from Darius’ horse galloping away from the carriage crash stung Anna’s eyes. She walked toward the river’s edge in hopes she would find the book he’d thrown into the water, but there was no sign of it anywhere. She could still hear Darius’ condemnation of her and Vashti. It was hard to distinguish it from Henry’s threats she had heard only moments before.Men’s egos were the same in any era, Anna thought. Judging by the fact that all mention of Adara or Vashti after she was banished in biblical text was omitted, it was clear that Darius had made good on his threat. She wondered if his curse on her ever finding love would also become reality. When Nate first told Anna about his hearing a mysterious voice at the shrine and how he came to write Vashti’s Daughter, she had thought he had a very active imagination, but she couldn’t explai
Vashti's Daughter Chapter Thirty-Two
Out on the balcony, Anna and Nate quietly took in the view of the clear star-studded sky over the pacific ocean with lights of Los Angeles shining to the left. It was nights like these when Anna would sit for hours, clear her mind and simply take in the beauty of her world that reminded her of the reason she stayed in Los Angeles after her cantankerous divorce. Three years ago, she didn’t let Henry’s threats of retribution for her winning control of their company drive her from her home, and she wasn’t about to allow that to happen now. Back then, she had been alone on the balcony. Tonight she was sharing the view with a man she wanted to share much more with in the future. “It’s beauty like this that almost makes me believe in God.” Nate remarked. “I’m surprised to hear you say that, with
Vashti's Daughter Chapter Thirty-Three
Sunday afternoon on a warm spring day was the perfect way to experience the magic of the Santa Monica Pier. From the moment Anna walked under the welcome sign, the dark foreboding shadow of Henry’s broadcast was left on the other side. Walking with Nate by her side, she could feel the tension he had felt earlier fade as well. They bought a gigantic ball of cotton candy and rode the carousel like a couple of teenagers on their first date. Anna couldn’t remember the last time she had enjoyed an afternoon of simple pleasures and she was grateful for the opportunity to share it with Nate, who seemed to be enjoying the mini-vacation as much as she was. “Would you believe I’ve lived in California for over ten years and have never been to Santa Monica?”&
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- Vashti's Daughter Acknowledgements and References
- Vashti's Daughter Epilogue
- Vashti's Daughter Chapter Thirty-Six
- Vashti's Daughter Chapter Thirty-Five
- Vashti's Daughter Chapter Thirty-Four
- Vashti's Daughter Chapter Thirty-Three
- Vashti's Daughter Chapter Thirty-Two
- Vashti's Daughter Chapter Thirty-One
- Vashti's Daughter Chapter Thirty
