“Wait.”
Not expecting much, she turned slowly back to face him. “Yes?”
“I’m not opposed to negotiating terms.”
“The terms of my employment, you mean?”
“No. Of our partnership,” he said.
This was new. Both the word partnership and his tone.
“Go on,” she said, curious.
“I was writing my next book when I supposedly died…”
Natalie smothered a groan. “Will you stop with that, please? I read you the death announcements. You’re dead.”
“Again, it could all be part of a very elaborate dream. Although I would hope my subconscious would have written better post-mortem articles. But let’s proceed on the assumption that I am dead.”
“Yes, let’s,” she agreed.
“My next book is nearly ready to be published. With your help, I could finish it. You could send it to my publisher.”
“And how in the world would that work? I just call up your publisher and say, ‘Hey there, I was talking to Lionel’s ghost’…”
“No, you say that you and I had been talking extensively since we met in Salem?—”
“Argued, you mean. Publicly.”
“—and we agreed to partner on my current project,” he continued.
“Again, you very publicly ridiculed me. No one would believe we’re partnering on anything.”
“Indeed. I was harsh. Which is why, in our scenario, I called you to apologize. We struck up a camaraderie. I agreed to mentor you. That’s when I asked you if you’d like to intern for me. Work with me on my current project.”
Of course in this scenario he was the mentor and she the intern. But aside from that, she saw some real problems with this plan.
She shook her head. “Won’t work.”
“Why ever not?”
“No phone records of our supposed calls.”
“Not a problem. I only use WhatsApp. No records.”
“You use WhatsApp?” She frowned. “Really? You’re serious?”
“Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”
“You’re so…”
“Old?”
“You said it, not me.”
“If you’re going to call me old you might as well call me frugal as well. I daresay, though rude, both might be accurate. I connect to the campus WiFi and make my calls through the app. No monthly plan fees or contracts necessary.”
She was still frowning, still speechless, as she digested this information.
