Clack

Well I've been writing a novel....and so here it is :D I'm not done but this is what I have so far! Enjoy!!! :D

CHAPTER 1
A man walked along a sidewalk. He passed too many buildings to count as he pointed his eyes down onto the pavement, watching his feet take one step after the other. He had a strange obsession with counting his steps as he walked from one place to the other. In fact, he preferred walking to any place in walking distance just so he could count the steps it took to arrive at his desired destination. His name was Maddox. He lived in a penthouse on the Upper East Side of New York. Maddox was someone who most people envied on account of the fact that he stepped on a lot of people to get to where he was in life. And for Maddox, he knew exactly how many steps it took to climb to the top of the ladder. Maddox was deep in thought as he was walking to his apartment. He didn’t even notice that he bumped into another man walking on the same sidewalk. But after a few seconds, Maddox paused to make sure he wouldn’t miss a step, and looked behind him to find the man he had bumped into. Sadly for Maddox, the man was nowhere in sight. So he shrugged and continued counting the clacks on the sidewalk until he reached the entrance of his apartment numbered 600. He entered a four digit code into a keypad, a loud snap rung in his ears, and the door opened to the lobby of his building. Maddox was too busy punching in the numbers to realize the blinking eyes carefully staring him down right across the street in the darkest alleyway in New York City.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER 2
A woman, pleasantly dressed in the latest style, entered her very own store: Chic. She ran her hands across the entire rack of delectable designs she had created. This woman loved fashion more than anyone in the entire world. For you see, before she was even three years old, she was able to create an outfit out of the clothes in her mother’s closet. From then on, fashion was everything to her. She walked up to the check out desk and stopped to say hello to one of her employees.
“Well hello Cedrick! How are you this morning?”
“I guess I’m doin’ alright. Nothin’ really special’s goin’ on in my life lately.”
“Oh. Well why don’t we go out sometime? That way you’ll have something special going on!” The second after she said that she had regretted her decision to take Cedrick out. Somewhere in her mind she knew he worshiped her. And quite frankly, she found that quite creepy.
“Sure Eloise! Can’t wait!” Eloise continued walking into the back of the store and made a subtle groan realizing the stupidity of her actions.

Another woman by the name of Kara walked into Chic. She was a very frequent customer for she adored Eloise’s designs. Kara had quiet hopes of being able to meet Eloise because she believed they would have a lot in common. And on this day, Kara’s wish of meeting Eloise came true.
“Eloise!?!?”
“Umm. Do I know you?”
“Oh no you don’t. But you do now!” Kara had this strange forceful attitude about her. She was determined to get what she wants. One way or another, she would get it.
“Alright? So what’s your name?” Eloise politely asked.
“I’m Kara Crane. I work at a law firm over on 5th Avenue.”
“Wow. Well if I need any legal help I know who to call!”
“Well then here’s me card!” Kara practically shoved it down Eloise’s throat.
“Thanks.” Eloise responded in a flat tone. Almost as if she was trying to show Kara to get out of her face.
“Well I’m just gonna look around and then I’ll be out!” Something Eloise was looking forward to. After a few minutes of shopping, and a six hundred dollars popped into the register, Kara was on her way out. Eloise watched Kara depart and noticed a man walking on the sidewalk staring down at his shoes almost as if he was counting his steps. Eloise wondered if that day could get any weirder.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER 3
Wyatt Crane, the brother of Kara Crane, sat at his desk deplorably. He turned to one side, and listened to a couple shout at each other while his coworkers took diligent notes. He turned to another side and listened to a person yelling at another one of his coworkers about their identity being stolen, one of Wyatt’s favorite cases to hear about. But Wyatt’s job at Johnson and Sons Law Firm was simply sit at the reception and take calls. He was incredibly jealous of his sister seeing as though she was one of the best lawyers in New York City and he takes calls. Wyatt wanted something to look forward to. Something to make him happy. Something to---the phone rang.
“Johnson and Sons how may I direct your call?”
“Hi is Kara Crane available?”
“Yes she is. Who may I ask is calling?”
“Just put me through to her.” He put the phone down for a second, thought about things, and sent the call.
“Hello?” answered Kara.
“Kara. Six hundred!! I got it! Six hundred! Listen this is--”
“Wait. Wyatt, hang up the phone!” Wyatt did so. He paused and thought about who that woman was. Something was up. Or maybe his imagination was just running wild.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER 4
Maddox threw himself down onto his couch. The plump, soft, plush cushions couldn’t have made him any happier after such a dull day. Ominous and foreboding clouds sealed the world off from divine sunlight. Maddox looked up at the sky and wished the sun would beam down on his pale face and make him feel warm and loved instead of cold and hated. Maddox stood up from his couch and walked over to his refrigerator, carefully counting the clacks of his shoes. He opened the fridge door and grabbed a chilled bottle of water, popped open the cap, and began hydrating himself with delectable water. The most expensive water a man could buy. He walked over to the window, counting seven clacks, and looked down at the street. He watched people jump under overhangs or climb into taxies because of the sudden downpour, and noticed a bright pink neon sign across the street. A sign he had neglected to notice. One four letter word, stood isolated from the world above the doors to the entrance of the store. Maddox noticed a woman with dark brown hair push open the door and lead another man out and they crossed the street and called for a taxi. Maddox inquisitively looked at the store and said its name aloud: Chic.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER 5
Eloise and Cedrick sat in a cab which was taking them to a club downtown. Eloise stared out the window and watched the rain bomb the pavement of New York City and continued to regret her decision of asking Cedrick out. She stared up at the sky and prayed this was all a dream. She prayed as hard as she could that she would be saved by a superhero. He would come and rescue her from this nightmare she had brought upon herself. But superheroes do not exist.
The cab pulled up at the club and Cedrick hopped out of the cab to open the door for Eloise. She shot a glance at the cab driver suggesting her everlasting pain of regret and got out of the cab to see Cedrick’s bright and shining face. At that moment, Eloise wished the sun would never rise again because every time she saw the sun, it would remind her of Cedrick.
“I’m so excited! This place is so cool!” Cedrick exclaimed.
“Yeah, it’s alright.” Eloise wanted to get through the night as fast as she could. And if it meant completely ignore Cedrick then so be it!
The night progressed as slow as it possibly could. Eloise was ready to drink herself into oblivion.
“So if the opposite of pro is con, what’s the opposite of Congress?”
“I can’t wait to know.” Eloise replied.
“Progress!!” Cedrick burst out laughing. He couldn’t possibly control his laughter. He thought his head and chest would explode. Eloise sat there with the blankest stare anyone could posses. She thought she would die. But something happened. Something that Eloise did not understand until a few moments later. The bartender arrived at her seat and told her the man across the bar had bought her a drink. Cedrick of course, continued talking about his life on the prairie, and Eloise gave subtle glances to the man who purchased a drink for her. Cedrick proclaimed his dire need to use the restroom and at that moment, the man stood up and wandered over to her, staring down at the floor.
“Hello,” he gently said.
“Well hello,” replied Eloise. “What’s your name?”
“Maddox.” the man replied.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER 6
Wyatt had a dream. He dreamed about the woman he heard on the phone pleading to speak with his sister. Wyatt thought about his jealousy toward his sister. He had never received a call asking for him except for when someone decided to “prank call” him. He heard a loud shriek. A sound that echoed throughout his head. He suddenly awoke, smacking his hand up to his head, wondering if that scream was in his dream, or in reality. He threw his head to the left and looked at the alarm clock and saw that it was 6:00, the time he’s supposed to wake up. He jumped out of bed and waddled into the bathroom, realizing that the scream was his alarm clock. But when did he turn of the clock? Before he had any more time to think about the situation, the phone rang.
“Johnson and---wait, I’m not at work. Hello?”
“Wow Wyatt. The fact that you just answered your home phone like that shows you have no life,” stated his sister.
“Wow Kara. Way to be nice to your own brother.”
“Whatever. Look I’m not going in to work today, so can you just tell Libby to take over my cases for today?”
“Sure thing sis,” Wyatt groggily replied to his sister.

Wyatt wandered into the office, looking around at all of the big New York City lawyers around him and sighed. He wandered over to his desk, the big one right in front of the entrance, sat down, and listened to messages. Boring, boring, one after the other. But one message in particular he found quite interesting. It was a message from none other than the woman who desperately called Kara the other day. He took down her name and her information. He was going to get to the bottom of this. Finally, some excitement. Her phone number (914-600-2468) was the first thing he was planning on calling, but he remembered to go talk to Libby. He groaned, stood up, turned the quarter, and arrived at her office. He knocked on the door, heard a faint request to enter, and walked in letting out a large breath of air.
“Hi, you must be Libby,” Wyatt said in his usual depressed and unhappy tone.
“Yes! That would be me!” She cheerfully replied.
Wyatt stood there, and for a moment, words could not come out of his mouth. He stared at her, he stared at her lips, her eyes, her nose, her hair, her hands, and everything about her was making him feel something he never had. Libby should just be named Aphrodite in his opinion. She was the goddess of love, she was the most amazing creature in the world. Libby made the world shine with happiness even on its darkest of days. Wyatt was in love.
“Uhhhhh. Ummmmm. I ummmmmeeehhhhhhhh.” Reality came back to him. “Take over my sister’s cases!!” He threw the door open and ran back to his desk, sat in his chair, and smiled the rest of the day.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER 7
Libby was the last person to leave that day. Libby was swamped with work, even more than usual because she took over Kara’s case. But what was mostly on her mind, was the strange man who stared at her for countless seconds without speaking, couldn’t formulate a sentence, and randomly screamed at her and ran away. She was fascinated by him. There was something about him that just intrigued her. Something about him made her want to see him again. She stopped and thought about what she was doing. For Libby had a boyfriend. A boyfriend she had been with for the last six years of her life. Libby was one who had a little OCD, but her boyfriend understood because he had obtained the same qualities. Libby had a strange urge to make interesting sounds with the heels of her shoes as she walked. A lot of the time she tried to match her heels with a song she had stuck in her head. So she departed the building and walked down the sidewalk until she got to her boyfriend’s apartment. She wanted to give him a little surprise, something Libby was not used to because she liked a nice routine. But for once, she would change that. She came up to his apartment, and looked at the large 600 printed on the door. She pulled out a little piece of paper with the password on it and dropped it on the cold, hard pavement of the Upper East Side. It blew across the street up against a window. Libby sighed and carefully crossed the street to grab the paper. She snagged the little piece of paper and looked into the window to see the most beautiful pieces of clothing she had ever seen. She made a note to look in this store the next time she was with her boyfriend. She looked up at the sign of the store to get the name down. “Chic,” she said. “Interesting name.” She walked back over to the apartment, punched in the code and entered. She walked up to the desk clerk and asked “Is Maddox in?”
“He is,” the desk clerk responded, looking quite puzzled.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER 8
A man sat on a bench, reading the newspaper. The wind continued to blow the corners of the pages forcing him to constantly fidget with the paper until he got it back to the way it was. During one particular gust of wind, he heard a woman sigh and so he flopped the paper down onto his lap to see what was going on. He noticed a very attractive woman run across the street to grab a little piece of paper trying desperately to fly away from the confides of society. He giggled, and raised the newspaper back up to eye level and began reading once more. He read an article about a man named Gavin Parker, himself actually. He was reading about how his identity had been stolen and it was one of the worst cases New York has seen in a while. Gavin crumpled up the newspaper in his hands ferociously and threw it down on the ground. He angrily crossed his arms and stared up at the clouds. He snarled.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER 9
Maddox was a complicated man. First off, he counted the amount of steps he took, and second, he seldom had one girlfriend at a time. At this point in his life, his actual girlfriend was Libby, but Eloise had struck such an interest in him, he couldn’t resist. Maddox was stepping out on Libby, someone who trusted him with everything. After six years of a solid relationship, Maddox decided to cheat. But of course he wouldn’t end things with Libby seeing as though he wanted as many women as he could get.
“You know that night at the club was amazing,” Eloise told Maddox.
“And why is that?”
“Because I met you. I haven’t been this happy since I don’t know when!”
“I’m glad I make you happy baby,” the sounds of Maddox’s voice made Eloise more euphoric than she already was. Eloise paused and thought about something.
“What?”
“I have to ask,” she said. “Who is the woman in all of your pictures?”
“My…girlfriend.”
“Excuse me!? You’re cheating on your girlfriend with me!? Maddox what the hell? How can I even trust you!” Eloise gathered her belongings and walked towards the door, but before she could open it, there was a knock. She stopped, dead in her tracks. Maddox slowly stood up, and daintily walked up to the door forgetting about how many steps it took, and looked through the peephole.
“It’s my girlfriend!!” Maddox exclaimed in a hushed tone of course.
“Well why don’t I tell her what’s going on here?”
“Maddox? I know you’re in there so you might as well open the door!” Libby said as she stood in the elongated hallway of the floor. She continued to bang on the 600, placed on his door. It’s funny how Maddox lives in a building numbered 600 and his apartment number is 600 as well.
“Look Eloise I love you! I know I do! I’ll leave Libby for you, but you just have to listen to me! Please Eloise, my love. Listen to me!”
“You love me?”
“Yes!!! Please go hide in the closet and I’ll tell you when it’s safe to leave!”
Maddox arrived at the door and opened the door and greeted Libby. She interrogated him for he made her stand in the hallway for around 2 minutes or so. When he apologized, told her he loved her quiet enough for Eloise not to hear it, he slowly tugged her into the bedroom where the magic continues. During a specific time where Libby was preoccupied with “other things,” Eloise slipped out of the closet, glanced over at the bed and saw something she never would have imagined, and escaped as fast as she could.

Eloise ran out of the apartment, not realizing the desk clerk’s raised eyebrows as he was piecing together the situation at hand. She ran into Chic and took a nice deep breath realizing Cedrick was not working today. Eloise had silent hopes he was when she heard rustling in the back of the store. She stood up from her desk and slowly walked over to the back of the store. Her heels made a clacking sound she couldn’t resist counting. Eloise saw a woman crouched in the back of the store, most likely wishing she wouldn’t be seen. With a closer look, Eloise came to the conclusion of who it was. “Kara!?”