“I’ll… take the next one.” That was the last Ben hoped to see of that wavy brown hair and blue crystal-like eyes, and to smell that inviting floral aroma of his ex-wife.

The elevator came down from the tenth floor. Ben went in and saw a tall, beautiful girl standing in the left corner, seeming a little fragile and pale. A familiar face she was, but Ben never met with such rank company. Perhaps if he was a famous author, she would even know his name and they’d become best of friends. Of course, that wasn’t the case.

“ELIZABETH DUVANE!” He shouted, most unexpectedly, startling Ms. Duvane, “Oh, um, sorry, I only just noticed ma’am. Pardon my… outburst.”

He wasn’t sure if she had acknowledged his presence, let alone his apology, with her eyes covered by those sunglasses. Yes, she was glamorous - just like she was described as in the magazines and newspaper articles. What a sight.

“Oh, I…” Ms. Duvane’s voice interrupted his adoring thoughts of her, and he noticed her small black purse on the floor and froze, “Could you, uh, p— Oh—“ Soon her lustrous brown hair carpeted the corner of the elevator floor, her arms and legs lay limp, and her cheeks and lips ever so pale.

“Ms. Duvane?! Are you okay Miss?” She didn’t respond. Ben reached for the sunglasses, and took them off, revealing her closed eyelids.

“Oh Lord!”

Ding. 

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Heylo, Set in the late 1940’s no-name author Benjamin Parker and up-and-coming actress, Elizabeth Duvane meet in an elevator where she faints, both coming from the Dufton & Associates law firm. Elizabeth thanks Ben for taking her to the hospital safely and checking on her. They begin to converse and begin to get to know each other (although Elizabeth thinks he’s a divorce lawyer; he does not want her to know he works for a newspaper – for obvious reasons) and no, they do not fall in love =) Having befriended Elizabeth, Ben gets sucked into the glamour of Hollywood, and finds himself hearing and seeing things he shouldn’t. From these first-hand experiences in this world, a wave of inspiration hits him and he begins to write a book he thinks will be his “big break” – if he finds the courage to publish it, that is. Along the way, Ben begins to lose himself into this unknown world and he becomes part of the stories as well… `````````````````````````````````````````` Benjamin Parker (Penname Willis Huber): -Charming, ambitious and gentlemanly -Career is the most important thing in his life -Quite caring -Sophisticated and social -No-name author -Works at The L.A. Times as a book critic – miserable `````````````````````````````````````````` None of the genres quite fitted with the story, or vice versa - but I don't expect any serious romance should bloom, and the 'love' tag is only for the scandals of the celebrities and whatnot. Not the main focus at all. May open it for collaboration later... We'll see how it goes. Thank you!

updated Jan 3 '09 by jdxx