#FreewriteMadness: Day Sixteen

This is another day where I have very little time to write, but I will do so anyway – even if I only get a few paragraphs done – because I'm determined not to skip a single day during #NaNoWriMo! 😊 I have around fifteen minutes to get something done. In this post, I'm responding to @freewritehouse's latest prompt, be gone.

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FanPop

Because I have barely any time to do this, I will sketch out the barest details of the background to this post – I'll have to write a more detailed breakdown some other time:

A food industry event (a gala awards show of some sort), honouring entrepreneurs and up-and-coming new businesses within the industry. Emma has just won an award for her dedication to transforming PriceWatchers into a hub of activity for small businesses: supporting artisanal producers; holding weekly market events; becoming well-known throughout the country for her innovative approach.

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Derek is here? Really? Emma doesn't know what to do. She didn't expect that seeing him again would affect her so much, after all this time. She didn't expect all of the old feelings to come flooding back.

He stands in a corner of the room for a while, browsing through the event programme and sipping one of the glasses of wine that waiters are offering to attendees.

She walks towards him eventually, after she has spent a few minutes studiously avoiding him, talking to other people in the room, smiling and thanking well-wishers as calmly and graciously as she feels able to do, knowing all the while that Derek Fitzmaurice – someone she thought had left her life forever – is standing mere feet away from her.

'Hi.'

Hi.'

'I – I read about you,' Derek blurts out. 'About your award, that is.' He beams at her: his anxiety – and his doubts as to whether he should even be here tonight – giving way to his simple desire to express his pride in her. 'I – I'm amazed, Emma. I just wanted to come along tonight, watch you receive it...'

'Thank you, Derek.'

'It's an incredible achievement. Really.'

'I can't believe this has happened, Derek,' she confides in him, hugging her little trophy close to her chest. 'I have to be honest. A year ago, I thought the business might fail, and now ... here I am.'

'I know. It's amazing.'

'Anyway, I – I don't want to intrude, if my presence is making things awkward. Maybe it was a bad idea to come here tonight, I don't know. I'll ... I'll leave you to it.'

As Emma watches him leave, she can't help but speak.

'Don't go.'

Derek turns around: his eyes betraying a sudden flicker of hope, though his stance remains guarded.

'I...' Emma advances across the room with great trepidation – even her fingers tremble as she lays them on his lips and stares imploringly at him – but she does her best to lay the fear to one side and say what is on her mind nevertheless. 'I don't want you to be gone.'

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419 words. This is my lowest daily word count to date, but such is life, sometimes! 😉 I'm continuing to honour my commitment to write every single day, and that's what matters to me the most.

I want to end this post by giving a shout out to everyone else who has signed up to the fit of absolute lunacy invigorating creative challenge that is #FreewriteMadness. 😇 Make sure you go and support their work too! I have limited voting power (damn my not-quite-plankton but not-quite-redfish status 😉), but will upvote as many posts as I can per day.

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For a chance to WIN SteemBasicIncome, just read and comment on my #freewritemadness posts. 😊 The lovely people over at @freewritehouse are doing a great job of supporting us complete and utter lunatics NaNoWriMo-ers. 😁

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