If I posted the first chapter would anyone want to read it?

sounds of interest, sure.

[Edited 10/11/12 6:45am]

* I had omitted this passage but I am re-posting it

* This paranormal romance novella will be availble soon on Amazon- I will let you guys know when it's availble !

* Thanks also to the two people who have ornoted me feedback- I appreciate it!

Chapter 1

____________

Deondra Dors rounded the hallway and headed for her boss, Karen's office. She was still learning her way around the building. It was all new to her. It was her second day at the new job and she was still learning the ins and outs. It was her dream job, working as a personal assitant for Terrence Treadwell, the artist.

"Oh Deondra, I was looking for you," said Karen as the two practically bumped into one another in the hallway, "Terrence is asking for you."

"N-now? He's looking for me now?" She hadn't even met him face to face yet. Of course, she knew him from his public image. She had been a fan of his music since she was twelve and landing a job as his personal assistant had been a dream come true, but the idea of coming face to face with him, well, that almost seemed too much to fathom.

Karen grabbed Deondra by the elbow and turned her back towards the way she'd just come, "Well hon, it is what you were HIRED to do, be there for his every whim."

She said it like he had alot of whims. And like she resented it.

Deondra took a deep breath and readied herself. She told herself it was just a job, she was just doing a job, it didn't matter how she looked or how much weight she'd gained over the holidays, (quiet a bit actually, Thanksgiving had just passed and she'd eaten all of her favorite dishes and then some, before getting the call that she had been hired and would be moving to Wisconsin to work for Terrence Treadwell.) But she couldn't help but be nervous. It was Terrence Treadwell and he was huge. He was a God to some people. And she was one of those people.

Karen continued to push her down the long hallway. The hallway was narrow and slick and seemed to go on forever, with a large glass wall at the end that exposed the snow-capped pine trees outside. Deondra felt as though she were going to just keep gliding down the hallway until she would just walk out of the wall and be outside above the trees. The entire building had the feel of literally, being outside, what with every wall being glass and the outside exposed. It was late December and cold and dark, even though it was only five in the afternoon. She was learning that that was the way it was in Wisconsin.

All of a sudden, they were standing at a door at the end of the hall. In small lettering was a little plaque that read; "Private." There was a silver intercom that hung on the wall beside the door. Karen leaned forward, pressed a green button and spoke into the machine, "Mr.Treadwell, your new assistant is here at your request," she said. After a minute or so of silence there was a buzz and the door unlocked.
"Do whatever he asks," Karen said, pushing the door open for Deondra, "It's most important that he is happy at all times."

"Aren't you coming in?" said Deondra, suddenly petrified, "I mean, won't you at least introduce me?"

But Karen had already turned and was halfway down the hall. She held up her hand and waved it in the air, "Your job is to keep him happy," she said over her shoulder, "just make sure that you do."

The room was dark and lit by candles. Deondra was overcome with the smell of vanilla. Vanilla candles. She made her way to the center of the room where a dark figure was leaning over the mixing board, his hands over the controls. She could tell it was him. Even in the dark. He looked exactly as he did in the "Exceptional Man" video. He was wearing a white cowl-neck sweater, thick and with a cable-knit pattern. His dark skin was illuminated by the candles placed along the rim of the mixing board . That was one thing they had in common, both came from interracial families. His mother was black and his father was white. For Deondra it was the opposite. He wasn't turned in her direction but continued to gaze at the controls, moving his long fingers over the knobs, moving them slightly up or down. Deondra took a few steps towards him and then stopped, not sure how close she should get. After a few minutes of silence, she spoke, somehow finding her voice, "Mr.Treadwell, my name is Deondra Dors.....I am to be your new assistant."

There was an akward silence and for a minute she thought he was not going to respond but then he looked up at her, his long eyelashes touching the skin just above his eyelid, and softly said, "I've been waiting for you.....are you all moved in?"

Deondra felt a chill go through her. It was surreal to have him looking at her so intently, and asking about her move. She nodded and her heart caught in her throat, "I am....the condo is.....lovely."

He looked away and focused again on his controls, "I used to live there, in that same condo."

"You did?"

"I wrote some of my songs there."

Deondra took a deep breath. For a minute she thought she might faint. It was still overwhelming, being hired to work for him, moving to Wisconsin, and now knowing that she was living in his old condo. It was almost too much.

"Have they told you the hours I'm needing you?" He said, his tone becoming very serious then.

"Ummm, they said you like to work at night."

"Yes, I do. I will need you to come in when the sun goes down, and leave early in the morning, just before the sun comes up."

She had been told that he liked to work at night but she hadn't understood that he wanted her to work exclusively at night. She would have to change her schedule around completely. Not that she minded. She would do whatever she needed to.

"That's not a problem," she said and smiled. He made eye contact as she did and smiled back, the slightest smile, but still, a smile.

"What do you know of my music?"

"I have all your albums," she said, a little too enthusiastically. To sound a bit more professional she added, "I respect you as an artist immensely."

To her surprise he stood up then, and walked towards her. He stopped a few inches from her and she could smell his cologne. It smelt like lilac. His black hair was fashioned in a bit of a finger-wave style and a small piece of hair fell over his eye. He looked at her and moved his head up and then down, keeping eye contact the entire time. Deondra bit her lower lip and stared back at him. She was so nervous she felt she might cry.

"Deondra?" he said softly, "being in the public eye as I am, I demand complete and total trust and loyalty from my staff, I must know that I can trust you.....Can I trust you Deondra?"

"Yes sir," she said without even having to think about the question, "Of course you can, you can trust me completely."

And she meant it. She would keep all his secrets, she would do whatever was asked of her and she would never utter a word. He was her idol. And now, he was her boss.

He gave a slight smile.

"Is there anything you would like to know about me?" he said. The question threw her. And without even thinking she blurted out, "Why Wisconsin?"

He arched an eyebrow but said nothing and so she said, "I mean, you're a rockstar and rockstars usually live in L.A. or New York, so why are you here? In Wisconsin? In this small town?"

She was embarrassed to have asked it once the words were out of her mouth. What a silly question.

"I like the cold and I like the dark," he said. He took a step towards her and then, just when she thought he was going to come closer, he turned and went back to sit in front of the mixing board.

Lilac wafted through the air. He smelled delicious. Just as she thought he would.

"I'll page you if I need you," he said staring straight ahead, "you can go now."

Karen had issued her a green pager. When it went off she was to come running. She reached down and felt it, attached to her belt.

"Oh...yes sir," she said, disappointed at being dismissed. She started for the door.

"And one more thing," he said, "I would like for you to make a few changes."

She turned to look at him. She stared at the back of his head. At the black hair laying over the collar of his sweater. Before she could ask what changes he would like for her to make, he said, "Karen will arrange for you to have an appointment with my stylist, tonight, I would like your hair colored black and your nails painted in Chanel....Vamp."

"Yes, yes sir," Deondra said opening the door. She waited for a minute, to see if there were anything else and when it was obvious that he'd said all he had to say, she exited the room.

Once in the hall, she leaned against the wall and took a deep breath.

"What is Vamp?" she wondered. A color of nail polish? She reached up and touched her mousy brown hair. It fell to her shoulders. He didn't like it. He wanted it black. Even though her father was african-american, her hair had always been light brown. Probably because her mother was a natural blonde. As she was thinking this, Karen came walking quickly down the hall, her high heels clicking on the slick marble. Deondra pulled herself from the wall and tried to appear professional. She pulled at her skirt, straightening it around her waist.

"Mr.Treadwell would like for you to see his stylist," Karen said, "You have an appointment in one hour."

Deondra wondered how she knew so quickly. He must have already phoned her. Karen grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her towards her. Deondra felt like ever since she had come to Treadwell Recording she was being pushed and pulled all over the place.

"Where are we going?" she said.

"We have just enough time to run to the mall and hit the Chanel counter," said Karen, "you need some new make-up!"

The Elk Mound mall was a small affair but it did have an upscale department store complete with Chanel, MAC and Lancome counters, along with a few others. Karen plopped Deondra down in one of the chairs in front of the counter and began barking orders to the salesgirl, telling her she needed various lipsticks and nail polishes in different colors, most of them dark. While the salesgirl hurried to grab all that was being demanded, Karen leaned in to Deondra and took a deep whiff. Deondra instinctively pulled back, not sure what she was doing.

"What is that perfume?" Karen asked furrowing her brow.

Deondra told her the name of the perfume. A rather popular one with a light fruity scent. Karen shook her head, "Terrence doesn't like perfume...you'll need to stop using it, or any perfume for that matter."

"Why?"

"Because he wants to smell YOU!" Karen snapped, as if she should have known all along. Deondra didn't understand what was going on. She was hired to assist Mr. Treadwell and yet, she felt as though she were being groomed for him. But then she thought, maybe he had an allergy to perfume or something, maybe that was why she wasn't to wear any. But then, why did it matter her hair color or nail color?

The salesgirl ran around behind the counter, filling two large Chanel bags with product. Karen paid the bill, handed Deondra the bags and then they were off to the see the sylist.

In the limo on the way, Deondra began looking through the bags. Everything smelt so good. Even the lipstick had a rich scent. She didn't quiet understand it but it sure was fun, being bought all of these expensive things. The only problem was, she didn't exactly know how to apply some of the make-up. She saw that there were different eyeliners and lip-liners and she had never in her life worn either and wouldn't even know where to start with applying them. She looked over to Karen who was on her cell phone, barking orders at someone. Karen was so well put together, dressed in a black suit with black leather boots with a tiny silver heel. Her nails were immaculate, not with even the tiniest chip, and her lips were a purplish-pink color and lined as if by an artist. Her black hair was pulled into a chignon at the nape of her neck and her skin was perfect. Deondra hadn't realized it until that moment, but staring at her then, she realized just how much Karen looked like Terrence Treadwell. Almost like they could be siblings. Were they related? She'd never mentioned that they were. Surely not. Karen must have felt Deondra's eyes on her because she quickly turned to her, held the phone away from her ear and said sharply, "What is it?"

Deondra blushed, embarrassed to be caught staring. She squirmed in her seat a little and then she said, "Are you related to Mr.Treadwell? You sort of look like you could be brother and sister."

Karen snapped her phone shut, hanging up on whomever was on the other line, and said, "Mr.Treadwell doesn't have any brother's or sisters, he's an only child!"

Deondra didn't see what the big deal was to have asked such a question. It wasn't a crime to have brothers and sisters. She smiled nervously and said, "It's just that your both so attractive....."

Karen softened a bit and said, "Mr.Treadwell has no family, in fact, and you shouldn't ask him about his parents or anything of that nature."

"No family?" Deondra couldn't imagine having no family. She herself was one of four children and she was very close to all of her siblings. And her parents. She couldn't imagine going through life with no family.

"What happened to his parents?" she asked.

"I said not to discuss it," Karen said sharply, "ever."

Deondra apologized. She didn't want to do anything that would put her new job in jeopardy. She made a mental note to never ask the question or make reference to his family again.

Terrence Treadwell's stylist was quite a shock. She was an older woman with grey hair styled in pin-curls. She worked out of a fancy room on the bottom floor of Treadwell studios complete with large hooded dryers and imposing mirrors that overtook every wall with hundreds of lights in round bulbs. Large oil paintings of Terrence Treadwell hung on every open space of wall and in every one he was breathtakingly gorgeous. His music played softly overhead, coming from the speakers in the top corners of the room.

Deondra sat down in one of the swivel chairs. She couldn't help staring at the paintings. There were five of them. Terrence holding a bouquet of flowers, his eyes rimmed in black eyeliner; Terrence emerging from a pool of cerulean blue water, his hands out to the side, like an angel emerging from the sea. And one of Terrence embracing a gorgeous woman with chocolate skin and black hair. Her lips were full and red and her eyes were such a strange hazel color that they almost looked yellow.

"The limo will be waiting for you when your done," Karen said, starting for the door.

"And then?"

Karen stopped and turned around, "And then you go home and come back tomorrow, unless he pages you before then."

"But Karen," Deondra said, embarrased to be admitting it, "I don't know how to.....I'm not sure I know how to apply the make-up you bought me."

"Miss Betty will show you how," Karen said. And then, "Make sure you've figured out how to apply it yourself by the morning, there's a certain way Mr.Treadwell expects his staff to look and you need to learn it."

And with that the door shut and Karen was gone.

Deondra looked at Miss Betty in the mirror. Miss Betty smiled sweetly, her eyes crinkling at the corners. Deondra wondered how this little ole lady would be able to teach her how to apply her make-up in a way Terrence Treadwell would like. Miss Betty patted Deondra on the shoulder and said, "Don't worry honey, we're going to fix you up."

"You style Mr.Treadwell?"

"I've been doing his hair for a very long time," said Miss Betty.

"Really?" said Deondra, "how long?"

Miss Betty didn't answer but just smiled and reached out to touch Deondra's hair.

"Sit here while I go mix your color," she said running her fingers through Deondra's hair and then dropping it all at once. She turned and went into a room in the back and Deondra sat where she was, in the middle of this large room with Terrence Treadwell's music playing overhead and him staring back at her from the paintings that hung from every corner of the room.

%u3000

%u3000

Deondra Dors walked into her condo and flipped on the light. It was almost midnight and she had spent the last few hours having her hair colored and getting a make-up lesson from Miss Betty. She was exhausted but she knew that she had to get on Mr.Treadwell's schedule so she planned on staying up for the next few hours so that she could sleep when he slept and be awake when he was awake. She dropped her two large shopping bags filled with make-up down on the floor and walked into the living room. The condo they had put her up in was beautiful. The furniture was white leather and the carpeting was the thickest carpeting she had ever felt and was colored a rich burgundy. There were large mirrors framed in gold leaf in the hallway and above the couch, with a large coffee table to match. The condo was extra special to her now that she knew that Mr.Treadwell himself had once lived there. Strangely, she noticed then that it smelt like him. Like lilac. She surely hadn't left any candles going and she'd just gotten home so she couldn't quiet figure out where the scent was coming from. She walked around for a minute, her nose following the strong scent until it took her down the hall and to the door of her bedroom. She stood there for a minute and then cautiously, she opened the door. She gasped. Beside her bed stood a rack filled with clothing. It surely hadn't been there when she'd left for work that day or the few days before, when she'd just moved in, coming fresh from her hometown of Tennessee. Deondra made her way to the rack of clothes, forgetting for a minute the fact that her bedroom smelled so strongly like Terrence Treadwell. She reached out and pulled one of the dresses from the rack. It was gorgeous; a black dress with lace cuffs and a wide electric-blue belt. The dress was heavy, of good quality, the likes of which she had never seen and surely never owned. It most certainly had not come from the Elk Mound mall. She walked over to the dresser mirror and held the dress up in front of her. She had forgotten for a minute, that her hair was now colored blue-black and she still wore the full face of make-up that Miss Betty had applied; not much in the way of foundation, just a little powder, dark eyeshadow and dark violet lips. Her large breasts were pushed up in the push-up bra she'd purchased herself before coming, but which had been hidden beneath her button down shirt. She had unbottoned the first few buttons while getting her hair done. She'd wanted to be comfortable. To relax. The dress was gorgeous. It had a squared, low-cut bodice, which would definately expose her cleavage, something she had been in the habit of hiding most of her life. It could sometimes be hard to be taken seriously as a woman when you were a 36DD. Was she to wear one of these to work tomorrow? Who had left them here? Surely that was the intent; new clothing to match her new look. The telephone in her bedroom rang then, nearly causing her to jump out of her skin. She stood looking at it for a minute and then ran across the room, dropping the dress on the bed and grabbing the receiver, "Hello-o?" she said.

"Well?" came his voice after a minute of silence. Deondra took a deep breath. He made her so nervous. She still didn't know what to say to him. She was to assist him and so far, it seemed that he was having everyone assist her.

"Do you like your new look?" he said softly.

Deondra glanced her reflection in the mirror as she answered, "Yes sir, I like it....very much."

Even though she couldn't see him, she knew for a fact that he was smiling on the other end.

"And the clothes?"

"They're beautiful sir, absolutely beautiful."

For a minute neither of them said anything. Deondra decided to take the opportunity to thank him for the job opportunity.

"I wanted to thank you-" she said, but before she could finish Mr.Treadwell said, "I have to go now. I will see you tomorrow, come in when the sun goes down, and meet me in my studio."

"Yes sir-"

But he had already hung up.

Deondra dropped the phone and made her way to the bed. Suddenly she felt faint. The smell of lilac filled the room, so strong she thought she might need to open a window. But she didn't have the strength. She was weak. And it was cold. Very cold. Colder than she'd noticed when she'd come home. The phone began to ring loudly and Deondra turned her head to look at it. But she couldn't get up. She didn't know why but she didn't have the strength. She was suddenly exhausted. The last few days had been a whirlwind. She turned her head back to the other side and her newly black hair splashed across her face. Before she could stop it, she was asleep. Dead asleep. She fell into a dark abyss. And she had no dreams.

[Edited 10/11/12 16:17pm]

[img:$uid]http://i1249.photobucket.com/albums/hh516/Lauralevesque/vampirebookcover-1.jpg[/img:$uid]

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lauralevesque said:

[img:$uid]http://i1249.photobucket.com/albums/hh516/Lauralevesque/vampirebookcover-2.jpg[/img:$uid]

OMG! What a beautiful cover
....Laura, this is so exciting
....EXCELLENT!

Jamzone333 said:

lauralevesque said:

[img:$uid]http://i1249.photobucket.com/albums/hh516/Lauralevesque/vampirebookcover-2.jpg[/img:$uid]

OMG! What a beautiful cover
....Laura, this is so exciting
....EXCELLENT!

Thank you Jamzone333! You have been so sweet and supportive!

I'm so glad to have met you through this post!

Okay, last thing I'll say about this book! And that is, that it is FINISHED! Yay! And availble for kindle download on Amazon, click here:

http://www.amazon.com/kin...eos_detail

Will be availble in paperback in a week or so!

I read ur opening chapter/part chapter. I like the mood of some of the scenes. Would make a good film. As the director could interpret the scenario with some artist flair.

But to tell u the truth, it's not my type of novel.

Wish u lots of luck,

smudges said:

I read ur opening chapter/part chapter. I like the mood of some of the scenes. Would make a good film. As the director could interpret the scenario with some artist flair.

But to tell u the truth, it's not my type of novel.

Wish u lots of luck,

Thank you for taking the time to read it- I appreciate your feedback! Thank you smudges

Very

Thanks for sharing.

Thanks Luv4U!

This looks fun! Gonna read it as it progresses. Only one piece of advice--put a space between paragraphs--that makes it much easier to read.

purplethunder3121 said:

This looks fun! Gonna read it as it progresses. Only one piece of advice--put a space between paragraphs--that makes it much easier to read.

Yes, thank you- I have a bad habit of doing that!

lauralevesque said:

Thanks Luv4U!

I would like a book with your autograph please

luv4u said:

lauralevesque said:

Thanks Luv4U!

I would like a book with your autograph please

Oh thank you! What a sweet thing to say!

Seriously, I had SO much fun writing this thing! Book 1 ends with Deondra finding out there are many vampires in Elk Mound and now I'm beginning book 2 and the possibilites are endless- Tricky inspired vampire, Morris inspired vampire- haha- I think I'll have such a great time with book 2!

Luv4U- If you seriously want a copy, I have just ordered a shipment of paperbacks of the book and if you trust me to orgnote your address I would be happy to send you one because I would like for someone to read the entire book and give me their feedback

But be forewarned, it gets Dirty, dirty, scandalously DIRTY !!!

My proofs came today and I'm so happy with it! It's large- comic book style- I love it!

P.S. I see I've had some sales- if anyone from the org has purchased please give me your feedback if you want- I'd love some input

[Edited 10/17/12 16:28pm]

[Edited 10/17/12 16:39pm]

[Edited 10/18/12 7:12am]

Author page: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B009WQLPAC

Hard at work on book 2 now!